【生词预览】

match火柴，strike点燃，vain徒劳的

【笑话原文】

Each Match Lit

There was a man who cared more for money than anything else.

One day he sent his son to buy a box of matches, and told the boy he must see that each match in the box was good. Soon the boy came back. The man took out a match and struck it, but it failed to light. He tried several more, but in vain. He got so angry and said, "I told you each match must be good, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," the boy replied. "So I tried out all the matches in the box and each match lit."

【中文译文】

每根火柴都点燃了

有一个人对钱的计较胜过任何东西。

一天，他派儿子去买一盒火柴，并告诉儿子每根火柴都必须是好的。儿子一会儿就回来了。那人掏出火柴，划了一根，没有燃着。他又划了几根，还是无济于事。他非常生气，说道：“我不是告诉你每根火柴都必须是好的吗？”

“是的，你说过，”男孩说道。“所以我把盒子里所有的火柴都试过了，每一根都能划着。”

【词汇讲解】

1.send打发，派遣。send sb. for a doctor派某人去请医生。“使进学校”：His parents couldn’t afford to send him to university.他的父母没钱送他上大学。“赏赐”：God send us peace!愿上帝赐给我们和平。

2.match火柴。还可以作动词，“比得上”：No one could match the skill of the archer.没人能比得上这位弓箭手的技艺。“和……一致”His deeds don’t match his words.他言行不一。

3.strike a match点燃火柴。strike作动词还有其他含义，比如“使突然想到”：The solution struck me immediately.我立刻想到这个解决办法。“使喜爱”：I am still struck by the beauty of the countryside.我仍然为乡村的美丽景色所吸引。

4.fail失败。可作及物或不及物动词。有“缺少”的意思：Our youth never failed an invincible courage.我们的青年从不缺少大无畏的精神。“使失望”：When we needed his help, he failed us.当我们需要他的帮助时，他令我们失望。

5.in vain徒劳。vain是形容词，有“无价值的”意思：vain talk空谈。“无效的”：It is vain to resist.抵抗是没有用的。“爱慕虚荣的”：He is shamelessly vain.他爱慕虚荣到了不知羞耻的地步。

6.try out试用，试验：I’m going to try out the new car out.我去试一下新车。