One fine day in winter some ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently1 up came a grasshopper2 and begged them to spare her a few grains, "For," she said, "I'm simply starving." The ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. "May we ask," said they, "what you were doing with yourself all last summer? Why didn't you collect a store of food for the winter?" "The fact is," replied the grasshopper, "I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time." "If you spent the summer singing," replied the ants, "you can't do better than spend the winter dancing." And they chuckled3 and went on with their work. 冬天一个温暖如春的日子里，蚂蚁们正忙着晒干自己存储的粮食。由于下来很长时间的雨，粮食已经非常潮湿了。这时，来了一只蚂蚱，向他们乞讨一点粮食。“因为，”蚂蚱说，“我实在是饿坏了。”尽管有点违背原则，但蚂蚁们还是停下了手头的工作。“我们能问一下吗？”他们说，“整个夏天你都在做些什么呢？为什么不为冬天储存一些粮食呢？”“实际上，”蚂蚱回答道，“我一直在忙着唱歌，根本没有时间存储粮食。”“如果你整个夏天都在唱歌，”蚂蚁们回答道，“那么，你最好在冬天就忙着跳舞吧。”他们哈哈大笑起来，继续忙于各自的工作。 1 presently adv.不久，一会儿；现在，目前 参考例句： I'll go to see your uncle presently.我一会儿就去看望你叔叔。 He is presently living in New York.他目前住在纽约。 2 grasshopper n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 参考例句： He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。 The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。 3 chuckled 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) 参考例句： She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。 She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。 更多英语学习方法：企业英语培训 http://www.spiikers.com/ 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/6f616e61cc84b9d528ea81c758f5f61fb73628f5.html