少儿英语故事：一模一样的苹果树

　　上周我们少儿英语故事说到，Andrew改掉了不懂装懂的毛病，在数学课上大胆提问。数学课下课后，紧接着就是大家期盼已久的美术课了。

　　Teacher Rolin gave every student a piece of paper and a box of crayons. She said, “Today we will be drawing an apple tree.” Everyone was very excited, opened their boxes of crayons and began drawing.

　　Rolin老师给每个人发了一张画纸和一盒蜡笔，“今天美术课的内容是画一棵苹果树。”大家都很兴奋，拿起笔就画了起来。

　　After about twenty minutes, Teacher Rolin began to admire everyone’s work. Oxford drew a tall, thin apple tree with many yellow apples. Victor’s tree was short and stout, with huge apples, almost ready to fall to the ground. Jimmy laughed and said, “Your apple tree is so strange!” Victor was very proud of it and said “In my mind, this is what an apple tree should look like, where everyone can easily pick an apple.”

　　二十分钟后，Rolin老师开始欣赏每个人的画作。Oxford画了一棵高高瘦瘦的苹果树，树上的苹果是黄色的;Victor的树又矮又胖，树上的苹果巨大，都快垂到地上了。Jimmy笑着说：“你这苹果树也太奇怪了!”Victor得意洋洋：“我心目中的苹果树就该是这样，每个人都能轻易地摘到苹果。”

　　Teacher Rolin, smiling, walked to Junior’s desk and saw that he’d drawn nothing but a tree house, with a roof made of many colors of apples. Oxford’s apple tree was even more different. His was wearing metal armor, like you might see in a science-fiction story. Teacher Rolin was very happy and said, “Everyone has such great imagination!”

　　Rolin老师笑眯眯地走到Junior身边，只见他画了一间树屋，屋顶是五颜六色的苹果;Oxford的苹果树更是与众不同，他给苹果树穿了金属战衣，像一个科幻人物。Rolin老师很开心：“大家的画都很有想象力!”

　　But when Teacher Rolin went to see Iris and Andrew, she discovered two identical trees – brown trunks, green leaves and purple apples. Teacher Rolin asked, “Is this how you imagine apple trees to look?”

　　可当Rolin老师走到Iris和Andrew身边，却发现了两棵一模一样的苹果树——棕色的树干，绿色的叶子，紫色的苹果。Rolin老师问：“你们心中的苹果树都是这样的吗?”

　　Andrew said nothing. Iris lowered her head and said, “I thought Andrew’s was beautiful, and I wanted mine to be beautiful too, so I copied his…”

　　Andrew没有说话。Iris低头说：“我觉得Andrew画得很好，我也想画好，就照搬了他画的苹果树……”

　　Teacher Rolin said softly, “The purpose of art class is creativity. There’s no good or bad creativity here. If you draw the exact same thing as Andrew, then this class is meaningless. The most important thing is that you yourself created something.”

　　Rolin老师轻声说：“美术课的目的是创造，创造没有好坏之分，如果你画出和Andrew一样的东西来，美术课就没有意义了。最重要的是，你自己创造出了什么。”

　　Iris thought a moment, picked up her crayons, and drew a new tree, with a twisted trunk and pink fruit. Everyone was very surprised at Iris’ creativity, and told her how beautiful her tree was.

　　Iris思考片刻，拿起笔重新画了一棵苹果树——只见树干弯弯曲曲的，树上的苹果是粉色的心形。大家都被Iris的创意惊呆了，纷纷称赞：“实在太漂亮了!”

　　Recently, though, Junior’s family had planted a new garden. What would happen there? We’ll find out next week.

　　最近Junior家新种了一片小花园，在花园里又会发生什么故事呢?我们下周再见咯。