Graded Literature Readers: Fourth Book. Various
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Название: Graded Literature Readers: Fourth Book

Автор: Various

Издательство: Public Domain

Жанр: Зарубежная классика

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СКАЧАТЬ that had never known sight,

      That never would gaze on the beautiful light,

      Till angels had lifted the veil.

      6. At last, when the shadows of evening were falling,

      And the sun, their great father, his children was calling,

      Four sunbeams passed into the west.

      All said: "We have found that, in seeking the pleasure

      Of others, we fill to the full our own measure."

      Then softly they sank to their rest.

      Glēe: joy; mirth. Flēe: run away. Ĭn´vȧ lĭd: one who is weak from illness. amed: wandered; went from place to place. Drēar´ĭ ĕst: most comfortless and sorrowful.

      Kind words cost nothing, but are worth much.

      Sifting Boys

      1. Not long ago I was looking over one of the great saw-mills on the Mississippi River, in company with the manager of the mill. As we came to one room, he said: "I want you to notice the boys in this room, and I will tell you about them afterwards."

      2. There were some half-dozen boys at work on saws, with different machines – some broadening the points of the teeth, some sharpening them, some deepening the notches between them. There was one lad who stood leaning up against a bench, not trying to do anything.

      3. After we had passed out of the room, the manager said: "That room is my sieve. The fine boys go through that sieve to higher places and higher pay. The coarse boys remain in the sieve and are thrown out as of no use for this mill."

      4. Then he explained what he meant. "If a boy wants to work in the mill, I give him the job of keeping the men in all parts of the mill supplied with drinking-water. That is the lowest position and draws the lowest pay. I say to that boy: 'When you have nothing else to do, go into this room, and then I shall know where to find you when I want you.'

      5. "But there is a much more important reason why I send him into this room. In a business like this our men are constantly changing. A good deal of the work, as you will see by watching the machines and those who manage them, requires much attention and skill. I must, therefore, look out for the best men to put into the highest positions.

      6. "Now, I put the water-boy into this room, where there are several kinds of work being done. There are pieces of broken saws lying about, and some of the tools that are used in sharpening and mending them.

      7. "I watch that boy. If he begins handling the broken saws, looking them over, trying them, practicing on them with the tools there, watching the other boys at their machines, asking questions about how the work is done, and always making use of his spare time in one way or another, why, that boy is very soon promoted.

      8. "He is first put to work on some of the machines in this room, and afterwards on those that require greater skill, and is pushed ahead as rapidly as there are openings for him. He soon goes to a better position and better pay, and I get a new water-boy. He has gone through the sieve.

      9. "But there is another kind of boy. When he has time to spare, he spends it in doing nothing. He leans up against the benches, crosses one leg over the other, whistles, stares out of the window, no doubt wishing he was outside, and watches the clock to see how soon he can get away. If he talks with the other boys, it is not to ask questions about their work, but to waste their time with some nonsense or other.

      10. "I often do all I can to help such a boy. I push the tools under his very nose. I ask him questions about them. I talk with him about his plans for the future. I do all that I can to awaken some kind of life in him. If the boy has any energy in him, well and good; if he has not, he is simply useless. I don't want such a boy in this mill even as a water-boy."

      Prō̍ mōt´ĕd: advanced; raised in rank. Ĕn´ẽr ġy̆: force and resolution; power for work.

      There is no one else who has the power to be so much your friend or so much your enemy as yourself.

Duty

      So nigh is grandeur to our dust,

      So near is God to man,

      When Duty whispers low, "Thou must,"

      The youth replies, "I can."

EMERSON

      The Fountain

By James Russell Lowell

      James Russell Lowell (1819-1891): An American author. Among his best known poems are "The Vision of Sir Launfal," "A Fable for Critics," and "The Biglow Papers." "My Study Windows" and "Among My Books" are the best of his prose works. He was Minister to Spain and afterwards to Great Britain, and the volume "Democracy" contains some of his most brilliant addresses.

      1. Into the sunshine,

      Full of the light,

      Leaping and flashing

      From morn till night;

      2. Into the moonlight,

      Whiter than snow,

      Waving so flower-like

      When the winds blow;

      3. Into the starlight,

      Rushing in spray,

      Happy at midnight,

      Happy by day;

      4. Ever in motion,

      Blithesome and cheery,

      Still climbing heavenward,

      Never aweary;

      5. Glad of all weathers,

      Still seeming best,

      Upward or downward

      Motion thy rest;

      6. Full of a nature

      Nothing can tame,

      Changed every moment,

      Ever the same;

      7. Ceaseless aspiring,

      Ceaseless content,

      Darkness or sunshine

      Thy element;

      8. Glorious fountain!

      Let my heart be

      Fresh, changeful, constant,

      Upward, like thee!

      Sprā y: water falling in very small drops. Blīt̶hsȯme: gay; cheerful. Ȧ wēry̆: tired. Ăs pīr´ĭng: rising upward.

      Select ten words which tell what the fountain does.

      Lewis Carroll

      1. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an English author, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was born January 27, 1832. His father was a clergyman, and the home of Charles's boyhood was in the country, some distance from the little village of Daresbury. The neighborhood was so secluded that even the passing of a cart was an interesting event, but we may fancy that the home itself was not a quiet one, since there were in it eleven boys and girls.

      2. Charles was a bright, merry boy who invented games for the entertainment of his brothers and sisters, and made pets of snails, toads, and other queer animals. As a boy he seems to have lived in the "Wonderland" which later he described for other children. СКАЧАТЬ