《每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光》內容簡介：當我的天空灰暗時，你把快樂帶來，你是我的陽光，我唯一的陽光。假如我的世界你不曾來過，我的心將如一池靜水，波瀾不驚；沒有春的溫馨，夏的熱烈，秋的落寞，更不會滿世界打聽幸福的下落。 作為雙語讀物，《每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光》讓英語學習變得輕鬆有趣，在閱讀中潛移默化地學習。原文中的“單詞速記營”——選擇常用的，並且有一定難度的單詞加以解釋，使閱讀更加流暢，同時也能擴充辭彙量；“記憶填空”——閱讀原文後，回憶文章內容，將適當的詞語填入空白處，加深記憶，訓練英語語感；“佳句翻譯”——選出譯文中的經典句子，嘗試翻譯成英文，提高英文的整體運用能力；“短語套用”——列出文中出現過的英語短語與例句，利用短語造句，靈活運用。
基本介紹
- 中文名：每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光
- 外文名：When You Pass by My Sunshine
- 作者：吳文智 方雪梅
- 出版日期：2012年3月1日
- 語種：簡體中文
- ISBN：7552600063, 9787552600063
- 出版社：寧波出版社
- 頁數：292頁
- 開本：16
- 定價：19.80
基本介紹,內容簡介,作者簡介,圖書目錄,文摘,
基本介紹
內容簡介
《每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光》編輯推薦：1.學英語不再枯燥無味：內文篇目均取自國外最經典、最權威、最流行、最動人的篇章，中英雙語，適於誦讀，提升閱讀能力；
2.學英語不再沉悶辛苦：優美的語言、深厚的情感、地道的英文，讓我們在閱讀這些動人的絕美篇章時，不僅能夠提升生活質量，豐富人生內涵，更能夠輕鬆提升英文領悟能力，體味英文之美，輕鬆提高學習興趣；
3.學英語不再學了就忘：每篇文章的旁邊列有辭彙，均是生活和學習中的常見辭彙，讀者可重點記憶。文章後附有填空、句型、短語等語法練習，用最短的時間、最有趣的方式就能完成複習與鞏固，提升語法能力；
4.學英語不再亂無章法：《每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光》遵循語言學習的自然規律，在不斷的朗讀、學習、欣賞中學習地道的英文，使英語能力在潛移默化中得到提升。
2.學英語不再沉悶辛苦：優美的語言、深厚的情感、地道的英文，讓我們在閱讀這些動人的絕美篇章時，不僅能夠提升生活質量，豐富人生內涵，更能夠輕鬆提升英文領悟能力，體味英文之美，輕鬆提高學習興趣；
3.學英語不再學了就忘：每篇文章的旁邊列有辭彙，均是生活和學習中的常見辭彙，讀者可重點記憶。文章後附有填空、句型、短語等語法練習，用最短的時間、最有趣的方式就能完成複習與鞏固，提升語法能力；
4.學英語不再亂無章法：《每天讀點好英文:當你路過我的陽光》遵循語言學習的自然規律，在不斷的朗讀、學習、欣賞中學習地道的英文，使英語能力在潛移默化中得到提升。
作者簡介
吳文智，筆名兆彬，南京師範大學外國語學院《江蘇外語教學研究》雜誌主編，研究員，中國譯協專家會員，中國譯協理事，江蘇省譯協秘書長，從事翻譯與翻譯研究三十餘年。2009年獲得“江蘇省建國六十年來外國語言文學與翻譯研究優秀成果”特別貢獻獎。
方雪梅，著名翻譯，從事翻譯十餘年，曾翻譯過《瓦爾登湖》《遇見一篇好散文》《邂逅一首浪漫詩》《智慧書》《你一定要結識的名人》等多部作品，主編作品有《美麗英文》等。
方雪梅，著名翻譯，從事翻譯十餘年，曾翻譯過《瓦爾登湖》《遇見一篇好散文》《邂逅一首浪漫詩》《智慧書》《你一定要結識的名人》等多部作品，主編作品有《美麗英文》等。
圖書目錄
Chapter 1
你是我的一米陽光
You Are My One Meter Sunshine
食襪蟻 Ant Bites 2
埃瑪麗·里尼克/Emmarie Lehnick
禮物 The Gift 10
哈蒂·梅·拉特里夫/Hattie Mae Ratliff
默契的父親 Tacit Understanding Father 19
佚名/Anonymous
雪 Snow 24
朱莉安娜·C.納什/Juliana C. Nash
我最好的朋友阿諾德 My Best Friend Arnold 31
佚名/Anonymous
情暖今生 Warm in the Life 37
茹涅·吉爾/Junie Girl
You Are My One Meter Sunshine
難忘的時刻 My Unforgettable Moment 44
蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗/Lance Armstrong
一雙新鞋 A Pair of New Shoes 51
佚名/Anonymous
理解的贈品 The Gift of Understanding 63
保爾·威利亞德/Paul Villiard
友誼的故事 A Story About Friendship 74
佚名/Anonymous
傑克遜的復活節 Easter in Jackson 81
佚名/Anonymous
Chapter 2
假如你不曾來過
If You've Never Come
愛戰勝一切 Love Conquers All 88
佚名/Anonymous
我和我的“喵斯” Me and My Mewse 94
辛迪·錢伯斯/Cindy Chambers
一見如故 The Ice Breaker 101
黛安娜·威廉森/Diane Williamson
只是一個普通人 Only a Man... 106
佚名/Anonymous
果凍心 Jelly Hearts 114
佚名/Anonymous
送給瑪麗的鮮花 Flowers from Our Garden 121
傑里·比德爾曼 洛林·比德爾曼/Jerry and Lorin Biederman
好朋友的定義 Idea of a Good Friend 130
佚名/Anonymous
電話里的朋友 A Friend on the Line 135
金尼斯·麥可·比奇/Jennings Michael Birch
人間天使 One Determined Angel 145
多蘿西·羅絲/Dorothy Rose
對待感激的新態度 A New Attitude to Gratitude 151
費斯·安德魯·貝德福特/Faith Andrews Bedford
獻給佑蘭的玫瑰 Roses for Yolande 162
加布里艾爾·羅伊/Gabrielle Roy
友好的報答 A Kindness Returned 174
佚名/Anonymous
Chapter 3
生命因你絢爛如花
Life Blooms Because of You
溢滿鮮花的巴士 Flowers on the Bus 182
讓·亨德里克森/Jean Hendrickson
最佳女演員 Best Actress 188
林恩·阿爾科克/Lynn Alcock
金色的眼睛 In Her Golden Eyes 195
黛安娜·尼科爾斯/Diane Nichols
你可以做任何事 You Can Do Anything 204
佚名/Anonymous
兩者之間的秘密 A Secret for Two 209
昆汀·雷諾茲/Quentin Reynolds
真正的慷慨 True Generosity 219
佚名/Anonymous
大腳丫，大胸懷 Big Feet and Big Heart 225
佚名/Anonymous
明智之舉 The Right Moves 229
佚名/Anonymous
七美元的夢想 A Seven-Dollar Dream 235
佚名/Anonymous
爺爺的藏寶圖 A Giant Mystery 246
佚名/Anonymous
鸚鵡多莉 Dolly 253
勒妮·森迪/Renée Sunday
重新振作起來 Second Wind 259
佚名/Anonymous
謝謝 All It Took Was Two Words 264
韋達·博伊德·瓊斯/Veda Boyd Jones
生命的轉變 Changed Lives 269
佚名/Anonymous
你是我的一米陽光
You Are My One Meter Sunshine
食襪蟻 Ant Bites 2
埃瑪麗·里尼克/Emmarie Lehnick
禮物 The Gift 10
哈蒂·梅·拉特里夫/Hattie Mae Ratliff
默契的父親 Tacit Understanding Father 19
佚名/Anonymous
雪 Snow 24
朱莉安娜·C.納什/Juliana C. Nash
我最好的朋友阿諾德 My Best Friend Arnold 31
佚名/Anonymous
情暖今生 Warm in the Life 37
茹涅·吉爾/Junie Girl
You Are My One Meter Sunshine
難忘的時刻 My Unforgettable Moment 44
蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗/Lance Armstrong
一雙新鞋 A Pair of New Shoes 51
佚名/Anonymous
理解的贈品 The Gift of Understanding 63
保爾·威利亞德/Paul Villiard
友誼的故事 A Story About Friendship 74
佚名/Anonymous
傑克遜的復活節 Easter in Jackson 81
佚名/Anonymous
Chapter 2
假如你不曾來過
If You've Never Come
愛戰勝一切 Love Conquers All 88
佚名/Anonymous
我和我的“喵斯” Me and My Mewse 94
辛迪·錢伯斯/Cindy Chambers
一見如故 The Ice Breaker 101
黛安娜·威廉森/Diane Williamson
只是一個普通人 Only a Man... 106
佚名/Anonymous
果凍心 Jelly Hearts 114
佚名/Anonymous
送給瑪麗的鮮花 Flowers from Our Garden 121
傑里·比德爾曼 洛林·比德爾曼/Jerry and Lorin Biederman
好朋友的定義 Idea of a Good Friend 130
佚名/Anonymous
電話里的朋友 A Friend on the Line 135
金尼斯·麥可·比奇/Jennings Michael Birch
人間天使 One Determined Angel 145
多蘿西·羅絲/Dorothy Rose
對待感激的新態度 A New Attitude to Gratitude 151
費斯·安德魯·貝德福特/Faith Andrews Bedford
獻給佑蘭的玫瑰 Roses for Yolande 162
加布里艾爾·羅伊/Gabrielle Roy
友好的報答 A Kindness Returned 174
佚名/Anonymous
Chapter 3
生命因你絢爛如花
Life Blooms Because of You
溢滿鮮花的巴士 Flowers on the Bus 182
讓·亨德里克森/Jean Hendrickson
最佳女演員 Best Actress 188
林恩·阿爾科克/Lynn Alcock
金色的眼睛 In Her Golden Eyes 195
黛安娜·尼科爾斯/Diane Nichols
你可以做任何事 You Can Do Anything 204
佚名/Anonymous
兩者之間的秘密 A Secret for Two 209
昆汀·雷諾茲/Quentin Reynolds
真正的慷慨 True Generosity 219
佚名/Anonymous
大腳丫，大胸懷 Big Feet and Big Heart 225
佚名/Anonymous
明智之舉 The Right Moves 229
佚名/Anonymous
七美元的夢想 A Seven-Dollar Dream 235
佚名/Anonymous
爺爺的藏寶圖 A Giant Mystery 246
佚名/Anonymous
鸚鵡多莉 Dolly 253
勒妮·森迪/Renée Sunday
重新振作起來 Second Wind 259
佚名/Anonymous
謝謝 All It Took Was Two Words 264
韋達·博伊德·瓊斯/Veda Boyd Jones
生命的轉變 Changed Lives 269
佚名/Anonymous
文摘
食襪蟻
Ant Bites
埃瑪麗·里尼克 / Emmarie Lehnick
“Ow!Ow!” I shouted as I broke my jump rope rhythm and tangled my feet in the slack rope. “Something in my shoe is biting me.” I wailed.
The f irst graders waiting to jump and the two rope turners circled around me on the dirt playground. My teacher, Miss Bell, heard me and hurried over, leaving the other recess teacher in mid-conversation.
“It’s still stinging me.” I cried as the circle of children opened for Miss Bell.
“Which foot is it?” she asked.
I stuck up my right foot as she stooped over to inspect it. Just then, feeling a new sting, I yelped in pain.
“Here. Let’s take off your shoe.” instructed Miss Bell, squatting down to get the shoe.
Then, I remembered the holes in my socks. Welfare socks didn’t last long. Holes in socks were a common thing for our family in the years following the Great Depression. Shoes got fresh paper inserted every Saturday to cover the holes in their soles. But socks with holes were just accepted. Socks with holes in the heels got pulled down so the hole wouldn’t show. Where there was a hole, there would soon be a blister. Every week as she washed our clothes, Mama would say, “Even if we’re poor and our clothes are worn out. We can still be clean.”
I began to cry from the pain in my foot, but I refused to let Miss Bell take off my shoe. I could not bear for her and the others to see the hole in my faded red sock.
“Come on, then. Let’s go inside to the off ice.”
A trail of f irst graders followed after us until Miss Bell told them to stay on the playground. I did my best to curb my tears. Yet, each time the thing in my shoe stung me, I would let out a loud, “Oh, oh, oh!” Tears raced down my contorted face.
Mr. Stewart, the principal, rushed into his off ice.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Something is stinging her right foot, but she will not let me take off her shoe.” said Miss Bell.
Mr. Stewart lifted me onto his desk. “Let me take a look.” He just about had the shoe off when I saw the hole. I grabbed the shoe and pulled it on and held it. The stinging worsened the tighter I clasped the shoe.
“Why won’t you let us take off your shoe?” Mr. Stewart asked as he looked from me to Miss Bell and back at me in puzzlement.
Miss Womble, the f ifth—grade teacher, came into the off ice. “Can I help? I know her she lives next door to me. ”
“I suspect ants are in her shoes and stinging the living daylights out of her, but she won’t let us take off her shoes.” related Miss Bell.
Miss Womble was a great neighbor. She had even played Annie—over with us on occasion. She put both hands on my shaking shoulders and looked into my distressed, red eyes.
“Oh, yes,” she said, as if remembering a fact. “I had a bite from one of those ants. Did you know they are sock eaters? By the time I got my shoe off, that ant had eaten almost the entire bottom off my sock.” She nodded her head up and down as she looked at the other two adults. “Must be sock-eater ants.”
They returned the nod, as if they, too, had been bitten by sock-eating ants.
“Let me see here.” She freed my heel from the shoe. “Just what I thought. Those sock ants have eaten part of her sock.”
Miss Bell opened the medicine cabinet, got a cotton ball, and saturated it with alcohol. Miss Womble slipped off my shoe and sock and shook both of them over the gray trash bucket. Two red ants fell into the waiting container. A stray one ran for the wall, but Mr. Stewart’s shoe stopped him.
My swollen foot throbbed. My stomach hurt. My head ached.
Stroking the alcohol ball across the angry bites, Miss Womble lifted her head and smiled at me. “I think she’s going to be okay now,” she said, as she glanced toward the two adults.
The bell rang, ending the recess period. “It’s class time.” Mr. Stewart remarked, as he and Miss Belt hurried to their duties.
The alcohol felt cool on the savage welts.
“You were a pretty brave girl to take that many bites. I think you should leave this shoe and sock off for a while.” She helped me off the desk. “Wait for me after school, and we’ll walk home together.”
Pride can be a wonderful, terrible thing. I knew that Miss Womble had saved my pride with her sock-eating ant story. She had seen that I would rather be stung to death than to let others see my poverty. This kind, insightful teacher had taught me a lesson of compassion that I have tried to apply in my thirty-seven years of teaching.
“哎喲！哎喲！”我大聲地尖叫著，打亂了跳繩的節奏，腳也被松下來的繩子纏住了。
“鞋裡有東西在不停地咬我。”我哭叫著說。
等待跳繩的一年級學生和兩個搖繩的人馬上將我圍在了髒兮兮的操場上。我的老師——貝爾小姐聽到我的叫聲後，與幾個正在休息的老師停止了談話，匆忙地跑了過來。
“它還在咬我。”我叫道。圍觀的人讓開了一條道，以便能讓貝爾小姐進來。
“哪只腳？”她問道。
她俯下身來準備給我檢查一下，我抬起了右腳。正在這個時候，我又感到一次新的叮咬，痛得我又一次叫了起來。
“好了，讓我們把你的鞋子脫下來。” 貝爾小姐說著便蹲下身子來脫我的鞋子。
這讓我想起了襪子上的破洞。福利襪子穿不了多長時間。大蕭條過後的幾年裡，帶有破洞的襪子對我們家而言再普通不過了。每周六，我們都會把乾淨的紙塞到鞋子裡，以此來蓋住鞋底的破洞，然而襪子有破洞只好將就著。將襪子往下拉一拉，把破洞口蓋住，就不會有人發現了。但是，一旦襪子上有了破洞，腳很快就會起泡。媽媽在每個星期洗衣服時都會說：“雖然我們很窮，衣服破舊不堪，但是我們依然能夠穿得乾淨整潔。”
腳部疼痛難忍，我哭了起來，然而我還是不讓貝爾小姐脫掉我的鞋子。我實在不想讓她和其他人看到我褪了色的紅襪子上的破洞。
“那么，走吧，我們到辦公室去。”
一群一年級的孩子跟在我們身後，可貝爾小姐讓他們留在操場上。
我竭盡全力不讓淚水流出來，然而鞋裡的東西每次叮我的時候，我都會疼得嗷嗷叫。眼淚在我痛得扭曲的臉上無聲無息地落下。
校長斯圖亞特先生也衝進了辦公室。
“發生了什麼事情？”他問道。
“有東西正在咬她的右腳，可她又不肯讓我把她的鞋子脫下來看一看。”貝爾老師答道。
斯圖亞特校長一把把我抱到他的桌子上。“讓我看看。”正當他要把我的鞋子脫掉時，我看到了那個破洞。我一把搶過鞋子，迅速穿好，抱住它再也不撒手了。我抱得越緊，那個東西就咬得越厲害。
“為什麼你不肯讓我們給你脫鞋呢？”校長滿臉疑惑地看看我，又把目光轉到貝爾小姐身上，最後又看了看我。
正在這時，五年級的老師瓦門菠小姐進來了。“我能幫上什麼忙嗎？我認識她，她就住在我家的隔壁。”
“我覺得有螞蟻在她的鞋子裡狠咬她，可她就是不肯讓我們把她的鞋子脫掉。”貝爾小姐說。
瓦門菠小姐是一個非常棒的鄰居。她有時甚至還和我們一塊玩遊戲。她雙手放在我發抖的肩上，滿懷關切地望著我緊張而發紅的眼睛。
“噢，是的。”她仿佛記起了什麼似的，“我就曾經被那些螞蟻咬過。你知不知道它們就是‘食襪蟻’呀？在我脫下襪子時，它們已經把襪子的底部幾乎全咬光了。”她看著旁邊兩個大人，不住地點頭。“一定是‘食襪蟻’。”她說。
兩個大人也點著頭，就像他們也曾被“食襪蟻”咬過似的。
“讓我來看一看。”說著，她鬆開了我的鞋。“果然不出我所料，螞蟻已經把她的一部分襪子吃掉了。”
貝爾小姐打開藥品櫃，從裡面取出一個棉球，蘸了些酒精。瓦門菠小姐把我的鞋和襪子脫掉，放到垃圾桶上抖了起來。兩隻紅色的螞蟻掉進了垃圾桶，還有一隻則掉在了地上，向牆邊跑去，斯圖亞特校長一腳踩住了它。
我的腳已經變腫了，不停地顫抖。這時，胃和頭也疼了起來。
瓦門菠小姐一邊用棉球擦拭著被螞蟻咬得紅腫的傷口，一邊微笑地看著我，“我想，她現在已經沒事了。”她邊說邊看了看身旁的兩個大人。
此時，鈴聲響了，休息時間也宣告結束。“上課時間到了。”話音剛落，校長和貝爾小姐便朝各自的工作崗位奔去。
傷口處的酒精涼颼颼的。
“讓螞蟻咬了那么長時間，你可真是個勇敢的姑娘。我覺得你還是過一會兒再穿襪子和鞋吧。”老師把我從桌子上扶下來。“放學後，等我一起回家吧。”
自尊就是如此美好而可怕的一件事。我知道瓦門菠小姐為了挽救我的自尊，才編造了那個“食襪蟻”的故事。她明白，我寧可被螞蟻咬死，也不願別人知道我的貧困。這位心地善良、有著深刻見解的老師讓我懂得要有一顆同情之心。我也嘗試著將這顆同情之心帶到自己三十七年的教學生涯中，並將它很好地傳遞了下去。
Ant Bites
埃瑪麗·里尼克 / Emmarie Lehnick
“Ow!Ow!” I shouted as I broke my jump rope rhythm and tangled my feet in the slack rope. “Something in my shoe is biting me.” I wailed.
The f irst graders waiting to jump and the two rope turners circled around me on the dirt playground. My teacher, Miss Bell, heard me and hurried over, leaving the other recess teacher in mid-conversation.
“It’s still stinging me.” I cried as the circle of children opened for Miss Bell.
“Which foot is it?” she asked.
I stuck up my right foot as she stooped over to inspect it. Just then, feeling a new sting, I yelped in pain.
“Here. Let’s take off your shoe.” instructed Miss Bell, squatting down to get the shoe.
Then, I remembered the holes in my socks. Welfare socks didn’t last long. Holes in socks were a common thing for our family in the years following the Great Depression. Shoes got fresh paper inserted every Saturday to cover the holes in their soles. But socks with holes were just accepted. Socks with holes in the heels got pulled down so the hole wouldn’t show. Where there was a hole, there would soon be a blister. Every week as she washed our clothes, Mama would say, “Even if we’re poor and our clothes are worn out. We can still be clean.”
I began to cry from the pain in my foot, but I refused to let Miss Bell take off my shoe. I could not bear for her and the others to see the hole in my faded red sock.
“Come on, then. Let’s go inside to the off ice.”
A trail of f irst graders followed after us until Miss Bell told them to stay on the playground. I did my best to curb my tears. Yet, each time the thing in my shoe stung me, I would let out a loud, “Oh, oh, oh!” Tears raced down my contorted face.
Mr. Stewart, the principal, rushed into his off ice.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Something is stinging her right foot, but she will not let me take off her shoe.” said Miss Bell.
Mr. Stewart lifted me onto his desk. “Let me take a look.” He just about had the shoe off when I saw the hole. I grabbed the shoe and pulled it on and held it. The stinging worsened the tighter I clasped the shoe.
“Why won’t you let us take off your shoe?” Mr. Stewart asked as he looked from me to Miss Bell and back at me in puzzlement.
Miss Womble, the f ifth—grade teacher, came into the off ice. “Can I help? I know her she lives next door to me. ”
“I suspect ants are in her shoes and stinging the living daylights out of her, but she won’t let us take off her shoes.” related Miss Bell.
Miss Womble was a great neighbor. She had even played Annie—over with us on occasion. She put both hands on my shaking shoulders and looked into my distressed, red eyes.
“Oh, yes,” she said, as if remembering a fact. “I had a bite from one of those ants. Did you know they are sock eaters? By the time I got my shoe off, that ant had eaten almost the entire bottom off my sock.” She nodded her head up and down as she looked at the other two adults. “Must be sock-eater ants.”
They returned the nod, as if they, too, had been bitten by sock-eating ants.
“Let me see here.” She freed my heel from the shoe. “Just what I thought. Those sock ants have eaten part of her sock.”
Miss Bell opened the medicine cabinet, got a cotton ball, and saturated it with alcohol. Miss Womble slipped off my shoe and sock and shook both of them over the gray trash bucket. Two red ants fell into the waiting container. A stray one ran for the wall, but Mr. Stewart’s shoe stopped him.
My swollen foot throbbed. My stomach hurt. My head ached.
Stroking the alcohol ball across the angry bites, Miss Womble lifted her head and smiled at me. “I think she’s going to be okay now,” she said, as she glanced toward the two adults.
The bell rang, ending the recess period. “It’s class time.” Mr. Stewart remarked, as he and Miss Belt hurried to their duties.
The alcohol felt cool on the savage welts.
“You were a pretty brave girl to take that many bites. I think you should leave this shoe and sock off for a while.” She helped me off the desk. “Wait for me after school, and we’ll walk home together.”
Pride can be a wonderful, terrible thing. I knew that Miss Womble had saved my pride with her sock-eating ant story. She had seen that I would rather be stung to death than to let others see my poverty. This kind, insightful teacher had taught me a lesson of compassion that I have tried to apply in my thirty-seven years of teaching.
“哎喲！哎喲！”我大聲地尖叫著，打亂了跳繩的節奏，腳也被松下來的繩子纏住了。
“鞋裡有東西在不停地咬我。”我哭叫著說。
等待跳繩的一年級學生和兩個搖繩的人馬上將我圍在了髒兮兮的操場上。我的老師——貝爾小姐聽到我的叫聲後，與幾個正在休息的老師停止了談話，匆忙地跑了過來。
“它還在咬我。”我叫道。圍觀的人讓開了一條道，以便能讓貝爾小姐進來。
“哪只腳？”她問道。
她俯下身來準備給我檢查一下，我抬起了右腳。正在這個時候，我又感到一次新的叮咬，痛得我又一次叫了起來。
“好了，讓我們把你的鞋子脫下來。” 貝爾小姐說著便蹲下身子來脫我的鞋子。
這讓我想起了襪子上的破洞。福利襪子穿不了多長時間。大蕭條過後的幾年裡，帶有破洞的襪子對我們家而言再普通不過了。每周六，我們都會把乾淨的紙塞到鞋子裡，以此來蓋住鞋底的破洞，然而襪子有破洞只好將就著。將襪子往下拉一拉，把破洞口蓋住，就不會有人發現了。但是，一旦襪子上有了破洞，腳很快就會起泡。媽媽在每個星期洗衣服時都會說：“雖然我們很窮，衣服破舊不堪，但是我們依然能夠穿得乾淨整潔。”
腳部疼痛難忍，我哭了起來，然而我還是不讓貝爾小姐脫掉我的鞋子。我實在不想讓她和其他人看到我褪了色的紅襪子上的破洞。
“那么，走吧，我們到辦公室去。”
一群一年級的孩子跟在我們身後，可貝爾小姐讓他們留在操場上。
我竭盡全力不讓淚水流出來，然而鞋裡的東西每次叮我的時候，我都會疼得嗷嗷叫。眼淚在我痛得扭曲的臉上無聲無息地落下。
校長斯圖亞特先生也衝進了辦公室。
“發生了什麼事情？”他問道。
“有東西正在咬她的右腳，可她又不肯讓我把她的鞋子脫下來看一看。”貝爾老師答道。
斯圖亞特校長一把把我抱到他的桌子上。“讓我看看。”正當他要把我的鞋子脫掉時，我看到了那個破洞。我一把搶過鞋子，迅速穿好，抱住它再也不撒手了。我抱得越緊，那個東西就咬得越厲害。
“為什麼你不肯讓我們給你脫鞋呢？”校長滿臉疑惑地看看我，又把目光轉到貝爾小姐身上，最後又看了看我。
正在這時，五年級的老師瓦門菠小姐進來了。“我能幫上什麼忙嗎？我認識她，她就住在我家的隔壁。”
“我覺得有螞蟻在她的鞋子裡狠咬她，可她就是不肯讓我們把她的鞋子脫掉。”貝爾小姐說。
瓦門菠小姐是一個非常棒的鄰居。她有時甚至還和我們一塊玩遊戲。她雙手放在我發抖的肩上，滿懷關切地望著我緊張而發紅的眼睛。
“噢，是的。”她仿佛記起了什麼似的，“我就曾經被那些螞蟻咬過。你知不知道它們就是‘食襪蟻’呀？在我脫下襪子時，它們已經把襪子的底部幾乎全咬光了。”她看著旁邊兩個大人，不住地點頭。“一定是‘食襪蟻’。”她說。
兩個大人也點著頭，就像他們也曾被“食襪蟻”咬過似的。
“讓我來看一看。”說著，她鬆開了我的鞋。“果然不出我所料，螞蟻已經把她的一部分襪子吃掉了。”
貝爾小姐打開藥品櫃，從裡面取出一個棉球，蘸了些酒精。瓦門菠小姐把我的鞋和襪子脫掉，放到垃圾桶上抖了起來。兩隻紅色的螞蟻掉進了垃圾桶，還有一隻則掉在了地上，向牆邊跑去，斯圖亞特校長一腳踩住了它。
我的腳已經變腫了，不停地顫抖。這時，胃和頭也疼了起來。
瓦門菠小姐一邊用棉球擦拭著被螞蟻咬得紅腫的傷口，一邊微笑地看著我，“我想，她現在已經沒事了。”她邊說邊看了看身旁的兩個大人。
此時，鈴聲響了，休息時間也宣告結束。“上課時間到了。”話音剛落，校長和貝爾小姐便朝各自的工作崗位奔去。
傷口處的酒精涼颼颼的。
“讓螞蟻咬了那么長時間，你可真是個勇敢的姑娘。我覺得你還是過一會兒再穿襪子和鞋吧。”老師把我從桌子上扶下來。“放學後，等我一起回家吧。”
自尊就是如此美好而可怕的一件事。我知道瓦門菠小姐為了挽救我的自尊，才編造了那個“食襪蟻”的故事。她明白，我寧可被螞蟻咬死，也不願別人知道我的貧困。這位心地善良、有著深刻見解的老師讓我懂得要有一顆同情之心。我也嘗試著將這顆同情之心帶到自己三十七年的教學生涯中，並將它很好地傳遞了下去。
