(双语朗读)Thirteen equals one 13=1

Thirteen equals one 十三等于一

先熟悉一下单词：

equal   等于 

I feel equal to the task. 我赶脚自己能胜任此项任务。

vicar 教区牧师

raise money 筹集资金

strike 敲击、击打

torchlight 手电筒的光

immediately 立即 马上

recognize 认出、 识别

probably 或许、大概

Well , you're probably right . 你也许是对哒。

certainly 一定地、当然

I will certainly come . 俺一定会来。

surprise 惊喜、惊讶

What a surprise ! 偶滴神呐 ！真是出人意料啊！

It is better than nothing .有总是好过无。

Something is better than nothing .

Better small fish than an empty dish . 有条小鱼干也好过空盘子啊。

Half a loaf is better than no bread . 半块面包也好过木有吃的。

Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.One night, however, our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise. 'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.''You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'

文章选自《新概念英语 》第三册