初中英语小短文30篇教学教材

1 Dogs

People often say that a dog is man's best friend. Over thousands of years, man has taught his dogs to do many kinds of work besides guarding the home. For example, sheepdogs are famous for their ability to control a flock of hundreds of sheep.

Dogs have been used to aid disabled people for centuries. A guide dog can lead its blind owner. Nowadays, dogs can be taught to turn on light switches, open refrigerator doors and dial the telephone for their disabled owners. For the majority of people, however, dogs are simply pets and friends for both young and old members of the family.

guard 看守，看护sheepdog 牧羊犬flock 群aid 帮助

disabled 残疾人century 世纪guide dog 导盲犬dial 拨majority 大多数

狗

人们总是说狗是人类最好的朋友。几千年来，除了看家外，人类还教会了狗去做许多其他的事，例如，牧羊犬就因其可以控制数百只羊的羊群而出名。

狗用来帮助残疾人已有好几个世纪了。导盲犬可以为盲主人引路。现在，人们还教狗为残疾主人打开电灯、开冰箱和拨电话。然而，对于大多数人来说，狗只是家里老人和孩子们的宠物和朋友。

2 Detective Work

A bank robber stole a lot of money. He was caught and sent to prison, but the money was never found. When he came out of prison, they watched him to see what he would do. Here is the detective, reporting to the inspector. "Yes, sir, I found Johnny . I followed him all around the town, but frankly, I couldn't make anything out of what he bought. Here's the list."

shirt , heavy crowbar, box of chocolates , shovel, heavy hammer, bunch of flowers .The inspector said, "Good. That helps me a lot. Do you remember how we watched him helping his neighbour, old Mrs. Judson to cover her backyard with cement?

detective 侦探的侦探robber 强盗，盗贼prison 监狱

inspector 检察官frankly 坦白地，真诚地crowbar 铁撬，撬棒

shovel 铲，铁铲hammer 铁锤，锤子backyard 后院cement 水泥

侦探工作

一个盗贼从银行偷了很多钱。他被抓住送到监狱，但是钱没找到。

当他从监狱出来时，他被监视，看他会做什么。这不，侦探正向检察官报告：“是的，先生，我发现了强尼•阿米塔基，我跟着他转遍了全镇，但坦白说，我不能从他买的东西中推断出什么。这里是清单。”衬衫、大铁撬、一盒巧克力

铁铲、大铁锤、一束花。

检察官说：“好，这对我很有帮助。你还记得我们看到他是怎么帮他的邻居，贾德森老太太用水泥铺院子的吗？”

3 What is Time? （Nursery Rhyme）

Time is grain for peasants.

Time is wealth for workers.

Time is life for doctors.

Time is victory for soldiers.

Time is knowledge for students.

Time is speed for scientists.

Time is money for businessmen.

Time is everything for all of us.

Therefore, seize the time of today!

grain 粮食wealth 财富victory 胜利seize 抓住，把握

时间是什么（童谣一首）

对农民来说，时间就是粮食。对工人来说，时间就是财富。对医生来说，时间就是生命。

对士兵来说，时间就是胜利。对学生来说，时间就是知识。对科学家来说，时间就是速度。

对企业家来说，时间就是金钱。对我们大家来说，时间就是一切。因此，把握今天!

4 Perfect Match

A rich woman is so proud of a valuable antique vase that she decides to have her bedroom painted the same colour as the vase. Several painters try to mix the colour right, but none comes close enough to satisfy the woman.

Eventually, a painter comes. He is confident that he can mix the proper colour. The woman is pleased with the result, and the painter becomes famous. Years later, he retires and turns the business over to his son. "Dad,"asks the son, "there's something I've got to know. How did you get those walls to match the vase so perfectly?" "Son,” the father replies, "I painted the vase."

proud of 自豪valuable 值钱的antique vase 古董花瓶paint 用油漆漆

satisfy 满意eventually 最终confident 有信心的retire 退休

match 和……相配

绝配

一个有钱的妇人感到非常骄傲，因为她有一只值钱的古董花瓶，她决定把她的卧室漆成和花瓶一样的颜色。好几个油漆匠试图调出正确的颜色，但是没有一个人调出的颜色能让妇人满意。

最后，来了一个油漆匠。他很有信心可以调出合适的颜色。果然妇人对最终的效果感到满意，漆匠也因此成名。

几年后，漆匠退休了，他把生意交给了儿子。“爸爸，”儿子问，“有件事我想知道。你是如何调配出和花瓶一样的颜色的？”“儿子，”父亲回答，“我把花瓶也一起漆了。”

5 A Barbecue

When I was a child, I once went camping with my family in the summer. We decided to make a barbecue in the valley. So we collected some tree sticks to make a fire. My father asked me if I could try to make a fire. I was glad to take the job. Then I tried to set fire to the wood with a match, but produced only smoke. Then my father said, "That's not the right way. I'll show you how to do it. First use the small pieces of wood because they catch fire easily. Then put the larger ones on top of them."My father helped me make a big fire.

barbecue 烧烤valley 山谷stick 枝条make a fire 生火

烧烤

当我还是小孩子的时候，一年夏天我们全家去野营。我们决定在山谷中烧烤，所以我们

捡来了一些树枝生火。父亲问我愿不愿意尝试着生火，我很高兴地承担了这项任务。我试

着用火柴把木头点燃，但结果都是烟。父亲说：“这样做不对。我来教你如何生火。先用

小片的木头，因为它们容易点燃，然后把大些的放在它们上面。”父亲帮我点起了旺旺的

火。

6 A Joke—“I stand corrected”

I have this friend who always seemed to lean slightly to the left all the time. It used to bother me, so I suggested he see a doctor, and have his legs checked out. For years, he refused and told me I was crazy, but last week, he finally went. Sure enough, the doctor discovered his left leg was a quarter inch shorter than his right. A quick bit of surgery later, he was cured, and both legs are exactly the same length now, and he no

longer lean s. “So,”I said, "You didn't believe me when I told you a doctor could fix your leg. He just looked at me and said, "I stand corrected.

lean 倾斜slightly 轻微地check out 检查refuse 拒绝quarter 四分之一

surgery 手术cure 治愈fix 治愈stand corrected 认错

笑话——“我诚恳认错”

我有一个朋友，他似乎总是微微向左倾斜。这个问题曾经非常困扰我，所以我建议他去看医生，检查一下他的腿。几年来，他总是不听我的建议，还说我不正常，但是上星期，他终于去看了医生。果真，医生发现他的左腿比右腿短四分之一英寸。一个很快的小手术后，他康复了，现在他的两条腿完全一样长了，他也不再倾斜了。“你看，”我说，“那时我告诉你医生可以治好你的腿时你还不相信我呢。”他看着我说：“我认错了。”

7 Making a Kite

One day, Paula and Richard decided to make a kite. First they went out and found two straight sticks of the same length. They brought them back home and tied them with a piece of string into the shape of a cross. Then they took some string and used it to tie the four ends of the sticks together. Then, they spread some brightly coloured paper over the frame and glued it around the string. They stuck a tail made of paper to one of the corners, and tied a long string to the centre of the kite. On the next windy day, they took the kite to a hill near their house and flew it.

straight stick 直木棍tie 系string 绳子shape 形状cross 十字spread 传开frame 框架stick 粘tail 尾巴windy 有风的

做一个风筝

一天，保罗和理查德决定做一个风筝。首先，他们出门找了两根一样长的直木棍。他们把木棍带回家，用一根绳子把它们绑成十字形。然后他们又拿了些绳子，把木棍的四个顶端连在一起。然后，他们把一些颜色鲜艳的纸涂上胶水，粘在风筝的框架上。他们将纸做的尾巴粘在一角，在风筝中间系上一根长绳。在接下来的一个有风的日子里，他们就在家附近的小山上放风筝了。

8 Animals in Danger

Some of the animals and birds in the rainforest, such as monkeys and woodpeckers, live in the treetops. They are always swinging and flying from one

tree to another looking for food among the leaves and branches. They even sleep

in the treetops so they do not have to come down to the ground.

Have you heard that such animals and birds in the rainforests are in danger? Because people are cutting down so many trees in the forests, the animals are

losing their homes. Do you know the reasons for it? Yes, people want wood, paper and land. As a result many animals and plants are dying. Some forests are so

badly damaged that they become deserts.

rainforest 雨林woodpecker 啄木鸟treetop 树顶swing 摇荡

leaves 树叶（leaf的复数形式）branch 树枝desert 沙漠

濒危动物

一些雨林中的动物和鸟类生活在树顶上，例如猴子和啄木鸟。它们总是从一棵树荡到或飞到另一棵树上，在树叶和树枝间寻找食物。它们甚至在树顶睡觉，所以它们不用到地面上来。

你知道吗？雨林中的这些动物正处于危险中。因为人们砍伐了森林中的许多树，动物们失去了家园。你知道人们砍树的原因吗？是的，人们需要木材、纸和土地。所以，许多动物和植物正在消亡。一些森林遭到了严重的破坏，变成了沙漠。

9 English in the World

Some people say that the English language no longer belongs to the English,

and it belongs to the world. It is estimated that the number of people who use English exceeds 750 million. Among these, about 350 million are native speakers, while the rest use it as an official language. If we add to this

number the people who have acquired the language to some extent, the total is

close to one billion.

English plays an increasingly important role in the world as a medium for conducting international business and diplomacy, as well as in science and medicine, the Internet, air and sea communications, international sports

events, radio and TV programs, pop songs and movies.

estimate 估计exceed 超过native 本族的，本国的official 官方的acquire 掌握to some extent 达到某种程度billion 千万

increasingly 越来越多地medium 工具，手段conduct 实行，执行international 国际的diplomacy 外交medicine 医药

communication 通信event 事件

世界上的英语

有人说英语已不再属于英国人了，它属于全世界。据估计，使用英语的人超过七亿五千万，其中大约有三亿五千万是以英语为母语的人，而其余的人将英语作为官方语言使用。如果我们再加上已经掌握英语到一定程度的人，这个总数将接近十亿。

英语，作为进行国际业务和外交的工具，在世界上起着越来越重要的作用。它还

在科学、医药、互联网、空中及海洋通信、国际体育赛事、电台电视节目、流行歌曲及电影中发挥着越来越重要的作用。

10 A Friend

When you read an English book, you often come across new words. You might try

to guess what the words mean from the words you know, but when you cannot

guess the meanings of new words at all, what should you do?

You have a good friend then. From him you can learn what a word means, how to pronounce a word, how to use a word, and so on. This friend can always be with you, and you can always ask him to help you. Do you know who this friend is?

It is a dictionary. You can learn some important things about words from it,

so you must know how to use it.

come across 碰到guess 猜测

朋友

当你读英语书时，你经常会碰到新单词。你可能试着从你知道的词中猜这些词的意思，但是当你无法猜出这些词的意思时，你该怎么办呢？

这时你有一个好朋友。从他那里你可以学到单词的意思、发音及用法等。这个朋友可以经常伴你左右，你可以经常请他帮忙。你知道这个朋友是谁吗？

他就是字典。你可以从他那里学习有关词汇的众多重要知识，所以你必须学会如何使用字典。

11 “I Have Never Heard You in Carmen”

Mark Twain was once invited by a friend to go to the opera. The friend was

very rich. He and his wife had their own box at the theatre. During the opera

the friend's wife talked all the time. She also talked rather loudly. She

talked so much that it was often difficult for Mark Twain to listen to the

opera. Toward the end of the opera she turned to Mark Twain and said, "Oh, my

dear Mark Twain, I do want you to be with us again next Friday night. I'm sure

you will like it — the opera will be Carmen."

"Thank you very much,"said Mark Twain. "That will be fine. I have never heard

you in Carmen."

Carmen 《卡门》（歌剧名）invite 邀请opera 歌剧

box 包厢theatre 剧场，戏院

“我还从未听过你唱卡门”

有一次，一个朋友邀请马克?吐温去看歌剧。这个朋友很有钱。他和他的妻子在剧院有自己的包厢。看歌剧时，朋友的妻子一直在说话。她说话的声音还挺大。

她的话那么多，马克?吐温根本听不清歌剧。

歌剧临近结束时，她转而对马克?吐温说：“噢，我亲爱的马克?吐温，我真的想让你再和我们一起度过下周五。我保证你会喜欢的——下周的歌剧是《卡门》。”“非常感谢，”马克?吐温说。“想来会很好。我还从未听过你唱《卡门》。”

12 Learning English in England

I came to England last summer. I have been in England for eleven months. I am going to finish my studies in England soon, and will leave for China next

month.

At first it was very difficult for me to communicate with other people in

English. Now I can speak English much better, and even understand English television, because I have studied hard and my teachers and classmates have

helped me a lot.

I have lots of English friends now. Some of them have even invited me for

dinner at their houses. They are interested to learn about China and Chinese people. Every time they ask me a lot of questions, I realize how little I know

about my own country.

communicate 交流

在英国学英语

去年夏天，我来到英国。现在我在英国已经待了十一个月了。我将很快结束在英国的学习，下个月我就将回中国了。

一开始，我觉得很难用英语和别人交流。现在我英语说得好多了，甚至可以看懂英语电视，这是因为我学习很努力，老师和同学对我的帮助也很大。现在我有许多英国朋友。一些朋友甚至邀请我去他们家吃饭。他们对中国和中国人很感兴趣。每当他们问我许多问题时，我才意识到自己对祖国的了解是如此之少。

13 The Hare and the Tortoise

One day a hare was telling the other animals how fast he could run. "I can

beat anyone!"cried he. "Will one of you try a race with me?"

"I will,?said the tortoise.

"You!?laughed the hare. "Oh, oh, how funny!?

"Save your laughing for the end of the race,?said the tortoise.

So a starting line was made, and away they went. The hare ran fast and was

soon far ahead, so he sat down to rest. By the time the tortoise came up, the

hare was sleeping.

On and on went the tortoise, and when the hare looked up at last, it was too

late.

There sat the tortoise by the sign that said: The End.

hare 野兔tortoise 龟，乌龟beat 打败race 比赛

兔子和乌龟

一天，兔子正在向其他动物炫耀他能跑得很快。“我能跑过任何人。”他喊道。“你们有谁想和我比一比吗？”“我。”乌龟说。“你！”兔子笑道，“哦，哦，太滑稽了！”“留着到比赛结束后笑吧。”乌龟说。

他们划了条起跑线，出发了。兔子跑得飞快，很快就跑到了前面，所以他坐下来休息。等到乌龟赶上来时，他睡着了。

乌龟一直往前走，当兔子最后醒来时，已经太晚了。乌龟坐在一块牌子旁，上面写着：终点。

14 Helping Parents

Parents often get angry because of their trouble in their lives. Let's say

that your mother is not happy about her boss. If she doesn't have other ways

of expressing her emotions, she might come home and yell at you, scream at

your dad, kick at the dog, or even say something mean to you.

Here's how to handle it when an adult in your life has trouble controlling his

or her anger: Don't make it worse. Angry people can have trouble thinking

clearly, so try not to do or say anything to make things worse. Wait till your

parent cools off, then talk to him or her in a calm tone, and try to explain

how the anger is affecting you.

yell 大叫，呼喊scream 尖声喊叫handle 处理adult 成年人

cool off 平静下来tone 语气affect 影响

帮助父母

父母常常因为他们生活中的烦恼而生气。我们举个例子，比如你妈妈对她的上司不满。假如她没有其他方法发泄她的情绪，她就可能回到家冲你大声嚷嚷，对你爸爸大喊大叫，踢家里的狗，或者甚至对你说一些难听的话。

当你身边的大人控制不住他们的怒火时，你应付的方法是：别让情况变得更糟糕。生气的人很难保持思维清晰，所以不要做，也不要说任何会使事情变得更糟的事或话。先等你的父母平静下来，然后再心平气和地和他们谈，并想办法说明他们的怒火是如何影响你的。

15Humour — What Is a Teenager?

A teenager is ...

... someone who can hear his favourite singer three blocks away but not his

mother calling from the next room.

... a whiz who can operate the latest computer without a lesson but can't make

a bed.

... a connoisseur of two kinds of fine music — loud and very loud.

... an enthusiast who has the energy to bike for miles but is usually too

tired to dry the dishes.

... a romantic who never falls in love more than once a week.

... a boy who can sleep till noon on any Saturday and suspects the room needs cleaning.

... an original thinker who is positive that his mother was never a teenager.

block 街区whiz 天才，能手operate 操作connoisseur 内行，鉴赏家enthusiast 热心的人，热情的人energy 精力romantic 浪漫主义者suspect 怀疑original 新颖的，独创的positive 肯定的

幽默——少年是什么样的人？

少年是……

……一个隔着三个街区也能听到他最喜欢的歌手的声音但却听不到隔壁房间母亲叫声的人。

……一个不用上一节课就可以操作最新电脑的能手，但却不会铺床。

……两种音乐的鉴赏家——吵闹的和非常吵闹的音乐。

……一个充满热情，精力充沛的人，他可以骑车骑几英里，但却经常因为觉得太累而擦不

干碟子。

……一个浪漫主义者，他不经常恋爱，一周绝对少于一次。

……一个每星期六都要睡到中午，却总是怀疑房间需要打扫的人。

……是一个有独创精神的思想家，他断定他的母亲不是从少年时期走过来的

16 Charles Chaplin

One day a small boy called Charles Chaplin was walking along the street in London. It was a cold winter's day in 1900. He wanted to buy some bread, but

he didn't have any money. His father had died when he was very young. He and

his brother, Sid, had to work to help their sick mother.

Although Charles was small, his dream was very big. He wanted to be a great

man in the world of films, so he worked very hard to become a good dancer and singer.

Thirty years later, this same boy was among the most famous people in the

world.

Even if you do not understand English, you can enjoy his films, because no

words are used in his films.

dream 梦想dancer 舞蹈家

查尔斯?卓别林

一天，一个叫卓别林的小男孩在伦敦的大街上走着。那是1900年寒冬的一天。

卓别林想买一些面包，但他没有钱。他的父亲在他还很小时就去世了。他和他的兄弟西德必须工作以帮助生病的母亲。

卓别林年纪虽小但他有很大的理想。他想成为电影世界的伟大人物，所以他努力工作，希望成为有名的舞蹈家和歌唱家。

三十年后，这个小男孩成为了世界上最著名的人之一。

即使你不懂英语，你也可以欣赏他的电影，因为他的电影是无声的。

17 A Seaside Picnic

One morning last April, Joan was lying in bed when the telephone rang. It was

her friend, Dave, who invited her out for a picnic at the seaside.

Later that day she left her flat and walked to the bus stop to catch the bus.

Joan was wearing a T-shirt and skirt as it was quite hot. As she sat on the

bus she looked out of the window. The sun was shining. She saw a plane going

over a forest and some horses in the fields.

Before long she arrived at the seaside and met Dave. They went down to the

beach and had their picnic next to a rock. They had sandwiches and crisps, and Dave painted a picture. They had a lovely day.

flat 公寓（英国英语）forest 森林crisp 油炸马铃薯片

海滩野餐

去年四月的一天早上，当琼还躺在床上时，电话铃响了。电话是她的朋友戴夫打来的，她想邀请琼去海滩野餐。

那天晚些时候，琼离开了公寓，去公共汽车站乘车。因为天气很热，琼穿着Ｔ恤衫和裙子。当她坐在车上时，她看着窗外。阳光明媚。她看到一架飞机飞过一片森林，看到田野里的马。

一会功夫，她就到了海边，碰到了戴夫。他们走下海滩，在一块岩石边野餐。他们一起吃三明治和马铃薯片，戴夫还画了一幅画。他们度过了开心的一天。

18 A Dish Washer

Some people have dogs or cats as pets. One woman in New York keeps a monkey as her pet. This monkey can wash dishes. He washes the dishes for the woman every day. He likes to wash dishes and never breaks a dish. Sometimes he washes the same dishes over and over. If the woman tries to stop him, he then gets angry.

He begins to throw the dishes in all directions. But this does not happen very often.

The woman's husband is very happy with the monkey. The husband never needs to help his wife wash the dishes. The monkey does all this work. The husband says

that he cannot understand how anybody, a person or a monkey, can like to wash dishes so much.