Goujian Fought Back卧薪尝胆

During the Spring and Autumn period， the state of Wu and the state of Yue were neighbors. But there were always wars between them.

During one war， Wu defeated Yue. Goujian（勾践）， the king of Yue， was caught.

Fuchai（夫差）， the king of Wu， wanted to make Goujian lose face. He asked Goujian to do many hard work， like cutting wood and feeding horses as a servant. Goujian didn’t say anything. He just did what Fuchai asked him to do. When Fuchai got sick， Goujian even looked after him day and night.

Three years later， Goujian was set free. But Goujian would never forget the hard time. So he slept on brushwood every night and ate bitter gall before every meal. Goujian kept asking himself， “Did you forget the past three years？”

Goujian worked hard all the time. He worked with farmers and trained with soldiers. He made his people rich and his state strong. About ten years later， Goujian defeated Fuchai.

When we fail， we should not give up. We should learn from it and keep trying. With hard work and determination， we can still reach our goals.

Spring and Autumn period

春秋时期

neighbor /ˈneɪbə（r）/ n.邻居

state of Wu吴国

state of Yue越国

defeat /dɪˈfiːt/ v.打败

was caught被抓

这里用的是一般过去时的被动语态。被动语态的基本格式是：be动词+动词的过去分词，意为：被……。可用于一般现在时、现在进行时、一般将来时等。如：

I am asked to study hard.我被要求好好学习。

The house is being cleaned.房子正在被打扫。

He will be sent to a new school next year. 明年他将被送到一所新学校。

make Goujian lose face让勾践丢脸

make sb do sth，意为：让（使）某人做某事。如：

He always makes me laugh.他总是使我笑。

Nothing can make him change his mind.没什么事能让他改变主意。

cutting wood and feeding horses砍木头和喂马

这里的动词cut和feed都用了-ing形式，因为前面有介词like（像……）。介词后面如果跟动词，要用动词-ing形式。如：

I’m interested in learning English.我对学英语感兴趣。

Thank you for helping me. 谢谢你帮助我。

was set free被释放。参考第5点讲解。

brushwood /ˈbrʌʃwʊd/ n.柴草bitter /ˈbɪtə（r）/ adj.味苦的

gall /ɡɔːl/ n.胆（汁）

kept asking himself不断地问他自己

keep doing sth，意为：一直／持续做某事。如：

He kept eating during the party.宴会期间他一直在吃。

trained with soldiers和士兵一起训练

made his people rich and his state strong让人民富有，让国家强大

这里出现了make的另一个常用结构：make sb/sth +形容词，意为：使……变得……。如：

The news made him excited.这则新闻让他兴奋不已。

Doing sports can make us strong.运动可以使我们强壮。

determination /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃ（ə）n/ n.决心

reach our goals达成我们的目标