入门级-狄更斯-圣诞颂歌（10）

一、原文文章：

The schoolroom became darker and dirtier．There was the young Scrooge again，a little older and bigger than before．He was not reading this time，but was walking up and down， looking very unhappy．The door opened，and a little girl， much younger than him，came running in．Putting her arms round his neck，she said lovingly to him，‘I've come to bring you home，dear brother！Father is so much kinder than he used to be！The other day I asked him if you could come home，and he said yes！And we're going to spend Christmas together，and have the merriest time！’she was laughing delightedly as she began to pull him towards the door．They went out happily together，hand in hand．

‘What a warm heart she had！’said the ghost．

‘You're right，’said Scrooge．‘I agree with you，spirit！’

‘She married，I understand，’continued the ghost，‘and had children，I think，before she died．’

‘One child，’answered Scrooge．

‘True，’said the ghost．‘Your nephew！’

Scrooge did not answer at once．‘Yes，’he said at last．

Now the school had disappeared，and they were in the middle of a busy town，with shadowy crowds and carts all around them．Here it was Christmas time again，but it was evening， and there were lights in the shops and streets．

The ghost stopped at an office door．‘Do you know this place，Scrooge？’he asked．

‘Know it！’cried Scrooge．‘Why，I was a clerk here！’

They went in，and when they saw a large，kind-looking old gentleman sitting at a high desk，Scrooge cried excitedly，‘Good Heavens，it's old Fezziwig！God bless him！It's Fezziwig alive again！’

Old Fezziwig put down his pen，and looked at the clock．Fastening his coat buttons over his fat stomach，he started laughing as he called out in a rich，deep，happy voice， ‘Ebenezer！Dick！Seven o'clock！No more work tonight！It's Christmas Eve，remember！’

The young Scrooge hurried in，with another clerk．

‘That's Dick Wilkins！’said Scrooge quietly to the ghost．‘He always liked me．Oh dear！poor Dick！’

Together the two young clerks put away all the pens and papers，and，following Fezziwig's orders，cleared all the furniture away from the centre of the room．In came a fiddler．In came Mrs Fezziwig，fat and smiling．In came the three Fezziwig daughters，sweet and pretty．In came the six young men who were in love with them．In came the cook，with her young man，the milkman．In came the boy from next door， with the girl from the house opposite．In they came，some quietly，some noisily，but all happy because it was Christmas Eve．The fiddler started playing，and away they all went in the dance，twenty pairs at the same time，round and round， down the middle and up again．When they were all tired，old Fezziwig cried out，‘Well done！Now，have something to eat and drink！’there was cake and hot meat and bread and cold meat and fruit，and all kinds of drinks，on a long table near the door．And after they had eaten，they danced again．

When the clock struck eleven，the dancing ended．Mr and Mrs Fezziwig stood by the door，shaking hands with each person as he or she went out，and wishing him or her a merry Christmas．

During this time Scrooge had thought of nothing except what was happening in front of his eyes．He remembered and enjoyed it all with the greatest delight．But when the dancing came to an end，he realized that the ghost was looking at him．The light on the spirit's head was burning very clearly．

‘It seems easy enough to amuse these childish people，’said the ghost．‘It was nothing much that Fezziwig did，was it？ After all，he only spent a few pounds，on food and drink and paying the fiddler．’

‘It isn't a question of money，’replied Scrooge warmly．He was speaking like the young man he used to be，not the old man he was now．‘No，spirit，you see，our employer can make us happy or sad．His words，his looks，all these things are so important！The happiness that he gives is just as valuable as money！’

He suddenly stopped speaking，when he felt the spirit watching him closely．

‘What's the matter？’asked the ghost．

‘Er—nothing，’said Scrooge．‘Just that—I'd like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk now．’

二、词根：

1. 词根pos表示放置，opposite=op+pos+ite

2. 词根pan表示面包，company=com+pan+y

三、词缀：

后缀-ish表示形容词或动词。

1. childish=child+ish

2. oldish=old+ish

3. finish=fin+ish

四、易混词汇：

厨子：cook

厨具：cooker