1、 小學(xué)民間故事閱讀之second thoughts小學(xué)英語(yǔ)閱讀 為您整理了小學(xué)民間故事閱讀之second thoughts，希望和您一起探討和學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)! second thoughts day one tuesday, june 15 at high noon a large spaceship floated gently down out of a blue sky to land on the front lawn of the white house. it rested motionless for the next five hours while the white house

2、hummed with activity. the president was evacuated and then the military moved in with troops, tanks and helicopters. stealth fighters roared overhead. both congress and the united nations called emergency sessions as a frightened world held its breath. at exactly 5:00 p.m. eastern time, a small door

3、 opened in the side of the craft and a human-like creature stepped out. as beings go, it wasnt that alarming. about three feet tall, it had a large head atop a small body with two spindly legs. and there were feather-like appendages growing from its head as well as from what could have been a tail i

4、f it were a bird. but it moved like a human and wore a one-piece uniform of a gold metallic material that sparkled in the sun. walking to the nearest soldier, it stopped short, its two unnaturally large eyes blinking twice. then in perfect english with a high-pitched voice, it said, take me to your

5、esteemed leader. after much military and political consternation, the request was granted. standing before the president of the united states, who was seated at his desk in the oval office surrounded by half a dozen secret agents, the little being bowed. president and chief commander, i humbly come

6、to you as ambassador facilitator for an ancient and distinguished race. please realize that youre dealing with beings of such power that their purpose must be friendly or youd have already been destroyed in my humble estimation. it paused to scratch the base of a head feather. i myself am mooba. my

7、kind are respected throughout the universe as the finest of translators. i must tell you that the xxlepis ship has been moored at the edge of your solar system for a year now while ive been studying your languages and customs on their behalf. i know all there is to know about all of you, in my humbl

8、e opinion. the president smiled halfheartedly, should i find that comforting? mooba brightened, of course. because im thorough i rarely make mistakes. he shrugged. ill admit to a few, but none that wasnt rectified. im sorry to in form you that yours is not the only species i considered for contact o

9、n this planet. there are some others more appealing, but yours is the most intelligent. and yours is also the only species believing themselves in charge. the presidents eyebrows lifted at such a statement. mooba continued, for purposes of decorum, tomorrow i will teach you about the xxlepis. his to

10、p feathers suddenly stiffened. be forewarned. although highly evolved intellectually, the xxlepis are emotionally fragile and quick to perceive imaginary insults if decorum isnt carefully followed. theyre quirky that way-easily offended. and if you offend them you will not reap the benefits they can

11、 bestow. fair enough the president agreed, but his expression was one of puzzlement. the conversation was over. day two wednesday, june 16 the next day two soldiers were sent to escort mooba back to the white house, but he wasnt on the spaceship. instead, when the president with his staff and secret

12、 agents arrived at the meeting room, mooba was already there. without anyone noticing, he had left the spaceship, slipped through a ring of military, a mob of reporters and white house staff to find the secured meeting room no one had told him about the day before. it unnerved the president and part

13、icularly his secret agents. standing at the back of the room mooba waited for everyone to get settled. then he abruptly began, the first thing to do when introduced.is to bow. some of your human cultures already practice that formality. and the second thing after bowing. is to do nothing. he paused

14、for emphasis. its best, sir president, to allow me to do all the talking, particularly in the beginning. the xxlepis themselves rarely speak because words to them are sacred. they believe that by saying less, what is said increases in value. so speaking only at the end of a conversation is a sign of

15、 respect. of course, in my humble opinion, that makes for very short conversations. it was hard to tell if mooba was joking so no one laughed. the alien continued. the xxlepis find it difficult dealing with other cultures, so they take great care to insulate themselves. in addition to being their tr

16、anslator i serve as a filter to shield their refined sensibilities-but still i must be accurate and complete. not an easy job, in my humble opinion. the xxlepis are emotional, you see. despite all their sophistication, they just want to be loved and they cant handle rejecti on. i think you humans ca

17、n appreciate that. he watched as one of the staff arose and walked to a table at the side of the room pouring himself a cup of coffee. whats that? the president smiled. its coffee, a common beverage. and theres also donuts. would you like some? moobas top feathers twitched excitedly. certainly. he s

18、tepped quickly across the room and to everyones surprise gulped down a whole carafe of hot coffee. then he grabbed several donuts. returning to the front of the room, he noisily smacked his lips. powdered sugar from the donuts had somehow ended up on his chin. it was a comical sight that everyone po

19、litely ignored. that was tasty, he said, in my humble opinion. now, let me explain more about the xxlepis. having mastered the mysteries of science and technology, they have returned to the arts, particularly their poetry. they are on a quest for new forms of expression. for example, the 20 ways an

20、elephant calls to its young or the 59 words the eskimos use for snow. whether or not a language is written or spoken is of secondary importance. the xxlepis take pleasure in converting all manner of creature communication into just the right word with a precise meaning and contextual flavor to be us

21、ed in their poetry. so they traverse the universe in search of communication to define new words because, to them, only words have true value. personally, i think its because words convey emotions. speaking of value. mooba stopped mid-thought. ah. could i have more coffee? sir, theres no more coffee

22、, said one of the agents addressing the president. the president waved his hand. well then, please get another carafe. itll only take a minute. the agent left the room. through the door, which had not fully closed, squeezed a short, rotund basset hound. it went immediately to the president wagging i

23、ts tail while casting side-glances at mooba. hi there, sally, the president gently stroked the dogs back. mooba, this is my dog. she just had puppies four weeks ago. what do you think of her? mooba was quite interested, particularly when sally left the president to approach him, her tail still waggi

24、ng. he bent over so that his face was almost level with the dogs and she licked the sugar off his chin. his head feathers danced wildly. i like her, he said and then made a noise somewhere between a bark and a whine. it startled everyone in the room, but sally woofed in response. nb sp; suddenly, the agent with the coffee appeared. heres the coffee, sir. at that point sally was let out of the room. mooba drank more coffee, after wh