书虫牛津英汉双语读物。
　　“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！

　　Arnold Bennett是19世纪后半期到20世纪初期一位英国小说家，除了创作小说，也为多家杂志撰写文章，并有大量非小说类作品流传后世，其中包括《如果度过一天中的24小时》。他的小说代表作有《北方来的人》，《巴比伦大酒店》，《五镇的安娜》等。

　　《五镇故事（2级）（适合初2、初3年级）》发生在20世纪初的英格兰中部地区，如今的五镇已经成为斯托克城，不过这个地方仍然因为陶瓷和阿诺德？贝内特故事中的人物而闻名。这些人既不是名人，也不是什么大人物。他们在商店和工厂工作；他们恋爱又失恋；他们会拌嘴，会争吵；他们有时头脑聪明而且事业成功，有时的所作所为又极其愚蠢……

News of the Engagement
订婚消息
The Burglary
夜盗
Beginning the New Year
新年伊始
The Silent Brothers
互不说话的兄弟
ACTIVITIES Before Reading
ACTIVITIES While Reading
ACTIVITIES After Reading

　　My mother never came to meet me at Bursley station when I arrived in the Five Towns from London．She always had other things to do；she was getting ready for me．So I always walked alone up Trafalgar Road，between the factories and past the football field．And so tonight，I had time to think．I had some very important news for my mother，and I didn't know how to tell her．
　　I wrote to my mother every week，to tell her what I was doing．She knew the names of all my friends．I often wrote about Agnes and her family．But it's difficult to write in a letter：'I think Agnes likes me，’'I'm in love with her，’'I'm sure she likes me，’'I think she loves me，’'I'm going to ask her to marry me.’You can't do that．Well，I couldn't do it．And on the 20th December I asked Agnes to marry me，and Agnes said yes．But my mother didn't know anything about it．And now，on the 22nd December，I was coming to spend Christmas with my mother．
　　My mother was a widow．I was her only son — and now I was engaged and she didn't know．I was afraid she was going to be a little unhappy，and I was ready for a difficult evening．
　　I walked up to the front door，but before I put my hand up to ring，the door opened and there was my mother．She put her arms around me．
　　‘Well，Philip！How are you？’
　　And I said，'Oh！I'm all right，mother．How are you？’
　　She smiled at me．She looked excited and younger than her forty-five years．There was something strange in her smile．I thought：'She knows I'm going to get married．How does she know？’
　　But I said nothing．You have to be careful with mothers．
　　‘I'll tell her at supper，’I decided．
　　I went upstairs to my bedroom．When I came down，my mother was busy in the kitchen．I went into the dining room，and here I had a surprise．There were three chairs around the table，and three plates and three glasses．
　　So Agnes was coming！I didn't know how my mother knew，but she did know．She and my wonderful Agnes were planning a surprise for me．Agnes was coming to Bursley for Christmas！
　　There was a ring at the door．‘It's Agnes！’I thought，and running to the door，I opened it．
　　It was Mr Nixon．
　　Mr Nixon was an old friend of the family．He was a large，strong man of about forty-nine or fifty．He was very helpful to my mother after my father's death．
　　‘Good evening，young man，’he said．‘It's good to see you back in Bursley.’
　　‘Mr Nixon has come for supper，Philip，’said my mother．
　　Mr Nixon often came to supper during my visits to Bursley，but never on the first night．I liked him，but I wasn't very happy to see him tonight because I wanted to talk to my mother．I couldn't talk to her about Agnes with Mr Nixon sitting at the table．
　　We started our supper．We talked about this and that，but nobody ate very much．I was thinking about what to say to my mother when Mr Nixon went home．At the end of the meal I told my mother that I must go to the post office．I had an important letter to post．