I met Luis, an exchange student from Mexico, and soon we became friends. Language was no barrier as he could speak English. If his three sisters, who spoke little English, hadn’t visited us, we might have been the best friends.
At that time, I got along well with him and determined to pay a visit to his home and make a good impression on his family. The only problem was that I was too busy with my classes to take a Spanish class. Instead, I decided to take the Spanish-English cognate (同根词) shortcut. I thought to myself, “They are interrelated, and Spanish is not so difficult.” I discovered I could add a vowel(元音)to the end of many English words. Instantly, it became Spanish. Thus “active” was “activo”; “habit” was “habito”; “abrupt” was “abrupto”.
On a Saturday night, I was invited to dinner at Luis’s apartment when his sisters arrived. I thought the dinner went well since the three girls kept giving me friendly smiles. However, we kept silent, and no one seemed to break the ice. Then Luis excused himself from the table.
With three pairs of eyes focused on me, I was forced to speak. Since I didn’t know much about Spanish, I had to be careful to say anything. I chose to play it safe by simply praising the fine meal they’d made. “Me gusta el dinero,” I said, smiling at each girl in return. They unhappily stared at me as Luis re-entered the room. Confusedly, he asked, “What did you do?” I just praised your sisters for this delicious dinner,” I replied weakly, suddenly questioning my limited Spanish vocabulary. Finally, the three girls told me that “gusta el dinero” means “like money”.
That night really left me in an awkward state. I couldn’t say that ended my friendship with Luis, but things were never quite the same between us after the fateful night. I learned a valuable lesson—it was always the shortcuts that got me into trouble.
【小题1】What does the author think of Spanish and English?| A．They are equally difficult. | B．Their spellings are the same. |
| C．There is a link between them. | D．They have nothing in common. |
| A．Have fun. | B．Avoid running a risk. |
| C．Play a trick. | D．Turn to somebody for help. |
| A．Embarrassing. | B．Dangerous. | C．Harmonious. | D．Pleasant. |
| A．A Decision On Fate | B．A Common Mistake |
| C．A Chance Encounter | D．A Shortcut To Disaster |
