有關經典的英語故事大全
還有許多許多感人肺腑的情景和瞬間,還有許多許多讓人潸然淚下的動人故事,都彷彿在告訴著我們一個信心:生命的頑強。小編精心收集了有關經典的英語故事,供大家欣賞學習!
有關經典的英語故事:Influenza
Influenza, or the flu, attacks up to one billion people annually. In the US, it kills 20,000 annually, most of whom are children or elderly. Occasionally the flu becomes pandemic: in 1918, it killed 20 million people worldwide. The flu is a very contagious viral infection spread through the air by coughing, sneezing, or simply talking. It is not caused by getting caught in a rainstorm or by sleeping with the fan or air-conditioning on.
The incubation period is about three days. It doesn’t sneak up on you, like a cold does. All of a sudden, you feel weak, you have a high fever, you have chills, you cough frequently and forcefully, your throat is sore, and your body aches.
For most adults, the treatment is to simply wait it out: stay home, get lots of bed rest, drink lots of fluids, and take over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, pain-killers, and nasal decongestants. Symptoms usually go away within two weeks. For the elderly and young, the initial viral infection may become a bacterial infection with deadly consequences, because the victim becomes too weak to battle the disease. The death rate for the general population is about one in 1,000. Those most susceptible to severe effects of the flu are people over 65 and people with chronic heart or lung problems, such as asthma.
Flu season in the US is usually December to March. The best prevention, of course, is to stay away from infected people. Since that is almost impossible, the next best preventive strategy is to get an annual flu shot. This vaccine reduces the number of people who get infected—and who die—yearly.
有關經典的英語故事:New Dog-Barking Law
Noise. It gets into your head and under your skin. Too much noise can turn ordinary people into raging maniacs. All too-common noises in neighborhoods are the blaring TVs, blaring car radios, and barking dogs. Most cities have ordinances against excessive noise. Of course, if you complain about your neighbor’s noise, your neighbor will hate you and start making more noise. So, many people try to ignore their inconsiderate neighbors. Finally, when they can take it no longer, they simply move.
The city council of Los Angeles recently came to the rescue of its residents—or seemed to. It passed a new ordinance: the owner of a dog that barks for 30 minutes straight will get a warning the first time a complaint is made. For a second complaint, the owner will pay a $100 fine or go to jail for a week maximum, or both. The council wrote no penalty concerning a third or fourth complaint. “Finally,” said Zev Doheny, “we’ve passed a noise law with some teeth in it.”
Of course, there are a few problems with the new law: How does a resident prove that a dog was barking for 30 minutes? Does he present an audio tape? With modern technology, couldn’t that tape easily be “doctored” so that one minute of actual barking magically becomes 30 minutes? Couldn’t a person tape just any old dog barking and then claim that it’s his neighbor’s dog doing all that barking? Do dogs have voiceprints, like humans have fingerprints? Will all dogs have to get “voice-printed?”
“There isn’t one brain among the lot of them,” complained the owner of a pet store when he heard about the council’s new law. “Their ‘solutions’ are almost always worse than the problems themselves.”
有關經典的英語故事:The Wedding
It was a strange day—Thursday—for a wedding. Who ever heard of a Thursday wedding? “Well,” Harlan explained to everyone, “the Thursday event is going to cost me half of what Friday, Saturday, or Sunday would cost me. And a 50-percent discount is a lot of money, believe me.” Everyone believed him. Harlan knew how to count his pennies. The early evening event was at Cowfish, a popular restaurant and meeting place on campus.
Nevin and Janelle arrived at 5 p.m. for pictures, but the photographer had been delayed on the freeway because someone had jumped off an overpass. So they decided to take a stroll on campus. Walking westward, they soon found a fish pond. About a dozen small turtles were swimming in the eastern end of the pond. As Janelle kneeled at water’s edge, all the turtles swam toward her. A couple of them climbed out of the water and onto the footpath. They wanted food, but a sign advised visitors not to feed the fish or turtles. So she apologized to the turtles—not that she had any turtle food anyway, she added. Nevin and Janelle took pictures of themselves and the turtles.
They walked back to Cowfish just before the ceremony was to begin. Some of the preacher’s words were unclear because of static on the portable microphone. After the preacher pronounced Harlan and Ellen husband and wife, guests clapped and cheered. The photographer, who had gotten “some great pictures” of the fallen body, busily took pictures of the bride and groom, the preacher, the parents, and the guests.
After their meal, Nevin and Janelle said good night to the newly married couple. This was the fourth marriage for Harlan, so everyone was hoping it would be his last. Then Nevin and Janelle walked out to their car, holding hands and talking about what would be the same and what would be different at their own wedding. That is, if they didn’t decide to just drive to Las Vegas for a quick marriage, with Elvis performing at their ceremony. “That way, our only difficult decision will be to pick which song he will sing for us,” Janelle said.