Pre-reading

What did Robinson tell Friday?

Intensive Reading

I told Friday my personal story and I described England and Europe to him.

我告诉星期五我自己的故事，我向他描述了英格兰和欧洲。

I told him about our cities, schools, ships and travelling around the world. I told him that education was important in Europe and that we studied from books. It was all new to him. Friday’s people didn’t need schools on the islands. They had all what they needed for their life.

我告诉他关于我们的城市、学校、船只和环球旅行的故事。我告诉他教育在欧洲很重要，我们从书中学习。这对他来说都是新鲜的。星期五的族人在岛上不需要学校。他们有生活所需的一切东西。

When I felt that I could trust him enough, I showed him how gunpowder worked. I taught him how to use a gun. I gave him a knife and a belt. He was happy with my presents.

当我感到我足够信任他时，我向他展示了火药的工作原理。我教他用枪。我给了他一把刀和一根腰带。他很开心我送他这些礼物。

He said that he saw a similar knife before. I asked him to tell me more.

He explained that his people saved white men from a small boat and that they still lived with them. He counted seventeen Europeans who lived with his people.

他说他以前看到过一把类似的刀。我让他告诉我更多。他解释说他的族人从一条小船上救下了白人，那些人还跟他们住在一起。他算出了有17名欧洲人和他们住在一起。

I thought that these men could be the sailors from the ship which came to my island some time ago. They probably saved themselves in a boat. I didn’t find anybody alive when I went on board.

我觉得这些人可能是前段时间来我岛上的那艘船上的水手。他们很可能通过小船上自救了。我去船上的时候没发现任何活着的人。

Friday told me that they were OK. I was happy to hear that some Europeans lived not very far from my island. I started to plan how to meet the Europeans.

星期五告诉我他们挺好的。我很高兴听到有些欧洲人住在离我的岛上不远的地方。我开始计划如何去见那些欧洲人。

Notes:

1. describe：描述，它的名词形式的description。

2. trust：信任，也可以作名词，作名词时表达对某人的信任可以说trust in sb.。

3. explain：解释，它的名词形式是explanation，拼写少了一个i。

4. count：数，计算。

Exercise:

Who did Robinson think those Europeans were?