尷尬之情:閱覽室里得到的教訓-A Lesson Learned in the Reading-room
閱覽室里得到的教訓
【內容提示】
你們學校閱覽室的座位不多，因此同學們總要預先去占座位。有一次，你去閱覽室遲了，座位上已經坐滿了人。突然，你發現有一處空著。走過去一看，桌上放著一本書。你把書往旁邊一推就坐下了。過了一會，書的主人回來了要此座位，你強詞奪理說是你占的座位。不料，旁邊的同學都幫那位同學說話，弄得你下不了台，只好退出閱覽室。
【作文示範】
A Lesson Learned in the Reading-room
There are not enough seats in the reading-room in our school. Just because of this, I had a very special experience that I shall never forget.
One day, I was annoyed ① by the hot weather. After drinking a bottle of water, I ran fast towards the reading-room.
When I pushed the door open, I saw what I expected. There was no empty seat. I looked very carefully at every corner, hoping to find one, but it seemed hopeless. Suddenly I caught sight of an empty seat with a book on it. I knew it must have been “occupied②”by someone, but I was eager to sit down to have a rest after running. So I put the book on the other side of the table, and sat down.
About 10 minutes later, I heard a very low voice behind me. “Excuse me, sister. I'm afraid that this seat is mine.”“What? It's yours? How can you say that?” The little girl seemed a little nervous. “I remember I put my book on this desk before lunch,”she said. “Please don't draw a conclusion so quickly before you have enough evidence ③! ”I said in a loud voice. It made nearly everyone in the room turn their heads towards me. I felt a little embarrassed.
Just then, a student next to me said,“To tell the truth, this seat is really the little girl's. I think you should give it to her.” My face turned red at once. I can't describe how I felt at that moment, and I don't remember how I went out of the room with my books before so many eyes.
This happened 4 years ago. Since then I have often asked myself if I have done anything without considering other people's rights.
（選自《英語畫刊》1996年第6期）
【詞語解釋】
①annoy [ 'n&i] v. 使煩惱
②occupy ['&kjupai] v. 占有；占用
③evidence ['evid ns] n. 根據；證據
【寫法指要】
本文敘述作者難堪的一幕。整個事態的醞釀經過如以下過程：情況簡介、自尋煩惱、衝突出現、尷尬場面、難為情地退出、引出教訓：做事要想到別人的權利。
尷尬之情:閱覽室里得到的教訓-A Lesson Learned in the Reading-room