Pre-reading
1. Are your parents busy with their work? Do you have enough communication with them?
2. What would you do if you had no chance to communicate with your father/mother over a long period of time?
While-reading
1. What was the father’s reaction when hearing his son asking for money?
2. What do you think “crumbled-up bills” may indicate?
3. What might be the father’s feeling when he found out why the boy had asked for money?
4. Think of 2-3 words each to describe the characters of the son and the father.
a) Son: ____________
b) Father: __________
The Value of an Hour
一個小時的價值
A man came home from work late, tired and upset. Then he found his five-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
一個男人下班很晚回家，又累又煩。然后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他5誰的兒子在恩變等他。
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?” The little boy said.
“爸爸，我能問你個問題嗎？”，小男孩問。
“Sure. What is it?”
“當然可以，是什么問題？”
“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”
“爸爸，你一個小時賺多少呢？”
“That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.
男人生氣地回答說“這不關(guān)你的事，你為什么要問這個問題？”
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”
“我就是想知道，拜托告訴我吧，你一個小時賺多少錢啊？”
“If you must know, I make $50 an hour.”
“如果你一定要知道的話，那我就告訴你，我一個小時賺50美元。”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. “Daddy, may I please borrow $25?”
“啊”，小男孩低下頭說，“爸爸，那我能借25美元嗎？”
The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that is to borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you should go straight to your room.”
這個父親很生氣，“如果你借這些錢的原因只是要買一個愚蠢的玩具或其他什么沒有意義的東西的話，那你可以走了，回你的房間去?！?/div>
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
小男孩靜靜的走進房間，關(guān)上了門。
A moment later, the man calmed down and started to think. “Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25. He really didn’t ask for money very often,” the man thought to himself. Then he went to the door of the little boy’s room and knocked it. “Are you asleep, son?” he asked.
一會兒后，男人冷靜下來并且開始思考，“或許真的有什么東西需要我用25美元去買。他不是那么經(jīng)常要錢的”，男人對自己說。然后，他走到小男孩的房間敲門說，“兒子，你睡了嗎？”
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.
“沒有爸爸，我醒著”，男孩回答說。
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “Here’s the $25 you asked for.” He gave the boy some money.
“我在想我剛才可能對你太嚴厲了”，男人說，“這是你要的25美元?！彼o了男孩一些錢。
The little boy sat straight up, looking so happy. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some crumpled-up (壓皺的) bills. Seeing that the boy already had money, the man started to feel angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
男孩一屁股坐下，看起來很高興?！鞍。x謝爸爸！”他喊著。然后到他的枕頭底下拿出一些壓皺的紙幣。男人看到男孩已經(jīng)有錢了，便又開始生氣起來。男孩慢慢地數(shù)著他擁有的錢，然后抬頭看著他的父親?！?/div>
“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father
grumbled (抱怨).
父親抱怨說，“你已經(jīng)有一些錢了，為什么又跟我要呢？”
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
“因為我的錢不夠，但是現(xiàn)在我有了，”小男孩回答說，“爸爸，現(xiàn)在我有50美元，我能買你的一個小時嗎？明天請早點回家吧，我想跟你一起吃晚飯?！?/div>
The father could not say a word. He put his arms around his little boy, and promised him that he would surely do it.
這個父親說不出一句話。他環(huán)抱著他的兒子，并答應他一定做到。
Questions for further thinking
1. When you are busy with your school work or dealing with exam pressure, do you ignore your friends, parents, etc?
2. If you are asked to list three things that you think are the most important in life, what are they??
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