Lesson 2 Thirteen equals one 十三等于一
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
Was the vicar pleased that the clock was striking? Why?
Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."
We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'
參考譯文
我們教區的牧師總是為各種各樣的事籌集資金。但始終未能籌足資金把教堂的鐘修好。教堂的鐘很大，以前不分晝夜打點報時，但很多年前遭到毀壞，從此便無聲無息了。
一天夜里，我們的牧師突然被驚醒了，大鐘又在“打點”報時了！他一看表，才1點鐘，可是那鐘一邊敲了13下才停。牧師拿著一支電筒走上鐘樓想去看看究竟發生了什么事情。借著電筒光。他看見一個人，馬上認出那是本地雜貨店主經比爾.威爾金斯。
“你究竟在這上面干什么，比爾？”牧師驚訝地問。
“我想把這口鐘修好，”比爾回答說。“好幾個星期了，我天天夜里到鐘樓上來。嗯，我是想讓你大吃一驚。”
“你確實使我大吃了一驚！”牧師說，“也許同時你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不過，鐘又能報時了，我還是很高興的。”
“問題就在這里，牧師，”比爾回答說。“不錯，鐘能報時了，但是，恐怕每到1點鐘，它總要敲13下，對此我已無能為力了。”
“大家慢慢就習慣了，比爾，”牧師說。“13下是不如1下好，但總比1下也不敲強。來，咱們下樓去喝杯茶吧。”
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
equal
v. 等于
vicar
n. 牧師
raise
v. 募集，籌（款）
torchlight
n. 電筒光
Notes on the text課文注釋
1 woke up with a start:…
with a start，由于受到驚動，驚醒了。冒號后面是一個解釋性的分句，是對start所作的具體說明。
2 recognize as，認出是。
3 Whatever are you doing up here?你究竟在這上面干什么，
whatever用于疑問句中，用以加強what的語氣，作“究竟什么”解，口語中很常用。
4 You certainly did give me a surprise!你確實使我感到意外!
在英語中助動詞do可以用來表示強調。此時助動詞do放在謂語動詞之前。
5 Thirteen is not as good as one, but it is better than nothing.
敲13下雖然不如敲1下好，但總比1下不敲強多了。
Lesson 2 課后練習和答案Exercises and Answer
