[al:新概念英语（三）] [ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）] [ti:Our Neighbour, the River] [by:更多学习内容，请到chazidian.com搜索“新概念”] [00:01.50]Lesson 56 [00:03.80]Our neighbour, the river [00:13.03]Why had the neighbours left their farm? [00:18.42]The river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives. [00:26.15]Without it we could not make a living. [00:29.07]There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the house so we have to pump from the river for farm use. [00:36.25]We tell the river all our secrets. [00:38.61]We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees, [00:42.54]that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it. [00:49.52]We have special river birthday parties in the summer. [00:53.18]Sometimes we go upstream to a favourite backwater, [00:57.37]sometimes we have our party at the boathouse, [01:00.35]which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving. [01:08.57]In a heat wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all. [01:15.64]We welcome the seasons by the riverside, [01:18.42]crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring, [01:21.81]holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve, [01:25.59]giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn, [01:28.11]and throwing a holly wreath into the current in the winter. [01:33.04]After a long period of rain the river may overflow its banks. [01:38.09]This is a rare occurrence as our climate seldom goes to extremes. [01:43.16]We are lucky in that only the lower fields, [01:46.40]which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are affected by flooding, [01:51.73]but other farms are less favourably sited, and flooding can sometimes spell disaster for their owners. [01:59.50]One bad winter we watched the river creep up the lower meadows. [02:04.41]All the cattle had been moved into stalls and we stood to lose little. [02:09.31]We were, however, worried about our nearest neighbours, [02:12.78]whose farm was low lying and who were newcomers to the district. [02:17.57]As the floods had put the telephone out of order, [02:20.51]we could not find out how they were managing. [02:23.96]From an attic window we could get a sweeping view of the river where their land joined ours, [02:29.90]and at the most critical juncture we took turns in watching that point. [02:34.61]The first sign of disaster was a dead sheep floating down. [02:39.33]Next came a horse, swimming bravely, [02:42.24]but we were afraid that the strength of the current would prevent its landing anywhere before it became exhausted. [02:49.25]Suddenly a raft appeared, looking rather like Noah's ark, [02:53.89]carrying the whole family, a few hens, the dogs, a cat, and a bird in a cage. [03:01.12]We realized that they must have become unduly frightened by the rising flood, [03:06.26]for their house, which had sound foundations, [03:10.04]would have stood stoutly even if it had been almost submerged. [03:14.56]The men of our family waded down through our flooded meadows with boat hooks, [03:19.45]in the hope of being able to grapple a corner of the raft and pull it out of the current towrds our bank. [03:25.67]We still think it a miracle that they were able to do so.