【New words and expressions】

record-holder 纪录保持者

truant          n. 逃学的孩子

unimaginative adj. 缺乏想像力的

shame           n. 惭愧，羞耻

hitchhike       v. 搭便车旅行

meantime        n. 其间

lorry           n. 卡车

border          n. 边界

evade           v. 逃避，逃离

★record-holder      纪录保持者

n.+ v.+ er 构词法

tennis player

★truant      n. 逃学的孩子，逃学者

The three boys who are fishing over there are truants and ought to be sent back to school.

play truant     逃学（英）

the boy who played truant    逃学的孩子

play hooky      逃学（美）

be absent from class unpurpose    逃学 （unpurpose    adv. 故意的）

He did it unpurpose.

evade school     逃学

★unimaginative     adj. 缺乏想象力的

imagine     v. 想象，设想

imaginative     adj. 有想象力的

She is an imaginative painter.

Painters should be imaginative.

imagination     n. 想象力

-tive 一般是形容词的后缀；-tion 一般是名词的后缀

★shame     n. 惭愧，羞耻

What a shame!     真可耻！

Shame on you!     替你感到可耻！

shameful     adj. 令人羞愧

ashamed      adj. 感到羞愧

put sb. to shame     让某人感到羞愧

对别人赞美的回答：

Thank you. You are flattering me. （你过奖了。）

You put me to shame. （你比我好的意思）

put sb. to trouble     给某人带来麻烦

★hitchhike      v. 搭便车旅行

hitchhike = take a lift     搭便车

hitchhiker      n. 搭便车的人

★meantime     n. 其间

in the meantime = meanwhile    与此同时

★evade     v. 逃避，逃离

① vt.（巧妙地）逃脱，躲开

She evaded a blow from the man and then called out for help.

② vt. 回避，逃避（尤指不当地）

evade doing sth.     逃避做……

He always tries to evade paying taxes.

Many children dream of evading school.

avoid       v. 逃避，逃离，避免

avoid 指通过一种合理的，正当的手段来避免做某事；evade 指通过欺骗的手段来避免做某事。

tax avoidance     避税

tax evasion       逃税

【Text】

Children who play truant from school are unimaginative. A quiet day's fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far as they get. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, travelled 1,600 miles. He hitchhiked to Dover and, towards evening, went into a boat to find somewhere to sleep. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais. No one noticed the boy as he crept off. From there, he hitchhiked to Paris in a lorry. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just outside the city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of children who dream of evading school.

参考译文

逃学的孩子们都缺乏想像力。他们通常能够做到的，至多也就是安静地钓上一天鱼，或在电影院里坐上8个小时，一遍遍地看同一部电影。而有那么一个小男孩，他在逃学期间旅行了1,600英里，从而使上述所有逃学的孩子们都相形见绌了。他搭便车到了多佛，天快黑时钻进了一条船，想找个地方睡觉。第二天早上他醒来时，发现船在这段时间已经到了加。当男孩从船里爬出来时，谁也没有发现他。从那里他又搭上卡车到了巴黎。司机给了他几块饼干和一杯咖啡，就把他丢在了城外。男孩截住的下一辆车，没有像他希望的那样把他带到巴黎市中心，而是把他带到了法国和西班牙边界上的佩皮尼昂。他在那儿被一个警察抓住了，之后被当局送回了英国。他无疑为成千上万梦想逃避上学的孩子们创造了一项纪录。