An ugly duckling

王致智

A mother duck was hatching （孵化） eggs. On a beautiful sunny day， the eggs broke open. One of the little ducks looked very different and ugly. It was grey in color and was bigger and stronger than other ducklings.

The ugly duckling was laughed at everywhere for its look. The ugly duckling walked here and there. Wherever he went， he was shy for his look. He was laughed at by a cat， a hen and the fellow birds. The winter was quite unhappy or uncomfortable and there was no proper place to live for the ugly duckling. The spring arrived and the ugly duckling saw a group of swans. He decided to join them.

The swans（天鵝） were swimming on a lake. The ugly duckling with a hesitation （猶豫） wished to join the group. He saw himself in the lake. He was surprised by the way he looked. He had grown into a beautiful swan and was not ugly any more. So he joined the group and lived happily with the others.

1. Questions：

What happened to one of the little ducks （其中有一只小鴨子怎么了）？

2. Mixed-up sentence exercises （單詞組句）：

（1） ugly， laughed， duckling， was， at， its， everywhere， for， look，the

（2） the， is， ugly， any， not， more， ugly， duckling

答案：1. It looked very different and ugly. 2. （1） The ugly duckling was laughed at everywhere for its look. （2） The ugly duckling is not ugly any more.