【生词预览】

turtle 乌龟，sorrowfully悲伤地，tissue paper卫生纸、面巾纸，burial ceremony葬礼

【笑话原文】

Can I kill it？

“Mommy, my turtle is dead,” little Jack sorrowfully told his mother, holding the turtle out to her in his hand.

The mother kissed him on the head, then said, “That’s all right. We’ll wrap him in tissue paper, put him in a little box, then have a nice burial ceremony in the back yard. After that, we’ll go out for an ice cream soda, and then get you a new pet. I don’t want you…” Her voice trailed off as she noticed the turtle move.

“Jack, your turtle is not dead after all.”

“Oh,” the disappointed boy, wanting ice cream and a new pet, said. “Can I kill it? ”

【中文译文】

我能杀了小乌龟吗？

“妈妈，我的小乌龟死了，”小杰克伤心地捧着乌龟告诉他的妈妈。妈妈亲吻了他的额头，说：“没事的。我们用卫生纸把他包好，然后放进一个小盒子里，在后院给他办一个

很好的葬礼。完了以后，我们出去喝冰淇淋苏打水，给你买一只新的宠物。我不希望你⋯⋯”她话音刚落，发现乌龟动了一下。

“杰克，你的乌龟根本没有死。”

“噢，”想要冰淇淋和新宠物的小男孩失望地说。

“那我可以杀了小乌龟吗？”

【词汇讲解】

1. wrap 包裹。Wrap a book in paper用纸包书； wrap oneself in a blanket用毯子裹住身体

2.ceremony典礼，仪式。Marriage ceremony婚礼；现在也有离婚典礼了，那就是divorce ceremony.

3.go out在文中是“出门”的意思，这个看似简单的词组也还有很多其他含义，比如：约会，停止运转，退潮，罢工，被淘汰，决斗等，要根据上下文推敲。

4.soda 苏打，也指苏打水、果汁汽水、冰淇淋苏打水。

5.trail off 变得越来越小，逐渐消失。My enthusiasm has rather trailed off. 我的热情已大为减退。

6. after all 毕竟，终究，终于。The day turned out fine after all.结果天还是转晴了。