自考英语综合二下册课文 lesson 2

　　[00:00.00]Lesson Two  Text

[00:04.70]The Man Who Could Work Miracles

[00:09.06]H. G. Wells Until he was thirty years old,

[00:17.24]Fotheringay did not believe in miracles.

[00:22.39]It was while he was asserting the impossibility of miracles

[00:27.95]that he discovered his extraordinary powers.

[00:32.78]He was having a drink in a bar.

[00:37.15]Toddy Beamish opposed everything he said

[00:42.19]by a monotonous 1 but effective "So you say,

[00:48.07]and drove him to the limit of his patience

[00:52.72]Angry with Mr.Beamish,

[00:56.24]Mr. Fotheringay determined 2 to make an unusual effort.

[01:02.41]"Look here,Mr.Beamish," said Mr. Fotheringay.

[01:07.97]"Let us clearly understand what a miracle is.

[01:13.61]It's something contrary to the course of nature done by power of Will, "

[01:21.87]"So you say," said Mr.Beamish.

[01:27.01]"For instance," said Mr.Fotheringay

[01:31.27]"Here would  be a miracle.

[01:34.75]That lamp,in the natural course of nature,

[01:40.02]couldn't bum 3 like that upside down, could it.Beamish?"

[01:45.77]"You say it couldn't,"said Beamish.

[01:50.63]"And you?" said Fotheringay.

[01:54.39]You don't mean to say

[01:57.86]"No," said Beamish reluctantly."No, it couldn't."

[02:03.22]"Very well," said Mr. Fotheringay.

[02:07.76]"Then here comes someone,perhaps myself, and stands here,

[02:14.64]and says to that lamp,as I might do,

[02:19.18]collecting all my will Turn upside down without breaking,

[02:27.25]and go on burning steady,'and Hullo!"

[02:32.89]It was enough to make anyone say "Hullo!"

[02:37.26]The incredible was visible to them all.

[02:41.93]The lamp hung upside down in the air,

[02:47.50]burning quietly with its flame pointing down.

[02:54.58]Mr.Fotheringay stood with a forefinger 4 stretched out

[03:00.51]and the troubled face of one expecting a terrible crash.

[03:06.67]A cyclist, who was sitting next to the lamp, ducked and jumped across the bar.

[03:14.53]For nearly three seconds the lamp remained still.

[03:20.59]A faint cry of mental distress 5 came from Mr. Fotheringay;

[03:27.15]"I can't keep it up,"he said, "any longer."

[03:32.40]He staggered back, and the lamp suddenly fell.

[03:37.97]It was lucky it had a metal container,

[03:42.09]or the whole place would have been on fire.

[03:46.46]Mr. Cox, the landlord was the first to speak

[03:52.10]and his remark was to the effectthat Fotheringay  was a fool.

[03:59.18]Fotheringay himself was astonished beyond measure at the thing that had occurred.

[04:06.73]The subsequent conversation threw no light on the matter,

[04:12.50]and everyone accused Fotheringay of a silly trick.

[04:18.43]He himself was terribly puzzled,

[04:22.66]He went home red-faced and hot.

[04:27.49]It was only when he found himself alone inhis little bedroom

[04:33.55]that he was able to think clearly and ask,

[04:38.88]"What on earth happened?"He had removed his coat and boots,

[04:45.86]and was sitting on the bed with his hands in his pocket.

[04:50.82]He was repeating for the seventeenth time,

[04:55.58]"I didn't want the thing to turn over,"

[04:59.65]when it occurred to him that at the precise moment hesaid the commanding words

[05:07.98]he had willed the thing that he said

[05:12.63]And when he saw the lamp in the air he had felt that it depended on him

[05:20.71]to maintain it therewith out being clear how this was to be done.

[05:27.97]He decided 6 on another experiment.

[05:32.33]He pointed 7 to his candle and collected his mind,

[05:37.97]though he felt he did a foolish thing.

[05:42.05]"Be raised up," he said.

[05:46.59]The candle was raised,hung in the air for a moment,

[05:52.86]and then fell with a crash on his table,

[05:57.12]leaving him in darkness.

[06:00.65]For a time Mr.Fotheringay sat perfectly 8 still,

[06:06.11]"It did happen, after all," he said.

[06:11.44]"And how I'm going to explain it, I don't know."He sighed heavily,

[06:19.69]and began feeling in his pockets for a match.

[06:24.26]"I wish I had a match,he said. He tried his coat, and there were none there,

[06:32.59]and then it dawned upon him that miracles were possible even with matches.

　　[06:40.04]He stretched out a hand.

[06:43.70]"Let there be a match in that hand," he said.

[06:49.76]He felt some light object fall across his palm,

[06:54.80]and his fingers closed upon a match

[07:00.26]After several futile 9 attempts to light this he threw it down,

[07:06.42]and then it occurred to him that he might have willed it to be lit.

[07:12.46]He did so, and saw it burning on the table.

[07:18.80]He caught it up hastily, and it went out.

[07:23.56]His perception of possibilities enlarged,

[07:28.60]and he felt for and replaced the candle in its candlestick.

[07:34.77]"Here!You be lit," said Mr.Fotheringay,and at once the candle was burning.

[07:44.33]For a time he stared at it,

[07:47.98]and then looked up and met his own gaze in the looking glass.

[07:54.15]"What about miracles now?" said Mr.Fotheringay, addressing his own reflection.

[08:03.08]The subsequent thoughts of Mr.Fotheringay were confused.

[08:08.75]So far as he could see he had only to will the thing.

[08:15.80]After his first experiences, he wished to make only very cautious experiments.

[08:24.27]But he lifted a sheet of paper,and turned a glass of water pink,

[08:31.53]and then green,and got himself a toothbrush.

[08:37.17]In the early hours of the morning he had reached the fact

[08:43.23]that his will power must be unusual and strong.

[08:49.29]The fears of his first discovery were now mixed with pride

[08:57.34]and ideas of advantage.

[09:02.51]He heard the church clock striking one,

[09:06.77]and decided to get into bed without further delay.

[09:12.12]As he struggled to get his shirt over his head,

[09:17.09]he was struck with a brilliant idea.

[09:21.35]"Let me be in bed," he said, and found himself so.

[09:28.29]"Undressed," he added;and finding the sheets cold, he said hastily,

[09:36.23]"and in my nightshirt no,in a nice soft woollen nightshirt.

[09:43.60]Ah!" he said with immense enjoyment 10.

[09:49.17]"And now let me be comfortably asleep..."

[09:54.63]He awoke at his usual hourand was thoughtful all through breakfast time.

[10:01.89]He wondered whether his experience might not be a dream.

[10:08.13]At last his mind turned again to cautious experiments.

[10:14.40]For instance, he had three eggs for breakfast;

[10:19.86]two were supplied by his landlady 11, good,

[10:25.19]but from the shop,and one was a delicious fresh goose egg,

[10:32.42]laid, cooked,and served by his extraordinary will.

[10:40.16]He hurried to work in a state of profoundbut carefully concealed 12 excitement.

[10:48.52]All day he could do no work because of his astonishing knowledge,

[10:55.78]but this caused him no inconvenience,

[11:00.04]because he made up for ii miraculously  in his last ten minutes.

[11:06.59]As the day passed, his state of mind passed from wonder to delight.

[11:14.85]He intended,among other things,to increase his personal property

[11:21.69]by acts of creation,

[11:25.06]and called into existence a number of nice things.

[11:31.02]But he could see that the gift required caution and watchfulness 13.

[11:37.97]After supper one night he went out

[11:43.01]to try a few miracles in private by the gasworks.

[11:49.04]He stuck his walking stick into the ground

[11:53.40]and commanded the dry wood to blossom.

[11:58.05]The air was immediately full of the scent 14 of roses.

[12:03.62]He struck a matchand saw that this beautiful miracle was indeed accomplished 15.

[12:12.06]His satisfaction was ended by advancing footsteps.

[12:17.91]Afraid that someone would discover his powers,he said to the stick hastily,

[12:25.77]"Go back. "What he meant was"Change back";

[12:32.43]but the stick moved backwards 16 at a considerable speed,

[12:38.70]and there came a cry of anger from the approaching person.

[12:44.55]"Who are you throwing rosebushes at, you fool?" cried a voice.

[12:51.71]"I'm sorry," said Mr.Fotheringay. He saw Winch, a policeman, advancing.

[12:59.28]"What do you mean by it?" asked Winch.

[13:03.83]"Hullo! It's you, is it?The man who broke the lamp at that bar!

[13:10.49]What did you do it for?Do you know that stick hurt?"

[13:16.45]For the moment Fotheringay could not utter a word.

　　[13:21.49]His silence seemed to irritate Mr. Winch.

[13:26.03]"You've been assaulting the police, young man, this time."

[13:31.31]"Look here,Mr. Winch,"said Fotheringay,annoyed and confused.

[13:37.48]"I'm very sorry. The fact is ...""Well?"

[13:42.73]He could think of no answer but the truth.

[13:47.87]"I was working a miracle."He tried to speak as casually 17 as he could.

[13:55.24]"Working a . .  !Look! Don't talk rot.Working a miracle,indeed!

[14:01.90]Well, that's really funny!

[14:06.05]You're the man who doesn't believe in miracles. . .

[14:10.49]The fact is, this is another of your silly tricks.Now I tell you ..."

[14:18.15]But Mr. Fotheringay never heard what Mr.Winch was going to tell him.

[14:24.99]He realized that he had given himself away.

[14:31.34]He became violently irritated.He turned on the policeman swiftly and fiercely.

[14:39.70]"Listen," he said.

[14:42.76]"I've had enough of this.I'll show you a silly trick, Go to Hades!"

[14:51.82]He was alone!Mr.Fotheringay performed no more miracles that night,

[15:01.28]nor did he trouble to see what had become of his flowering stick

[15:05.53]He went back, scared and very quiet.

[15:11.39]"Good Heavens!" he said,

[15:14.76]"It's an extremely powerful gift.I didn't mean as much as that.

[15:21.60]Not really...I wonder what Hades is like."

[15:27.56]He sat on the bed taking off his shoes.

[15:32.23]Struck by a happy thought he transferred the policeman to San Francisco,

[15:40.28]and then went to bed.

[15:43.33]The next day Fotheringay heard two interesting pieces of news.

[15:50.41]Someone had planted a most beautiful climbing rose near the gasworks,

[15:57.86]and everyone was looking for Constable 18 Winch.