Lesson 15 Fifty pence worth of trouble五十便士的麻煩
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
Did George get anything for his fifty pence? What?
Children always appreciate small gifts of money. Mum or dad, of course, provide a regular supply of pocket money, but uncles and ants are always a source of extra income. With some children, small sums go a long way. If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money boxes. Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money box. For most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay for a nice big bar of chocolate.
My nephew, George, has a money box but it is always empty. Very few of the fifty pence pieces and pound coins I have given him have found their way there. I gave him fifty pence yesterday and advised him to save it. Instead he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble. On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain. George took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and pushed is right arm through the drain cover. He could not find his fifty pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could no get his arm out. A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck. The fire brigade was called and two fire fighter freed George using a special type of grease. George was not too upset by his experience because the lady who owns the sweet shop heard about his troubles and rewarded him with large box of chocolates.
參考譯文
孩子們總是喜歡得到一些零花錢。爸爸媽媽當然經常給孩子零花錢，但是，叔舅嬸姨也是孩子們額外收入來源。對于有些孩子來說，少量的錢可以花很長一段時間。 如果50便士不拿來換糖吃，則可以放在儲蓄罐里叮當響上好幾月。但是能把儲蓄罐裝滿的只有屈指可數的幾個特別節儉的孩子。對大部分孩子來說，用50便士來 買一大塊好的巧克力，是算不了什么的。
我的外甥喬治有一個儲蓄罐，但總是空空的。我給了不少50便士的硬幣，但沒有幾個存到儲蓄罐里。昨天，我給了他50便士讓存起來，卻拿這錢給自己買了50 便士的麻煩。在他去糖果店的路上，50便士掉在地上，在人行道上跳了幾下，掉進了陰溝里。喬治脫掉外套，卷起袖子，將右胳膊伸進了陰溝蓋。但他摸了半天也 沒找到那50便士硬幣，他的胳膊反倒退不出來了。這時在他周圍上了許多人，一位女士在喬治胳膊上抹了肥皂，黃油，但喬治的胳膊仍然卡得緊緊的。有人打電話 叫來消防隊，兩位消防隊員使用了一種特殊的潤滑劑才使喬治得以解脫。不過，此事并沒使喬治過于傷心，因為糖果店老板娘聽說了他遇到的麻煩后，賞給他一大盒巧克力。
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
appreciate
v. 欣賞，感激
pocket money
零用錢
rattle
v.格格作響
thrifty
adj. 節約的
nephew
n. 侄子，外甥
bounce
v. 彈起，跳起
pavement
n. 人行道
stick (stuck, stuck)
v. 卡住，夾住，不能再動
brigade
n. 旅，（消防）隊
grease
n. 潤滑油
Notes on the text課文注釋
1 with some children，介詞with此處作“對于”講。
2 go a long way，可以維持很久。
3 If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets，如果50便士的分幣役有用來換糖果的話。
exchange…for…作“以...換...”講，注意英語中的便士有兩種復數形式pence和pennies，但用法不同。如:a fifty pence 是指1個50便士的硬幣，而fifty pennies是指50個1便士的硬幣。
4 have found their way there，其中there是指儲蓄罐。find one's way在這里作"進入"講，即放到"儲蓄罐"里。
5 what is more，更有甚者。是固定詞組，此處用作插入語。
Lesson 15 課后練習和答案Exercises and Answer
