典范英语6-14

Micro the Metal Dog

1

Micro arrives

On Daniel?s birthday, he woke up and found a big box by his bed. It looked like a

kennel. ?A dog!? cried Daniel. He?d wanted a dog for ages. He leapt out of bed and

opened

the

kennel

door.

There

was

Micro.

He

was

shiny

and

silver,

with

yellow

flashing eyes.

?That

isn?t

a

real

dog,?

said

Daniel.

?I

know,?

said

Mum.

?But

real

dogs

aren?t

allowed in our flats. Just look what Micro can do.?

Mum

turned

to

Micro.

?Walk,?

she

said.

Micro

stumped

across

the

carpet

on

stiff(

僵直的，不灵活的

), jerky(

不平稳的

) legs. ?Bark,? said Mum. Micro opened his

metal mouth. Was he barking? It was hard to tell. It was such a soft little sound. ?Yip,

yip, yip, yip, yip.?

?Wag your tail,? said Mum. Micro?s metal tail made a whirring sound as it went

one

way,

then

the

other.

?But

I

wanted

a

real

dog,?

said

Daniel.

He

was

deeply

disappointed.

?Micro?s better than a real dog,? said Mum. ?He?s not noisy or messy. He always

does what he?s told. Go on. Tell him to do something.?

?Go back in

your kennel, Micro,? said Daniel. Micro turned round and clunked

back into his box. ?What a good dog!? said Mum to Micro. ?I think you?re the perfect

pet.?

But

Daniel

didn?t

seem

to

think

so.

He

said,

?Thanks,

Mum.?

Then

he

ripped

open(

把

…

撕开

) the rest of his presents.

All day and all night, Micro waited. But Daniel played with his other presents.

He

didn?t

take

Micro

out

once.

Slowly,

inside

his

dark

box,

Micro?s

eyes

lost

their

brightness.

2

Micro starts thinking

Next

morning,

as

Daniel

left

for

school,

Mum

cal

led

after

him,

?You?re

late,

Daniel. WALK FAST!? Alone in his dark box, Micro heard, ?WALK FAST?. His robot

brain

started

whirring.

His

little

yellow

eyes

lit

up

as

bright

as

ever.

He

came

trundling out of his kennel.

He raced along on his stumpy(

短粗的，敦实的

) legs, across the carpet. He went

out

through

the

open

glass

doors

and

he

only

stopped

when

his

red

nose

hit

the

balcony. ?CLANG!?

Daniel?s mum didn?t see him. She was too busy getting ready for work.

Micro

looked

down

from

the

seventh

floor.

He

could

see

the

park,

with

green

trees and grass. He saw people and furry things with four legs running about.

Suddenly, Micro?s brain started thinking for itself. ?Those are real dogs,? thought

Micro.

He saw the real dogs running after sticks and balls. ?Those real dogs are playing,?

thought Micro. They weren?t shut up and left alone by their owners in dark boxes.

His

bright

eyes

glowed

like

fire.

His

robot

brain

whirred

again.

With

every

thought,

it

got

more

and

more

clever.

Now

it

was

making

plans.

?I

wil

l

go

down

there,? decided Micro, ?and I?ll watch the real dogs. I will learn how to be like them.

Then Daniel will play with me.? But how could he get to the park? He was high up

and the park was a long way down.

3

What real dogs do

Micro went back and hid behind the sofa. Then he saw his chance.

Daniel?s

mum

went

to

work

and

Micro

sneaked

out(

偷偷地溜出

)

through

the

door after her. He saw her press a button in the wall. Then she vanished through some

sliding doors. His robot eyes flashed. ?That is the way down,? he decided.

He got up(

站起来，直立

) on his back legs. With his metal nose, he pressed the

same button.

DING! The lift came. Micro walked in. He rode down to the ground floor. The

people in the lift with him stared. They looked puzzled, but no one said anything.

In the park, Micro peeked out(

偷看，窥视

) from behind a tree. He saw the dog

owners shout, ?Come here!? The real dogs took no notice. They ran off. He saw the

dog owners shout, ?Be quiet!? But the real dogs barked even louder: ?RUFF! RUFF!

RUFF!?