“书虫”是外语教学与研究出版社和牛津大学出版社共同奉献给广大英语学习者的一大精品。书虫在英语中大概是颇可爱的形象。想象一下，有那么一只勤勉的小虫，它如痴如醉地沉迷于书卷，孜孜不倦地咀嚼着字母…… 


　　如今这只“书虫”漂洋过海，轻盈地落在了中国英语学习者的掌中。“书虫”首先将给你自信，即使你目前只有几百的词汇量，也可以不太费劲地阅览世界名作了。书虫还会用它细细的鸣叫声不停地提醒你：要坚持不懈地读下去，要广泛而丰富地读下去。待到读完丛书系列中的最后一本，你也许会突然发现：你已经如蛹化蝶，振翅欲翔了！

　　《书虫·牛津英汉双语读物：象人（1级）（适合初1、初2年级）》讲述了一个贫穷、丑陋的人的故事。没有人喜欢他，大家都嘲笑他。人们将他放在笼子里，当作动物一样展览。直到有一天一位医生发现了他，觉得他很有趣，想研究他。象人就这样出了名，每个人都想去拜访他，甚至女王都来看望他。

Chapter 1 The Creature in the Shop
1 店铺里的怪物
Chapter 2 The Card
2 名片
Chapter 3 A Letter to 'The Times'
3 给《泰晤士报》的一封信
Chapter 4 Merrick's First Home
4 梅里克的第一个家
Chapter 5 An Important Visitor
5 一位重要的来访者
Chapter 6 Outside the Hospital
6 在医院的外面
Chapter 7 The Last Letter
7 最后一封信
Exercises

My name is Dr Frederick Treves．I am a doctor at the London Hospital．One day in 1884, I saw a picture in the window of a shop near the hospital．I stopped in front of the shop and looked at the picture．At first I felt interested, then I felt angry, then afraid．It was a horrible, ugly picture．There was a man in the picture, but he did not look like you and me．He did not look like a man．He looked like an elephant.
　　I read the writing under the picture．It said：
　　Come in and see the Elephant Man.2 pence.
　　I opened the door and went in.
　　There was a man in the shop．He was a dirty man in an old coat with a cigarette in his mouth．'What do you want？' he asked.
　　'I'd like to see the elephant man, please,' I said.
　　The man looked at me angrily．'Well, you can't,' he said．'The shop's closing now．You can come back tomorrow.'
　　'I'm sorry,' I said．'But I would like to see him now．I have no time tomorrow—I have a lot of work to do．But I can give you more than 2 pence.'
　　The man looked at me carefully．Then he took the cigarette out of his mouth and smiled with his yellow teeth.
　　'All right, sir,' he said．'Give me twelve pence then.'
　　I gave him the money and he opened a door at the back of the shop．We went into a little room．The room was cold and dark, and there was a horrible smell in it.
　　A creature sat on a chair behind a table．I say a creature, because it was not a man or a woman, like you or me．The creature did not move or look at us．It sat very quietly on the chair in the cold, dark, dirty room, and looked at the table．The creature had a cloth over its head, because of the cold．On the table in front of it, there was a dead flower.
　　'Stand up！' said the shopkeeper, loudly.
　　The creature stood up slowly．It took the old cloth off its head, and put it on the chair.
　　I looked at the creature and felt sad．I am a doctor, so I know a lot about accidents and ill people．I see horrible, ugly things every day．But this creature, this thing, was the worst of all．There were no men or women in the hospital like him.
　　He wore some old trousers, but no shirt, coat, or shoes, so I could see his body very well．His head was the most interesting thing．It was very, very big—like an enormous bag with a lot of books in it．The head did not have much hair, and there was another bag of brown, dirty skin at the back of it．This skin came down below his neck．I could not see one of his eyes very well, because a lot of skin came down in front of his face, too.
　　An enormous red tooth came out of his mouth, under his nose．It looked like an elephant's tooth．The mouth and nose were like holes in the face．The face could not smile or laugh or look angry or sad, because the skin could not move．It was dead, like an elephant's face.
　　There were more bags of dirty skin on the front and back of the creature's body．These bags came down to his legs．The right arm was enormous, and there were bags of skin on it, too．The right hand was like a man's foot.