The Efficient Cat能干的猫

　　读故事

　　The editor was walking to work from his home near the mountain when suddenly he heard a strange echo all around.As he stopped and strained to listen, turning his ear to the wind in earnest, he wondered if there might be another earthquake But the sound had stopped and he thought perhaps it was his imagination, so he eased quietly along the path.Then the sound echoed around the mountain again, putting him off ease, but it seemed different this time.After a few more steps he found a baby eagle with a deep voice, not yet old enough to fly.So he took it to his office and thought he would educate it.His job was to edit each edition of an animal magazine.He thought his editorial experiences with this magazine would be useful for teaching the bird to talk.However, the bird wasn't even interested in studying the economy and only wanted toys.So the man found it necessary to ease off teaching the bird, and help the cat feel more at ease.The cat thought this bird was not earnest enough in trying to learn and that this affected the efficiency of their master's efforts.To prove that she was efficient in learning, the cat took up economics, and learned quite a few economic terms.The result was so effective that her master, who was usually economical, bought her a new saucer as a reward.An editorial about this great achievement also appeared in the animal magazine.

　　记单词

　　eagle 鹰

　　earnest 认真的，诚挚的，热切的

　　in earnest认真的(地)，坚定的(地)，诚挚的(地)

　　earthquake 地震

　　ease 1. 容易，不费力; 2. 悠闲，安逸，自在v 缓和，解除，减轻

　　at ease安逸，不拘束

　　ease off/up减轻，减缓

　　echo 回音，回声，共鸣vi 发出回声，产生回响vt 模仿，重复，附和

　　economic 经济的，经济上的，经济学的n 1. [～s]经济学; 2. 经济状况，经济因素，经济意义

　　economical 节约的，省俭的，经济的

　　economy 1. 经济，经济制度，经济情况; 2. 省俭，节约，充分利用

　　edit 1. 编辑，选辑，校订; 2. 主编，充任…的编辑; 3. 剪辑(影片、录音等)

　　edition 版，版本

　　editor 编辑，编者，校订者

　　editorial 1. 编辑的，主笔的，编者的; 2. 社论的，社论式的n (报刊的)社论，重要评论

　　educate 教育，培养，训练

　　effective 1. 有效的，生效的，起作用的; 2. 给人印象深刻的; 3. 实际的，事实上的

　　efficiency 效率，效能，功效

　　efficient 效率高的，有能力的

　　编辑离开山附近的家走着去上班，突然他听到四面响起奇怪的回声。他停下脚步，竖起耳朵朝上风方向认真地听着，心里纳闷，该不会又要地震吧。可声音停了下来，他想也许是自己的幻觉，因此他一边赶路一边静静地缓和了紧张的心情。这时山周围回声重又响起来，这使他又不自在起来，但这次声音好像有点不太一样。又走了几步，他发现一只声音低沉，还不会飞的雏鹰。他把它带回办公室，并打算训练它。他的工作是编辑一本动物杂志，每版都由他来编辑。他想他的杂志编辑经验对他教会那只鸟说话会有帮助。但是，这只鸟儿对学习经济根本不感兴趣，只想要玩具。这样一来编辑发现有必要减少对鸟的教学，而去帮他的猫，让它感觉更安逸。猫觉得鸟对学习不够认真，这就影响了主人的教学效率。为了证明自己在学习上更有能力，猫学起了经济学，并学会了不少经济学术语。结果它的努力很有效，通常很节约的主人甚至给它买了一只新碟子作为奖励。关于这一巨大成就，动物杂志还刊登了一篇重要评论。