Lesson 49



The end of a dream



First listen and then answer the question.



How did the dream end?



Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real bed.



For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress.



Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his house.



He slept very well for the first two nights,



but on the third night, a storm blew up.



A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below.



The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground.



Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt.



When he woke up, he was still on the mattress.



Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him,



the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house.



After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again.




tired   [ˈtaiəd]  adj. 厌烦的


real   [riəl]  adj. 真正的


owner   [ˈəunə]  n. 主人


spring   [spriŋ]  n. 弹簧


mattress   [ˈmætris]  n. 床垫


gust   [ɡʌst]  n. 一阵风


sweep   [swi:p]  v. 扫，刮


courtyard   [ˈkɔ:tjɑ:d]  n. 院子


smash  [smæʃ]   v. 碰碎，摔碎


miraculously  [miˈrækjuləs]   adv. 奇迹般地


unhurt   [ˌʌnˈhə:t]  adj. 没有受伤的


glance  [ɡlɑ:ns]   v. 扫视


promptly   [ˈprɔmptli]  adv. 迅速地