Lesson 14 Singing School for Birds

Have you ever heard of a school for birds? Come with me! I will show you one.

You may sit right where you are. This trip will be only in your mind.

“Where are we going?” you ask.

Whish! We are already there! We are in Germany, far across the sea. A small farmhouse with a red roof is before us.

“Come in!” Farmer Grose calls. And in we go.

The house rings with music. It comes from about 100 little birds in small wooden cages. They are not singing the way many birds do. They whistle, with a clear, sweet sound.

“You are just in time for school,” says Farmer Grose. “My little pupils will sing for you.”

Farmer Grose is a good teacher. He will not start until his pupils look at him.

Rap! Rap! Rap! Farmer Grose hits the wall with a small stick. The birds become quiet. That is, most of them do. Some are like restless children. They move about and will not look at him.

At last Farmer Grose whistles a little song. Then he whistles another song. The birds listen. Then they whistle, too.

Some birds try hard. Farmer Grose has kind words for these good pupils.

But other birds do not try. For them, he has only cross words.

Rap! Rap! Rap! Again Farmer Grose hits the wall.

Again he whistles the two songs. Again he listens to the birds. We listen, too.

“Very good!” Farmer Grose says at last. “That is all for now.”

He turns to talk with us.

“Where do you get these birds?” we ask him.

“I hunt for them in the woods every spring,” he answers. “I bring home baby birds. My wife feeds them by hand. They eat hard-boiled eggs. Soon they are old enough to eat seeds.”

“I train the birds in about six months. Three times a day I whistle at them.”

“It is easy to sell trained birds. People want to buy more than I have.”

“Why did you become a bird man?” we ask.

“Both my father and my grandfather were bird men,” he says. “And I love my work!”

Whish! Our trip to Germany is over. We are back where we started. Wasn’t it fun to meet Farmer Grose and his birds?

（381 words）

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Check the details] Where do the school birds live in?

A. In cages. 　B. In caves. 　C. In rooms.

2. [Evaluate the information] What does Farmer Grose whistle?

A. Two words. 　B. Two songs. 　C. Two poems.

3. [Note the fact] How long are birds trained?

A. For six weeks. 　B. For six days. 　C. For six months.

Ⅱ. Read for words.

1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.

（1） They whistle, with a clear, sweet sound. （Para. 6, line 2）

A. 吹口哨 　B. 鳴汽笛 　C. 唱歌

（2） They eat hard-boiled eggs. （Para. 18, line 2）

A. not soft 　B. broken 　C. cooked

2. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined expressions.

（1） For them, he has only cross words. （Para. 12, line 1）

A. 十字游戲 　B. 填字游戲 　C. 憤怒的語言

（2） “I hunt for them in the woods every spring,” he answers. （Para. 18, line 1）

A. run after 　B. look at 　C. look for

Ⅲ. Writing practice.

1. Does Farmer Grose like his work? How can you tell?

2. How is the Singing School for Birds like a school for children?

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