宫廷“龙虾”

河南 谷战峰

“小兄弟”是一位贫穷的年轻画家。 一次，在参加贵族才能参加的舞会时，他误穿了不得体的衣服。 他该如何化解这场尴尬呢？

题材社会体裁记叙文文章词数 难度 建议用时312 ★★★ 6 分钟

1Little Brother was a young painter. Although he lived in the cheapest house, he always held his head high, spoke to everyone he met and showed his work to whoever would look at it.

2One afternoon, a group of some fancy nobles invited him to a party in a castle in the Loire Valley that weekend. They said this was going to be the party of the year and only noble men were allowed to attend the party. “Dress up and join us！ ” they said.

3Excited, Little Brother worked all week on a costume that he was certain would be highly impressive. Then he rented a car and drove three hours to the castle. He changed into his costume in the car and went up the castle steps. He entered the ballroom, head held high.

4Upon arrival, he immediately realized his mistake. This was a themed costume party. All around him everyone was dressed in fancy clothes with sparkling jewels. Little Brother, however, was wearing a red coat, red tights, red ballet slippers, and giant red claws. Also, his face was painted red. He was dressed as a lobster.

5He stood at the top of the steps for one long horrible moment. Running away in shame seemed like the easiest response. But he didn't run. He'd worked really hard to make this costume, and he was proud of it.

6Though he was a bit nervous at first, quickly a slight triumph （喜悦） took over as he was amazed at his smooth footsteps. The dramatic scene where a beautiful princess danced with an funny lobster attracted all the dancers. Everyone cheered for them with thunderous applause.

7When asked why he wore a costume like that, Little Brother spelled out his art inspiration,“Beauty comes from variety. Don't be afraid of being unique. Be confident. What if you were a star?”he said.

Reading Check

Language Study

独立主格结构的几种用法

He entered the ballroom, head held high. 他高昂着头，走进了舞厅。

本句中，head held high是一个独立主格结构，表示伴随的情况，句中逻辑主语与过去分词held构成的是动宾关系。 常见的独立主格结构还有以下几种：

1. 名词(代词)+现在分词Night enshrouding the earth, nobody could make out what the dark mass was from a distance. 黑夜笼罩大地，谁也看不清远处黑压压的一片是什么东西。

2. 名词(代词)+不定式Many trees, flowers, and grass to be planted, our newly-built school will look even more beautiful.种上许多的树、花和草后，我们新建的学校看上去将更美。

3. 名词(代词)+形容词

Computers very small, we can carry them easily. 电脑很小，我们很方便携带。

4. 名词(代词)+副词

The meeting over, our headmaster soon left the meeting room. 散会了，校长很快就离开了会议室。

5. 名词(代词)+介词短语

He lay at full length upon his stomach, his head upon his left forearm. 他背朝上， 四肢伸展，头枕着左臂，直挺挺地趴伏着。