【生词预览】

violent猛烈的，thunderstorm雷暴，tuck给⋯盖被子，tremor颤抖，sissy胆小鬼

【笑话原文】

A Big Sissy

One summer evening, during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?”

The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear, ” she said, “I have to sleep with Daddy.”

A long silence was broken at last by a scornful voice saying, “The big sissy. ”

【中文译文】

老胆小鬼
一个夏天的夜晚，雷电交加，一位母亲正在给她的儿子盖被子。她正要关灯，儿子用颤抖的声音问：“妈妈，晚上你会和我一起睡吗？”

妈妈笑了笑，给了儿子一个安慰的拥抱。“不行，亲爱的，”她说，“我得和你爸爸一起睡。”

长长的沉默被小男孩儿充满鄙视的一句话打破了：“真是个老胆小鬼。”

【词汇讲解】
1. Violent 暴力的，猛烈的：a violent clash with the police 与警察的暴力冲突， violent television programmes 暴力电视节目

2. Thunderstorm 雷暴。thunder 是“雷”，storm是“风暴”，这个合成词就是“雷暴”的意思。

3. Tuck给…盖被子： tuck a baby into bed 给婴儿盖好被子使其安睡；把…夹入：He tucked the letter in a book so he wouldn’t lose it.他把那封信夹在一本书里，这样就不会丢失了。

4. be about to将要，而用于否定句中则是“打定主意要”的意思：He was not about to waste any time.他决定不再浪费时间了。

5. tremor(恐惧、激动或兴奋引起的)战栗、激动、兴奋：The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine(脊柱)。这故事真可怕，使我浑身不寒而栗。

6. scornful轻视的。有“轻视的”之意的词还有：contemptuous,dspiteous.