八年级英语拓展阅读与词汇(三)

八年级英语拓展阅读与词汇(三)
Meeting the Little Prince
《小王子》：用孩子的眼睛寻找天真与感动。

After the Little Prince wanders on other
planets, and visits Earth, a fox tells him the
true meaning of love.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry(1900-1944), France
Other famous works:
Wind, Sand and Stars 《风沙星辰》Night Flight 《夜航》
For many years, people around the world were crazy about a boy with blond hair. He is Little Prince—the main character of the loved French novel The Little Prince. French Antoine de Saint-Exupy wrote it. He was a writer, but also an airplane pilot.
In the story a pilot crashes (碰撞) his plane in the desert. He meets the Little Prince. We learn that he is on a tour of other planets (星球). He has left his planet because of an unhappy love for a beautiful rose.
The Prince has met many different people. They are all foolish. One is a king on a planet with no other people. Another is a businessman who, because he can count the stars, thinks that he owns them.
At the end, the Prince seems to die. But because he is kind he pretends that it is only his body that is dying. His soul (灵魂) will travel back to his home on the asteroid (小行星).
What can this strange story mean? We see that the pilot is a disappointed man. He is disappointed with people for turning the world into a hell. The people the Prince meets on his travels stand for the different kinds of foolishness among people on Earth.
But although the Prince dies, his spirit is a good one. He has a great heart. The message is that we should have his spirit if we wish for a better life on our planet.
Love and responsibility
When you read The Little Prince, you may think it is strange. How could a man love a rose? But The Little Prince is a fairy tale. In fairy tales (童话), there are many stories that people turn into animals and animals turn into people. Remember The Frog Prince? In the story, the princess kissed a frog and later it turned into a handsome prince!
The Little Prince is simple. But if you look deep into it, you will find a philosophy (哲学): True meaning of love. When the Prince found out that his rose is so common, a fox tells him: “It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes her so important,”the fox says. “But you become responsible (有责任感的), forever, for your rose.” In life, everyone could have a rose: your friend,
your parents … Just remember, love always stays together with responsibility.
——Word work
1. count v.数，计数
用法：count (from sth) to sth (从……)数到……；count sth up 把……加起来；count on 指望，依靠。

My niece can count up to 100.
2. pretend v.假装
用法：pretend to do/be sth 假装做某事/是某物；pretend that 假装。

She pretended not to notice.
I pretend that I understand it.
3. disappointed adj.失望的
用法：通常用人作主语，意思是“(人感到)失望的”；disappointing adj. 令人失望的，通常用物作主语。

They were disappointed with the decision.
4. spirit n.精神
用法：文中指人的态度、品质等。

还可指“精髓，灵魂”。

spirits n. 精神状态，情绪，心境。

in high/low spirits 情绪高/低。

We can learn the spirit of cooperation.
——Reading check
True or false:
1. The Little Prince was written by a French writer.
2. The Prince and the pilot are from the same planet.
3. The Prince falls in love with a beautiful rose.
4. The Prince thinks the people he meets are smart.
5. The pilot is disappointed with many people and things on Earth.
6. The Prince is kind and has a great heart.
——今日扩充词汇
1. as…as…与…….一样……
2. not as / so…as…不如……
3. in class 在课上；after class课后
4. at least 至少；at most 最多，顶多
5. at last = in the end = finally 最后
6. finish doing sth. 完成做某事
7. daily / everyday English 日常英语8. a mixed school 一所混合学校
9. among all my subjects 在我所有的学科中10. during the Reading Week 在阅读周期间11. on Friday afternoon 在周五下午12. have a day off 休息一天
13. in Year Eight = in the eighth grade 在8年级
14. look through the questions quickly快速浏览问题
15. learn about schools around the world了解全世界的学校
16. discuss = talk about 讨论；have a discussion 进行一次讨论
17. work hard 努力学习/工作(hard为副词)；work the hardest 学习/工作最刻苦
18. offer sb. sth. = offer sth. to sb. 提供某人某物；offer me help 提供我帮助
19. spend time on sth. 花时间于某事/物上；spend time doing sth. 花……时间做某事
20. keep (on) doing sth. 一直/反复做某事；keep sb. doing sth. 让/使某人一直做某事。