Joe, a college student, was taking a course in
ornithology, the study of birds. The night before the
biggest test of the semester, Joe spent all night
studying. He had the textbook nearly memorized.
He knew his class notes backward and forward.
Joe was ready.
The morning of the test, Joe entered the
auditorium and took a seat in the front row. On
the table in the front was a row of ten stuffed birds.
Each bird had a sack covering its body, and only the
legs were showing.
When class started, the professor announced that
the students were to identify each bird by looking
at its legs and give its common name, species,
habitat, mating habits, etc.
Joe looked at each of the birds' legs. They all
looked the same to him. He started to get angry. He
had stayed up all night studying for this test and
now he had to identify birds by their LEGS? The
more he thought about the situation, the angrier
he got.
Finally he reached his boiling point. He stood up,
marched up to the professor's desk, crumpled up
his exam paper and threw it on the desk. "What a
ridiculous test!" he told the prof. "How could anyone
tell the difference between these birds by looking at
their legs? This exam is the biggest rip-off I've ever
seen!"
With that, Joe turned and stormed toward the exit.
The professor was a bit shocked, and it took him a
moment to regain his composure. Then, just as Joe
was about to walk out the door, the prof shouted out,
"Wait a minute, young man, what's your name?"
Joe turned around, pulled up his pant legs and
hollered, "You tell me, prof! You tell me!"
Key words：
ornithology （n.）鳥類學
know backward and forward 倒背如流
auditorium （n.）大禮堂、大演講廳
（美國大學的期中考和期末考，通常集中在同一時間考試，
甚至好幾個班集中在一大教室裡考）
sack （n.）牛皮紙袋
identify （v.）辨認
common name （n.）普通名稱
species （n.）種類
habitat （n.）產地
crumple up（v.）揉皺
rip-off 騙局
composure （n.）鎮定
holler （v.）喊叫
成寒英語教材：http://chenhen2013.pixnet.net/blog/post/288240074
唸〈成寒英語教材〉，托福、多益 TOEIC 考高分成績榜 ＆ 他們的學習歷程：
請看:http://chenhen2013.pixnet.net/blog/post/275932070
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