英语初级口语教程：ThreeWishes三个愿望

　　Read the following passage once. Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner.

　　Now I know why birds sit on telephone lines. They listen. 　　 I am either nine or ten years old. At the orphanage they call me Miguel. 　　 When I want to feel improtant, I say, "Call me Don Miguel. " I used to act important all the time because 1 felt I wasn't.

　　 Back then, no one liked me very much because I didn't like other peo 　　 But last year, I began to learn two important things: I was learning to see, not just look. And I was learning to listen, not just hear. 　　 I used to lie in the dark and make up relatives that I didn't have. My favorite relative was a nice old man who spoke Spanish, like me. 　　 One day a man came to see me. He said he was my uncle. "I don't have an uncle," I said. 　　 "Now you do , " he said. 　　 He was an old man who liked children. He had a boy once who went to Korea. His daughter moved to the City. He said the City can be a difficult place in which to live. He taught me how to see and listen. I don't know if he is my uncle or not; neither did he, but he came to see me often. I guess if you act like an uncle all the time, you are one. 　　 I was not a good student before my uncle came along. He took me walking in the fields. At one point he spread his arms and said. "It is all here. " 　　 "What?" I said. 　　 "Everything you need to know," he replied.

　　 At first it appeared to be nothing more than just a few trees. I thought I was nowhere. Then he had me close n-.y eyes. First I heard the breeze in the grass, then in the trees. I also heard a faraway train and a barking dog. For a while I heard nothing. I was almost scared. He said to listen harder. 　　 I heard my heart beat. 　　 beause I used to be so sad, I had almost forgotten that I had a heart. 　　 Once I asked him who he was. 　　 "An experiment , " he said. 　　 "What kind of an experiment?" I said. 　　 He grinned and said, "Nobody knows. Like you, there is no one in the world like me. So who is to say what I will be. "

　　 One day in the field he showed me the way the breeze made the trees move. The rustling of the leaves made a sound that frightened a nearby bird. It flew away. 　　 We watched the bird drop an acorn. 　　 "The bird , " he said , "cari make a seed move. From that seed the oak can grow fifty feet tall. It will be a friend to those who want one. "

　　 I always knew that trees were there, but I never knew they were real like me. 　　 One Sunday I was angry. When my uncle came , I said : "I don't have anything. I wish I had something. " 　　 "You have everything worth having," he said. "And I will give you even more. I will give some secrets of the Universe. Do you believe me?" 　　 "Yes," I said, wanting to believe him.