Simon was an inveterate fisherman, well known for exaggerating the size of "the one that got away". But there came a day when he actually caught two enormous flounders. He immediately invited a few friends over to dine, then tried to figure out how best to serve the fish." If I use both," he told his wife, "it will seem ostentatious."

"Why not serve a piece of each?" she suggested.

"No, if I cut them up, nobody will believe I caught two giant flounders." Simon racked his brain. Then he had an idea.

The guests were seated at the table when their host strode in with a platter, holding the biggest flounder they'd ever seen. Suddenly Simon stumbled and fell. Everyone cried out in dismay as the fish crashed to the floor, but Simon quickly brushed himself off.

"Dear, " he called out to his wife, "bring in the other flounder!"

Notes:

(1) inveterate adj.（指習(xí)慣、感情）根深蒂固的；由來(lái)已久的

(2) exaggerate v.夸張；夸大

(3) flounder n.比目魚(yú)

(4) figure out想出；理解

(5) ostentatious adj.炫耀的；賣(mài)弄的

(6) rack one's brain絞盡腦汁

(7) be seated就座

(8) stride v.大步走

(9) platter n.

(10) dismay n.驚慌

(11) brush oneself off擺脫窘境

Exercises:

根據(jù)短文回答下列問(wèn)題：

① What kind of fisherman was Simon?

② For what was he well known?

③ What did he do after he caught two enormous flounders?

④ Did he encounter a problem?

⑤ How did he solve the problem?

兩個(gè)比目魚(yú)問(wèn)題

西蒙是個(gè)老練的漁夫。人們都熟知他愛(ài)吹噓“跑掉的那條”魚(yú)的尺寸。但有一天他確實(shí)抓了兩條極大的比目魚(yú)。他立刻邀請(qǐng)幾個(gè)朋友過(guò)來(lái)吃飯，然后著力搞清楚怎樣上魚(yú)。“如果兩條一起上，”他對(duì)妻子說(shuō)，“好像有點(diǎn)炫耀之嫌了。”

“何不兩條魚(yú)各上一塊呢？”他妻子建議道。

“不行，如果把兩條魚(yú)都切碎了，就不會(huì)有人相信我抓了兩條大比目魚(yú)了?！蔽髅山g盡了腦汁，終于想出了一個(gè)好辦法。

客人已在餐桌邊就座完畢，這時(shí)主人大步地走進(jìn)來(lái)，手里端著一個(gè)托盤(pán)，托盤(pán)上是一個(gè)他們所見(jiàn)過(guò)的最大的比目魚(yú)。突然西蒙被什么東西絆了一下摔倒了。所有的人都驚慌地叫了起來(lái)，因?yàn)轸~(yú)在地板上摔得粉碎。但是西蒙迅速地?cái)[脫了窘境。

“親愛(ài)的，”他對(duì)妻子喊道，“把另一條魚(yú)端上來(lái)！”

練習(xí)參考答案：

① He was an inveterate fisherman.

② He was well known for exaggerating the size of "the one that got away

③ He immediately invited some friends over to dine.

④ Yes. It was how to serve the two enormous fish.

⑤ He deliberately let one crash to the floor and bring in the other.