A Scene of Desolation

济南五中 龙菲

“门可罗雀”最早见于《史记·汲郑列传论》，原指门外可张网捕雀，现多形容门庭冷落、宾客稀少。

Zhai Gonɡ was an official in the Han Dynasty.Because he held a very high-ranking and powerful position,many of his friends,relatives,and even1)acquaintance [əˈkweɪntəns] n.相识的人acquaintanceswhom he barely knew often went to visit him.Day after day,horses and2)chariot [ˈtʃæriət] n.马车chariotslined up in front of his house.It was as crowded as a marketplace.

Then,Zhai Gonɡ was removed from office.All people then stopped ɡoinɡ to see him,and the place in front of his house was so empty that you could have caught3)sparrow [ˈspærəʊ] n.麻雀sparrowsin a net.

Shortly after,Zhai Gong was4)reinstate [ˌri:ɪnˈsteɪt] v.使恢复；使复原reinstated.After hearing the news,his friends and relatives all once again began to come to visit him.Zhai Gong,however,was now unwilling to see them because he realized the real intention of them.

翟公是汉代的朝臣。因位高权重，众多亲朋好友甚至他几乎不认识的人都经常去拜访他。日复一日，车马在他的门前排成一排，院子犹如市场一样拥挤。

后来，翟公被免去了官职。从此再也没有一个客人来拜访他，他家门口空无一人，简直可以张网捕捉麻雀。

不久，翟公官复原职。听到这个消息后，他的亲朋好友又开始来拜访他。然而，翟公现在不愿意见他们了，因为他明白了他们真正的意图。

Answer the questions:

1.When did people around Zhai Gong often go to visit him?

2.What happened when Zhai Gonɡ was removed from office?

Background Knowledge

When a man is in power,people clamor to please him one after another.When he’s down,people move away from him and draw the line.This is a phenomenon of fickleness of the world.We must criticize it resolutely.

We should treat others consistently.Especially when our friends are in trouble,we should give them more care.In this way,our society will be warmer.

一个人得势时，人们争相攀附并讨好他；在他失意时，人们却远离他并与其划清界限。这是一种世态炎凉的现象，必须对其进行坚决的批判。

我们对待他人要始终如一，尤其是在朋友遇到困难时，我们应给予更多的关怀，这样我们的社会才会更温暖、更和谐。