1.英語課前三分鐘小故事
A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string
During the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC)， there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.
One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. With confidence, Geng Ying said to the king, "The twang of my bow-string might bring down a bird." The King doubted much. Just then a solitary swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous in its cry. Instantly Geng Ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring. Twang! High up went he shrilling sound into the air and down fell the bird to the ground. The king admired with bewilderment. Gang Ying then explained: "The bird was flying low and slow, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a bitter tone, because it had lost its companions. Due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that birds dreaded most, startled it. The shrilling sound made its heart beat fast, its wings weak, its balance uneven. Thus it fell down just as commonly as a man drops his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table." Henceforth comes the idiom "A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string", illustrating a case where a man who had been previously and repeatedly frightened became numb and stupefied by a new thing of the same nature not knowing how to face the new situation.
戰(zhàn)國時期，有個杰出的弓箭手，叫做更贏。他的射箭本領(lǐng)在當時可稱是舉世無雙。有一天，他和魏王并肩站著，天空中忽然飛過一群鴻雁。更贏很自信的對魏王說："我可以用弓聲就把飛鳥給打下來。"魏王很懷疑。正在那是，一只孤雁很低很慢的飛過。鳴聲凄慘。更贏見了，就張著弓，扣著弦，砰的一聲，直入云宵。那孤雁果然應聲落地。魏王驚嘆之余，不明白這是怎么回事。更贏解釋說："那孤雁飛得低且慢，因為它已經(jīng)受過傷;它鳴叫的聲音悲而哀，因為它離了群。身傷心碎，使它心跳加速，兩翼無力，體重失去平衡，正如人們吃飯時，突然聽見雷聲，筷子落地的情況一樣自然而平常。
后人根據(jù)上面的故事，做成了"驚弓之鳥"這個成語，形容先前多次受過驚嚇的人，忽然遇到同樣可怕的事物，就嚇得魂飛魄散，驚惶失措，不知如何去應付新的環(huán)境。
2.英語課前三分鐘小故事
a man was going to the house of some rich person. as he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. he said, "i do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust.
he went on and came to a river. the river had become very big; so he could not go over it. he waited for some time; then he said, "i cannot go to the rich man‘s house today, for i cannot get over the river."
he began to go home. he had eaten no food that day. he began to want food. he came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.
do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.
翻譯
一個人正朝著一個富人的房子走去，當他沿著路走時，在路的一邊他發(fā)現(xiàn)一箱好蘋果，他說：“我不打算吃那些蘋果，因為富人會給我更多的食物，他會給我很好吃的東西�！比缓笏闷鹛O果，一把扔到土里去。
他繼續(xù)走，來到河邊，河漲水了，因此，他到不了河對岸，他等了一會兒，然后他說：“今天我去不了富人家了，因為我不能渡過河�！�
他開始回家，那天他沒有吃東西。他就開始去找吃的，他找到蘋果，很高興地把它們從塵土中翻出來吃了。
不要把好東西扔掉，換個時候你會覺得它們大有用處。
3.英語課前三分鐘小故事
After the rain， a difficult spider to the wall has been fragmented network， due to damp walls， it must climb the height， it will fall， which one to climb， repeatedly falling and… No. a person to see， and he sighed to himself： "my life as this spider is not it? busy and no income." Thus， he increasingly depressed. See the second person， he said： this spider really stupid， why do not dry place from the next to climb up to look around? I'll be as stupid as it can not. Thus， he becomes wise up. See the third person， he immediately spiders keep the spirit of war touched. So he has become strong.
翻譯：
雨后，一只蜘蛛艱難地向墻上已經(jīng)支離破碎的網(wǎng)爬去，由于墻壁潮濕，它爬到一定的高度，就會掉下來，它次地向上爬，次地又掉下來……第一個人看到了，他嘆了一口氣，自言自語：“我的一生不正如這只蜘蛛嗎?忙忙碌碌而無所得�！庇谑�，他日漸消沉。第二個人看到了，他說：這只蜘蛛真愚蠢，為什么不從旁邊干燥的地方繞一下爬上去?我以后可不能像它那樣愚蠢。于是，他變得聰明起來。第三個人看到了，他立刻被蜘蛛屢敗屢戰(zhàn)的精神感動了。于是，他變得堅強起來。
4.英語課前三分鐘小故事
It’s very hot.. An old man is asleep on the chair.
A fly comes and sits on the end of the man’s nose.
The old man has a naughty monkey.
He chases the fly. The fly comes back again and sits on the old man’s nose again.
The monkey chases it away again and again. This happens five or six times. The monkey is very angry.
He jumps up, runs to the garden and picks up a large stone.
When the fly sits on the old man’s nose again, the monkey hits it hard with the stone. He kills the fly and breaks the old man’s nose.
天氣很熱。一位老人在椅子上睡著了。
一只蒼蠅飛來落在老人的鼻子上。
老人有一只頑皮的猴子。
猴子在追打蒼蠅。 蒼蠅再次飛落在老人的鼻子上，猴子一再追打蒼蠅。 這樣往返了五六次，猴子很生氣。
他跳著跑到花園，撿起一塊大石頭。
當蒼蠅再次落在老人的鼻子上時，猴子用石頭擊中老人的鼻子上的蒼蠅。
他砸死了蒼蠅也打破了老人的鼻子。
5.英語課前三分鐘小故事
A mouse once took a bite out of a bull's tail as he lay dozing。 The bull jumped up in a rage and， with his head low to the ground， chased the mouse right across the yard。 The mouse was too quick for him， however， and slipped easily into a hole in the wall。
The bull charged the wall furiously again and again， but although he bruised his head and chipped his horns， the mouse stayed safely inside his hole。 After a time the bull gave up and sank down to rest again。
As soon as the bull was asleep， the little mouse crept to the mouth of the hole， pattered across the yard， bit the bull again -- this time on the nose -- and rushed back to safety。 As the bull roared helplessly the mouse squeaked:
"It's not always the big people who e off best。 Sometimes the small ones win， you know。"
有，公牛躺著打盹，一只老鼠咬了他的尾巴。公牛怒氣沖沖地跳起來，低著頭追老鼠，一向追過院子。然而，老鼠跑得比他快多了，從容地鉆到墻洞里去了。
公牛又地猛撞墻壁，盡管頭撞腫了，角撞裂了，老鼠卻安然待在洞里。過了一會兒，公牛不撞了，倒下歇著。
公牛剛睡著，小老鼠就爬到洞口，嗒嗒地跑過院子，又咬了公牛一口??這回咬了鼻子??又跑回安全的地方去。當公牛毫無辦法地吼叫時，老鼠吱吱叫道：
"大人物并不總占上風。有時小人物也會取勝。"
6.英語課前三分鐘小故事
Kua Fu tried his best to chase the sun. When he arrived at the place where the sun set, he had to turned around, as he could not bear the thirst, and came to the Yellow River and the Wei River.
夸父竭盡全力追趕太陽。當他追趕太陽降落的地方時， 由于忍受不了干渴，只好掉轉(zhuǎn)頭，回到黃河、渭河所在的地方，一口氣便將這兩條河里的水喝得精光。
In one breath, he quaffed up all the water in both rivers. Though he drank up two rivers, he still felt thirsty, and he decided to go to the large lake in the north for a good drink. On the way to the north, Kua Fu eventually died of thirst。
雖然喝光了兩條大河，但夸父還是感到不解渴,又打算到北方的大湖里去痛飲一番。北去的途中，夸父終因干渴而死。
The walking stick thrown down by him, being nurtured by the nourishment converted from his dead body, unexpectedly bloomed and fructified, and it grew into peach woods, which stretched for thousands of miles.
扔下的手杖，被他的尸體所化成的養(yǎng)料滋潤，竟然開花結(jié)果，長成一片連綿千里的桃林。
7.英語課前三分鐘小故事
Once there were three foxes, they worked together. They lived a happy life.
從前有三只狐貍，他們愉快地工作和居住在一起。
Little by little, the youngest fox became lazy, and often quarreled with the other foxes. The eldest had to leave, and the second fox was driven off, too.
漸漸地，小的狐貍變得又懶又壞，經(jīng)常同其他的兩只狐貍爭吵，氣走了它的大哥和二哥。
Looking at the warm house with a lot of good food in it, the youngest fox smiled.
小的狐貍得意地住在溫暖的房子里享受著豐富的食品。
The eldest fox opened a new hill again. The second eldest fox dug a pool. Two of them because rich soon. The youngest fox ate up the food left by the other two foxes. In the end， it felt so cold and hungry that it could not stand up.
老大重新開了一塊小山坡種地。老二挖了池塘，不久他們過上了富裕的生活。小的狐貍吃完了那些狐貍留下的所有食物，后又冷又餓連站也站不起來。
8.英語課前三分鐘小故事
Wolf and egret
The wolf mistake swallowed a piece of bone， very suffered， running about， look for to visit the doctor everywhere。He met the egret， and talk to settle the service fees to invite him to take out the bone， egret to stretch in the wolf's throat the own head， and the 叼 outs bone， then toward to settle the good service fees wolfThe wolf answer says:" hello， friend， you can since the wolf 嘴 take back the head in the peace ground， and the difficult way return the dissatisfied foot， and how and still speak the guerdon?"
This story elucidation， guerdon badly person act charitably， and is a bad person of cognition and does not speak the reputation's innate character。
狼與鷺鷥
狼誤吞下了一塊骨頭，十分難受，四處奔走，尋訪醫(yī)生。他遇見了鷺鷥，談定酬金請他取出骨頭，鷺鷥把自我的頭伸進狼的喉嚨里，叼出了骨頭，便向狼要定好的酬金。狼回答說：“喂，朋友，你能從狼嘴里平安無事地收回頭來，難道還不滿足，怎樣還要講報酬？”
這故事說明，對壞人行善的報酬，就是認識壞人不講信用的本質(zhì)。
9.英語課前三分鐘小故事
A little panda picks up a pumpkin and wants to take it home. But the pumpkin is too big. The panda can’t take it home.
一只小熊貓摘了一只大南瓜，想把它拿回家。但是這只南瓜太大了，她沒有辦法把這么大的南瓜帶回家。
Suddenly she sees a bear riding a bike toward her. She watches the bike. “I know! I have a good idea.” she jumps and shouts happily, “I can roll a pumpkin. It’s like a wheel.”
突然她看見一只狗熊騎著一輛自行車朝她這邊來。她看著自行車，跳著說：“有了！我有辦法了。我可以把南瓜滾回家去。南瓜好像車輪。
So she rolls the pumpkin to her home. When her mother sees the big pumpkin, she is surprised, “Oh, my God! How can you carry it home?” the little panda answers proudly, “I can’t lift it, but I can roll it.” Her mother smiled and says，“What a clever girl!”
于是她把那瓜滾回家。當她媽媽看到這只大南瓜的時候，很驚訝：“天��！這么食的南瓜！你是怎么把它帶回家來的？”小熊貓自豪地說；“我拎不動它，可是我能滾動它��！”她媽媽微笑著說：“真聰明��！”
10.英語課前三分鐘小故事
Once a man wanted to go to the south, but his carriage was heading north. A passer-by asked him: “If you are going to the south, why is your chariot heading north? ” The man answered, “My horse is good at running, my driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, and I have enough money. ” The man didn't consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, the further he was away from his destination.
從前有個人要到南方去，他坐的車子卻向北方行駛。過路人說：“你去南方，車子怎么向北行駛呢？”他回答說：“我的馬很能跑路，我的車夫駕車的技術(shù)也很高明，加上我又帶了充足的路費。”這個人沒有考慮到，方向弄反了，他的條件越好，離他要去的地方就越遠。
The idiom derived from this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.
后來人們就把這個故事概括為“南轅北轍”，比喻一個人的行為和他的目的正好相反。
