Better Late than Never

供稿：龙 菲

“亡羊补牢,为时未晚”出自《战国策·楚策》；“见兔而顾犬，未为晚也；亡羊则补牢，未为迟也。”比喻出了问题以后，及时想办法补救，还不算迟。

There once was a1)shepherd.He2)bredmany sheep.In the daytime,he herded them outside;at night,he drove them into the sheepfold which was3)enclosedby hays and pegs.

One morning,the shepherd went to herd the sheep and found one sheep lost.He then found that the sheepfold had been broken,and the wolf must had stolen the sheep through the4)hollow.“You’d better repair the sheepfold and plug up the hollow as soon as possible.”the neighbor advised him.“The sheep has been lost.What’s the point of repairing the sheepfold?”He didn’t take the neighbor’s kind suggestions.

The next morning,he went to herd and found another sheep lost.The wolf had done it again.The shepherd now regretted for not taking his neighbor’s advice and not taking remediation in time.So he plugged up the hollow soon,and5)reinforcedthe whole sheepfold to make it more6)stable.From then on,his sheep didn’t get stolen any more.

词组加油站

regret for… 为……感到悔恨

take remediation in time 及时补救

1) shepherd [ˈʃepəd] n.牧羊人；牧师

2) breed [briːd] v.饲养；养育

3) enclose [ɪnˈkləʊz] vt.把……围住

4) hollow [ˈhɒləʊ] n.洞；孔

5) reinforce [ˌriːɪnˈfɔːs] v.加固

6) stable [ˈsteɪbl] adj.牢固的；稳定的

从前有一个牧羊人，他养了很多羊。他白天放牧，晚上把它们赶进一个用干草和木桩围起来的羊圈内。

一天早晨，牧羊人去放羊，发现羊少了一只。他发现羊圈破了个窟窿，他认为一定是狼从窟窿里钻了进来，叼走了一只羊。邻居劝他：“你最好尽快把羊圈修一修。”他却说：“羊都已经丢了，修羊圈还有什么意义？”他没有接受邻居的好心劝告。

第二天早上，他去放羊，发现羊又少了一只。他认为一定是狼又来了。牧羊人很后悔没有听从邻居的劝告，去及时采取补救措施。于是，他赶紧堵上窟窿，又把整个羊圈都加固了一番，羊圈比以前更加牢固了。从那以后，牧羊人的羊再也没有丢过。

Fill in the blanks:

1._____sheep were lost before the shepherd reinforced the whole sheepfold.

2.The shepherd regretted for not taking_____________because another sheep had been stolen by the wolf.

Know More

战国时期，越国的大商人范蠡曾对鲁国商人猗顿说：“要想富裕，就要多养雌性的牛、马、猪、羊、驴。”这说明畜养牲畜已成为当时致富的快捷方式。这一时期，已经形成了农区、牧区和半农半牧区，家畜成为社会财富的象征。