Lesson 3 Red and Black

1、“HURRAH for the sea-side!” cried Phil; “what fun I shall have with boating and bathing, and digging away in the sand! But the fishing will be the best fun of all; many a jolly red lobster shall I drag out of the sea!”

2、“Red lobsters!” cried Bill, with a loud, rude laugh; “you will be clever to catch them! If you had ever seen a lobster, as I have seen many brought in the fishermen’s baskets, you would have known that the creatures, with their strong big claws, are pretty nearly black.”

3、“None of your nonsense for me!” cried Phil; “as if I didn’t know the look of a lobster, when my aunt has lobster-salad twenty times in the year! The shell is as red as a soldier’s coat!”

4、“As black as a sweep’s!” laughed Bill.

5、Phil was so angry at being thus contradicted, that he began to look almost as red as a lobster himself. From high words the two boys were almost coming to blows, when,hearing their loud voices, Bill’s grandfather drew near.

6、“Hello! What’s the matter?” said he.

7、“Grandfather, are not lobsters black?” cried Bill.

8、“Are they not red?” shouted his friend.

9、“Ah, my lads,” said the old man, “how often it is our own ignorance that makes us believe that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves! Neither of you, it seems, is aware that lobsters are black until boiled, and that then their colour is changed.

10、“I would give Phil a sovereign for every red lobster that he could fish out of the sea, and Bill another for every black one that he could eat at the table.”

(277 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [note the fact] What colour did Phil say lobsters were?

A. Black. B. Red. C. Brown.

2. [note the fact] What colour did Bill say lobsters were?

A. Black. B. Red. C. Brown.

3. [check the details] Who heard their loud voices?

A. Phil’s father. B. Bill’s mother. C. Bill’s grandfather.

4. [check the details] When is the lobster black?

A. When it is not cooked. B. When it is boiled. C. When it is fried.

5. [check the details] When is the lobster red?

A. When it is caught. B. When it is cooked. C. Before it is boiled.

6. [grasp the main idea] What makes us often think that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves?

A. Our bravery. B. Our ignorance. C. Our rudeness.

Ⅱ. Read for words.

1. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

(1) Phil was so angry at being thus contradicted, that he began to look almost as red as a lobster himself. (Para. 5, Line 1)

A. spoken against B. agreed C. supported

(2) How often it is our own ignorance that makes us often believe that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves! (Para. 9, Line 1)

A. wide knowledge B. a lack of knowledge C. scientifi c knowledge

(3) I would give Phil a sovereign for every red lobster that he could fi sh out of the sea, and Bill another for every black one that he could eat at the table. (Para. 10,Line 1)

A. a beat B. the greatest power C. a gold coin

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions. (Para. 1, Line 1-3)

(1) Many a jolly red lobster shall I drag out of the sea!

A. One B. Many C. Few

(2) From high words the two boys were almost coming to blows ①, when, hearing their loud voices, Bill’s grandfather drew near ②. (Para. 5, Line 2-3)

① A. start fightingB. send out air from the mouth C. leave suddenly

② A. made picturesB. came nearC. attracted attention

Ⅲ. Summary writing.

In no more than 80 words, summarize the whole text according to the following questions. Do not include anything that is not in the passage.

1. What colour did Phil say lobsters were?

2. What did Bill say?

3. Who heard their loud voices?

4. What did she tell them?

5. What makes us often think that no one knows the truth so well as ourselves?