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Lesson 4 First Impressions The day that I met my best friend for the first time, I was full of anxiety. I was trying to do some revision for an important oral exam in the local library and people kept disturbing me. I was getting more and more annoyed and of course, the more upset I got, the less I was able to concentrate. The last straw was when I heard someone singing behind me. The singing was so loud that I could even recognise the song! I turned around and glared at the person who was singing. It was a tall girl about the same age as me and she had a big smile on her face. She was standing with a book in her hands near the “English Literature” section. She looked like a literary type and seemed very interested in what she was reading. I glanced at the book's cover. It was a book of Tennyson's poems. The fact that she looked like a sensitive, friendly girl didn't matter. If anything, it made me even angrier. “How could she be so selfish?” I thought angrily. In fact, I'm surprised there wasn't steam coming out of my ears! I picked up my books, glared at her and whispered angrily, “Thanks to your noise, I've been unable to study. You're so selfish!” I still hate thinking of that moment. Let me tell you the rest of the story though. Because I left the library in such a hurry, I left my most important textbook behind. It was only when I got home two hours later that I realised I'd forgotten it and there was nothing I could do as the library was closed. I was so upset that I almost cried. Just then, the phone rang. I answered it and a gentle voice introduced the speaker as Jenny and asked if I was Jane. After confirming that I was, Jenny said that she had noticed I'd left my book in the library and as my name was in it, she'd asked a librarian to get my phone number from their files. She said that she didn't live far away and could bring it around for me if I needed it. I sighed with relief and agreed to meet her at the convenience store down the road. I was so grateful! Of course you've guessed who Jenny was. She was the girl I had shouted at for singing. When I recognised her in the convenience store, I was filled with shame and apologised several times for my rude behaviour. I felt so guilty, but Jenny just laughed and told me she was glad to see that I'd also left my glare in the library! I couldn't help laughing at this and I invited her back to my apartment for a quick cup of tea. We got along really well and ever since then we've been best friends. We're very much alike and we tell each other everything. To be honest, I trust her more than anyone else. I often think how lucky I am. If Jenny hadn't been a kind person who was willing to forgive my shortcomings, I would never have experienced such true friendship. (Feeling stressed out) , Anxious → annoyed (upset / angry) → glared →angrier→shouted(line 30)→left in a hurry→left behind→upset→cried→sighed with relief→agreed to meet→grateful→filled with shame→apologized→guilty→laughed over→ best friends→trusted most The author, Jane ’s mood changed from rude (line32) to polite ,from negative to positive. The text shows that first impressions (impress) are important ,but It is more important to update your own image. Jenny is tall, literary, sensitive (sense) = thoughtful (think)=considerate, friendly, gentle, humorous(humor) ,kind, forgiving(forgive) ,trustworthy. She is something like an angel. 第四课 第一印象 我第一次遇见我最好的朋友那天，我十分焦虑。 我正努力在本地图书馆里为一次重要的口语考试做复习，可是有人却一直打扰我。 我越来越烦躁。当然了，越烦就越难集中精力。 最让我忍无可忍的是我听到有人在我后面唱歌。 歌声如此之大，我甚至能听出那首歌！ 我转身怒视着那个唱歌的人。 那是一个和我年龄相仿的高个女孩，她的脸上满是笑容。 她手里拿着一本书，站在“英国文学”区附近。 她看起来像是个文学爱好者，而且似乎对她看的书很感兴趣。 我瞥了一眼书的封面。那是一本丁尼生的诗集。 她看起来是个善解人意、友善的女孩，但这无济于事。它甚至平添了我几分怒气。 “她怎么能这么自私呢？”我生气地想。事实上，我惊讶的是没有怒气从我耳朵里跑出来！ 我拿起我的书，怒视着她生气地说，“谢谢你的噪音，我没法学习了。你太自私了！” 想到那一刻我仍然会憎恨。不过让我来告诉你余下的故事。因为我离开图书馆太匆忙了，我落下了最重要的课本。 回家两个小时之后我才意识到我遗忘了它，而且我什么也做不了，因为图书馆关门了。 我沮丧得几乎要哭了。就在那时，电话响了。我接起电话，一个温柔的声音介绍自己叫珍妮，问我是不是简。 确认我就是简之后，珍妮说她发现我把书落在了图书馆，因为上面写有我的名字，她请图书管理员从他们的档案里查到了我的电话号码。 她说她住得不远，如果我需要的话她可以拿来给我。我如释重负地叹了一口气，答应和她在路边的便利店见面。我太感激她了！当然你已经猜到珍妮是谁了。 她就是那个因为唱歌我冲她喊叫的女孩。当我在便利店认出她的时候，我十分羞愧，并为我的无礼行为道歉了好几次。 我觉得非常内疚，但是珍妮只是笑笑，告诉我她很高兴看到我把怒视也留在了图书馆。 我禁不住笑了起来，并邀请她到我的公寓里来喝杯茶。我们相处得非常好，而且从那以后我们就成了好朋友。 我们有很多相同点，我们把所有事都告诉对方。 说实话，我对她比任何人都信任。我常常觉得自己非常幸运。珍妮要不是如此体贴，愿意宽容我的缺点，我就永远不会享受到如此真挚的友谊。 |
