Lesson 1
Whythe bat comes out only at night？
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第1课）
Long, long ago, there was a warbetween the birds and the beasts. No one knows what they fought about.
The bat did not know whose side heshould take. He thought and thought, then decided he must try to be on the sideof the winners.
So he watched from far away. After awhile, it seemed that the birds were going to win. He flew over to join them.
“What on earth are you doing here?” abird shouted at him.
“Can’t you see I’m a bird?” the batsaid with a smile. “Look, I have swings, just like you.”
“Come along, then,” said the bird.“Don’t hide behind others.”
But things changed soon. Now it seemedthat the beasts were winning. So the bat left the birds in a hurry and wentover to the beasts.
“What are you doing on our side?” andanimal called out to him. “Are you spying on us?”
“Don’t you know I’m one of you?” askedthe bat, showing his teeth. “Look. Can’t you see I’ve got teeth, too?”
“Who are trying to fool?” said theanimals. “We saw you fighting on the side of the birds just now.”
So the beasts drove him off. Of coursethe birds refused to take him back.
When the beasts and the birds sawneither side could win, they decided to stop fighting.
Neither beasts nor birds would havethe bat as their friend, so he was afraid to leave his home. Ever since then,he comes out only at night.
Lesson 2
NathanHale
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第2课）
The young American stood quietly whilethe British guards searched his clothes. They found nothing. “If they don’tfind the maps in my boot,” he thought, “maybe they will let me go. Then I’lltry to send the maps to General Washington.”
“Take off your boots,” one of theguards ordered. The American’s heart beat faster. He took off his boots andhanded them to the guard.
The guard looked inside one boot, thenanother.
“Use your knife, man!” ordered theBritish officer nearby.
The guard brought out his knife andcut one boot open. He stopped suddenly and the American knew what it meant. Themaps of the British army’s defence works!
The guards took the American toGeneral Howe. The general looked at the maps. “I see you’ve made some drawingof our defence works,” he said. “This can only mean one thing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you have anything to say foryourself?”
“No, nothing.”
“What’s your name?”
“Nathan Hale.”
“Rank?”
“Captain.”
The general studied the maps a fewmore minutes. “Captain Hale,” he said finally. “I’ve never seen such finedrawings. You know, we could use a man like you. Why not join us? You don’thave to worry about rank or pay.”
Nathan Hale looked straight at thegeneral. “Nothing could make me turn against my country!”
“Then there’s only one thing I can do,you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You will be hanged as a spy earlytomorrow morning.”
* * *
Nathan Hale looked around as a Britishsoldier put the rope around his neck.
“Now, Nathan Hale,” said the Britishofficer. “Let’s hear what you have to say before you die.”
Nathan Hale took a last look at hisbeautiful country and said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose formy country.”
Lesson 3
Aquestion of pronunciation
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第3课）
This happened in
A Frenchman had caught a very badcold. He coughed day and night. So he decided to go and get some medicine forhis cough. As he did not know much English, he got out his dictionary andlooked up the word “cough”. But the dictionary did not tell him how topronounce the word. He thought it over and remembered that he had learned theword “plough”. He remembered that it was pronounced [plau]. So he thought thatc-o-u-g-h must be pronounced [kau].
The he put on his coat and hat andwent to a chemist’s shop. When the man in the shop asked him what he wanted,the Frenchman said:
“I want something for my cow, please.”
The man in the shop looked at him. Hadhe heard him correctly?
“I beg your pardon, sir?” he asked.
The Frenchman repeated: “I want somemedicine for my cow.”
“For your cow?” asked the man. “Areyou a farmer?”
“A farmer?” said the Frenchman insurprise. “What makes you think I’m a farmer? I come from
“Where’s your cow, then?” asked theman in the shop.
“It’s here!” replied the Frenchman. Heput his hand on his chest and began to cough. “Here it is!” he said. “I’ve avery bad cow here.”
Then the man in the shop understoodwhat the Frenchman meant. He wanted some medicine for his cough.
Lesson 4
TheArab in the desert
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第4课）
An Arab was walking alone through thedesert when he met two men. The men looked worried. It seemed that they hadlost something. The Arab went over to them.
“Have you lost one of your camels?” heasked them.
“Yes,” they said.
“Was he blind in the right eye andlame in the left foot?” asked the Arab.
“Yes, he was?
“Had he lost a tooth and was hecarrying corn?”
“Yes,” said the men. “Please tell uswhere he is.”
“I don’t know where he is,” said theArab. “I’ve never seen such an animal.”
“Did someone tell you about him?”
“No.”
The two men looked at each other insurprise. They could not believe the Arab’s words. Finally, they came up closeto him, took hold of him, and shouted:
“Where’s the animal? And what have youdone with our goods?”
The Arab insisted that he had neverseen the camel. At last the men took him before a judge. They said that theArab had stolen their camel.
“I’ve never seen their camel,”insisted the Arab. “But I’m a man of the desert, and I’ve learned to lookcarefully at everything I see. This morning I saw the tracks of a lost camel. Iknew this because there were no man’s tracks near those of the camel. I alsosaw that the camel must be blind in the right eye, because he had only eatenthe grass on his left side and had not touched the grass on his right. Theanimal was lame because with one foot he left a track much lighter that any ofthe others. He had lost a tooth, because wherever he ate grass, there wasalways a small space left untouched. I also found groups of ants near thetracks of the camel. They were pulling pieces of corn. From these facts I wasable to tell what goods the animal was carrying.”
The judge and the two men weresatisfied with what the Arab had said. Together the four men set out to lookfor the lost animal.
Lesson 5
Theseagulls of
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第5课）
More than a hundred years ago, a groupof men, women and children moved from the east to the west. They had traveled along way. At last these brave people came to the great mountains by the saltlake. They crossed the mountains and reached this quiet place. They decided tostay here, and so they built their homes and made their farms. This was where
The people had to work hard on theirfarms, because their lives depended on their crops.
One day while they were working in thefields, some farmers saw something strange in the sky.
“What’s that?” asked one of them.
“Where?” asked another, as he stoppedto look.
“Over there,” was the reply.
They saw something like a cloudcoming, but it was too low in the sky. As they watched, it came nearer andnearer. Suddenly a shout went up: “Locusts! Millions of them!”
The words put fear into the hearts ofall, because they knew what locusts could do, and they had never seen so manyof them before.
In no time the locusts came down andstarted eating everything – the wheat, the corn, the grass and even the leaveson the trees.
The farmers brought out things tofight the locusts. They tried everything. But while they were killing thelocusts in one place, millions more arrived in another. What could the farmersdo?
Suddenly there was a great noise. Asthey looked up, they saw another cloud coming towards them. To their surprise,they saw not locusts this time, but seagulls. The farmers cried out, “They’vecome to eat what the locusts have left.”
But to their joy, they found that theseagulls had come to eat not the crops, but the locusts. They had seen orsmelled the locusts and had come from the
The people were very thankful. Theydecided that from then on no one should ever kill a seagull. And today, if yougo to
Lesson 7
ThePyramids
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第7课）
Thousand of years ago, the kings of
There are around 80 pyramids in
When you look at the pyramids, youcan’t help wondering how the Egyptians were able to build them thousands ofyears ago. How did they cut, carry and lift such huge stones? Each stone fitsso well, yet they didn’t have our modern machines! Scientists have studied thepyramids, but nobody can tell just how the Egyptians build them so long ago.
Inside the pyramids are the rooms forthe bodies of the kings and queens. There are lots of wonderful treasures inthe pyramids, too. Thieves have broken into some of the pyramids and taken awaymany of the treasures to foreign countries. They have even stolen the mummies.Today some of the mummies and treasures are on show in museums in differentcountries. When the kings had the pyramids built for them, they perhaps neverthought this would happen.
Lesson 8
Oncea thief, always a thief?
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第8课）
Mr Smith, the boss of a small factory,once hired a young worker called John Hill. On the first day, Mr Smith tookJohn to one of his workshops and introduced him to the other workers. Themen introduced themselves to John and showed him around the factory. Then Johnstarted to work.
John was good at his job. Soon he gota rise. And he got on well with his workmates. He hoped they could like him.
But one morning John noticed that hisworkmates were looking at him and talking in low voices. Then Bob, one of hisworkmates, came up to him and asked whether it was true that he had been athief and had just come out of prison. John’s heart sank. He had been afraid ofthis all along. He told them that he had been in prison, but he was no longer athief and wanted to forget the past.
The workers went to Mr Smith and askedhim to fire John. Mr Smith explained to them that John had told him all abouthis past when he asked for a job in his factory. That showed John was honest. Sincea lot of people make mistakes in life, Mr Smith wanted to give John a chance.The workers went back and John stayed. But after that they were not as friendlyto him as before.
One afternoon about a week later, Bobcould not find his wallet. He went to John and asked whether he had seen hiswallet. But John said he knew nothing about it. When Bob tried to catch hold ofhis arm, John hit him in the face. Bob fell to the ground and blood ran downhis nose.
Mr Smith came out to see what was happening.The workers again asked him to let John go. They said they would all leave ifJohn stayed. Mr Smith knew what that would mean. So he had to give in and saysorry to John.
Just at that moment, in came a woman.It was Bob’s wife. She called out, “Bob, you forgot your wallet when you lefthome this morning. I thought you would need it, so I brought it over to you.”
Everyone looked at Bob.
“John, I…I’m sorry,” said Bob with ared face.
“John, I want to apologize-for usall,” said Mr Smith. “Please stay with us. This is a lesson for Bob, for me,and for all of us.”
Lesson 9
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第9课）
Thomas Edison was born in 1847. Whenhe was a child, he liked to find out how things worked. One day when he wasfive, his father saw him sitting on some eggs, and asked what he was doing thatfor. Tom did not reply. Instead, he asked his father why he was not able tohatch chickens while hens could.
Young Tom was in school for only threemonths. During those three months, he asked a lot of questions. Most of themhad nothing to do with his lessons. His teacher did not understand why the boyhad so many strange questions. He told Tom’s mother that Tom was not bright andwas not worth teaching. His mother took him out of school and taught himherself. The boy read a lot. He became very interested in science.
By the time he was ten, he had alreadybuilt a chemistry lab for himself. He planted vegetables in his garden and soldthem to buy what he needed for his lab.
Once his mother was ill and she sentfor a doctor. The doctor said she needed an operation at once. But it was nightand the lamp in the room gave poor light.
At the age of twelve,
One day in August, 1862,
Lesson 10
Dr.Bethune
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第10课）
It was late on the night of October20, 1939, when Dr. Bethune was busy working in a field hospital. An EighthRoute Army man riding a horse came from the front. He told Dr. Bethune that thefront was in great need of medical workers. Immediately, Dr. Bethune set offwith a medical team.
On their way, they met a group ofwounded Eighth Route Army men. They took the wounded soldiers into a smalltemple at once and Bethune began to operate on them.
Dr. Bethune went on working throughoutthe night. When someone asked him to have a rest, he just went on workings. Tohim, the most important thing was to save lives. He had no time to think aboutrest.
Thenext day while an operation was going on, a yong man ran in and said to thedoctors, “Several hundred enemy soldiers are coming.” Soon they heard the soundof guns. But Dr. Bethune still went on with his work.
Twenty minutes later, when Bethune wasoperating on the leg of the last wounded soldier, the guns sounded much closer.Again the young man rushed in and told Dr. Bethune not to go on operating anymore. “Comrade Bethune, you must leave now!” he said.
“Let me go on with the operation,”said one of the doctors. “You must leave rught now, Dr. Bethune. Hurry!”
“Please go, doctor,” begged thewounded soldier himself. “It’s not a bad wound. Take me with you, or leave mehere, but please go before the enemy comes.”
“Never mind, my boy, it won’t takelong,” said Dr. Bethune. “If I spend a few more minutes on it now, I can saveyour leg. But if I don’t, you’ll lose it.”
The guns sounded still closer now, butDr. Bethune worked on. He and the other doctors did not leave until theoperation was over.
By that time the Japanese were alreadyvery near. As Bethune and the other doctors were climbing the hills, they couldsee the enemy entering the village in the valley below.
Lesson 11
Thefisherman and the genie
（80年代初中英语课本第五册第11课）
Once upon a time there was an oldfisherman. He went fishing very early every morning, but he never cast his netmore than four times a day.
One morning, he went out early to thesea. He cast his net for the first time, and drew in the body of an animal. Hecast it a second time, and drew in an old basket full of sand. He cast it athird time, and drew in a lot of stones. It seemed he would have nothing totake home that morning.
Day had now broken, and he cast hisnet for the last time. After some time, he began do draw the net in. He foundit was very heavy. But there were not any fish in it. Instead he found a jarwith a lid. He shook the jar, but could hear nothing. So he took off the lidand looked inside. He could see nothing. After a while a light smoke cameslowly out of the jar. Then little by little, the smoke grew hearvier andthicker until finally it turned into a terrible Genie!
“Get down on your knees,” said theGenie, “for I’m going to kill you.”
“Why? Didn’t I set you free from thejar?”
“That’s why I’m going to kill you, butI’ll let you choose how you’re going to die.”
“But why?”
“Listen, and I will tell you mystory.”
“I was one of the spirits in heaven.But I did not want to obey Solomon’s orders. So one day, he put me in this jarand threw it into the sea.
“During the first hundred years of mystay in the sea, I made a promise that if anyone set me free I would make himvery rich. But no one came. During the second hundred years, I promised that ifanyone set me free I would show him all the treasures in the earth. But stillno one came. During the third hundred years, I promised that if anyone came toset me free, I would make him king over the earth.
“Still no one came. Then I became veryangry, and decided that if anyone should set me free I would kill him at once.Now you have come and set me free. So you must die, but I will let you say howyou want to die.”
The fisherman was not frightened. Hesaid: “Since I must die, I must. But before I die, answer me one question.”
“All right, but be quick.”
“Were you really in the jar? You areso big and the jar is so small that it could hardly hold one of your feet.”
“Of course I was in the jar. Don’t youbelieve me?”
“No, and I won’t until I’ve seen youin the jar with my own eyes.”
When he heard this, the Genie changedagain into smoke. Slowly the smoke went back into the jar. When all of it wasin the jar, the fisherman quickly put the lid on and threw it back into thesea.
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