THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

最伟大的礼物

At one stopover in a town, a huge banner was written in bold letters: FAMINE IN AFRICA~PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO SAVE THE STARVING PEOPLE. A large crowd was queuing to hand over their donations.

Near the door of the town hall stood a beautiful young girl, poorly but neatly dressed. With shy glances she watched the people before her. She saw a merchant who laid a bag of gold on the table. Then came a rich lady with haughty looks who offered a variety of jewels; some others handed cash, clothing and foodstuff.

The girl was reluctant to take her turn but at last, summoning up her courage, she stepped forward. “But... it is so small I am ashamed to offer it. It seems worthless, but it is all I have,” she said. “We are grateful for even the smallest offering,” the man at the counter replied kindly. “Here it is, I have nothing else to give,” she added timidly. She drew under her cloak two long thick plaits of her golden hair. As she did so, the hood of her cloak fell back, showing the beautifully young head shorn of its golden glory.

The generosity of this beautiful girl to donate her most priceless possession, her golden looks of hair, overshadowed all the glittering gold or jewels of the other donors.

先逐字读一遍短文，不认识的不着急查词典，读完一遍，不熟悉的生词大约心中有数了，再回头仔细读一遍，有生词的部分，细读，根据上下文猜测一下意思。如果手头有纸笔不妨写下来。最好通读三遍，文章的大约意思估计也就明白八九不离十了。再逐字查阅生词，最后再对照译文，通读一两遍。还有疑难不解的地方做好笔记请教他人。

stopover

英[ˈstɒpəʊvə(r)]美[ˈstɑːpoʊvər]

n.中途停留;

A stopover is a short stay in a place in between parts of a trip. 中途停留

The Sunday flights will make a stopover in Paris.

周日航班将在巴黎作一次中途停留。

layover

英 [ˈleɪəʊvə(r)] 美 [ˈleɪoʊvər]

n. 中断期间，中途短暂的停留；终点停车处；津贴

a brief/shot stay that happens when you switch planes during your journey, generally within 4 hours.

用layover的时候要注意，最好是在你乘坐的航班转机时间在4个小时以内，用这个词语。你也可以用connection, 来代替layover,因为航班中间的转机英文可以用connection flight来说。所以connection和layover是Interchangeble（可以互换的）。而当我们转机时间超过4个小时，最好是用stopover

famine

英 [ˈfæmɪn] 美 [ˈfæmɪn]

n. 饥荒，饥馑；匮乏，短缺；<古>饥饿

Famine is a situation in which large numbers of people have little or no food, and many of them die. 饥荒

Thousands of refugees are trapped by war, drought and famine.

成千上万的难民陷于战争、干旱和饥荒的困境。

generously

英 [ˈdʒenərəsli] 美 [ˈdʒenərəsli]

adv. 慷慨地；宽大地；丰盛地

We need your help—please give generously.

我们需要您的帮助，请慷慨解囊吧。

词根：generous

adj.generous 慷慨的，大方的；宽宏大量的；有雅量的

n.generosity 慷慨，大方；宽宏大量generousness 丰富，肥沃；宽大

merchant

英 [ˈmɜːtʃənt] 美 [ˈmɜːrtʃənt]

n. 商人，（尤指外贸）批发商；<美>商店老板；<英，非正式>对（令人讨厌之事）入迷的人

adj. 海上货运的；商业的，商人的

A merchant is a person who buys or sells goods in large quantities, especially one who imports and exports them. 商人

Any knowledgeable wine merchant would be able to advise you.

任何一位内行的葡萄酒商人都能为你提出建议。

同根词

词根：mercer

adj.mercantile 商业的；商人的；重商主义的

merchantable 适销的；可买卖的；有销路的

merchandiser 商人

mercantile 商品

mercantilism 重商主义；商人本性；商业主义

mercer 绸缎商人；布商；呢绒布商

merchantman 商船；商人

haughty

英 [ˈhɔːti] 美 [ˈhɔːti]

adj. 傲慢的；自大的

Toni looked at him rather haughtily.

托尼非常傲慢地看着他。

cash

英 [kæʃ] 美 [kæʃ]

n. 现款，现金；金钱，资金

v. 兑现（支票）；支付现款

Cash is money in the form of bills and coins rather than cheques. 现金

I'm short of cash right now.

我眼下正缺钱。

reluctant

英 [rɪˈlʌktənt] 美 [rɪˈlʌktənt]

adj. 勉强的，不情愿的

If you are reluctant to do something, you are unwilling to do it and hesitate before doing it, or do it slowly and without enthusiasm. 不愿意的; 勉强的

Mr. Spero was reluctant to ask for help.

斯珀洛先生不愿意请求帮助。

summoning

英 [ˈsʌmənɪŋ] 美 [ˈsʌmənɪŋ]

v. 传唤，传讯（出庭）；召唤；召集会议；迫切地要求（帮助）；鼓起，露出（summon 的现在分词）

n. 召唤

If you summon someone, you order them to come to you. 召唤

Suddenly we were summoned to the interview room.

突然我们被召唤进了面试室。

counter

英 [ˈkaʊntə(r)] 美 [ˈkaʊntər]

n. 柜台；对立面；计数器，计算器；（棋盘游戏的）筹码

v. 反驳，驳斥；抵制，抵消；（拳击）还击；逆向移动

adv. 相反地，对立地；逆向地

adj. 反面的，对立的

In a place such as a shop or café, a counter is a long narrow table or flat surface at which customers are served. 柜台

She was serving behind the counter.

她在柜台服务。

shorn

英 [ʃɔːn] 美 [ʃɔːrn]

v. 抢夺（shear 的过去分词）

adj. 剪了毛的；被剥夺了的

The woman doing the cutting tossed the shorn hair in every direction as she cut.

那个剪头发的女人把剪断的头发往各个方向投去。

generosity

英 [ˌdʒenəˈrɒsəti] 美 [ˌdʒenəˈrɑːsəti]

n. 慷慨，大方

If you refer to someone's generosity, you mean that they are generous, especially in doing or giving more than is usual or expected. 慷慨

There are stories about his generosity, the massive amounts of money he gave to charities.

关于他的慷慨有些传闻，说他向慈善机构捐献巨款。

possession

英 [pəˈzeʃn] 美 [pəˈzeʃn]

n. <正式> 拥有，持有；个人财产，所有物；持有违禁物，私藏毒品（或武器）；（对球的）控制，球权；进攻；领地，殖民地；鬼魂附体，着魔；（观点或情感的）支配，控制

If you are in possession of something, you have it, because you have obtained it or because it belongs to you. 拥有

Those documents are now in the possession of the Washington Post.

那些文件现在归《华盛顿邮报》所有。

镇上的一处集聚点挂起了巨大的横幅，上面用粗体写着一行字：“非洲正闹饥荒——请您伸出援手救救饥饿的人们。”有一大群人排着队纷纷捐钱捐物。

镇办公大厅门边站着一个漂亮的小姑娘，衣着朴素却很整洁。她害羞地看着队伍前面的人们，只见一个商人在桌上放下了一袋金子，一个阔气的女士一脸傲慢地过来捐了各式珠宝；还有的人捐现金、衣物还有食品。

轮到小姑娘了，她开始有点勉强，但最后还是鼓起勇气走上前去。“呃……我捐的东西微不足道，我都不好意思拿出来。它可能看上去不值钱，但我只有这个了。”她说。“您捐什么我们都感激您，多不起眼都没关系。”柜台上的人亲切地回答。给你，我只有这个了。”她胆怯地说。只见小姑娘从披风里扯出两根粗粗的金色发辫，披风的帽子瞬间滑落下来，露出了小姑娘刚剪的一头漂亮的金色短发。

这位漂亮姑娘慷慨捐赠自己的无价之宝，她金色的头发比其他人捐出的耀眼的金子和珠宝还要光彩夺目。