埃尔松，美国教育理论家，教育实践家，小学语文教材的主要编写者。

　　格莱，美国教育理论与实践研究工作者，有丰富的教材编写和出版经验。

　　经过前面3个阶段的阅读训练，孩子们初步培养起了阅读兴趣，并形成了良好的阅读习惯，也有了一定的语言基础。四年级处于小学低年级和高年级的过渡阶段，因此本级的读本，一方面继续提供充满幻想和奇妙色彩的故事，另一方面，透过故事丰富孩子们的情感，开阔他们的眼界，增长他们的知识。

　　本级同样分为A、B两册，对应两个学期。极具可读性的故事将给孩子们的英语学习和健康成长意想不到的助益。

　　PART FOUR  STORIES EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

　　第四部分 每个人应该知道的故事

　　Climbing

　　High up in the apple tree climbing I go,

　　With the sky above me, the earth below.

　　Each branch is the step of a wonderful stair

　　Which leads to the town I see shining up there.

　　Climbing, climbing, higher and higher,

　　The branches blow and I see a spire,

　　The gleam of a turret, the glint of a dome,

　　All sparkling and bright, like white seafoam.

　　攀登

　　我爬到苹果树的高处，

　　头上是天空，脚下是大地。

　　每个枝杈都是绝妙的阶梯，

　　通向我眼中闪闪发光的城镇。

　　越爬越高，越爬越高，

　　枝条摇曳，我看见一个尖塔，

　　一个角楼的闪烁，一个圆穹顶的微光，

　　都在一闪一闪地发着亮光，像海面上白色的泡沫。

　　Today to the end of the marvelous stair,

　　Where those glittering pinnacles flash in the air!

　　Climbing, climbing, higher I go,

　　With the sky close above me, the earth far below.

　　—Amy Lowell

　　今天，在那个奇妙的阶梯尽头，

　　那些闪闪发光的尖塔在空中闪现！

　　我越爬越高，越爬越高，

　　天空在上方离头顶很近，大地在下方离我很远很远。

　　——阿米.洛威尔

　　Everyone Likes A Good Story

　　Even before you could read, you used to ask your father and mother to tell you stories. Everyone likes a good story. All over our land there are thousands of libraries, and every year millions of people are reading stories—in books, in magazines, and in newspapers.

　　Now, of course, not everyone likes the same kind of story. You like some better than others. But there are stories that everyone seems to enjoy; the years go by, the stories get older, and yet people go on reading them and enjoying them.

　　每个人都喜欢好故事

　　你甚至在能够阅读之前，就经常让你的爸爸和妈妈给你讲故事。每个人都喜欢好故事。全世界有成千上万的图书馆，每年有数百万人都在书籍、杂志和报纸上阅读故事。

　　现在，当然并不是每个人都喜欢同一种故事。你也有自己比较喜欢的一些故事。但是，有些故事似乎每个人都喜欢；时光流逝，那些故事越来越古老，但是人们还会继续阅读和喜爱它们。

　　Now your Book Comrade will tell you three stories that millions of people have enjoyed. Two of them are old, written long before you or your parents were born. But people still read them, and probably will do so for many long years to come. No one knows who first made them up. One of them is given here as it was written down by a great American story-teller, another as it was retold by an English writer of today. You could find thousands of boys and girls in lands across the sea who know these stories. The third story is not so old, but people have loved it for many years, and you will love it, too.

　　After you have read these stories, perhaps you can find others that you will enjoy very much. Then you will be able to tell other people about these stories.

　　现在你的书伙伴将给你讲述三个数百万人喜欢的故事。其中的两个是古老的故事，在你或你的父母出生以前很久就有了。但是人们仍在阅读它们，并且可能在未来的很长时间内还会阅读。没有人知道是谁第一个创作了它们。这里叙述的其中一个故事是由一个伟大的美国故事家写下的，另一个故事是由一个当今的英国作家转述的。你可以在大洋两岸找到成千上万知道这些故事的男孩和女孩。第三个故事没有那么古老，但是多年来人们都喜欢它，你也会喜欢它。

　　读过这些故事后，你或许会找到其他你非常喜欢的故事。然后就可以把这些故事讲给别人听。

　　……