作者：(美)威廉·H·麦加菲
出版社：上海三联书店
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
美国语文读本3（美国原版经典语文课本）试读：
出版前言
呈现于读者面前的这套《美国语文读本》，亦名《麦加菲读本》，其编者威廉·H·麦加菲曾先后任美国迈阿密大学语言学教授和俄亥俄大学校长。考虑到“麦加菲”在美国已是注册商标，加之它是一套在美国影响深远而广泛的语文课本，我们在中国首次原文出版这套著名教材时，便将书名定为《美国语文读本》。对当今中国读者来讲，这套书既有教材功能，亦是一套提高英语水平的有效读物。《美国语文读本》从19世纪中期至20世纪中叶，一直被广泛用作美国学校的语文教材，据称有10000多所美国学校使用。美国著名汽车制造商亨利·福特称赞这套书是他儿童时代最有兴趣的读物，后来他自费大量印刷这套书，分发给很多学校。21世纪的今天，西方一些私立学校和家庭学校（Homeschool）仍用它作为教材，足见这套书的价值与魅力。据估计，这套书从问世至1960年，至少发行了1.22亿册；1961年后，在西方每年销量仍达30000册以上。应该说，没有哪一套个人主编的教材能超过此发行量了！
这套读本的英文原版共分七级，包括启蒙读本和第1-6级。考虑到启蒙读本与第一级篇幅都较少，难易程度也很接近，于是我们将之合并为第1册，其余2-6级与英文原版相同。这样国内出版的这套读本共包括6册。第1册从字母表开始，主要侧重于字母的发音与书写、基本单词与常用句型，同时强调英文书写，课文后面附有不少书法练习，让中国孩子不仅将英语说得像外国人，而且写得也跟外国人一样，这也许是国内英语教学所缺少的一个环节。从第2册开始，均是蕴涵特定主题与思想的课文，每一课包括词汇和课文，对一些难词有英文解释，让学生学会通过简单英文理解生词，养成用英语理解和思维的习惯。第4册还附有课后思考练习，这些练习可以帮助学生更好理解文章，引发孩子们的思考。第5册和第6册的课文前增加了作者简介与相关背景知识，内容丰富而有一定深度。
从所选课文的英文难易程度来看，大致而言，这套读本的第1-3册跟国内小学毕业程度相近，那么第4级以上则适用于中学以上的学习者阅读使用。从文体方面，除了常用文体外，这套读本对诗歌、戏剧、论说文等文体也很重视，书中选取了不少名家的名作名篇。这对国内孩子们真正感受英语语言的魅力是大有帮助的。
在全社会不断呼吁教育改革的今天，我们将这套优秀的美国读本引进到国内，应该具有一定借鉴意义。它有益于中国孩子在学习英语的同时，了解西方的文学与文化历史，通过英语这门语言工具，开阔自己的视野，打开通往世界的心灵之窗。同时，这套书的字里行间灌输了很多做人的道理和准则，让孩子们在学习英语的同时学会做人，这正是我们出版此套书的内心所愿！
作为此书的出版者，我们最后恳请读者原谅并给予帮助的是，由于此套书出版过程中扫描和编排校对的工作量较大，或许会出现一些错误与不当之处，恳请读者谅解并指正，并帮助我们更加完善此套读本。我们的联系方式为homeschools@sina.com.，并请访问我们的家庭学校博客：http://blog.sina.com.cn/homeschoolnow出版者LESSON 1THE SHEPHERD BOY
either
trickle
fancied
murmur
reflected
glossy
entered
shepherd
chestnuts
command
1. Little Roy led his sheep down to pasture,
And his cows, by the side of the brook;
But his cows never drank any water,
And his sheep never needed a crook.
2. For the pasture was gay as a garden,
And it glowed with a flowery red;
But the meadows had never a grass blade,
And the brooklet—it slept in its bed:
3. And it lay without sparkle or murmur,
Nor reflected the blue of the skies;
But the music was made by the shepherd,
And the sparkle was all in his eyes.
4. Oh, he sang like a bird in the summer!
And, if sometimes you fancied a bleat,
That, too, was the voice of the shepherd,
And not of the lambs at his feet.
5. And the glossy brown cows were so gentle
That they moved at the touch of his hand
O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow,
And they stood at the word of command.
6. So he led all his sheep to the pasture,
And his cows, by the side of the brook;
Though it rained, yet the rain never pattered
O'er the beautiful way that they took.
7. And it wasn't in Fairyland either,
But a house in the midst of the town,
Where Roy, as he looked from the window,
Saw the silvery drops trickle down.
8. For his pasture was only a table,
With its cover so flowery fair,
And his brooklet was just a green ribbon,
That his sister had lost from her hair.
9. And his cows were but glossy horse-chestnuts,
That had grown on his grandfather's tree;
And his sheep only snowy-white pebbles,
He had brought from the shore of the sea.
10. And at length when the shepherd was weary,
And had taken his milk and his bread,
And his mother had kissed him and tucked him,
And had bid him "good night" in his bed;
11. Then there entered his big brother Walter,
While the shepherd was soundly asleep,
And he cut up the cows into baskets,
And to jackstones turned all of the sheep.(Emily S. Oakey)LESSON 2JOHNNY'S FIRST SNOWSTORM
country
groves
losing
sugar
freezes
1. Johnny Reed was a little boy who never had seen a snowstorm till he was six years old. Before this, he had lived in a warm country, where the sun shines down on beautiful orange groves, and fields always sweet with flowers.
2. But now he had come to visit his grandmother, who lived where the snow falls in winter. Johnny was standing at the window when the snow came down.
3. "O mamma!" he cried, joyfully, "do come quick, and see these little white birds flying down from heaven."
4. "They are not birds, Johnny," said mamma, smiling.
5. "Then maybe the little angels are losing their feathers! Oh! do tell me what it is; is it sugar? Let me taste it," said Johnny. But when he tasted it, he gave a little jump—it was so cold.
6. "That is only snow, Johnny," said his mother.
7. "What is snow, mother?"
8. "The snowflakes, Johnny, are little drops of water that fall from the clouds. But the air through which they pass is so cold it freezes them, and they come down turned into snow."
9. As she said this, she brought out an old black hat from the closet. "See, Johnny! I have caught a snowflake on this hat. Look quick through this glass, and you will see how beautiful it is."
10. Johnny looked through the glass. There lay the pure, feathery snowflake like a lovely little star.
11. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" he cried in delight. "Oh! please show me more snow-flakes, mother."
12. So his mother caught several more, and they were all beautiful.
13. The next day Johnny had a fine play in the snow, and when he came in, he said, "I love snow; and I think snowballs are a great deal prettier than oranges."LESSON 3LET IT RAIN
daughter
quench
wreaths
butter
thirsty
Rose. See how it rains! Oh dear, dear, dear! how dull it is! Must I stay in doors all day?
Father. Why, Rose, are you sorry that you had any bread and butter for breakfast, this morning?
Rose. Why, father, what a question! I should be sorry, indeed, if I could not get any.
Father. Are you sorry, my daughter, when you see the flowers and the trees growing in the garden?
Rose. Sorry? No, indeed. Just now, I wished very much to go out and see them, —they look so pretty.
Father. Well, are you sorry when you see the horses, cows, or sheep drinking at the brook to quench their thirst?
Rose. Why, father, you must think I am a cruel girl, to wish that the poor horses that work so hard, the beautiful cows that give so much nice milk, and the pretty lambs should always be thirsty.
Father. Do you not think they would die, if they had no water to drink?
Rose. Yes, sir, I am sure they would. How shocking to think of such a thing!
Father. I thought little Rose was sorry it rained. Do you think the trees and flowers would grow, if they never had any water on them?
Rose. No, indeed, father, they would be dried up by the sun. Then we should not have any pretty flowers to look at, and to make wreaths of for mother.
Father. I thought you were sorry it rained. Rose, what is our bread made of?
Rose. It is made of flour, and the flour is made from wheat, which is ground in the mill.
Father. Yes, Rose, and it was rain that helped to make the wheat grow, and it was water that turned the mill to grind the wheat. I thought little Rose was sorry it rained.
Rose. I did not think of all these things, father. I am truly very glad to see the rain falling.LESSON 4CASTLE-BUILDING
anger
castle
foundation
rattling
tower
dismay
sofa
interested
passion
pile
mimic
nodded
exclaimed
already
spilled
1. "O pussy!" cried Herbert, in a voice of anger and dismay, as the blockhouse he was building fell in sudden ruin. The playful cat had rubbed against his mimic castle, and tower and wall went rattling down upon the floor.
2. Herbert took up one of the blocks and threw it fiercely at pussy. Happily, it passed over her and did no harm. His hand was reaching for another block, when his little sister Hetty sprang toward the cat, and caught her up.
3. "No, no, no!" said she, "you sha'n't hurt pussy! She didn't mean to do it!"
4. Herbert's passion was over quickly, and, sitting down upon the floor, he covered his face with his hands, and began to cry.
5. "What a baby!" said Joe, his elder brother, who was reading on the sofa. "Crying over spilled milk does no good. Build it up again."
6. "No, I won't," said Herbert, and he went on crying.
7. "What's all the trouble here?" exclaimed papa, as he opened the door and came in.
8. "Pussy just rubbed against Herbert's castle, and it fell down," answered Hetty. "But she didn't mean to do it; she didn't know it would fall, did she, papa?"
9. "Why, no! And is that all the trouble?"
10. "Herbert!" his papa called, and held out his hands. "Come." The little boy got up from the floor, and came slowly, his eyes full of tears, and stood by his father.
11. "There is a better way than this, my boy," said papa. "If you had taken that way, your heart would have been light already. I should have heard you singing over your blocks instead of crying. Shall I show you that way?"
12. Herbert nodded his head, and papa sat down on the floor by the pile of blocks, with his little son by his side, and began to lay the foundation for a new castle.LESSON 5CASTLE-BUILDING(CONCLUDED)
string
paper
eagerly
dashed
case
crash
dishes
retorted
sentence
tray
1. Soon, Herbert was as much interested in castle-building as he had been a little while before. He began to sing over his work. All his trouble was gone.
2. "This is a great deal better than crying, isn't it?" said papa.
3. "Crying for what?" asked Herbert, forgetting his grief of a few minutes before.
4. "Because pussy knocked your castle over."
5. "Oh!" A shadow flitted across his face, but was gone in a moment, and he went on building as eagerly as ever.
6. "I told him not to cry over spilled milk," said Joe, looking down from his place on the sofa.
7. "I wonder if you didn't cry when your kite string broke," retorted Herbert.
8. "Losing a kite is quite another thing," answered Joe, a little dashed. "The kite was gone forever; but your blocks were as good as before, and you had only to build again."
9. "I don't see," said papa, "that crying was of any more use in your case then in Herbert's. Sticks and paper are easily found, and you had only to go to work and make another kite." Joe looked down at his book, and went on reading. By this time the castle was finished.
10. "It is ever so much nicer than the one pussy knocked down," said Hetty. And so thought Herbert, as he looked at it proudly from all sides.
11. "If pussy knocks that down, I'll—"
12. "Build it up again," said papa, finishing the sentence for his little boy.
13. "But, papa, pussy must not knock my castles down. I can't have it," spoke out Herbert, knitting his forehead.
14. "You must watch her, then. Little boys, as well as grown up people, have to be often on their guard. If you go into the street, you have to look out for the carriages, so as not to be run over, and you have to keep out of people's way.
15. "In the house, if you go about heedlessly, you will be very apt to run against some one. I have seen a careless child dash suddenly into a room just as a servant was leaving it with a tray of dishes in her hands. A crash followed."
16. "It was I, wasn't it?" said Hetty.
17. "Yes, I believe it was, and I hope it will never happen again."
18. Papa now left the room, saying, "I don't want any more of this crying over spilled milk, as Joe says. If your castles get knocked down, build them up again."LESSON 6LEND A HAND
tear
daily
honor
tongues
suspicion
envy
forced
prompt
malicious
tomorrowLESSON 7THE TRUANT
falsely
attend
truant
conduct
therefore
guilty
haste
regular
struggled
ignorant
1. James Brown was ten years old when his parents sent him to school. It was not far from his home, and therefore they sent him by himself.
2. But, instead of going to school, he was in the habit of playing truant. He would go into the fields, or spend his time with idle boys.
3. But this was not all. When he went home, he would falsely tell his mother that he had been to school, and had said his lessons very well.
4. One fine morning, his mother told James to make haste home from school, for she wished, after he had come back, to take him to his aunt's.
5. But, instead of minding her, he went off to the water, where there were some boats. There he met plenty of idle boys.
6. Some of these boys found that James had money, which his aunt had given him; and he was led by them to hire a boat, and to go with them upon the water.
7. Little did James think of the danger into which he was running. Soon the wind began to blow, and none of them knew how to manage the boat.
8. For some time, they struggled against the wind and the tide. At last, they became so tired that they could row no longer.
9. A large wave upset the boat, and they were all thrown into the water. Think of James Brown, the truant, at this time!
10. He was far from home, known by no one. His parents were ignorant of his danger. He was struggling in the water, on the point of being drowned.
11. Some men, however, saw the boys, and went out to them in a boat. They reached them just in time to save them from a watery grave.
12. They were taken into a house, where their clothes were dried. After a while, they were sent home to their parents.
13. James was very sorry for his conduct, and he was never known to be guilty of the same thing again.
14. He became regular at school, learned to attend to his books, and, above all, to obey his parents perfectly.LESSON 8THE WHITE KITTEN
stroke
beggar
streaks
needful
counsel
1. My little white kitten's asleep on my knee;
As white as the snow or the lilies is she;
She wakes up with a pur
When I stroke her soft fur:
Was there ever another white kitten like her?
2. My little white kitten now wants to go out
And frolic, with no one to watch her about;
"Little kitten," I say,
"Just an hour you may stay,
And be careful in choosing your places to play."
3. But night has come down, when I hear a loud "mew;"
I open the door, and my kitten comes through;
My white kitten! ah me!
Can it really be she—
This ill-looking, beggar-like cat that I see?
4. What ugly, gray streaks on her side and her back!
Her nose, once as pink as a rosebud, is black!
Oh, I very well know,
Though she does not say so,
She has been where white kittens ought never to go.
5. If little good children intend to do right,
If little white kittens would keep themselves white,
It is needful that they
Should this counsel obey,
And be careful in choosing their places to play.LESSON 9THE BEAVER
prefer
trapper
forward
material
disturbing
dumb
chiefly
gnawing
America
cautiously
height
purpose
tighter
reminded
frequently
obtain
curious
inhuman
including
constructed
1. The beaver is found chiefly in North America. It is about three and a half feet long, including the flat, paddle-shaped tail, which is a foot in length.
2. The long, shining hair on the back is chestnut-colored, while the fine, soft fur that lies next the skin, is grayish brown.
3. Beavers build themselves most curious huts to live in, and quite frequently a great number of these huts are placed close together, like the buildings in a town.
4. They always build their huts on the banks of rivers or lakes, for they swim much more easily than they walk, and prefer moving about in the water.
5. When they build on the bank of a running stream, they make a dam across the stream for the purpose of keeping the water at the height they wish.
6. These dams are made chiefly of mud, and stones, and the branches of trees. They are sometimes six or seven hundred feet in length, and are so constructed that they look more like the work of man than of little dumb beasts.
7. Their huts are made of the same material as the dams, and are round in shape. The walls are very thick, and the roofs are finished off with a thick layer of mud, sticks, and leaves.
8. They commence building their houses late in the summer, but do not get them finished before the early frosts. The freezing makes them tighter and stronger.
9. They obtain the wood for their dams and huts by gnawing through the branches of trees, and even through the trunks of small ones, with their sharp front teeth. They peel off the bark, and lay it up in store for winter food.
10. The fur of the beaver is highly prized. The men who hunt these animals are called trappers.
11. A gentleman once saw five young beavers playing. They would leap on the trunk of a tree that lay near a beaver dam, and would push one another off into the water.
12. He crept forward very cautiously, and was about to fire on the little creatures; but their amusing tricks reminded him so much of some little children he knew at home, that he thought it would be inhuman to kill them. So he left them without even disturbing their play.LESSON 10THE YOUNG TEACHER
sign
marks
parcels
venture
inquire
chalk
ruling
drawing
pictures
confused
1. Charles Rose lived in the country with his father, who taught him to read and to write.
2. Mr. Rose told his son that, when his morning lessons were over, he might amuse himself for one hour as he pleased.
3. There was a river near by. On its bank stood the hut of a poor fisherman, who lived by selling fish.
4. His careful wife kept her wheel going early and late. They both worked very hard to keep themselves above want.
5. But they were greatly troubled lest their only son should never learn to read and to write. They could not teach him themselves, and they were too poor to send him to school.
6. Charles called at the hut of this fisherman one day, to inquire about his dog, which was missing.
7. He found the little boy, whose name was Joe, sitting by the table, on which he was making marks with a piece of chalk. Charles asked him whether he was drawing pictures.
8. "No, I am trying to write," said little Joe, "but I know only two words. Those I saw upon a sign, and I am trying to write them."
9. "If I could only learn to read and write," said he, "I should be the happiest boy in the world."
10. "Then I will make you happy," said Charles. "I am only a little boy, but I can teach you that.
11. "My father gives me an hour every day for myself. Now, if you will try to learn, you shall soon know how to read and to write."
12. Both Joe and his mother were ready to fall on their knees to thank Charles. They told him it was what they wished above all things.
13. So, on the next day when the hour came, Charles put his book in his pocket, and went to teach Joe. Joe learned very fast, and Charles soon began to teach him how to write.
14. Some time after, a gentleman called on Mr. Rose, and asked him if he knew where Charles was. Mr. Rose said that he was taking a walk, he supposed.
15. "I am afraid," said the gentleman, "that he does not always amuse himself thus. I often see him go to the house of the fisherman. I fear he goes out in their boat."
16. Mr. Rose was much troubled. He had told Charles that he must never venture on the river, and he thought he could trust him.
17. The moment the gentleman left, Mr. Rose went in search of his son. He went to the river, and walked up and down, in hope of seeing the boat.
18. Not seeing it, he grew uneasy. He thought Charles must have gone a long way off. Unwilling to leave without learning something of him, he went to the hut.
19. He put his head in at the window, which was open. There a pleasant sight met his eyes.
20. Charles was at the table, ruling a copybook Joe was reading to him, while his mother was spinning in the corner.
21. Charles was a little confused. He feared his father might not be pleased; but he had no need to be uneasy, for his father was delighted.
22. The next day, his father took him to town, and gave him books for himself and Joe, with writing paper, pens, and ink.
23. Charles was the happiest boy in the world when he came home. He ran to Joe, his hands filled with parcels, and his heart beating with joy.
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