JAN AND KATRINA ON THE DIKES

 
Jan and Katrina like to run on the dike¹. It is wide, and quite like a road. They take Rink and the cart up on the dike too.

Rink likes to run on the dike. He likes to feel the fresh air blow in from the sea.

When they are up on the dike, Jan and Katrina can see all around. They can see far, far away. They can look out over the broad ocean. They see the big boats and the little boats sailing to and fro.

Jan points to the ocean and says,[53] “Katrina, away, away over the ocean, where those big boats are sailing, is America. American boys and girls live there. It is a fine country and very large.”

“Do you think we will ever go to America, Jan?” asks little Katrina.

“Perhaps, some day,” answers Jan.

When Jan and Katrina are up on the dike, they can look over their [54]own land. They can see the canals and the bridges and the boats.

They can see the beautiful gardens. They can see the bright houses, and the big windmills that whirl² round and round.

They can see the girls tending geese in the fields. They can see the black and white cows eating grass in the meadows³. They can see the men with their dog-carts going along the road to town.

1 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

2 whirl   

v.使...旋转，急转，回旋，迅速移动；n.回旋，旋转，繁忙，混乱，尝试

参考例句：

• The dancer suddenly made a whirl.那位舞蹈演员突然做了一个旋转动作。
• My thoughts were in a whirl.我的思想一片混乱。

3 meadows   

草地，牧场， （河边的）低洼地( meadow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The trail wends its way through leafy woodland and sunny meadows. 这条小径穿过葱郁的林区和洒满阳光的草地。
• They have railed the meadows off from the new railway cutting. 他们已用栏杆把草地和新铁道的路堑隔离开来。