【生詞預覽】

spoil寵溺，dote on溺愛，tantrum發脾氣

【笑話原文】

But the Teacher Cried

The six-year-old John was terribly spoiled .His father knew it, but his grandma doted on him. He hardly left her side. And when he wanted anything, he either cried or threw a temper tantrum. Then came his first day of school, his first day away from his grandmother's loving arms.

When he came home from school his grandma met him at the door.

"Was school all right?" she asked, "Did you get along all right? Did you cry?"

"Cry?" John asked. "No, I didn't cry, but the teacher did!"

【中文譯文】

但是老師哭了

六歲的小約翰嬌生慣養。他爸爸知道這一點，可是他的奶奶很溺愛他。他簡直離不開奶奶。而且當他想要什么東西的時候，他要么哭鬧，要么就發脾氣。終于，他要第一次去學校上學了，第一次離開奶奶溫暖的臂彎。

當他從學校回到家時，奶奶就在門口等他。

“在學校一切都好嗎？”奶奶問，“你過的怎么樣？哭了嗎？”

“哭？“約翰問。”不，我沒有哭。不過老師哭了。“

【詞匯講解】

1.spoil溺愛。它還有“損壞”的意思：It would spoil my reputation.這會損害我的名譽。She spoiled the soup with too much salt.她擱了太多的鹽，把湯給毀了。“破壞興致”Rain spoiled the picnic.下雨天使野餐變得興味索然。

2.dote on 溺愛，喜愛。Children doted on him, and he would play with them and tell them stories.孩子們十分喜歡他，他也總是和他們一起玩，給他們講故事。dote還有“智力衰退”的意思：She began to dote right after her 91 st birthday.她一過91歲生日就開始頭腦糊涂了。

3.tantrum發脾氣（n.）。be in a tantrum在發脾氣。Small children have occasional tantrums when they don’t get what they want.小孩子們沒有得到想要的東西有時會耍脾氣。

4.either…or或者…或者。either是個常用的詞，可表示“任一的／每一方”：You may read either book.兩本書中你可以讀隨便哪一本。Flowers bloom on either side of the walk.小道兩旁盛開的花朵。

5.loving充滿深情的。a loving friend親愛的朋友。A child needs two loving parents.孩子需要慈愛的雙親。“熱愛的”peace-loving people熱愛和平的人民。“細心周到的”：She looked after her little sisters with loving care.她關心備至地照看她的小妹妹們。

6.get along進展。The patient is getting along very well.病人情況良好。此外，這個短語還有“過活”的意思：get along on a small income靠微薄的收入過活。“上年紀”：My father is getting along and doesn’t see too well any more.我父親上了年紀，視力不如從前了。