Level 3 · Reading series
Lesson 39 · The Water Bottle Nobody Noticed
Audio track 39
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At the end of a warm day's practice, one water bottle was still almost full. It belonged to Aya, who had spent the afternoon helping younger players. “I forgot to drink,” she said. She had been busy handing out equipment and answering questions.
Our coach asked everyone to pause in the shade. Aya drank some water and sat down. The coach checked how she felt and changed the plan for the rest of practice.
The next week, we put our bottles together where we could see them and added short breaks to the schedule. A bottle cannot tell us exactly how a person feels. Still, the full one had made us ask a useful question: had we given everyone time to care for themselves?
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
一个温暖的下午训练结束时，一瓶水还几乎是满的。那是彩的水瓶；她一下午都在照顾年纪小的队员。‘我忘记喝水了。’她说。她忙着分发器材、回答问题，顾不上自己。
教练让大家到树荫下暂停片刻。彩喝了些水，坐下来休息。教练询问她感觉如何，并调整了余下训练的安排。
下一周，我们把水瓶放在看得见的地方，还在时间表中加上短暂休息。水瓶并不能准确告诉我们一个人的身体状况；但那瓶满满的水提醒我们问：是不是给了每个人照顾自己的时间？
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- almost full
- 几乎满的；彩的水几乎没喝。
- belong to
- 属于；水瓶的主人是彩。
- hand out
- 分发；她忙着发器材。
- equipment
- 器材；训练中要用的物品。
- pause
- 暂停；教练让队员休息片刻。
- shade
- 树荫；大家到阴凉处。
- check how ... feels
- 询问感觉如何；了解彩的状况。
- rest of practice
- 剩余训练；教练调整后续安排。
- break
- 休息时段；下周加进日程。
- care for oneself
- 照顾自己；忙着帮别人时也要留意自身需要。
Background notes (Chinese)
水瓶几乎没喝，只是一条线索，不能由此判断身体状况。教练先了解彩的感受，再调整训练；团队随后为每个人安排了看得见的水瓶和休息时段。