误送的留言条

【内容提示】

很久以来，Dr. Jackson 想在一家现代化的大医院找一份永久性的工作。他终于如愿以偿，得到一个他想要的职位。他和妻子搬到了新居。第二天，有人给他们送来一束美丽的鲜花，同时还有一张留言条，上面写着：“深切的吊唁”。自然，Dr. Jackson很懊恼。于是，他打电话给花店问个究竟。请你接着续完故事，看看花店主人是如何答复他的。

【作文示范】

A Not Wrongly Snt

For a long tim Dr. Jackson had wantd to gt a prmannt① job in a crtain big hospital and at last h was succssful. H was appointd② to th particular position which h wantd. Thn h and his wif movd to th hous which thy wr now to liv in. Th nxt day som bautiful flowrs wr dlivrd to thm, with a not which said:“Dpst sympathy③”.

Naturally, Dr. Jackson was annoyd④ to rciv such an xtraordinary not, and tlphond th shop which had snt th flowrs to find out what th not mant.

Whn th ownr of th shop hard what had happnd, h apologizd to Dr. Jackson for having mad th mistak.

“But what rally worris m much mor,” h addd, “is that th flowrs which ought to hav gon to you wr snt to a funral ⑤, with a card which said: ‘Congratulations on your nw position’”.

（选自1986年7月22日《上海学生英文报》）

【词语解释】

① prmannt [＇p+:m+n+nt] a. 永久的；持久的

② appoint [+＇p&int] v. 任命；委派

③ sympathy [＇simp+Ii] n. 同情；慰问；吊唁

④annoy [+＇n&i] v. 使烦恼；使生气

⑤ funral [＇fju:n+r+l] n. 丧葬；葬礼

【写法指要】

本文虽短，但写得意味深长，含义深刻，可有多种理解：也许Jackson夫妇病入膏肓，被送到医院等死；也许他们所住的房子的旧主人刚死；也许花店老板或别人与Jackson有仇等等。这是因为文章里有两个关键词可作双关语解释，这两个词是：1）prmannt；2）sympathy。