The Frogs and the Ox

◎供稿：魏 玮

An Ox came down to a puddle to drink water. He was great in size. He moved heavily in the water, and1)crusheda young Frog into the2)mud. The Frog died3)instantlyunder the4)pressure.The young Frog’s mother looked about everywhere to find him. When she could not find him anywhere, she asked the other young Frogs what had happened.

“A5)giganticmonster came and crushed the little brother with his6)massive feet!”said one of the Frogs.

“A big monster?” said the Mother Frog. She puffed herself up and said, “Was he as big as this?”

“No! He was much bigger than that!” they cried.The Mother Frog puffed herself up even more.“Was he as big as this?” she asked in surprise.

“He was much, much bigger than that!” the young ones answered again.

“Surely, he was not as big as this?” she asked again, puffing herself up with all her strength. But the young Frogs kept saying that the monster was much, much bigger than her. She continued to puff herself up,and in the end she puffed herself up so much that she7)burst.

Do not8)attemptthe impossible.

1) crush [krʌʃ] v.挤压

2) mud [mʌd] n.泥

3) instantly ['ɪnstəntli] adv.立刻

4) pressure ['preʃə(r)] n.压力

5) gigantic [dʒaɪ'gæntɪk] ad.巨大的

6) massive ['mæsɪv] adj.宽大的

7) burst [bɜ:st] v.爆炸, 破裂

8) attempt [ə'tempt] v.尝试

词组加油站

look about 四处寻找

puff up吹气使……鼓起来

in surprise 惊讶地

with all one’s strength 用尽某人的全力

in the end 最终

参考译文

一头牛来到水池里喝水。他体积庞大，在水里笨重地挪动着,踩到了淤泥里的一只小青蛙。这只青蛙在重压下一下子就死掉了。小青蛙的妈妈四处找他,哪里也不见小青蛙的踪影,她便问其他小青蛙发生了什么事情。

“一只巨大的怪兽来了,他用大脚把小弟弟压死了！” 其中一只青蛙说。

“一只大怪兽?”青蛙妈妈问道。她吸口气把身体鼓起来然后说：“怪兽有这么大吗?”

“不!他要比那样大多了!”青蛙们嘟嚷道。

青蛙妈妈把自己鼓得更大了。

“像这么大吗?”她惊讶地问道。

“他要比那样大很多很多!”小青蛙们再次回答。

“你们确定,他不是这么大?”她又问道,用尽全力把自己吹得更鼓了。但是小青蛙们一直说那只怪物要比她大得多。她继续鼓着气,最后,由于充气太多,她把自己鼓爆了。

不要尝试不可能的事情。

语法

as…as结构的用法要点

(1)基本用法

该结构的基本意思是“与……一样”，其中接形容词或副词的原级，在否定句中，第一个as也可换成 so。如：

He doesn’t study as/so hard as his brother.他学习不如他弟弟努力。

(2)涉及数量或程度的用法

若涉及数量或程度，可用“as much+不可数名词+as”和“as many+可数名词复数+as”。如：

He doesn’t pay as much tax as we do/as us.他没我们交的税款多。

There are not as many restaurants as there were.现在餐馆没有过去多了。

(3)有关词序的一点说明

其间接形容词时，有时该形容词还可修饰另一名词，但这个名词应带有不定冠词(注意词序)。如：

I have as good a voice as you.我的声音和你一样好。

(4) 该结构的修饰语

根据情况可用 (not) nearly，almost，just，nothing like，exactly，not quite，half，oneten，twice，three times，30 percent等修饰，并且这些修饰语必须置于第一个as之前，而不能置于其后。如：

This room is twice as large as that one. 这个房间是那个房间的两倍大。

You’re not half as clever us you think you are.你远不是自己想象的那么聪明。

It took three times as long as I had expected.这件事比我预料的多花了两倍的时间。