高考英语阅读文章 积累

Chinese Folk Tales

Tzeng-Shen Killed One Man

In Chun Chiou Age in China, Tzeng-Shen, one of Confucius' students, lived in Fei County in Shandong. Another man who was also named Tzeng-Shen lived in Fei, too. One day the man killed someone. But some people didn't know the truth and thought that Tzeng-Shen did it. So, someone went to Tzeng-Shen's home and told his mother that her son had killed someone. She didn't believe it and kept weaving because she knew her son was a virtuous person. A little while, another man came and repeated the news. Still, she kept weaving. Then the third man came and told her the same thing. This time Tzeng-Shen's mother started to believe what she heard and became scared. Finally, she threw away the shuttle and ran away.

The story tells us how terrible a rumor could be- maybe those who know you well might not believe you anymore.

A little Chinese Story

Chinese idioms are interesting. What impresses me most is the one about spears and shields. When describing someone is contradictory, we Chinese like to say that he contradicts himself with spears and shields. Here comes the story!

Once upon a time, there was a peddler traveling around every country to sell his spears and shields. He was so talkative and persuasive that he always made good businesses. One day, he got to a small village and started to brag about his wares. As usual, he gathered many people by beating a gong, and then he said, " Watch here, everyone! In my hands is the sharpest spear you could ever find. It can poke through any thing and hurt your hard-bitten preys right on the spot." As his words were so convincing, he sold most of his spears in a short time. Later he took his shields out and played the tricks again. "Look, my friends! This is the hardest shield in the world. It can protect you from any assault. No spear ever can poke through it." While he was bragging, an old man interrupted," What about poking your shield with your spear!" The peddler was stunned and couldn't utter a word. He packed his wares in a hurry and ran away.

Since then, spears and shields have been used to laugh at someone who is contradicts his own words. Next time, when someone doesn't stick to what he says, tell him," You are contradicting yourself with spears and shields!"

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A long time ago, a shepherd grew a group of sheep in a small village where they lived happily and peacefully.

One night, some yells of wolves were heard everywhere around the village. As soon as the shepherd heard this, he knew wolves were coming. The entrance to the sheepfold was closed tightly and the sheep dogs watched these sheep thoroughly securely. The protection was so severe that the wolves couldn't catch these sheep for food.

After a few days, one of the wolves had an idea that it could pretend to be a sheep. On a windless night, there was no moonlight, it was quieter and darker than usual. So the wolf decided to put its idea into practice. By wearing the skin of a sheep, it cheated the shepherd and got into the group easily. The wolf was so happy that it could get the food without efforts from now.

During the night, the shepherd invited his friends to his birthday party, so he came into the fold to prepare food for dinner. It was too dark to figure out which one was fatter. Accidentally, the shepherd caught up the wolf, instead of a sheep, and killed the pretentious wolf.

Story About The Year

Once upon a time, there was a big monster called "Year" in the sea. It slept all the time except the last night of the year. On that day, people hid themselves in the mountains because "Year" would come up to the land and eat them.

This year, on the last night of the year, people hid themselves in the mountains as usual except an old woman. She stayed to fight "Year" because her son was eaten by "Year" last year. A genie knew this and wanted to help her. He pretended to be a crippled beggar and asked her for some food. She pitied him and gave him some boiled dumplings. After finishing the dumplings, the beggar asked why people ran so fast on the road. The old woman told him the reason. The beggar laughed and saw it's easy to fight off "Year."

He asked her to bring him two pieces of red cloth. He stuck it to the door and burnt his bamboo stick in front of the house. The burning made a lot of noise. He also asked the old woman for some more dumplings because they were so delicious. So she began to chop the meat for the dumplings in the kitchen.

The sky was becoming darker and darker, and the yelling of the big monster was becoming louder and louder. The old woman was very afraid and she choped the meat more quickly and louder. The big monster couldn't endure the noise of the burning and chopping. Its head hurt so much and he began to seek the source of the noise. However, when it reach the house, it was frightened by the red color on the door, so it fled to the sea.

The next morning, people came back from the mountains. When they found the old woman still alive. They were very surprised and asked her what happened. The old woman told them the truth. Everyone was very happy because if they made boiled dumplings, burn bamboos and stick red cloth to the door on the eve of the Chinese New Year, they wouldn't need to be afraid of "Year" again.