ReadingReadingThe boy was from a poor

farming family. He worked diligently every day, all day long. The one hour before sunset was the only free time he had for himself. At that time, the boy would climb to the top of a hill behind his farm and look across atanother hill several miles away. ...

ReadingReading... Far away on that hill stood a house with windows that blazed with gold and diamonds. The windows shonedazzlingly until the owners of the house closed the shutters for the evening. Then, the boy would knowit was time to go home for supper.

ReadingReadingOne day, the boy’s father told

him, “You’ve earned a holiday. Takethis day for your own, but remember that God gave it to you, so try to learnsomething good.” The boy was delighted. Having thanked his father and kissed his mother, the boy started off to find the house with the golden windows.

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It was a pleasant walk. When he looked back, his footprints seemed to be keeping him company, and his shadow, too, stayed beside him, dancing and running along.

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Having walked for a long time, he came to a big hill. At the top was the house he had been searching for, but without the golden windows he’d seen from far away. To his sorrow, the windows were of clear glass, like any normal ones.

ReadingReadingA woman came to the door and kindly

asked the boy what he wanted.“I saw your house’s golden windows

from our hilltop,” he replied. “I came to see them, but now I see that they’re only glass.”

The woman shook her head and laughed.

“We are poor farming people,” she said, “We don’t have gold in our windows!”

ReadingReadingThe woman went in to get the boy some

food. Offered a glass of milk and a cake, the boy decided to take a rest there. Then, the woman called her daughter, who was the same age as the boy. Like the boy, the little girl came in barefoot. She wore a plain cotton dress, but her hair was as golden as the windows he’d seen, and her eyes were blue like the noon sky. ...

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... She showed the boy her family’s farm and her black calf with a white star on its forehead. Soon, they became friends, and the boy asked her about the golden windows. The little girl said she knew all about them, but that he was mistaken about the house.

ReadingReading “You have come the wrong way!” she said. “Come with me, to see for yourself the house with the golden windows.”

They went to a hill behind the farmhouse, and the little girl told him that the golden windows were only visibleat sunset.

“Yes, I know!” said the boy.

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On the hilltop, the girl turned andpointed; there on a faraway hill stood a house with windows of gold and diamonds. The boy realized it was his own home.

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Then, he told the little girl that he had to go. He promised to come again, but he did not tell her what he had learned. The little girl stood in the sunset, gazing at him as he walked down the hill.

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It was already dark by the time the boy reached home, but the lamplight shone through the windows, almost as bright as the golden windows he had seen from the hilltop. When he opened the door, hismother kissed him and his little sister ran to embrace him. His father looked up and smiled from his seat by the fire.

ReadingReading “Have you had a good day?” asked his

father.“Yes,” said the boy, “a very good day.”“And did you learn anything?” asked

his father.“Yes!” said the boy, “I learned that our

house, too, has windows of gold and diamonds.”

Cultural Note

all day long = all day 一整天 The lazy girl usually sleeps all day (long) on Sundays.

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Far away on that hill stood a house with windows that blazed with gold and diamonds.→ A house with windows that blazed with gold and diamonds stood far away on that hill.

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此為地方副詞提前的倒裝句，真正的主詞在 a house with windows...diamonds 。教師可再舉其他例句加深學生印象。例： Here comes the bus. → The bus comes here. In the tree stands a bird. → A bird stands in the tree.

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The windows shone dazzlingly until the owners of....until 為「直到…」之意，後面可接名詞、片語或子句。例： Sally studied English until dawn. The manager has a tight schedule until the end of this year. I‘ll keep you company until the bus comes.

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...it was time to go home for supper.

It is/was time (for sb) to V.... 表示「是做…的時候」。例： It’s time for us to go to bed.

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“...Take this day for your own, but remember that God gave it to you, so try to learn something good.”

but 和 so 兩個連接詞連接三句祈使句。祈使句中省略主詞 you ，用動詞原形。例： Before starting class, our teacher said “Be attentive in class and take notes!”

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Having thanked his father and kissed his mother, the boy started off....

V-ing..., S + V....此為表時間的副詞子句省略的分詞構句，詳細用法請參見本課句型解析一。原句可還原為： After the boy had thanked his father and kissed his mother, he started off to find.... 。

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walk 在此為可數名詞，表示「散步」。例：

Let’s take the dog for a walk in the park.

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...and his shadow, too, stayed beside him, dancing and running along.→ ...and his shadow, too, stayed beside him, and danced and ran along.

dancing and running along為省略對等連接詞 and的分詞構句。

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Having walked for a long time, he came to a big hill.

V-ing..., S + V....此為表時間的副詞子句省略的分詞構句，詳細用法請參見本課句型解析一。原句可還原為： After the boy had walked for a long time, he came to a big hill. 。

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At the top was the house he had been searching for....

(1) 此為地方副詞的倒裝句，原句為： The house he had been searching for was at the top.... 。(2) search for = look for = seek 　尋找

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to his sorrow 解釋為「令他感到難過的 是」，為 “ to one’s N” 的用法，常見的 有： to one’s surprise, to one’s joy 等。 To my surprise, Peter showed up in the meeting in spite of his serious illness. To our joy, our team won first place in the basketball game.

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...and kindly asked the boy what he wanted.

此為間接問句作受詞的用法，間接問句中語序不倒裝。例： I don’t know where Bill went.

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The woman went in to get the boy some food.

get解釋為「拿取」，為授與動詞； the boy為間接受詞 IO ， some food為直接受詞DO，此句型還可改為 get DO for IO。例： The woman went in to get some food for the boy.

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Offered a glass of milk and a cake, the boy decided to take a rest there.

Vpp..., S + V....此為表時間的副詞子句省略的分詞構句，詳細用法請參見本課句型解析二。原句可還原為：When the boy was offered a glass of milk and a cake, he decided.... 。

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..., who was the same age as the boy.

此為非限定關係子句，用以補充說明先行詞her daughter ，注意， who 不可用 that 取代。

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副詞 barefoot 在此修飾前面的動詞 came in 。例：

The couple danced barefoot on the beach.

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...but her hair was as golden as the windows he’d seen....

A as Adj/Adv as B此句型表示「 A 和 B 一樣…」。例： My parents are 40 years old. In other words, my father is as old as my mother. Kevin runs as fast as his brother.

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mistaken在此為形容詞，表示「弄錯的，誤解的」。例： If I am not mistaken, we should hand in the report this Friday.

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at sunset 是指「黃昏日落時」，相反詞是 at sunrise 「日出」。例： The students take the flag down at sunset every day.

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...there on a faraway hill stood a house with windows of gold and diamonds.

(1) 此為倒裝句，原句為： A house with windows of gold and diamonds stood there on a faraway hill. 。(2)with 解釋為「帶有…」。例： Did you see a girl with blue eyes?

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...but he did not tell her what he had learned.

what...learned 為間接問句，作為 tell 的受詞。

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..., gazing at him as he walked down the hill.

(1) 此為省略 and 的分詞構句，原句為 ...and she gazed at him as he walked down the hill. 。(2)as 在此解釋為「當…的時候」。例： As we went to the beach, it started to rain.

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It was already dark by the time the boy reached home....

by the time 為「到…的時候」。例： The airplane had taken off by the time John reached the airport.

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...and smiled from his seat by the fire.

by 為「在…旁邊」之意。例： By the lake stood a beautiful cabin.

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本文原作者是 Laura Elizabeth Richards (1850-1943) 。 Laura 出生於美國麻州波士頓，她的母親 Julia Ward Howe 也是一位作家。 Laura 的作品超過九十部，其中包括兒童文學、傳記和詩。在 1971 年時，Laura 以替其母親所寫的傳記獲得普利茲獎。

Cultural NoteCultural Note

以下是她有名的兒童詩 eletelephony ，詩中的大象想使用電話，作者想利用 telephone 跟 elephant 兩字的混淆，形容大象使用電話一團糟的情形，也顯示出 Laura 的詼諧以及聰穎。

Cultural NoteCultural Note

Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant,Who tried to use the telephant─

No! No! I mean an elephoneWho tried to use the telephone─(Dear me! I am not certain quiteThat even now I’ve got it right.)

Cultural NoteCultural Note

Howe’er it was, he got his trunkEntangled in the telephunk;

The more he tried to get it free,The louder buzzed the telephee─

(I fear I’d better drop the songOf elephop and telephong!)

Cultural NoteCultural Note