Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What was it about snails that made the writer collect them for his friend on
that day in particular?
Vocabulary:
poison n. 毒药
snail n. 蜗牛
illogical adj. 不合逻辑的，无章法的
luxury n. 奢侈品，珍品
octopus n. 章鱼
associate v. 联想到
delicacy n. 美味，佳肴
despise v. 鄙视
repulsive adj. 令人反感的，令人生厌的
appeal v. 引起兴致
stomach n. 胃
shower n. 陈雨
turn v. 感到恶心，翻胃
stroll n. 溜达，散步
fry v. 油炸
impulse n. 冲动
fat n. （动物、植物）油
dozen n. 12 个，一打
abuse n. 辱骂，责骂
fancy v. 喜爱，喜欢
Passage:
People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what
cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider
octopus a great delicacy. You would not be able to understand why some people find
it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes
in animal fat — the normally accepted practice in many northern countries. The sad
truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we stick to them
all our lives.
在决定什么能吃而什么不能吃的时候，人们往往变得不合情理。比如，如果你住
在地中海地区，你会把章鱼视作美味佳肴，同时不能理解为什么有人一见章鱼就
恶心。另一方面，你一想到动物油炸土豆就会反胃，但这在北方许多国家却是一
种普通的烹饪方法。不无遗憾的是，我们中的大部分人，生来就只吃某几种食品，
而且一辈子都这样。
Notes:
1 One man's meat is another man's poison. 这是英语的一句谚语，意思是“对一方有
利的未必对另一方也有利”。有时可译作“各有所爱”，同时也有汉语俗语“萝卜青
菜各有所爱”的意思。
2 would turn at the idea of…，turn 此处作“恶心”、“作呕”解。at the idea of…是“想
到……”的意思。
No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail.
Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world. There are
countless people who, ever since their early years, have learned to associate snails
with food. My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised. As his flat
is in a large town, he has no garden of his own. For years he has been asking me to
collect snails from my garden and take them to him. The idea never appealed to me
very much, but one day, after a heavy shower, I happened to be walking in my garden
when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants.
Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag, and
took them to Robert. Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my
little gift. I left the bag in the hall and Robert and I went into the living room where
we talked for a couple of hours. I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert
suddenly said that I must stay to dinner. Snails would, of course, be the main dish. I
did not fancy the idea and I reluctantly followed Robert out of the room. To our
dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere: they had escaped from the paper
bag and had taken complete possession of the hall! I have never been able to look at a
snail since then.
没有一种生物所受到的赞美和厌恶会超过花园里常见的蜗牛了。蜗牛加酒烧煮后，
便成了世界上许多地方的一道珍奇的名菜。有不计其数的人们从小就知道蜗牛可
做菜。但我的朋友罗伯特却住在一个厌恶蜗牛的国家中。他住在大城市里的一所
公寓里，没有自已的花园。多年来，他一直让我把我园子里的蜗牛收集起来给他
捎去。一开始，他的这一想法没有引起我多大兴趣。后来有一天，一场大雨后，
我在花园里漫无目的地散步，突然注意到许许多多蜗牛在我的一些心爱的花木上
慢悠悠地蠕动着。我一时冲动，逮了几十只，装进一只纸袋里，带着去找罗伯特。
罗伯特见到我很高兴，对我的薄礼也感到满意。我把纸袋放在门厅里，与罗伯特
一起进了起居室，在那里聊了好几个钟头。我把蜗牛的事已忘得一干二净，罗伯
特突然提出一定要我留下来吃晚饭，这才提醒了我。蜗牛当然是道主菜。我并不
喜欢这个主意，所以我勉强跟着罗伯特走出了起居室。使我们惊愕的是门厅里到
处爬满了蜗牛：它们从纸袋里逃了出来，爬得满厅都是！从那以后，我再也不能
看一眼蜗牛了。
Notes:
3 to be brought up ，养育，抚养，stick to 有“坚持”的意思。
4 Cooked in wine， snails…，用酒烹调的蜗牛……，这是过去分词作状语，表示
条件。
5 I happened to be walking in the garden .我碰巧在花园里散步。happen 后面加不
定式表示“碰巧做 ……”
6 take（亦作 have） possession of，是“ 占有”、“拥有”的意思。
23.2【阅读理解】One man's meat is another man's poison
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 How do people behave when they try to decide what can and cannot be eaten?
(Illogically.)
2 If you lived in the Mediterranean, what food would you consider a delicacy?
(Octopus.)
3 Do some people find octopus repulsive? (Yes, they do.)
4 In many northern countries, what do we normally fry potatoes in? (Animal fat.)
5 What have most of us been brought up to do? (Eat certain foods.)
6 And how long do we stick to certain foods? (All our lives.)
7 Which creature has received a lot of praise and abuse? (The common garden snail.
8 How are snails usually cooked? (In wine.)
9 Where does the writer's friend Robert live? (In a country where snails are despised.)
10 Why hasn't he a got a garden? (Because he lives in a flat in a large town.)
11 How long has Robert been asking the writer to collect snails for him? (For years.)
12 What was the writer doing when he noticed the snails? (He was walking in his
garden.)
13 How many of the snails did he collect? (Several dozen.)
14 Where did the writer leave the bag of snails when he went to see Robert? (In the
hall.)
15 What did Robert invite the writer to do? (Stay to dinner.)
16 Did the writer fancy the idea? (No, he didn't.)
17 Why not? (Because the idea of eating snails never appealed to him.)
18 The writer and Robert went into the hall. Where were the snails? (Everywhere.)
19 What had the snails escaped from? (The paper bag.)
20 What has the writer never been able to do since? (Look at snail.)
23.3【拓展写作】One man's meat is another man's poison
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words write a continuation of the passage. Expand the ideas
given below into a plan and provide a suitable title. Your composition should be in
three or four paragraphs.
Ideas: Snails — walls, ceiling— coat pockets— effort to collect them — ladders, etc.
— marks everywhere – Robert amused — cooked the snails — a meal for one.
Key to composition
Snails, snails, snails!
The snails had escaped from the paper bag and they were everywhere— on the
walls, on the ceiling, on the carpet, and even on the large hall mirror. When we began
to look carefully, we found that they were even in coat pockets in the clothes hanging
on the clothes hooks in the hall. It was disgusting! Snails move slowly, but it's
amazing how far they can travel in a couple of hours!
It took Robert and me ages to collect them. He fetched a pair of steps for me and
ladders for himself, and we collected them in two buckets. There were snail marks
everywhere, too, and it took hours to clear up the mess -- remember, there were
several dozen of them. Snails may not be fast, but we had been talking for a couple of
hours, and they can travel. Even now am sure we didn't find them all: some are still
crawling round Robert's house.
The ones that we did not find were lucky! Robert was amused, but I wasn't. He
decided to cook the snails and invited me to stay. I said before that I didn't fancy the
idea, so I left him to his meal for one. I just couldn't look at the snails and have never
been able to face them since then.
课外练习：
1 In a country where snails are eaten, you would expect .
(a) to find a great many snails in people's gardens
(b) to find that people cooked them in wine
(c) snails to be so popular that they are a luxury only the rich can afford
(d) people to be amazed by anyone who refused to eat them
2 The idea of collecting snails never appealed to the Writer very much until
__________.
(a) the sight of the snails made him think of Robert
(b) a heavy shower of rain led him to look for them in his garden
(c) a sudden impulse made him decide to visit the country where Robert lived
(d) he felt obliged to remove them from his prize plants
3 When the writer arrived at Robert's flat .
(a) Robert welcomed him warmly because of the snails he had brought
(b) Robert immediately invited him to dinner in order to eat the snails
(c) he forgot about giving Robert the snails until two hours later
(d) he gave Robert the snails, little thinking Robert would propose a dinner with snails
as the main dish
4 People are quite illogical when deciding what ...
(a) it comes to
(b) they come to
(c) they come
(d) coming to
5 Most of us have been brought up to eat certain kinds .
(a) food
(b) of food
(c) of the foods
(d) foods
6 No creature abused more often than ...
(a)is being praised and
(b) is praised nor
(c) has been praised or
(d has been praised and
7 Having left the bag in the hall, into the living room.
(a) I accompanied Robert
(b) Robert took me
(c) we went
(d) I and Robert went
8 We saw the snails from the paper bag ..
(a) escaping
(b) escape
(c) had escaped
(d) to escape
9 On the other hand, you would at the idea…
(a) be sick
(b) sick
(c) sicken
(d) feel sick
10 Snails would, of course, be the main .
(a) meal
(b) food
(c) plate
(d course
11 -I went into the living room where we talked for .
(a) round the clock
(b) two hours or so
(c) a second hour
(d) some hours
12 There are people, who…
(a) numerable
(b) numerous
(c) numerical
(d) numbered
答案：1d 2a 3d 4a 5b 6c 7a 8c 9d 10d 11b 12b