College English Intensive Reading 1 (Unit 5)

Christmas was coming.  I wanted a pony.  To make sure that my par-
     ents understood, I declared that I wanted nothing else.
           "Nothing but a pony?"my father asked.
           "Nothing, "I said.
  5       "Not even a pair of high boots?"
           That was hard.  I did want boots,  but I stuck to the pony. "No,  not
     even boots . "
         "Nor candy?  There ought to be  something to fill  your  stocking with,
     and Santa Claus can't put a pony into a stocking. " .
10     That was true, and  he  couldn't  lead a  pony down the chimney either.
     But no. "All  I want  is a pony. "I said. "If  I can't  have a  pony,  give  me
     nothing, nothing. "
          On Christmas  Eve I  hung  up  my  stocking  along  with  my  sisters' .
          The next  morning  my sisters  and  I  woke up at six.  Then we raced
15 downstairs to  the  fireplace.  And  there  they were,  the gifts,  all sorts of
     wonderful things, mixed-up piles of presents. Only my stocking was emp-
     ty;  it  hung  Iimp;  not a  thing  in  it;  and  under and around  it -- nothing.
     My sisters had knelt down, each by her pile of gifts; they were crying with
     delight, till they looked up and saw me standing there looking so miserable.
20 They came over to me and felt my stocking: nothing.
           I don't remember whether I cried at  that  moment,  but my sisters did.
     They ran with  me  back to my bed;  and there  we all criey till I became in
     dignant. That  helped some.  I got  up,  dressed,  and  driving  my  sisters
     away, I went out alone into the stable, and there, all by myself, I wept.
25 My mother came out to me and she tried to comfort me. But I wanted no
     comfort. She left me.and went on into the house with sharp words for my
     father.
          My sisters. came to me,. and I was rude. I ran away from them. I went
     around to the front of the house, sat dadown  on the steps, and the crying
30 over , I ached . I was wronged, I was hurt : And my father must have been
     hurt,  too,  a little I saw him looking out of  the window.  He was watching
     me or something for an hour or two,  drawing back the curtain so little lest
     I catch him, but I saw his  face, and I think I can see now the anxiety upon
     it, the worried impatience.
35       After an hour or two,  I caught sight of  a  man riding a pony down the
     street,  a pony  and a brand--new saddle;  the  most beautiful saddie  I ever
     saw, and it was a boy's saddle. And the pony ! As he drew near, I saw that
     the  pony was really a  small  horse,  with  a  black  mane and tail,  and one
     white  foot  and  a white  star on  his forehead.  For such  a horse  as that I
40 would have given anything.
           But the man  came  along,  reading  the numbers on the houses, and, as
     my hopes - my impossible hopes - rose, he looked at our door and passed
     by,  he and the pony, and the saddle. Too much,  I  fell upon the steps and
     broke into tears. Suddenly I heard a voice.
45        "Say, kid,"it said, "do you know a boy named Lennie Steffens"
            I looked up. It was the man on the pony, back again.
           "Yes, "I spluttered through my tears. "That's me. "
           "Well, "he said, "then this is your horse. I've been Iooking all over for
     you  and  your house.  Why don't  you  put  your number where it can be
50 seen? "
           "Get down, "I said, running out to him. I wanted to ride.
           He went on saying something about "ought to have got here at seven
     o'clock, but --"
     I hardly heard,  I  could scarcely wait.  I  was  so  happy,  so  thrilled.  I
55 rode off up the street. Such a beautiful pony.  And mine!  After a while I 
     turned and trotted back to the stable. There was the family, father, moth-
     er, sisters, all working for me, all happy. They had been putting .in place
     the tools of my new business: currycomb, brush, pitchfork - everything,
     and there was hay in the loft.
           But that Christmas, which my father had planned so carefully, was it
60 the best or the worst I ever knew? He often asked me that ; I never could
     answer as a boy.  I  think now that it was both.  It covered the whole dis-
     tance  from broken--hearted misery to bursting  happiness -- too fast.  A
     grown-up could hardly have stood it.
                                                New Words
miserable/  a: causing unhappiness;very unhappy 悲惨的
merry / a.    cheerful, -full of lively happiness, fun, etc: 欢乐
   的, 愉快的
pony / n.       a small horse 矮种马；小马
boot / n.        长统靴 
candy / . n.       (AmE) sveets 糖果
stocking / n.  长（统）袜 
chimney / n.  烟筒
eve / n.         前夕
fireplace / n.             壁炉
mixed-up / a.  (different things) put together 混合的，混杂的 
limp / a.      soft;  not stiff or firm 软的 ; 松沓的
kneel / ( knelt /nelt/ ) v  go down or remain on the knee(s) 跪下
indignant / a.  angry at sth: . unfair 气愤的; 愤慨的
stable / n building for keeping and feeding animals, esp. 
      horses 马厩 
weep v.  cry 哭泣；流泪
rude / a. not at all polite 粗鲁的, 不礼貌的
wrong/ vt. treat unjustly 委屈
curtain / n.      窗帘
lest / conj.  for fear that 唯恐;以免
anxiety / n. fear caused by uncertainty about sth. 焦虑 
impatience / n. inability to wait calmly 不耐烦，急躁 , 
   patience /n.  
brand // n.         商标, 牌子
brand-new a. entirely new and unused 崭新的
saddle / n.      马鞍
mane / n.        马鬃
forehead / n.      that part of the face above the eyes and below 
    the hair 前额
kid / n.  child 
splutter / v. speak quickly and confusedly ( from excitement, 
     etc. ) 语无伦次地说 
scarcely / ad. hardly, almost not 几乎不, 简直不
   scarce/ a. 
thrill / vt.     excite greatly 使非常激动
trot / vi.      run or ride slowly, with short steps ( 马 ) 小跑
currycomb / n a special comb used to rub and clean a horse 马梳 
pitchfork / n.  干草叉
hay / n.      dried grass 干草
loft / n.   a room over a stable, where hay is kept 草料棚
broken-hearted./ a. filled with grief; very sad 心碎的; 极其伤心的
misery / n.     the state of being very unhappy, poor, ill, lone-
      ly, etc. 悲惨 ; 不幸 ; 苦难
happiness /n.   the state of being happy, 快乐, 幸福
grown-up / a. & n.  ( of ) an adult person 成人 ( 的 ) 

　
                                                  Phrases & Expressions
make sure act so as to make something certain 确保 ; 查明
nothing but nothing other than; only 除了…以外没有什么；仅仅，
      只不过
stick to  refuse to give up or change 坚持 , 不放弃 
hang up fix (sth. ) at a high place so that it does not touch the 
 ground 挂起 
or something  (used when the speaker is not sure) 诸如此类 
catch sight of see suddenly or for a moment 看到, 发现 
draw near move near 接近 
break into  suddenly start ( to cry, laugh , etc . ) 突然 "' 起来
in place in the right place 在适当的位置

　
                             proper Names
Santa Claus /      圣诞老人
Christmas Eve          圣诞前夜 
Lennie Steffens /   伦尼·斯蒂芬斯