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英语幽默小故事：迟到的原因The Reason of Being Late
eacher: Johnny, why are you late for school every morning?
Johnny: Every time I come to the corner, a guidepost says, "School -- Go Slow".
迟到的原因
老 师：约翰尼，为什么你每天早晨都迟到？
约翰尼：每当我经过学校附近的拐角处，就见路牌上写着‘学校－缓行’。
看故事学英语：笨鸟先飞The early bird catches the worm
A bird hatches six baby birds.The Sixth is very weak and small; his sisters and brothers usually bully him.The other birds usually rob food from his mouth, and the Sixth has to suffer from hunger.树上一只鸟妈妈孵出了六只鸟宝宝，小六又瘦又小，哥哥姐姐们都欺负它；经常从它嘴里抢虫子，小六只得饿着肚子。
Sisters and Brothers call him “clumsy bird.”哥哥姐姐们都叫他“小笨鸟”。
He determines to exercise more to be healthier, in order to not be laughed by his sisters and brothers. 于是他决心锻炼好身体，让哥哥姐姐们不再嘲笑自己。
The Sixth has a strong will and gets up very early every day.He always finishes exercising and eating worms by the time his sisters and brothers wake up.他志气非常大，每天都起得很早，等哥哥姐姐们醒来，他已经跑完步，吃了虫子了。
When the winter is coming and the bird flock prepare to fly to the south, the “clumsy bird” is the first one to start flying.冬天到了，鸟群要南飞了；小笨鸟是鸟群中第一个飞往南方的。
【文化链接】
“笨鸟先飞”比喻了那些“本身资质可能稍逊于他人，但是靠加倍的努力赶上甚至是超过了别人”的人，英语中有一个意义相近的短语叫做“The early bird catches the worm.”,意思就是“早起的鸟儿有虫吃”，但是它并不强调这早起的鸟就是“笨鸟”，更多的强调了“勤能补拙”的意思。
所以，如果有一天你很早起床去学校，朋友很惊讶，问你：“Why are you so early？”那你就可以回答：“To catch worm.”（也就是自己把自己比喻成了“early bird”~）
看故事学英语：滴水穿石
persistence/Constant dripping of water wears away the stone.
One day, Zhang Guaiya (the county magistrate) was patrolling the government buildings.一天，宋朝县令张乖崖在衙门周围巡行。
He saw a minor official come out from the money vault hurriedly.看到一个小吏慌慌张张地从钱库中走出来。
Zhang Guaiya stopped him and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"张乖崖把他喊住问：“你这么慌慌张张干什么?”
"No reason." the officer answered.“没什么。”那小吏回答说。
Zhang Guaiya recalled the things stolen from the money vault recently. He ordered the guards to search the officer.张乖崖联想到最近钱库经常失窃，便让随从对他进行搜查。
Consequently, there was a copper piece found in the officer’s headband.结果，在头巾里搜到一枚铜钱。
Zhang Guaiya asked him how much more money he had stolen. The officer refused to admit that he stole any additional money. Zhang Guaiya ordered that the officer be tortured.张乖崖问他一共偷了多少钱，小吏不承认另外偷过钱，张乖崖便下令拷打。
The officer didn’t give in and said, “It’s nothing to steal just a copper piece. Could it be that you can kill me?” 小吏不服说：“ 偷了一枚铜钱有什么了不起，难道你还能杀了我？”
Zhang Guaiya was very angry and sent him to be executed.”张乖崖十分愤怒，就把他押到刑场斩首示众。
He said to all the people, "Constant dripping of water wears away the stone, let alone stealing everyday."并对所有人说：“水滴不停的滴，就能把石头滴穿，更不用说是每天偷盗了。”
【文化链接】
“滴水穿石”现在常用来比喻“虽然力量小，但只要目标专一，持之以恒，就一定能把艰难的事情办成”，简单来说也就是“毅力”二字，英语中可用“persistence”来表达，这是一个名词，所以如果想要表达“持之以恒做什么事”的时候，就可以用“persist to do sth”，我们来一起看两个例句：
As long as we persist to work hard, we can succeed just as constantly dripping water can wear away stone.
只要我们坚持努力，总会滴水穿石，取得成功。
Study requires the acquisition of knowledge and persistence. Just as dripping water wears away stone constant effort will help us to achieve good marks.