?The farmer and the gentleman

By Howard Florey/后國宏（編）

◆語篇導讀

亞歷山大·弗萊明，英國細菌學家、生物化學家、微生物學家，于1923年發現溶菌酶，1928年首先發現了青霉素。在美國學者麥克·哈特所著的《影響人類歷史進程的100名人排行榜》中，弗萊明名列第45位。想知道關于他兒時的軼事嗎？

His name was Fleming,and he was a poor Scottish farmer.

One day,while trying to make a living for his family,he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog （沼澤）.He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There,a boy was crying andstruggling tofree himself in black muck （污泥）.Farmer Fleming saved the boy out of the bog.

The next day,an unusual carriagepulled upto the Scotsman's house.A well-dressed gentlemanstepped outandintroduced himself asthe father of the boy that farmer fleming had saved.

“I want to repay you,” said the gentleman, “You saved my son’s life.”

“No,I can’t accept money for what I did,”the Scottish farmer replied,waving off the offer.At that moment,the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel（不適宜居住的小屋）.

“Is that your son?” the gentleman asked.“Yes,” the farmer replied proudly.

“I'llmake you a deal.Let me provide himwith the level ofeducation my own son will enjoy.If the boy is anything like his father,he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.”And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the best schools and in time,graduated fromSt.Mary's Hospital Medical School in London,and went on to become known in the world as the famous Sir Alexander Fleming,the discoverer of Penicillin （青霉素）.

Years afterward,the gentleman's son who was saved from the bog caught pneumonia（肺炎）.

What saved his life this time?Penicillin.

The name of the gentleman?Lord Randolph Churchill.His son's name?Sir Winston Churchill.

◆語塊收藏

struggle to do sth.奮力做某事

pull up停車；停止

step out出去

introduce oneself as自稱

wave off the offer拒絕要約

make sb.a deal和某人做一個交易

with the level of按……的水平

graduate from從……畢業

◆典句賞析

1.One day,while trying to make a living for his family,he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog.一天,在他努力為他的家人謀生計的時候，他聽到從附近沼澤處傳來的呼救聲。

該句為主從復合句，while作連詞，意為“當……時候”，引導時間狀語從句；主句部分的hear sth.doing結構，意為“聽見某物正在……”，doing是現在分詞作賓語補足語，表示該動作正在進行。

2.Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy.讓我給他提供同我自己兒子一樣享有的教育水平。

該句為主從復合句，主句是由使役動詞let開頭的祈使句，let后的不定式不帶to；provide sb.with sth.是固定搭配，意為“為某人提供某物”；my own son will enjoy是定語從句，用來修飾先行詞the level of education，關系代詞which或that被省略了。

3.If the boy is anything like his father,he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.如果這個男孩完全像他的父親，那么他無疑將會長成我們都引以為傲的人。

If the boy is...引導的是條件狀語從句，謂語動詞用一般現在時表一般將來時；we both will be proud of是定語從句，用來修飾先行詞a man，關系代詞who或that被省略了。

◆理解自測

根據短文內容，從A、B、C、D四個選項中，選擇適當的答案。

1.The underlined word “dropped” in paragraph 2 means “_________”.

A.not in use B.not taken up

C.be able to act D.remove out from a position

2.We can not use the word“_________”to describe Fleming's father.

A.peasant B.noble C.helpless D.brave

3.Which of the following is NOT right?

A.The story tells us that a good act will be well rewarded.

B.Winston Churchill was saved by Alexander Fleming as a doctor.

C.Farmer Fleming accepted the education offer to his son.

D.Alexander Fleming finished school supported by Lord Randolph Churchill.

◆詞句微練

根據所給的漢語句子，完成下列英語句子。每空詞數不限。

1.足球隊全體隊員們正盡力奪取比賽勝利。

The whole members of the football team _______________.

2.出租車減速停下，司機跳了出來。

The taxi______________and the driver ______________.

3.來客自稱為本鎮著名藝術家。

The coming guest _______________a famous artist in this town.

4.這家工廠已和我約定要增加產量。

This factory ______________increase the production.

5.上個月，公司給他提供了一輛黑色的汽車。

The company ______________last month.

（答案見第63頁）