名篇背诵：Autumn Days 秋日

Autumn Days 秋日

凯特·D. 威金(Kate D. Wiggin)

These were beautiful autumn days at the White Farm. The orchards were gleaming, the grapes hung purple on the vines, and the odor of ripening fruit was in the hazy air. The pink spirea had cast its feathery petals by the gray stone walls but the welcome golden-rod bloomed in royal profusion along the brown waysides, and a crimson leaf hung here and there in the tree tops, just to give a hint of the fall styles in color. Heaps of yellow pumpkins and squashes lay in the corners of the fields; corn stalks bowed their heads beneath the weight of ripened ears; beans threatened to burst through their yellow pods .

- spirea [spaɪˈriːə] n. 绣线菊属植物

- golden-rod [ˈɡəʊldən rɒd] n. 黄花

- pumpkin [ˈpʌmpkɪn] n. 南瓜

- squash [skwɒʃ] n. 葫芦

- pod [pɒd] n. 豆荚

白色农场上，天气美好，秋意正浓。果园筛下金色的阳光，紫色葡萄挂在藤上，成熟果实的气味充满在水汽腾腾的空气中。绣线菊贴着灰色的石壁绽开了粉红色羽毛状的花瓣，但是在褐色的路旁，受人欢迎的黄色花朵大片盛开，极为鲜艳。树顶上到处有绯红的叶子，从色彩上暗示人们秋天的到来。一堆堆黄色的南瓜、西葫芦堆在田边地角；成熟的玉米穗沉甸甸地压弯了秸秆；绿豆也快要绽裂出豆荚。

凯特·D. 威金(1856—1923)，美国女小说家，出生于费城。既写给成人看的小说，也写给孩子看的小说，后者比较成功。作品有《松尼布鲁克农场的丽贝卡》(Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ，1903)，《鸟儿的圣诞颂歌》(The Birds's Christmas Carol ，1887)，《卡雷妈妈的小鸡》(Mother Carey's Chicken ，1911)。威金的作品常常探讨家庭、童年和成长，深受读者喜爱。