A preacher was asked to give a talk at a local women's health symposium¹. His wife asked about his topic, but he was too embarrassed to admit that he had been asked to speak about sex. Thinking quickly, he replied, "I'm talking about sailing."

 

　　"Oh, that's nice," said his wife.

 

　　The next day, at the grocery store, a young woman who had attended the lecture recognized the minister's wife. "That was certainly an excellent talk your husband gave yesterday, " she said. "He really has a unique perspective on the subject." Somewhat chagrined², the minister' s wife replied, "Gee³, funny you should think so. I mean, he's only done it twice. The first time he threw up, and the second time, his hat blew off."

Notes:

 

　　(1) preacher n.传教士

 

　　(2) symposium n. 专题研讨会

 

　　(3) embarrassed adj. 局促不安的

 

　　(4) grocery n. 杂货业

 

　　(5) unique adj. 独特的

 

　　(6) perspective n. 观点；看法

 

　　(7) chagrined adj. 懊恼的

 

　　(8) throw up 呕吐

 

Exercises:

 

根据短文判断正确下列句子：

 

　　① The preacher was asked to give a talk on sex.

 

　　② He was too shy to tell his wife the topic.

 

　　③ The young woman told the minister's wife the real topic he had spoken about.

 

　　④ The young woman thought the preacher had his unique idea on sex.

 

　　⑤ The preacher's wife thought the young woman was praising the preacher for his wide knowledge on sailing.

 

78.传教士的讲题

 

　　一位传教士应邀在当地的妇女健康专题研讨会上作报告。他的妻子问及他的讲题，他要是供认他应邀讲性知识的话，他会无地自容的。他飞快地思索，回答说：“我要讲关于航海的知识。”

“噢，那好极了，”他妻子说。

 

　　第二天，在杂货店，一位听过讲座的年轻妇女认出了牧师的妻子。“你丈夫昨天讲得确实好极了，”她说，“在那个问题上他确有独到的见解。”牧师妻子显出有些懊恼地回答说：“唧，你这样认为真是好笑。我是说他仅仅做过两次。第一次他呕吐了，第二次他的帽子被吹掉了。”

 

练习参考答案：

 

①T②T③F④T⑤T

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