【課文】
    Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece. One of Mary's prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her. She kept it tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening. One evening, however, the lamb was missing. The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen.
    When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him what had happened. Dimitri at once set out to find the thief. He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village. After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb. Dimitri immediately went to Aleko's house and angrily accused him of stealing the lamb. He told him he had better return it or he would call the police. Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard. It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him. While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed in Aleko's house until the rain stopped. When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find the little black lamb was almost white. Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain!
    【課文翻譯】
    瑪麗與丈夫迪米特里住在希臘南部一個(gè)叫波拉考拉的小村莊里?，旣愓滟F的財(cái)產(chǎn)之一就是丈夫送給她的一只白色小羔羊。白天，瑪麗把羔羊拴在地里的一顆樹(shù)上，每天晚上把它牽回家?？墒?，一天晚上，那只小羔羊失蹤了。繩子被人割斷，很明顯小羔羊是被人偷了。
    迪米特里從地里回來(lái)，妻子把情況跟他一說(shuō)，他馬上出去找偷羔羊的人。他知道在這樣一個(gè)小村莊里抓住小偷并不困難。把失竊的事告訴幾個(gè)朋友后，迪米特里發(fā)出他的鄰居阿列科家突然多了一只小羔羊。迪米特里立刻去了阿列科家，氣呼呼地指責(zé)他偷了羔羊，告訴他好把羊交還，否則就去叫警察。阿列科不承認(rèn)，并把迪米特里領(lǐng)進(jìn)院子。不錯(cuò)，他的確剛買了一只羔羊，阿列科解釋說(shuō)，但他的羔羊是黑色的。迪米特里為自己的魯莽而感到不好意思，向阿列科道了歉，說(shuō)是錯(cuò)怪了他。就在他倆說(shuō)話的時(shí)候，天下起了雨，迪米特里便呆在阿列科家里避雨，一直等到雨停為止。半小時(shí)后，當(dāng)他從屋里出來(lái)時(shí)，他驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)小黑羔羊全身幾乎都變成白色。原來(lái)羊毛上染的黑色被雨水沖掉了!
    【生詞和短語(yǔ)】
    prize adj. 珍貴的，寶貴的
    tie v. 拴，系
    theft n. 偷盜行為，偷盜案
    accuse v. 指控
    deny v. 否認(rèn)
    ashamed adj. 感到羞恥，慚愧
    apologize v. 道歉
    dye v. 染
    【知識(shí)點(diǎn)】
    詞匯
    【prize】
    例句：
    A guitar is probably the most prize possession for a rock singer.
    【tie】
    英英：fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord
    例句：
    1.He stooped to tie his shoes.
    他彎下腰來(lái)系鞋帶。
    2.We need some rope to tie up the boat with.
    我們需要用繩子把船系住。
    3.Tie the two ropes together with a secure knot.
    將兩條繩子打個(gè)結(jié)實(shí)的結(jié)系在一起。
    【accuse】
    英英：blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against
    例句：
    1.Critics of the Forum accuse it of being too closely associated with business interests.
    批評(píng)這個(gè)論壇的人士譴責(zé)它與商業(yè)利益聯(lián)系過(guò)于緊密。
    2.Refugees accuse both government troops and rebels of burning villages in Burundi .
    難民們對(duì)政府軍和叛軍焚燒村莊的行動(dòng)表示譴責(zé)。
    3.Why he blames this moral codes? Even accuse them for "killing human individuality"?
    他為什么譴責(zé)這些禮教，甚至說(shuō)它們“扼殺人的個(gè)性”呢?
    【deny】
    英英：declare untrue, contradict
    例句：
    1.American officials deny any such apology was given.
    美方官員否認(rèn)了該說(shuō)法。
    2.The President refused to either confirm or deny this rumor.
    總統(tǒng)拒絕證實(shí)或否認(rèn)這種傳聞。
    3.Whatever is causing it, there's no longer any way to deny that global warming is for real.
    不管是什么原因造成的，但已經(jīng)不能再否定全球變暖已經(jīng)成為事實(shí)。
    近義：object, refuse
    【ashamed】
    還原：shame→ashame→ashamed
    例句：
    1.Don't be ashamed of your flaws.
    不要認(rèn)為你的缺點(diǎn)很羞恥。
    2.Joan was ashamed of her rudeness.
    瓊為自己的無(wú)禮感到慚愧。