The flrst fall of snow is not only an event but it is a magical event.You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find yourself in another quite different，and if this is not enchantment，then where is it to be found？The very steaIth，the quietness of the thing makes it more magical.If all the snow fell at once in one shattering crash，awakening us in the middle of the night，the event would be robbed of its wonder.But it flutters down，soundless，hour after hour while we are asleep.Outside the closed curtains of the bedroom a vast transformation scene is taking place，just as if a myriad elves and brownies were at work，and we turn and yawn and stretch and know nothing about it.And then，what an extraordinary change it is！It is as if the house you are in had been dropped down in another continent.[A]Even the inside，which has not been touched，seems different，every room appearing smaller and cosier，just as if some power were trying to turn it into a woodcutter's hut or a snug log cabin.Outside，where the garden was yesterday，there is now a white and gIistening level，and the village beyond is no longer your own familiar cluster of roofs but a village in an old German fairy-tale……
[B]The snow is falling heavily，in great soft flakes，so that you can hardly see across the shallow valley.[C]And the roofs are thick and the trees all bending，and the weathercock of the village church，still to be seen through the grey loaded air，has become some creature out of Hans Andersen.From my study，I can see the children flattening their noses against the nursery window，and there is running through my head a jangle of rhyme I used to repeat when I was a child and flattened my nose against the cold window watching the falling snow：
Snow，snow faster，
White aIabaster！
Killing geese in Scotland，
Sending feathers here！
难点重点，一目了然！
长难句解析 Sentence Structures
A Even the inside，which has not been touched，seems different，every room appearing smaller and cosier，just as if some power were trying to turn it into a woodcutter's hut or a snug Iog cabin.
房间的里面虽然没有受到影响，但好像也变了，每一间屋子都显然更加小巧、更加温馨，好似某种神奇的力量已经把它变成了伐木工的棚屋或是温暖舒适的圆木小屋。
as if似乎，好像。例如：He talks as if he knew all about it.他说起话来似乎知道事情的全部底细。
B The snow is falling heaviIy，in great soft flakes，so that you can hardly see across the shallow valley.
大片大片柔软的雪花密集地飘落着，你似乎看不见对面浅浅的山谷。
in great soft flakes介词短语作状语，表示状态，
C And the roofs are thick and the trees all bending，and the weathercock of the village church，still to be seen through the grey loaded air，has become some creature out of Hans Andersen.
屋顶上覆盖着厚厚的积雪，树枝全都压弯了。村里教堂顶上的风标在灰蒙蒙厚重的空气中依稀可见，不过此时它已变成了安徒生童话里的精灵。
and连接三个并列句，最后一个的骨干结构为：the weathercock……has become……。
Crocus 番红花
Track 016.MP3
朗读指数：★★☆☆☆
背诵指数：★★★☆☆
难度指数：★★★☆☆
总词汇量：0359词汇
每个好故事都有灵魂！
今日关键语导读 Today's Key Points
父亲种下的番红花是盛开的一种力量，无论父亲在与不在，看到番红花，就像感受着父亲的伟大。对作者来说，番红花便是父亲的信念，也是他的信念，一直告诉着他：坚持不懈，继续努力，光明就会到来。
文中障碍词抢先攻克！
障碍词先听为快 Words and Expressions
精彩文字，耳听心受！
好英文娓娓动听 Words and Expressions
It was an autumn morning shortly after my husband and I moved into our flrst house.Our children were upstairs unpacking，and[A]I was looking out the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front Iawn.My parents lived nearby，and Dad had visited us several times already."What are you doing out there？"I called to him.
He looked up，smiling."I'm making you a surprise."Knowing my father，I thought it could be just about anything.Caught ups in the busyness of our new life，I eventually forgot about his surprise.
Until one raw day the following March when I glanced out the window.DismaI.Overcast.Little piIes of dirty snow still stubbornly littering the lawn.Would winter ever end？
They were crocuses，scattered whimsically throughout the front lawn.Lavender，blue，yellow and my favorite pink-little faces bobbing in the bitter wind.
[B]Dad.I smiled，remembering the bulbs he had secretly planted last autumn.He knew how the darkness and dreariness of winter always got me down.What could have been more perfectly timed，more attuned to my needs？How bIessed I was，not only for the flowers but for him.
[C]My father's crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons，bringing that same assurance every time they arrived：Hard times almost over.Hold on，keep going，light is coming soon.
He died suddenly one October day.My family grieved deeply，leaning on our faith.I missed him terribly，though I knew he would always be a part of us.
One day，I walked in the garden.Suddenly I slowed，stopped and stared at the lawn.Muddy grass and small gray mounds of melting snow.And there，bravely waving in the wind，was one pink crocus.
How could a flower bloom from a bulb more than 18 years old，one that had not blossomed in over a decade？But there was the crocus.Tears fllled my eyes as I realized its signi flcance.
Hold on，keep going，light is coming soon.The pink crocus bloomed for only a day.But it built my faith for a lifetime.
难点重点，一目了然！
长难句解析 Sentence Structures
A I was Iooking out the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front lawn.
我望着窗外，见父亲正神秘地在屋前的草地上走来走去。
move around移动，转动。例如：The force that causes electrons to move around a circuit is called electromotive force.促使电子绕电路移动的力被叫做电动势。
B Dad.I smiled，remembering the bulbs he had secretly planted last autumn.
爸爸。我笑了，想起了他去年秋天偷偷种下的球茎。
he had secretly planted last autumn省略了that，是定语从句。
C My father's crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons，bringing that same assurance every time they arrived：Hard times almost over.Hold on，keep going，light is coming soon.
以后的四五年中，父亲种的番红花年年在竞相吐艳，每逢花开都给我带来同样的信心：艰难时刻就要结束。坚持不懈，继续努力，光明就会来临。
hold on坚持住，等一会。例如：I made my choice and I will hold on to the end.我已作出选择并将坚持到底。
A Protector of African Wildlife 非洲野生动物的保护者
Track 017.MP3
朗读指数：★★★☆☆
背诵指数：★★★★☆
难度指数：★★★★☆
总词汇量：0389词汇
每个好故事都有灵魂！
今日关键语导读 Today's Key Points