原教学文本:
The Quarrel between Wind and Thunder
At sunrise, Wind and Thunder looked over the bright, new earth and saw that it was a good place to live.
Wind puffed out hischest. “My earth! How proud of it I am! After all I am the one who works to keep it trim and beautiful. I should be proud!”
“You?” Thunder rumbled in fury. “Iam the one who should be proud. I am the one who keeps the earth as it should be. I, not you, you … you sack of wind!”
Thunder was so angry that he could not listen to any more of Wind’s bragging orever bear the sight of him. He stomped away, crashing and booming all the way up the sky.
Once Thunder was out of hearing, Wind said to himself, “Poh! The earth does not need that bad-tempered fellow. I don’t need him. I shall keep this beautiful earth neat and green by myself. I shall make the grass greener, the blooms brighter, the trees taller. Let him watch and see!”
So Wind began to blow. “Grow, grow!” he sang as he blew. He blew and he blew and he BLEW! But no grass or flowers or trees grew. Every day the earth was more brown and parched. The lakes and creeks began to shrink. Wind grew frightened at last and knew that he would have to search the sky to find Thunder.
When he found him, he said, “I was wrong, Thunder. I cannot take care of the earth alone. We must be brothers again, and work together. Without you, I have worked hard, but everywhere I have made the earth dry and brown. Will you come down with me so that we may heal it?”
Thunder was pleased, and he hurried back down the sky with Wind. He growled and grumbled and roared as he went, so that the clouds grew dark, and the rain rained down. Here, the grass grew high. There, the yucca plants bloomed. Along the streambeds, cottonwood trees sprouted new green leaves. Wind followed Thunder and his rain across the earth, and was happy againas he blew through the high grass.
So it was that the two became brothers again, and work together still.
修改后的教学文本:
The Quarrel between _______ and _______
At sunrise, Wind and Thunder looked over the bright, new earth and saw that it was a good place to live.
Wind said, “my earth! How proud I am! After all I am the one who works to keep it clean and beautiful. I should be proud!”
“You?” Thunder shouted angrily. “I am the one who should be proud. I am the one who keeps the earth as it should be. I, not you, you…you stupid wind!”
Thunder was so angry that he could not listen to any more of Wind’s bragging. He stomped away, crashing and booming all the way up the sky.
Once Thunder was far away, Wind said to himself, “Poh! The earth does not need that bad-tempered6 man. I don’t need him. I can keep this beautiful earth clean and green by myself. I can make the grass greener, the flowers brighter, the trees taller. Let him watch and see!”
So Wind began to blow. “Grow, grow!” he sang as he blew. He blew and he blew and he BLEW! But no grass or flowers or trees grew.
Every day the earth was more brown and drier.The lakes and rivers became smaller. Wind was frightened7 at last and knew that he would have to search the sky to find Thunder.
When he found him, he said, “I was wrong, Thunder. I cannot take care of the earth alone. We must be brothers again, and work together. Without you, everywhere is dry and brown. Will you come down with me so that we may make the earth a good place again?”