中学二年级 · 阅读系列
Lesson 14 · The Chore We Shared
文体：生活指南 · 朗读音轨 14
先听一遍
听一听，两个人分担家务以后，做事的时间有什么变化。
展开英文短文，再悬停查词
Cleaning the living room used to be my sister's job. I only helped when someone told me to. Last month, we changed the rule.
Now we share the chore every Sunday. She puts away books and cushions. I vacuum the floor and water the plants.
It takes about twenty minutes if we do it together. It took almost an hour when one person did everything.
Sharing a chore is not just about fairness. It also teaches you how much work was invisible before.
逐句跟读
点击任意一句听 Dicvo 的 Jenny 英语语音；开始连续播放前可选择每句播放次数。同一句的每遍之间、切换到下一句之前，都会留出约一遍句子时长供你跟读。原有整篇朗读仍可在上方播放。
请选择一句开始。
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Cleaning the living room used to be my sister's job.
-
I only helped when someone told me to.
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Last month, we changed the rule.
-
Now we share the chore every Sunday.
-
She puts away books and cushions.
-
I vacuum the floor and water the plants.
-
It takes about twenty minutes if we do it together.
-
It took almost an hour when one person did everything.
-
Sharing a chore is not just about fairness.
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It also teaches you how much work was invisible before.
读懂了什么？
读完后，试着用一句话说出本文的主要意思，并从原文找出支持它的一句话。
查看中文译文
打扫客厅以前是姐姐一个人的任务。只有别人叫我帮忙，我才会动手。上个月，我们改了规矩。
现在，每个星期天我们一起分担这项家务。她收好书和靠垫，我用吸尘器清理地板，再给植物浇水。
两个人一起做，大约二十分钟就能完成。以前只有一个人做全部的事时，几乎要花一个小时。
分担家务不只是为了公平，也让你看见以前没有留意到的劳动。
本课重点词语
以下是本课重点词语的中文讲解；英文正文中有虚线的单词可悬停查看词义和发音。
- chore
- 家务；这里指清理客厅。
- used to be
- 过去是；表示以前的状态现在变了。
- tell A to do
- 叫某人做某事；以前要别人提醒才帮忙。
- share
- 分担；两个人一起承担同一项家务。
- put away
- 收起来；put away books 是‘把书收好’。
- cushion
- 靠垫；放在沙发上的软垫。
- vacuum
- 用吸尘器打扫；文中指清理地板。
- water the plants
- 给植物浇水；water 在这里作动词。
- fairness
- 公平；家务由两人共同承担。
- invisible
- 看不见的；比喻以前没被注意到的劳动。
背景知识
一项家务看似很小，做起来却包含整理、清洁、照料物品等多个步骤。分工后所花的时间变短，叙述者也开始注意到姐姐以前默默完成的工作。