Level 2 · Reading series
Lesson 2 · A Class Job Nobody Wanted
Audio track 02
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There was one class job nobody wanted: cleaning the bookshelf. It looked easy, but old papers, broken pencils, and lost notes were always hiding there.
This month, Ken and I had to do it. At first, we complained. Then we found three useful maps, a missing library card, and a notebook from last year.
We made three boxes: keep, return, and recycle. By Friday, the shelf looked cleaner than before.
"Maybe this job is not popular," Ken said, "but it is more important than I thought."
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
班里有一项工作没人愿意做：整理书架。它看起来很简单，可是旧试卷、折断的铅笔和遗失的便条总是藏在里面。
这个月轮到我和健来整理。起初我们抱怨了几句，后来却找到了三张有用的地图、一张丢失的借书证和一本去年的笔记本。
我们准备了三个箱子，分别放要留下、要归还和要回收的东西。到了星期五，书架看起来比以前整洁多了。
健说：‘这份工作也许不受欢迎，但它比我原先想的更重要。’
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- nobody
- 没有人；nobody wanted it 表示‘没人想做’。
- bookshelf
- 书架；由 book 和 shelf 组成。
- looked easy
- 看起来容易；look 后可接形容词。
- broken
- 折断的；a broken pencil 是‘一支折断的铅笔’。
- hide
- 藏起来；文中指杂物一直藏在书架里。
- had to
- 必须；have to 的过去式。
- complain
- 抱怨；说出对一件事的不满。
- useful
- 有用的；文中形容找到的地图。
- recycle
- 回收；把可利用的物品分类处理。
- more important than
- 比……更重要；用于比较两者的重要程度。
Background notes (Chinese)
整理东西时，先决定分类标准往往比立刻动手更有效。课文里的三个箱子按‘留下、归还、回收’标记，让每件物品的去向一目了然。