Two brothers, Herbert and James, lived with their mother and a cat named Edgar. James was particularly attached to the cat, and when he had to leave town for several days, he left Herbert meticulous instructions about the pet' s care. At the end of this first day away. James telephoned his brother. "How is Edgar?"

　　"Edgar is dead." Herbert answered. There was a pause. Then James said, "Herbert, you're insensitive, you know how close I was to Edgar -you should have broken the news to me slowly. When I asked about Edgar tonight, you should have said, 'Edgar's on the roof , but I have called the fire department to get him down.' And tomorrow when I called, you could have said the firemen were having trouble getting Edgar down, but you were hopeful they would succeed. Then when I called the third time, you could have told me that the fire-men have done their best, but unfortunately Edgar had fallen off the roof and was at the veterinarian's. Then when I called the last time, you could have said that although everything possible had been done for Edgar, he had died. That's the way a sensitive man would have told me about Edgar. And, oh, before I forget," James added, "how is mother?"

　　"Oh," Herbert said, pausing for a moment, "She' s on the roof."

Notes:

　　(1) particularly adv.特别地

　　(2) be attached to 为爱或感情所束缚；爱慕；依恋

　　(3) meticulous adj.仔细的

　　(4) insensitive adj.感觉迟钝的

　　(5) fire department 消防部

　　(6) have trouble doing做某事有困难

　　(7) unfortunately adj.不幸地

　　(8) veterinarian n.兽医（常可写为vet）

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

　　① How many people were there in the family?

　　A. two

　　B. three

　　C. four

　　D. five

　　② Who was greatly attached to the cat?

　　A. Herbert

　　B. James

　　C. the mother

　　D. Edgar

　　③ What did James ask Herbert to do when he had to leave town for several days?

　　A. to take good care of Edgar

　　B. to take good care of his mother

　　C. to take good care of himself.

　　D. to take good care of the house

　　④ What happened to Edgar?

　　A. He was on the roof.

　　B. He fell off the roof.

　　C. He was at the veterinarian's.

　　D. He was dead.

　　⑤ From the passage we can see that_____ .

　　A. James didn't care about his mother as much as he cared about the cat

　　B. the mother was dead

　　C. something was wrong with the roof of the house

　　D. Herbert was very angry with James

　　郝伯特和詹姆斯兄弟二人一起生活，家中有一老母并养了一只猫叫埃德格。詹姆斯特别喜欢这只猫。有一次他要外出几天，临行前不厌其烦地嘱咐郝伯特照顾好这只宠物。出门后的头一天晚上，他打来电话询问：“埃德格好吗？”

　　“它死了，”郝伯格回答。一阵沉默之后，詹姆斯说：“郝伯特，你真没心没肺，你知道我多么喜欢埃德格----你应该把这个消息慢慢地告诉我。当我问起埃德格今晚怎样时，你应该说，‘埃德格爬上了屋顶，我已给消防队打了电话，让他们把它救下来。’我明天又给你打电话时，你应该说消防队营救埃德格遇到了困难，但你相信他们会成功。在我第三天给你打电话时，你可以说消防队员已尽了最大努力，但很不幸，埃德格从屋顶上掉了下来，被送到兽医那里。在我最后一次给你打电话询问，你可以说尽管对埃德格做了一切所能做的努力，它还是死了。这是一个富有感情的人告诉我埃德格的消息时所用的方式。哦，趁我没忘记还有件事顺便问一下，”詹姆斯补充道，“母亲好吗？”

　　“哦……”一阵沉默后郝伯特答道，“她上了屋顶。”

练习参考答案：

①B ②B ③A ④D ⑤A