$课文26 最佳艺术评论家
256. I am an art student and I paint a lot of pictures.
我是个学艺术的学生，画了很多画。
257. Many people pretend that they understand modern art
有很多人装成很懂现代艺术的样子，.
258. They always tell you what a picture is 'about'.
总是告诉你一幅画的“意思”是什么。
259. Of course, many pictures are not 'about' anything.
当然，有很多画是什么“意思”也没有的。
260. They are just pretty patterns.
它们就是些好看的图案，
261. We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material.
我们喜爱它们就像我们喜欢漂亮的窗帘布一样。
262. I think that young children often appreciate modern pictures better than anyone else. They notice more.
我觉得小孩子们往往比任何人都更能欣赏现代绘画，他们观察到的东西更多。
263. My sister is only seven, but she always tells me whether my pictures are good or not.
我的妹妹只有7岁，但她总能说出我的画是好还是坏。
264. She came into my room yesterday.
昨天她到我房里来了。
265. 'What are you doing?' she asked.
"你在干什么?"她问.
266. 'I'm hanging this picture on the wall,' I answered. 'It's a new one. Do you like it?'
我正在把画挂到墙上,我回答.这是新的,你喜欢吗?
267. She looked at it critically for a moment.
她挑剔地看了一会.
268. 'It's all right,' she said, 'but isn't it upside down?'
不错,她说,但是是不是挂反了?
269. I looked at it again.
我又看了看.
270. She was right! It was!
她是对的.
$课文27 雨夜
271. Late in the afternoon, the boys put up their tent in the middle of a field.
傍晚时分，孩子们在田野中央搭起了帐篷。
272. As soon as this was done, they cooked a meal over an open fire.
这件事刚刚做完，他们就在篝火上烧起了饭。
273. They were all hungry and the food smelled good.
他们全都饿了，饭菜散发出阵阵香味。
274. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the campfire.
他们美美地吃了一顿饭后，就围在营火旁讲起了故事，唱起了歌。
275. But some time later it began to rain.
但过了一阵子。天下起雨来，
276. The boys felt tired so they put out the fire and crept into their tent.
于是他们扑灭了篝火，钻进了帐篷。
277. Their sleeping bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly.
睡袋既暖和又舒服，所以，他们都睡得很香。
278. In the middle of the night, two boys woke up and began shouting.
午夜前后，有两个孩子醒了，大声叫了起来。
279. The tent was full of water!
原来帐篷里到处都是水！
280. They all leapt out of their sleeping bags and hurried outside.
他们全都跳出睡袋，跑到外面。
281. It was raining heavily and they found that a stream had formed in the field.
雨下得很大，他们发现地上已经形成了一条小溪。
282. The stream wound its way across the field and then flowed right under their tent!
那小溪弯弯曲曲穿过田野，然后正好从他们的帐篷底下流过去。
$课文28 禁止停车
283. Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths.
贾斯珀.怀特是少有的相信古代神话的人之一。
284. he has just bought a new house in the city,
他刚在城里买下一所新房子，
285. but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with cars and their owners.
但自从搬进去后，就和汽车及车主们发生了磨擦。
286. When he returns home at night, he always finds that someone has parked a car outside his gate.
当他夜里回到家时，总是发现有人把车停在他家大门外。
287. Because of this, he has not been able to get his own car into his garage even once.
为此，他甚至一次也没能把自己的车开进车库。
288. Jasper has put up 'No Parking' signs outside his gate, but these have not had any effect.
贾斯珀曾把几块“禁止停车”的牌子挂在大门外边，但没有任何效果。
289. Now he has put an ugly stone head over the gate.
现在他把一个丑陋的石雕头像放在了大门上边，
290. It is one of the ugliest faces I have ever seen.
这是我见过的最丑陋的头像之一。
291. I asked him what it was and he told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon.
我问他那是什么？他告诉我那是蛇发女怪美杜莎。
292. jasper hopes that she will turn cars and their owners to stone.
贾斯珀希望她把汽车和车主们都变成石头。
293. But none of them has been turned to stone yet!
但到目前为止还没有一个变成石头呢！