王迈迈幽默四级词汇帮你记忆单词（3）
An Example of Tragedy 一个灾难的例子???
Bill Clinton is visiting an urban school. In one class, he asks the students if anyone can give him an example of a “tragedy”. One little boy stands up and offers his viewpoint, “If my best friend who lives next door was playing in the street when a van came along and killed him, that would be a tragedy.” “No,” Clinton utters, “That would be a violent ACCIDENT.” A girl raises her hand, “If a school bus carrying fifty children drove off a cliff, killing everyone involved... that would be a tragedy.” “I’m afraid not,” explains Clinton, “That is what we would call a tremendous LOSS.” The room is tense and silent; none of the other children volunteers. “What?” asks Clinton, “Isn’t there any one here who can give me an example of a tragedy?”he urges. Finally, a boy in the back raises his hand and stands upright. In an uneasy yet sincere voice, he says, “If an airplane carrying Bill & Hillary Clinton were blown up by a bomb, that would be a tragedy.” “Wonderful!” Clinton beams. “Marvelous! And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?” “Well,” says the boy, “because it wouldn’t be an accident, and it certainly would be no tremendous loss!”?
译文?
比尔·克林顿正在某城市的一所学校视察。在一个班里，他问学生能否给他举个“灾难”的例子。一个小男孩站起来自告奋勇发表观点，“如果住在隔壁的我最好的朋友在街上玩，突然有辆货车开过来把他撞死了，我觉得这就是灾难。”“不，”克林顿说，“这是严重的意外事故。”一个小女孩举手说，“如果载着50个孩子的校车翻到悬崖下，车里的每个人都遇难了…。这就是灾难。”“我认为这恐怕不是，”克林顿说，“这是我们通常说的巨大损失。”教室里气氛紧张，一片寂静，再也没有其他的孩子主动起来举例了。“怎么了？”克林顿问道，“难道这儿没人能给我举个有关灾难的例子吗？”终于，坐在后面的一个男孩举起手，站得笔直，用拘束不安却真诚的声音说，“如果比尔·克林顿和希拉里·克林顿乘坐的飞机被炸弹击中，这就是灾难。”“非常正确！”克林顿微笑着说，“很好！你能告诉我为什么这就是灾难呢？”“好的，”男孩说，“因为这既不是意外事故，当然也不是什么巨大损失！”
四级词汇
1.tragedy ?n.? ① 惨事，灾难 ② 悲剧(艺术)
2.urban ?a.?城市的,市内的
3.viewpoint ?n.?