Boy asks town to lift snowball fight ban

安徽太湖中學(xué) 周艷霞

雪花常常能勾起許多人未泯的童心，好像只有玩了雪才像是完整地過(guò)了冬天，但是在美國(guó)的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上，打雪仗竟然是違法行為。鎮(zhèn)上有位小男孩不樂(lè)意了，用行動(dòng)推翻了“禁雪令”。

聽(tīng)力掃障

1.go sledding滑雪橇；玩雪橇

2.missile n.導(dǎo)彈；發(fā)射物；投擲物

3.mission n.使命；天職

4.overturn v.傾覆；推翻

5.outdated adj.過(guò)時(shí)的

6.define v.界定；明確

掃碼聽(tīng)測(cè)

Ⅰ.聽(tīng)力理解

1.How much snowfall does the town Severance get a year？

A.About 100 centimeters.

B.About 200 centimeters.

C.About 300 centimeters.

2.Who is Kyle Rietkerk？

A.Dane's mother.

B.A worker in Severance.

C.One of Dane's classmates.

3.What does Dane Best think about the law against snowball fights？

A.Unbearable.

B.Reasonable.

C.Outdated.

4.Who did Dane Best turn to for help to overturn the ban？

A.His parents.

B.A newspaper.

C.His classmates.

5.Which is the result of Dane's efforts to overturn the ban？

A.Creative.

B.Successful.

C.Ineffective.

Ⅱ.聽(tīng)寫(xiě)練習(xí)

Thetown ofSeverancehasconsidered snowball fights to be 1._______for about 100 years.It deprives children of fun.Dane Best was a boy at the age of 2._______.Thinking that the law was out of date，the boy wrote letters with his 3._______in support of overturning the ban.He also made a speech about the issue at a Severance town 4.________.Luckily，he persuaded the leaders of the town and the ban was 5._______.

文本解說(shuō)

對(duì)孩子們而言，玩雪是冬天的最大樂(lè)趣。有雪卻不能玩是不是令人匪夷所思呢？但美國(guó)的Severance小鎮(zhèn)卻禁止人們打雪仗長(zhǎng)達(dá)100年。為此，9歲的小男孩 Dane聯(lián)合了自己的同學(xué)，一起推翻了這一禁令，從而重獲了玩雪的樂(lè)趣。

題材文章詞數(shù)娛樂(lè)運(yùn)動(dòng)312 難度 ★★體裁建議用時(shí)新聞6′

Cold,snowy weather has arrived in many places.That means young people are enjoying building snowmen,going sleddingand having snowball fights.But in one small American city,snowball fights are illegal.

Welcome to Severance,Colorado.The town,north of Denver,gets about 100 centimeters of snowfall a year.For almost 100 years,city rules have said it is illegal to throw or shoot stones ormissilesat people,animals,buildings,trees,property or vehicles.Snowballs were considered to be part of the town's definition of“missiles”.

Kyle Rietkerk works for the town of Severance.He said children cannot believe that it is illegal to have snowball fights in their hometown.He said town leaders have for years told the children “You have the power,you can change the law.” But no one had tried—until now.

Nine-year-old Dane Best lives in Severance with his parents and little brother.He has madeit his mission to get the snowball-fight ban overturned.Dane says he believes the law is“outdated”.

“I want to be able to throw a snowball without getting in trouble,”he said.

Dane's mother,Brooke Best,told the Greeley Tribune newspaper that her son found out it was illegal to throw snowballs within town limits about a month and a half ago.Since then,he has been talking about how to change that.Dane wrote letters with his classmates in support of overturning the ban.And on Monday,he spoke about the issue at a Severance town meeting.Leaders listened as Dane presented his arguments.Then,they all voted to lift the ban.Dane says the first person he hopes to hit with a snowball is his four-year-old brother.

Dane and his family have researched other Severance rules,including one thatdefinespets only as cats and dogs.Dane has a guinea pig,which appears to be illegal in Severance,too.

Language Study

寫(xiě)作推薦

“make it+n.+to do...”使……成為……

He has made it his mission to get the snowball-fight ban overturned.他把推翻打雪仗的禁令當(dāng)作了他的使命。

句中的it為形式賓語(yǔ)，實(shí)際賓語(yǔ)為名詞后的動(dòng)詞不定式。

【仿寫(xiě)】他把幫助別人當(dāng)作自己的義務(wù)。