關於英語故事聽力文章
故事文學素材應用於英語教學也越來越普遍,故事正逐漸被視為英語教學的最佳材料之一。小編分享，希望可以幫助大家!
：Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Ralph and Ilene hadn’t been to a baseball game in about five years. They were only 15 miles from the stadium, but the heavy traffic on game day made those 15 miles seem more like 60 miles. It took about an hour to get to the stadium. Then, when the game was over, it took half an hour just to get out of the parking lot. Then the drive home was another hour. In other words, the traveling took longer than the game itself.
“Honey, the Giants are in town,” Ilene said. “I want to see Barry Bonds hit a home run. Can we go to the game? We haven’t gone in such a long time.”
“You’re right. It has been a while. OK, I’ll go if you don’t mind driving,” said Ralph.
“Great! Let’s get ready. If we get there early enough, I might get his autograph. Maybe he’ll hit a foul ball we can catch.” Ilene was excited. “We!?” Ralph thought.
An hour later they were in their car. They lived in Pasadena near an old church. They went south on Orange Grove and then south on the 110 freeway. The 110 is California’s original freeway, full of twists and turns. Accidents occur daily; California drivers think yellow lights and sharp curves mean the same thing—speed up!
The traffic was lighter than they expected. They arrived at the stadium 40 minutes before game time. They paid the $8 parking fee, parked and locked the car, and walked to the main entrance.
Several individuals were standing around outside the stadium, looking casual but actually selling tickets on the sly. “Are you going to buy from a scalper?” asked Ilene.
“Yes. Just like last time. That one looks honest,” Ralph replied.
They walked over to a man in a red cap. Ralph’s instincts were correct. The man had tickets for good seats at a fair price. Ralph gave the man $45 and thanked him.
“Don’t thank me, my friend. Thank your local police department. Put your hands behind your back, please. You’re under arrest.”
“What?” Ralph was astonished. “What’s going on?”
“Buying scalped tickets is illegal in Los Angeles,” said the undercover police officer. “It’s been illegal for 25 years. Don’t worry. The police station is right outside the park. We’ll have you back here right after we book you. You can pay the $150 fine with your credit card.” The officer handcuffed Ralph.
“This has got to be a joke. You people have never enforced this law before,” said Ralph.
“Well, we’ve got a new mayor and he wants us to enforce all the laws that bring in money. Come with me, please. I’ll have you back here in 20 minutes. Ma’am, you can wait here for him. You might want to buy some legitimate tickets while you're waiting. Have a nice day. Oh, and enjoy the game!”
：Check Your Bags
Adrian’s favorite store was the $1 Store. This store had everything, from fresh produce to birthday cards to gasoline additives. Everything was one dollar. Usually, he got very good deals; occasionally, he got ripped off.
A few days ago, Adrian bought six packages of ink for his printer. Then he found a deal on better ink at the local computer store. So Adrian went back to the $1 Store to exchange the ink for some other items.
He put the ink into a plastic bag and tied it up. When he entered the store, he immediately showed the bag to a clerk and told her that he was returning some items. She looked at him but said nothing. There were about ten people in her line. She was obviously very busy. Not knowing exactly what to do, Adrian put the bag into a push-cart and started shopping.
He was midway through shopping when a female employee suddenly stopped him. “Sir,” she said sternly, “you are not allowed to carry a plastic bag of items around in this store. What’s in this bag? Show me what’s in the bag!”
Adrian was taken aback. There was no need for her to yell. He opened the bag and showed her the six packages of ink. “I’m returning these to exchange for some other items,” Adrian said.
“You should have left the bag with the clerk when you entered this store. Let me see your receipt!” the employee demanded.
Adrian was embarrassed. He felt like a shoplifter. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. He showed her the receipt.
“Perhaps in the future you’ll learn how to follow store policy. Leave this bag here with the clerk. You can have your receipt and bag back when you check out.”
By the time Adrian had finished shopping and exchanged the items, he was angry. How dare she treat him like a criminal? He went looking for her. He wanted an apology. He found her in the produce section and asked what her name was. She mumbled something. He asked her again, and this time he heard “Ursula.”
“Ursula what?” he asked. She yelled at him, “Ursula!” and stormed away.
When Adrian got home, he called the store’s corporate headquarters. This rude employee was about to lose her job, he said to himself. He described his unpleasant experience to a customer service representative. She was sympathetic. “Our employees are taught to be polite. We will not tolerate such behavior. Give me your phone number and I will call you back.”
Two days later, Adrian received a phone call from the representative. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but there’s no one at that store named Ursula. Can you describe her? I’ll find out who she is. I assure you, we do not tolerate rude behavior, nor do we tolerate lying to customers.”
By this time, Adrian had calmed down. He didn’t really want the employee to lose her job. He told the representative to forget about it.
：Happy Anniversary
Jude called Erica. “Guess what, honey?” he asked. “Next month is our fourth anniversary.” He had already bought her a nice card. She said yes, next month would mark the fourth year that they had known each other.
“'Known' each other?” Jude repeated. He corrected her, saying that it would mark the fourth year that they had been in love with each other.
Erica laughed. “Not hardly,” she said. “For the first two years, yes, I was madly in love with you. You were my king. I would have done anything for you. Then I made the biggest mistake of my life: I asked you to marry me, and you said no! How many times had you sworn your love to me? But when you had a chance to back up your words with action, you chickened out. You didn't love me at all!”
He told her that he hadn’t “chickened out.” He just hadn’t been ready to marry her at that particular time. “What does that mean?” she had asked him. He couldn’t explain what it meant, but he did everything from that day on to win her love again. After a year of chasing her, he finally caught her, and her heart, again.
“So,” she explained, “for the first two years I loved you. The third year, you loved me. The fourth year, we both loved each other. So, next month is actually our first anniversary of being in love with each other at the same time!”
After thinking about this, Jude went back to Target the next day and bought Erica a “Happy First Anniversary” card.