英语学习课件妙语短篇unit8.docVIP

The Neverending Mrs. Sara Winchester, who lived near San Jose, California, She believed that she would die the day she stopped adding rooms to her house. Because of this belief, she built the most unusual house in America — perhaps in the world. When she moved into the house in 1884, it was an ordinary, average-sized house. Gradually, however, as she added rooms and corridors, it grew and grew. Some of the rooms had expensive furniture and curtains, and even stained glass windows and chandeliers. Most of them, however, were empty and had no purpose. A few were only a few inches wide. And many of the stairways and corridors did not lead anywhere. Their only purpose was to keep carpenters and builders busy. Unless she could hear the noise of building, Sara Winchester was not happy. She continued adding rooms to her house for 38 years. When she died in 1922 at the age of 85, her house had risen to be eight stories high. It contained 180 rooms, 2,000 doors and 10,000 windows. The house also had three elevators, 48 fireplaces, nine kitchens and many miles of passages and hallways. It occupied three acres and cost its owner five million dollars to build. Words and Expressions belief /bili.-f/ n.信念 average /sevmd^/ n.通常 gradually /graedjoali/ adv.逐渐地 corridor /kDndo:/ n.走廊 curtain /k3:tn/ n.窗帘 stain /stem/ v.染色，着色 chandelier / Ja-ndslis/ n.枝形吊灯 purpose /p3:p3s/ n.目的 stairway /steswei/ n.楼梯 carpenter /kaipmts/ n.木工 story /sto:n/ n.（层）楼（英式拼法为storey） contain /kantem/ v.包含 elevator /diverts/ n.电梯（英国人多用lift） hallway n.门厅 occupy /Dkjupai/ v.占用 acre /eika/ w.英亩（等于40.47公亩或6.07亩） Exercises A Diction（词语选择） Vocabulary: Fill in the blanks with correct words from the passage. 从课文中选出适当的词填空 1 It was Sara Winchesters b that she would die if she stopped building. Her house was ordinary and of a size. A long room which connects other rooms is called a c a A person who works with wood is called a c 5 We-burn wood or coal in a f to keep the room warm. 6 An a is a large measure