爱华网随着课改的不断深入,在英语课堂上引入了故事教学,小学生由于对一些有趣的事物会充满好奇,当他们看到一篇篇配有图画的故事时,会被其吸引,从而能从中主动的去学到知识。小编分享英语故事短文，希望可以帮助大家!
英语故事短文：Oceanside Community
The oceanside community of Lozano Beach is debating whether to allow homeowners to rent out their homes on a weekly basis during the summer. Such rentals produce high incomes for the owners and the city, which gets part of this income through a 15-percent surcharge to the owner. “This can be a boon to our coffers,” said Rick Brown, city manager. “In the summer, homeowners can bring in $2,000 a week or more.”
However, these rentals can also be a can of worms. The city stopped allowing weekly rentals 10 years ago because of the problems they were generating. Two, three, or even four families would pile into a two- or three-bedroom house. Then they would park their cars on the lawn and produce huge amounts of trash. Sometimes they would toss this trash on the streets and sidewalks.
Noise would be another problem. Some people would party late and loud every night. This abuse created a lot of friction with neighbors and resulted in extra work for city maintenance crews and for police, who had to respond almost hourly to residents’ complaints about noise, music, trash, and parking problems. But now, the city’s budget problems are making it reconsider its ban.
City officials will hold a community meeting next week to listen to the pros and cons. One official has already suggested a proposal. He thinks that a fine might work. If the city has to respond to complaints, the homeowner will be charged $200 per response. Such a fine might cause the homeowner to be careful to rent only to people that he is sure will be considerate of the neighbors. The city would still get 15 percent of the rental fee, even if the homeowner’s rent were totally offset by fines. The city would post inconsiderate renters’ names on the city website so that other homeowners would know about them.
Some officials think the ban should be continued because these visitors to the community have already proven that they have no consideration for others. Their money isn’t worth the headaches they cause.
英语故事短文：City Hosts 42nd Art Fair
The Fernwood Library sponsored Fernwood’s 42nd Art Fair this weekend. The three-day event was held, as usual, at Memorial Park. Almost 100 artists showed up each day. More than 1,000 locals and visitors strolled through the shady park daily, as temperatures remained in the comfortable 70s all weekend.
All kinds of art were on display and for sale. Prices ranged from a couple of dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. Oscar, a native of Peru, was selling his beautiful paintings of the mountain village of Ayacucho, where he lives most of the year. “Every year I come to the United States to sell my paintings at about five different art shows. Then I return to my country. That is where I do all my paintings, in our beautiful mountains.”
Peter is a photographer. He travels throughout the southwest US. One of his favorite areas is northeast Arizona. “That’s where Spider Rock is,” he said, pointing to a beautiful color photograph of a towering sandstone spire about 800 feet high. This rock, according to Navajo Indian lore, was the home of Spider Woman, a goddess revered by the tribe.
A Navajo woman was selling her own rug weavings at the fair. She was busy creating a rug while visitors watched. When asked how long it took, she replied that her creations usually took months. She said that Navajo tradition was to always weave a slight flaw into an article so as not to offend Spider Woman, because only Spider Woman could create a perfect weave.
The exhibit areas were located throughout the park. Artists’ creations included jewelry, ceramics, bird houses, gourd art, furniture, pottery, handmade musical instruments, music CDs, and sculpture. Almost all the artists had their work displayed beneath shady canopies.
“This was another successful year for our art fair,” said the head librarian. “The artists sold enough of their work to encourage them to return next year, and the library raised almost $700 from sales of various items. We’ll use this money to purchase a few more tables and chairs.”
英语故事短文：Cameras in Police Cars
The Rockford police chief and some city officials want to install video cameras in all 100 police cars. They think this will reduce the number of lawsuits filed against the city. In the last five years, Rockford has paid out more than five million dollars to settle about 40 lawsuits.
The chief said, “If cameras had been in those cars, we wouldn’t have had to pay one dime. We’re always pulling over drunks or drug users who try to fight the cops or shoot them. Then they always claim that the police started beating them first or started shooting at them first. What hogwash!”
The cost of installing cameras will be about $500 per vehicle. The city council will vote on the proposal next Monday. Ten of the 13 council members, when asked about the proposal, said that they liked the idea. One member said that it makes good fiscal sense and common sense. If the cameras are approved, they can be installed in all the cars within six weeks.
The police officers enthusiastically support camera use. One officer said that too many people think the police are liars; cameras would show citizens that police tell the truth. “The money that we’ve been spending on lawsuits will be better spent on more cameras,” said one officer.
Citizen reaction to the idea of police car cameras is mixed. One person said that the police should have started doing this years ago when video cameras were invented. But an elderly man said that cameras were an invasion of privacy. “These police are trying to stick their nose into everything,” he said. He was going to attend the council meeting to condemn the proposal. He hoped that other citizens would join him.
