小故事

How to Cross a River
怎样过河
One day three men were walking along and come upon a raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but couldn't figure out how to cross it.
一天，三个男人走着走着来到一条湍急的河流前。他们要到河对岸去，却想不出怎样过河。
The first man prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength, courage and abilit to cross thiss river."
第一个人对上帝祷告道：“上帝啊，请赐给我力量、勇气和能力让我渡过这条河。”
Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours.
噗的一声——上帝给了他强壮的四肢，他在两个小时后游到了对岸。
Seeing this, the second man prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength, courage and ability to cross this river."
看到这一切，第二个人对上帝祷告说：“上帝啊，请赐给我力量、勇气和能力让我渡过这条河。”
Poof! God gave him the skill to chop down a tree and fashion it into a rowboat; he was able to row across the river in about one and a half hours.
噗的一声——上帝给了他伐木并把树干做成划艇的技术，他花了一个半小时划着船渡过了这条河。
The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength, courage and ability to cross this river."
第三个人看到了两个同伴的祈祷的作用，于是他也对上帝祷告道：“上帝啊，请赐给我力量、勇气和能力让我渡过这条河。”
Poof! God turned him into a woman, and he walked across the bridge.
噗的一声——上帝把他变成了一个女人，他走上桥过了河。

重点讲解

重点讲解：
1. come upon
偶然碰到（或发现）；
eg. I came upon an irresistible item at a yard sale.
在一次庭院拍卖会上，我偶然发现了一个忍不住想买的东西。
eg. I come upon a group of children play in the street.
我遇到一群孩子在街上玩耍。
2. figure out
想出；理解；弄清；
eg. I can't figure out what he was hinting at.
我想不出他在暗示什么。
eg. It took her a long time to figure out who the wrongdoer was.
她用了很长时间才琢磨出谁是做坏事的人。
3. be able to do sth.
能做到某事；
eg. Women seem to be able to multitask better than men.
女性似乎比男性更擅长同时做数件事情。
eg. At last they were able to feel secure about the future.
他们终于觉得不必为将来而担忧了。
4. chop down
砍倒；伐倒；
eg. Sometimes they have to chop down a tree for firewood.
他们有时只好砍树当柴烧。
eg. Every morning the old man went out to chop down trees.
每天一早，老人就去森林伐木。
5. work out
（如期）发生；进展（顺利）；
eg. I hope it will work out well.
我希望进展顺利。
eg. The deal just isn't working out the way we were promised.
结果待遇根本不是他们对我们许诺的那样。
6. turn into
（使）变成；（使）成为；
eg. A prince turns into a frog in this cartoon fairytale.
在这个卡通童话里王子变成了一只青蛙。
eg. He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.
他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。