托福美文欣赏：从贫穷到富有

很多人都在对比马云的昨天和近日，在托福考试中，从贫穷到富有的文章也有很多，一起来欣赏一篇美文吧!

　　A number of years ago oil was discovered on some Oklahoma property that belonged to an old Indian. All his life the old Indian had been poverty stricken, but the discovery of oil suddenly made him a very wealthy man. One of the first things he did was buy himself a bigCadillac touring car. In those days, the touring cars had two spare tires on the back. However, the old Indian wanted the longest car in the territory so he added four more spare tires. He bought an Abraham Lincoln stovepipe hat, added tails and a bow tie, and completed his outfitwith a big, black cigar. Every day he would drive into the hot, dusty, little Oklahoma cow townthat was nearby. He wanted to see everyone, and be seen by everyone. He was a friendly oldsoul, so when riding through town he would turn both left and right to speak to everyone in sight. As a matter of fact, he would turn all the way around and speak to folks. Interestingly enough, he never ran into anybody or over anybody. He never did any physical damage or any property damage. The reason is simple. Directly in front of that big, beautiful automobile, there were two horses—pulling it.

　　很多年前，在俄克拉何马州属于一个老印第安人的地产上发现了石油。这位老印第安人一辈子贫穷，可是发现石油之后他一下子变成了大富翁。他做的靠前件事就是给自己买了辆很大的卡迪拉克旅游汽车。那个时候，旅游汽车的后面有两个备用轮胎。可是，这位老印第安人希望他的汽车在当地是最长的，所以他又加了四个备用轮胎。他买了一顶亚伯拉罕 · 林肯大礼帽，穿上燕尾服，又打上领结，全套装备再配上一支大大的黑雪茄。他每天都会开车去附近一座作为牛市场的俄克拉何马小镇，那里不仅热得要命，而且灰尘满天。他想见到每一个人，也想每个人都见到他。他是位友善的老人，所以当他招摇过市的时候，他会左拐右拐去和每一个见到的人说话。事实上，他还会调转方向去和人说话。说来也有意思，他从来就没有撞倒谁，或者压倒谁。他没有造成过任何人身伤害，也没有造成过任何财产损失。原因很简单，在那辆又大又漂亮的汽车正前方，有两匹马——拉着车呢。

　　Vocabulary

　　a number of 许多

　　Oklahoma 俄克拉何马州

　　property n. 地产

　　belong to 属于

　　Indian n. 印第安人

　　poverty stricken 贫穷的

　　wealthy a. 富有的

　　Cadillac n. 卡迪拉克

　　touring car 旅游汽车

　　spare a. 备用的

　　tire n. 轮胎

　　territory n. 地区

　　stovepipe hat 大礼帽

　　tail n. 燕尾服

　　bow tie n. 蝶形领结

　　outfit n. 全套装备

　　cigar n. 雪茄烟

　　dusty a. 多尘的

　　cow town n. 养牛区的小镇

　　soul n. 人， 家伙

　　turn both left and right 左拐右拐

　　in sight 看得见as a matter of fact 事实上

　　turn all the way around 转换方向

　　folk n. 人们

　　interestingly enough 有趣的是

　　run into 撞到

　　run over 辗过

　　physical a. 身体的

　　in front of 在…前面

　　automobile n. 汽车

　　pull v. 拉