Lesson 11 The Fox and the Ducks
On a summer day, a man sitting on the bank of a river, in the shade①of some bushes, watched a flock of ducks on the stream②.
Soon a branch with leaves came drifting③ among them, and they all took wing④. After circling⑤ in the air for a little time, they settled down again on their feeding ground.
Soon another branch came drifting down among them, and again they took flight from the river; but when they found the branch had drifted by and done them no harm, they flew down to the water as before.
After four or five branches had drifted by in this way, the ducks gave little heed⑥ to them. At length, they hardly tried to fly out of their way, even when the branches nearly touched them.
The man who had been watching all this, now began to wonder who had set these branches adrift⑦. He looked up the stream, and spied a fox slyly⑧ watching the duck. “What will he do next?” thought the man.
When the fox saw that the ducks were no longer afraid of the branches, he took a much larger branch than any he had yet used, and stretched⑨ himself upon it so as to be almost hidden. Then he set it afloat⑩as he had the others.
Right among the flock drifted the sly old fox, and, making quick snaps⑪ to right and left, he seized two fine young ducks, and floated off with them.
The rest of the flock flew away in fright, and did not come back for a long time.
The fox must have had a fine dinner to pay him for his cunning, patient⑫ work.
(279 words)
① shade [ʃeɪd] n. 遮阳，遮棚
② stream [striːm] n. 河流，小河，溪
③ drift [drɪft] vi. 流动；随意移动
④ wing [wɪŋ] n. 翅膀，翼
⑤ circle ['sɜːkl] vi. 环绕，盘旋
⑥ heed [hi:d] n. 留心，注意，听从
⑦ adrift [ə'drɪft] adv. 随波逐流地；漂流无定地
adj. 漂浮着的；随波逐流的
⑧ slyly ['slaɪlɪ] adv. 狡猾地；偷偷地
⑨ stretch [stretʃ] vt. 伸展；张开；充分利用；使紧张
vi. 伸展；伸开
⑩ set … afl oat 下水
⑪ snap [snæp] n.（树枝等的）突然折断；突然的撕咬
⑫ patient ['peɪʃnt] adj. 有耐性的；能容忍的
n. 患者；病人；病号
Exercises
Ⅰ. How well did you read?
1. [Give the reason] Why did the ducks fl y down to the water as before when they saw another branch?
A. Because they liked the water.
B. Because they found it do them no harm.
C. Because they wanted to have a rest.
2. [Evaluate the information] What did the ducks do when four or fi ve branches had drift by？
A. They did not move.
C. They jumped into water.
3. [Check the details] Who set these branches?
A. The Fox. B. The ducks. C. The man.
4. [Understand the main idea] What did the fox have for dinner?
A. Two ducks. B. A lot of ducks. C. Nothing.
5. [Note the fact] Where was the fox hidden?
A. In the bank. B. On the branches. C. In the water.
Ⅱ. Read for words.
Choose the best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words or expressions.
1. On a summer day, a man sitting on the bank of a river, in the shade of some bushes, watched a flock of ducks on the stream. (Para. 1, Line 2)
A. a group of B. a team of C. one or two
2. He looked up the stream, and spied a fox slyly watching the duck. (Para. 5, Line 2)
A. walked over B. noticed C. came to
3. Right among the flock drifted the sly old fox, and, making quick snaps to right and left, he seized two fine young ducks, and floated off with them. (Para. 7, Line 2)
A. arrested B. made use of C. took hold of quickly
4. After circling in the air for a little time, they settled down again on their feeding ground. (Para. 2, Line 2)
A. 安顿，安定 B.定居 C. 落到…上面
5. Soon another branch came drifting down among them, and again they took flight from the river; but when they found the branch had drifted by and done them no harm, they flew down to the water as before. (Para. 3, Line 1)
A. flied away B. took a plane C. flied down
Ⅲ. Writing practice.
Answer these questions in note form to get your points.
1. What did the ducks do when they found the first branch?
2. What did the ducks do when they found another branch?
3. What did the ducks do when they saw four or five branches?
4. How did the fox do to seize the ducks?
5. Who was the winner and why?
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