9. GRANNY'S CAP ON FIRE.

 1. I did not feel much desire to taste any food next morning. The long swim on the day before had taken away my wish for eating and drinking.

 

2. I nearly flew down to the flower which Rose had put in water, but I changed[Pg 94] my mind. On the whole I prefer the smell of jam to that of roses.

 

3. I felt that a little walk would do me good, so I went round the tray² once or twice, and then I tried to do the same thing on the tea-urn, but it was too hot for my feet.

 

4. I left that quickly enough, and after running across the toast on Mr. Sutton's plate, and crawling³ up his paper, only to be driven away, I went to the window.

 

5. Here I was so lucky as to meet a few of my friends, and we had a little dance in the sunshine, which quite brought back my health and spirits.

 

6. The day thus passed by, and it was very warm indeed later on. After tea Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were seated in the drawing-room, one on each side of a little table, with a candle between them.

 

7. The old lady was knitting⁴, and her husband was reading aloud the paper to her. I think he was reading to amuse⁵ himself more than his wife.

 

8. I could feel, as I sat on her cap, that her head was nodding now and then, as if[Pg 95] she were dozing⁶. Mr. Sutton at last saw this. And laying down the paper he said, two or three times, "You are sleepy, my dear."

 

9. Each time that he said this, granny woke up, sat very upright⁷, and said, "Oh no, not at all, my love." But she went off again to sleep as soon as the reading began.

 

10. At length she was in so sound a nap⁸ that she did not notice when Mr. Sutton put down the paper, after reading a long, dull account⁹ of something or other.

 

11. He took off his glasses, laid them on the folded paper, and saying something to himself about resting his eyes, fell fast asleep too.

 

12. Granny's head now nodded lower¹ and lower. First she gave a nod, and then her husband gave a bow, just as if they were being most polite to each other in their sleep.

 

13. Her cap was very near the wax¹⁰ candle once or twice, and there was a smell of burning. She now began to nod sideways, and each time that she did so[Pg 96] there was a great smoke and a frizzling noise.

 

Write: Rose went to spend the day with Lucy. The fly sat on the cap of the old lady. She fell asleep and the cap caught on fire.

 

Questions: 1. Where did Rose go? 2. Where did the fly stay? 3. What were Mr. and Mrs. Sutton doing that evening? 4. What did Mr. Sutton say when his wife's head nodded? 5. What did he do himself? 6. What happened to the old lady's cap?

1 lower   

adj.较低的；地位较低的，低等的；低年级的；下游的；vt.放下，降下，放低；减低

参考例句：

• Society is divided into upper,middle and lower classes.社会分为上层、中层和下层阶级。
• This price is his minimum;he refuses to lower it any further.这个价格是他开的最低价，他拒绝再作任何降价。

2 tray   

n.盘，托盘，碟

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• A waitress came in,carrying tea on a tray.一名女侍者走进来，手端放着茶的托盘。

3 crawling   

n.表面涂布不均v.爬( crawl的现在分词 )；（昆虫）爬行；缓慢行进；巴结

参考例句：

• You should be ashamed of yourself, crawling to the director like that. 你那样巴结董事，应该感到羞耻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Stubborn, self-confident Guo Zhenshan has never gone crawling to anyone. 坚强、自信、有气魄的郭振山，实在说，永远也不会向人低三下四啊！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 knitting   

n.编结物；接合，联合；[外科]骨愈合v.（使）愈合( knit的现在分词)；编结，编织；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• Weaving and knitting are traditional cottage industries. 编织和针织是传统的家庭手工业。
• manipulative skills such as typing and knitting 诸如打字、编织这样的技能

5 amuse   

v.娱乐，逗乐，使高兴，使有趣

参考例句：

• Tom makes up stories to amuse his little brother.汤姆编故事逗他的小弟弟。
• I often amuse myself with reading.我常以读书自乐。

6 dozing   

v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。

7 upright   

adj.直立的；正直的；adv.挺直着，竖立着

参考例句：

• He stood himself upright.他笔直地站着。
• An upright man is respectable.正直的人是值得尊敬的。

8 nap   

n.(白天)打瞌睡，打盹

参考例句：

• The nap of the coat has been worn off.外衣上的绒毛已经磨掉了。
• Don't bother me while I am taking my nap.我小睡的时候不要打扰我。

9 account   

n.叙述；帐目；帐户

参考例句：

• She left out an important item in her account.她的账目漏掉了一个重要的项目。
• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account.他从银行账户上提了几次款。

10 wax   

n.蜡，蜡状物，震怒；vi.变大，增大，月亮满；vt.用蜡涂

参考例句：

• I wax my boots chiefly to waterproof them.我给靴子打蜡主要是为了防水。
• I wax the floor once a month.我每月给地板打一次蜡。