Lesson 13 The Sky-lark (1)

Ⅰ

Where does the song come from? We are sitting on the green, open down.There are no trees near us to shelter[1]any birds; not a living creature is to be seen anywhere, except the shepherd boy,who lies on the grass, gazing up into the sky. Yet a song we do hear, certainly,—a happy joyous song: the air seems quite full of it; where can the singer be?

Look up, look up; it is the sky-lark’s song, and there is the sky-lark itself, so high in the air that we can see it only as a dark speck against the white clouds over our heads. Now it has gone as high as it cares to go, and it is coming down again,down, down, singing all the while, till it drops like a stone a little way from us, and we get a good look at our friend at last. A brown, sober-feathered bird, a spotted breast,with just a tinge（色調(diào)）of yellow upon it, and a little crest upon its head—that is all.It has no particular beauty. God meant the lark for singing, and sing it does, with all its might.

Most birds sing their song through, and then stop a minute, as if to take breath;but the sky-lark, all the time it is in the air, never pauses, and never seems to tire. Most birds sing upon a bough, but the sky-lark sings in the air. It never perches[2] on a tree. Its claws are straight, so that it could not clasp the spray; they are made for running swiftly through the thick grass or clover[3] where it lives and makes its nest.

It has a relation, the wood-lark, which lives partly on trees and partly on the ground; but the sky-lark itself is never seen upon a tree. If it is not singing in the air, it is down in some lowly spot upon the ground. That is where it always springs from; as if to teach you and me that the humblest[4] place is, after all, the nearest to heaven.

The sky-lark sings nearly all the year round. As soon as the first daisy opens its yellow eye, the lark thinks it is full time for it to begin its work too. By-and-by the primrose[5] peeps out from its crisp crinkled leaves, and then it sings more cheerily still.Then comes the honey-suckle[6], then the wild-rose of summer; the corn-fields turn yellow, the apples grow red, the leaves fade and presently fall. All the while the skylark sings on, and its song blends with every season; it seems to say out for us what we feel in our hearts, and to thank God for us for the summer flowers and the autumn fruits.

The sky-lark is an early riser;it makes a point of springing up to greet the morning sun. It sings at intervals all the day long; and, as the sun sinks[7] in the west it sinks down too, into its grassy home, to begin the day again just the same tomorrow.

For a nest, it simply lines ahole in the ground with dry stalks and bits of grass; and there it lays five or six dark mottled[8] brown eggs. It chooses its situation in the meadow or cloverfield,or even on the open down. Yet the nest is not so often found as you may suppose;and even if once found, it is difficult to hit upon the same spot again.

(592 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Note the reason] The sky-lark doesn’t perch on trees because________ .

A. it doesn’t need any pauses while singing

B. it prefers the thick grass rather than trees

C. its claws can’t hold the branch tightly

2. [Evaluate the information] What does the sky-lark teach us by springing from the ground?

A. The humblest place is the nearest to heaven.

B. The wood-lark is different from the sky-lark.

C. Singing in the air is worse than that on the ground.

3. [Check the details] How many eggs does the sky-lark lay once?

A. Five. B. Six. C. Five or six.

Ⅱ. Read for words

1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.

(1) God meant the lark for singing, and sing it does, with all its might. (Para. 2)

A. 意欲 B. 創(chuàng)造 C. 溺愛

(2) Its claws are straight, so that it could not clasp the spray. (Para. 3)

A. destroy B. keep away from C. hold tightly

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.

(1) All the while the sky-lark sings on, and its song blends with every season…(Para. 5)

A. keeps pace with

B. mixes and combine together

C. has nothing to do with

(2) …it makes a point of springing up to greet the morning sun. (Para. 6)

A. puts an emphasis on

B. has a relief

C. starts

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