下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
A man often shows his true greatness by some very simple act of kindness. For example, you may get a glimpse of George Washington from a kindly little act, which, we may be sure, taught a corporal in the American army to know him better than ever before.
Early one morning Washington went alone to see for himself what his soldiers were doing in a camp which he had ordered to be fortified. The weather was so cold that he wore a long overcoat with a great cape. The coat hid his uniform, and his hat and cape did not leave much of his face to be seen. For this reason, the soldiers who saw him did not know that the tall man passing by was their great general, George Washington.
At one point in his walk he came upon a few men who, under the command of a corporal, were building a breastwork of logs. The soldiers were bending over a very heavy log, and were just about to raise it to the top of the breastwork, when General Washington came walking by.
The corporal stood at one side giving orders. “Heave ho!’’ he cried, “All together! Up with it! Now!” The men lifted with all their might, but they could not raise it quite high enough.
The corporal shouted again, “Heave! Up with it! Up! Up!” but he did not put his hand to it himself. The men struggled and strained;but they had done their best, and the heavy log was about to sink back into their arms.
At this moment Washington ran to them, and with his great strength gave them the help they needed. The log was quickly lifted upon the breastwork and rolled into place. The grateful men thanked the stranger, but the corporal paid no attention to him.
Then Washington turned to him and said in a stem voice, “Why don’t you help your men with this heavy lifting?’’
“Why don’t I?” said the man, “Don’t you see that I am the corporal?”
“Indeed!” replied Washington, as he unbuttoned his coat and showed his uniform. “Well, I am the commander-in-chief! The next time you have a log too heavy for your men to lift, send for me.”Then turning upon his heel, he walked away.
We may be sure that the corporal learned a lesson that many men need to learn, and that the soldiers came to know their great general better than they had ever known him before.
corporal : a high ranking officer in the arm
struggled : tried hard to do something
A) Answer the following questions.
1) Why didn’t the corporal help the soldiers?
2) What did you find funny in this story
3) How did Washington show that he was ready to help his men?
4) What does this story tell us about Washington’s character?
5) What are some words you could use to describe the corporal’s character?
B) Word Groups—Complete the following word groups with words from the story.
1) stick, twig, l _ _
2) soldier, general, c _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3) jacket, vest, c _ _ _
4) walked, jogged, r _ _
5) short, medium-length, l _ _ _
C) Summary—Write a short summary of the story.