Thank goodness I never
married any of those women - They're al I widows now!
Notes:
(1) bachelor n.单身汉
(2) court v.向求爱；追求
(3) boil over 沸腾而溢出（本文指全身心地投入付出）
(4) simmer v.（做菜时）煨（本文指见好就收）
(5) whim n.一时的兴致；奇想
(6) look up 探访
Exercises:
根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：
① Uncle Frank was very wealthy but poor in health.
② Uncle Frank never married in his life.
③ He had chased many girls, but had not married any of them.
④ He suddenly had an idea of visiting his old girlfriends.
⑤ He thought if he had married any of those girls, he wouldn't
have lived so long.
130.要否结婚
弗兰克叔叔七十八岁了，富有而健康。他是个终生单身汉。他曾追
求过很多女孩，但“从不过热——见好就收”。一天他突发奇想，决定
四处走走，去看看他那些接近一打的旧时女友。
他回来即叹道：“嘘！谢天谢地幸亏我没娶那些女人中的任何一个。
如今她们都成寡妇了！”
131.Ways to Report Death
Two brothers, Herbert and James, lived with their mother and
a cat named Edgar. James was particularly attached to the cat, and
when he had to leave town for several days, he left Herbert
meticulous instructions about the pet' s care. At the end of this
first day away. James telephoned his brother. "How is Edgar?"
"Edgar is dead." Herbert answered. There was a pause. Then
James said, "Herbert, you're insensitive, you know how close I was
to Edgar -you should have broken the news to me slowly. When I asked
about Edgar tonight, you should have said, 'Edgar's on the roof ,
but I have cal led the f ire department to get him down - ' And
tomorrow when I called, you could have said the firwere having
trouble getting Edgar down, but you were hopeful they would succeed.
Then when I called the third time, you could have told me that the
fire-men have done their best, but unfortunately Edgar had fallen
off the roof and was at the veterinarian's. Then when I called the
last time, you could have said that although everything possible
had been done for Edgar, he had died. That's the way a sensitive
man would have told me about Edgar. And, oh, before I forget," James
added, "how is mother?"
"Oh," Herbert said, pausing for a moment, "She' s on the roof."
Notes:
(1) particularly adv.特别地
(2) be attached to 为爱或感情所束缚；爱慕；依恋
(3) meticulous adj.仔细的
(4) insensitive adj.感觉迟钝的
(5) fire department 消防部
(6) have trouble doing 做某事有困难
(7) unfortunately adj.不幸地
(8) veterinarian n.兽医（常可写为vet）
Exercises:
根据短文选择正确答案：
① How many people were there in the family?
A. two
B. three
C. four
D. five
② Who was greatly attached to the cat?
A. Herbert
B. James
C. the mother
D. Edgar
③ What did James ask Herbert to do when he had to leave town
for several days?
A. to take good care of Edgar
B. to take good care of his mother
C. to take good care of himself.
D. to take good care of the house
④ What happened to Edgar?
A. He was on the roof.
B. He fell off the roof.
C. He was at the veterinarian's.
D. He was dead.
⑤ From the passage we can see that_____ .
A. James didn't care about his mother as much as he cared about
the cat
B. the mother was dead
C. something was wrong with the roof of the house
D. Herbert was very angry with James
131.报丧方式
郝伯特和詹姆斯兄弟二人一起生活，家中有一老母并养了一只猫叫
埃德格。詹姆斯特别喜欢这只猫。有一次他要外出几天，临行前不厌其
烦地嘱咐郝伯特照顾好这只宠物。出门后的头一天晚上，他打来电话询
问：“埃德格好吗？”
“它死了，”郝伯格回答。一阵沉默之后，詹姆斯说：“郝伯特，
你真没心没肺，你知道我多么喜欢埃德格——你应该把这个消息慢慢地
告诉我。当我问起埃德格今晚怎样时，你应该说，‘埃德格爬上了屋顶，
我已给消防队打了电话，让他们把它救下来。’我明天又给你打电话时，
你应该说消防队营救埃德格遇到了困难，但你相信他们会成功。在我第
三天给你打电话时，你可以说消防队员已尽了最大努力，但很不幸，埃
德格从屋顶上掉了下来，被送到兽医那里。在我最后一次给你打电话询
问，你可以说尽管对埃德格做了一切所能做的努力，它还是死了。这是
一个富有感情的人告诉我埃德格的消息时所用的方式。哦，趁我没忘记
还有件事顺便问一下，”詹姆斯补充道，“母亲好吗？”
“哦..”一阵沉默后郝伯特答道，“她上了屋顶。”