Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

英文阅览Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel 迈克马力甘和他的蒸汽挖土机
Mike Mulligan had a Steam Shovel, a beautiful red steam shovel. Her name was Mary Anne. Mike Mulligan was very proud of Mary Anne. He always said that she could dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week, but he had never been quite sure that this was true.

Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne had been digging together for years and years. Mike Mulligan took such good care of Mary Anne she never grew old.

It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne and some others who dug the great canals for the big boats to sail through.

It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne and some others who cut through the high mountains so that trains could go through.

It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne and some others who lowered the hills and straightened the curves to make the long highways for the automobiles.

It was Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne and some others who smoothed out the ground and filled in the holes to make the landing fields for the airplanes.

And it was Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne and some others who dug the deep holes for the cellars of the tall skyscrapers of the big cities. When people used to stop and watch them, Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne used to dig a little faster and a little better. The more people stopped, the faster and better they dug. Some days they would keep as many as thirty-seven trucks busy taking away the dirt they had dug.

Then along came the new gasoline shovels and the new electric shovels and the new Diesel motor shovels and took all the jobs away from the steam shovels.

Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne were VERY SAD.

All the other steam shovels were being sold for junk, or left out in old gravel pits to rust and fall apart. Mike loved Mary Anne. He couldn't do that to her.

He had taken such good care of her that she could still dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week; at least he thought she could but he wasn't quite sure. Everywhere they went the new gas shovels and the new electric shovels and the new Diesel motor shovels had all the jobs.

No one wanted Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne any more. Then one day Mike read in newspaper that the town of Popperville was going to build a new town hall. 'We are going to dig the cellar of that town hall,' said Mike to Mary Anne, and off they started.

They left the canals and the railroads and the highways and the airports and the big cities where no one wanted them any more and went away out in the country.

They crawled along slowly up the hills and down the hills till they came to the little town of Popperville.

When they got there they  found that the selectmen were just deciding who should dig the cellar for the new town hall. Mike Mulligan spoke to Henry B. Swap, one of the selectmen. 'I hears,' he said, 'that you are going to build a new town hall. Mary Anne and I will dig the cellar for you in just one day.' ' What!' said Mike, 'but Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as a hundred men can dig in a week.' Though he had never been quite sure that this was true. Then he added, 'If we can't do it, you won't have to pay.' Henry B. Swap thought that this would be an easy way to get part of the cellar dug for nothing, so he smiled in rather a mean way and gave the job of digging the cellar of the new town hall to Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne.

They started in early the next morning just as the sun was coming up. Soon a little boy came along. 'Do you think you will finish by sundown?' he said to Mike Mulligan. 'Sure,' said Mike, 'if you stay and watch us. We always work faster and better when someone is watching us.' So the little boy stayed to watch.

网站 www.021lunwen.com 少儿阅览系列2013年10月5日

[1] [2] 下一页