暑假过后，新初三生们迎来了初中最重要的一年——初三。为方便2013年中考考生及家长查询相关信息，出国留学网中考频道特别搜集汇总了中考英语阅读素材以供参考：
The Sleeping Princess
I
Once there was a King and a Queen. For many years they had wanted a child, and no child had come to them.
Then the Queen had a child. It was a girl. The King was very glad.
You know what a fairy is. Many fairies lived near the King's house. When the Queen's child came, the King went to all the fairies and said, "The Queen has a child. Do come to the house and see our new little girl." All the fairies said, "We are very glad: we will come today ."
One of the fairies had gone away on a journey: she had been very far away. She had not come back when the Queen's child came. When she came back, one of the fairies said to her, "The Queen has a child, and the King came to us and said, "Come and see our new little girl. ""
But this fairy was a bad fairy; the bad fairy said, "The King went to all of you: why did he not come to me? I shall go and see the King's child; but I shall give her some bad thing."
All the good fairies went to the King's house, and saw the little girl; and they all gave her some good thing. One said, "I give her this good thing: she shall have riches." One fairy said, "I give her this good thing; she shall become a brave woman." One said, "I give her this good thing: she shall become a good woman." All gave some good thing.
Then there came the bad fairy. She said, "The King went to all the fairies but he did not come to me, so I shall give the child some bad thing. She will have riches; she will become brave; she will become good. But, when she is a woman, she will prick her hand with a needle, and die."
The poor Queen did not know what to do. The King said to the good fairies, "The poor girl shall not die. Can you not help me? Say that she shall not die!" The good fairies said, " We cannot help you. What the bad fairy has said will come. Your child will prick her hand with a needle; but she shall not die. She shall sleep for many years. Then a king's son shall come and kiss her. And she will awake. He shall wake her with a kiss." Then the fairies went away.
The King sent for all his men and all the Queen's women, and said, "Go and bring me all the needles that are in the house."
They brought all the needles that they could find, and the King took them, and threw them into a river far away.
Then he said, "See that no needle comes into this house. See that no man and no woman brings a needle near my child. I shall kill them if they do."
Ⅱ
The little child grew up in the King's house. She became a Princess. The Princess wanted to see all that she could. She wanted to know what the men were doing in the garden. She wanted to know the names of all the flowers and of all the trees. She said to the men in the King's garden, "What is the name of this flower? What is the name of this tree?" In the house she wanted to see all that there was to see.
She wanted to know how many rooms there were in the King's house, and who lived in all the rooms. So she went into one room, and then into another room, and then into another. She went into big rooms and little rooms, and very little rooms. Then she said, "I have been to all the rooms in the house." But there was one room where she had not gone.
As she went on, she came to a new room. It was a little room very far away from all the other rooms. The door of the room was shut. The Princess wanted to go in and see what was in this room. She called, "Open the door!" But no one came. She called once. She called twice; then the door was opened. The Princess went into the room: and there she saw a very old woman.
The old woman was sitting near a table. On the table there was some cloth. The old woman had some cloth in one hand, and in the other hand she had a needle.
The Princess said, "What are you doing?"
"I am making something," said the old woman.
"What are you making?" said the Princess.
"I am making some clothes," said the old woman.
“What is that in your hand?" said the Princess.
"That is the cloth," said the old woman.
"No!" said the Princess. "What is that in your other hand?"
"That?" said the old woman. "That is a needle."
The Princess said, "Give me the 'needle'; I want to see it. I have not seen a needle. I do not know what a needle is."
The old woman said, "Have you not seen a needle? How can that be? You have seen many needles! Needles are seen in all houses."
The old woman gave the needle to the Princess.
"Give me the cloth," said the Princess: 'I want to make clothes." Then the old woman gave the Princess the cloth.
The Princess pricked the cloth with the needle --but she pricked her hand. And she fell asleep!
Then all the men and the women in the house fell asleep. The King fell asleep at his table, and the Queen sitting near him fell asleep.
The man in the garden fell asleep with his axe in his hand. The man standing at the door of the house fell asleep where he stood. All were asleep.
A fairy came to the Princess. She took her and put her on a bed. Then the fairy said to the trees and to the flowers in the garden, " Grow!" The flowers grew up, and the trees grew big. There was a wall of trees and flowers. So no one could go into the house.
In the house the Princess slept; and the King slept, and all his men; and the Queen, and her women, slept.
Ⅲ
Many wanted to go into the house of the Sleeping Princess; but they could not go through the trees. So no one came.
Years went by, and the Princess slept. Many years went by, and men did not know what the house was and who was in it. The trees grew up; you could not see the house through the trees. Men went by the trees and did not know that there was a house there.
One day a King rode into the forest. His son was with him. The King and his men went far in front, and the King's son could not find them. He rode on, and he came to a wall of trees and flowers. He said, "My father has gone through those trees: I will go through them and find him."
As he came to the wall of trees, it opened, and he went through. Then he saw a garden; but all the flowers had grown here and there as they wanted.
He came to a house. The door was open, a man was standing by the door asleep. the King's son said, "What a lazy man, he sleeps standing!" He went into the house. Men sat at the table, with food in their hands, asleep.
A little boy had been reading a story: he had fallen asleep with his head on his arms. A woman had been putting on her shoes; she was asleep with one shoe on and one shoe in her hand. An old man sat with pen and paper, asleep; and the dust of years was on his paper. Near him a woman was asleep with her little child asleep in her arms.
The King's son went from one room to another. He saw the old King asleep at his table, and near him the Queen asleep with her head in her hands. Then he came to a room where there was sunlight and flowers. The window was open and roses had grown in through the window into the room. Golden light came through the window and fell upon a bed. The Princess was on the bed. Her eyes were shut. She was asleep.
The King's son kissed her. She awoke. Then all the house awoke. The man awoke at the door. The men awoke and ate the food in their hands. The woman awoke and put on her shoe. The boy awoke and read his story. The King awoke at his table. The Queen rubbed her eyes, and said, "What were you saying, my King. I fell asleep."
The Princess was married by the King's son, and they became King and Queen.
【译文】
睡美人
(一)
从前，有一位国王和一位王后，多年来他们一直希望有个小孩，但他们还是没有孩子。
后来，王后有了一个孩子，是女孩，国王十分高兴。
你知道仙女是什么。很多仙女住在王宫附近。当王后的小孩出世后，国王去告诉所有的仙女说：“王后生了一个孩子，你们一定到王宫来，看看我们刚出世的小女孩。”仙女们说：“我们很高兴，今天我们一定去看看。”
她们当中有一位仙女已经出门旅行去了，她已经到了很远的地方。王后的小孩出世时她还没有回来。当她回来后，一位仙女对她说：“王后生了一个女孩，国王来告诉过我们说，‘来看看我们刚出世的小女孩’。”
可是，这位仙女是一个坏仙女。坏仙女说：“国王来告诉你们大家，但为什么就不来告诉我呢?我一定要去看看国王的孩子，我要给她咒一些坏事。”
好的仙女们来到了王宫，见到了小女孩，她们大家都给她说了些吉利的话。一位说：“我给她这样吉利的话：她一定会发财。”一位说：“我给她这样吉利的话：她一定会成为一位勇敢的女性。”一位说：“我给她这样吉利的话：她一定会成为一名好女人。”大家都说了些吉利的话。
然后，坏仙女来到这里，她说：“国王去告诉了所有的仙女，他就是不来告诉我。所以，我要给小孩咒一些坏事。她会发财，会成为一名勇敢的女性，也会成为一名好女人。但是，当她成年后，她将用针刺破手而死去。”
可怜的王后不知道如何是好。国王对那些好仙女说：“这可怜的女孩子不能死，你们不能帮助我吗?求你们说一声她不会死去!”
好的仙女们说：“我们不能帮助您，坏仙女所预言的必将应验，你的孩子将会用针刺破手，但是，她不一定死，她要沉睡很多年。然后，有一位王子会来吻她，她将会醒来。他的吻会把她唤醒。”然后，仙女们走了。
国王叫来他的所有男仆和王后的所有女仆，说：“去把房间里所有的针都给我搜罗来。”他们去把所有能够找到的针都拿来了，然后，国王拿着这些针，把它们扔到很远的一条河里去了。
接着他说：“千万注意，别让一枚针进到这所房子里来。还要注意，谁也不准带着针靠近我的孩子。如果他们敢这样做，我就杀了他们。”
(二)
小女孩在王宫里长大了，她成为一名公主。凡是能看到的东西，公主都想看看。她想知道在花园里的人正在干什么;她要知道所有的树木和花的名字。在花园里她问花匠：“这是朵什么花?这是棵什么树?”凡是房子里能够见到的她都要看看。
她要知道王宫里有多少间房间，所有的房间都有谁住着，她一间接一间的进去看看，她进了大房间、小房间和很小的房间。然后，她说：“我已经走遍了这所房子里的所有房间。”但是，有一间屋子她没有去过。
她继续走，来到一间陌生的屋子，这间小屋子离其它房间很远。这间屋的门关着，公主要进去看看这间屋子里有什么。她就喊：“开门!”但没人出来，她喊了一遍后，又喊了一遍，这时门打开了，公主走进屋里，在这里她发现一位很老的老太太。
老太太正坐在桌子旁，桌子上有一些布，老太太一手拿着一些布，另一只手拿着一枚针。
公主问：“你在做什么?”
“我正在做活儿，”老太太说。
“你在做什么活儿?”公主问。
“我正在做衣服，”老太太说。
“你手里拿着什么?”公主问。
“那是布，”老太太说。
“不是!”公主说，“另一只手里是什么?”
“这?”老太太说，“这是一枚针。”
公主说：“把‘针’给我，我要看看它，我没有见过针，不知道针是什么。”
老太太说：“你从没有见过针?那怎么可能呢?你见过的针多着哩!家家户户都可以见到针。”
老太太把针给了公主。
“把布给我，”公主说，“我要做衣服。”这时，老太太把布给了公主。
公主用针扎布――然而，她刺了自己的手，接着她睡过去了。
然后，房子里的男男女女都睡着了。国王趴在桌上睡着了，王后坐在他身旁睡着了。
在花园里的花匠拿着斧头睡着了，大门旁的门房站着睡着了，所有的人都睡着了。
一位仙女来到公主面前，她抱起公主，把她放在床上。然后，仙女对花园里的树和花说：“快长!”花儿长起来了，树儿长大了，于是出现了一堵由树和花组成的墙。这样，没有人能走进这所房子了。
在这所房子里，公主睡着，国王王后睡着，男仆女仆也都睡着。
(三)
许多人想进入睡美人的房子，但是，人们穿不过树墙，所以没有一个人来过。
年复一年，公主长眠不醒。很多年过去了，人们不知道这所房子里发生了什么事情，不知道谁住在里面。树儿长高了，你通过树丛看不到房子，人们从树丛旁走过，不晓得这里有一座房子。
一天，一位国王骑马进了森林，王子也随同他前往。国王和他的仆人在前面走得很远(把王子抛在后面)，王子找不到他们了。王子骑着骑着，来到了花树墙前，心想：“父王已经穿过那片树丛，我要穿过去，找到他们。”
他走到树墙前，树丛打开了一条路，他穿了过去。这时，他发现一个花园，然而，所有的花草却长得杂乱无章，遍地皆是。
他来到一座房子前，门开着，一个男人正站在门旁睡着，王子说：“多懒的人啊，他站着都睡着了!”他走进房屋，一些人坐在桌旁，手里拿着吃的睡着。
一个小男孩正在看书上的一个故事，他头枕着胳膊睡着了。一位妇女正在穿鞋，她脚上穿着一只鞋，手中拿着一只鞋睡着。一位老人也坐那儿睡着，旁边是笔和纸，而纸上都是陈年积土，他旁边一个妇女怀抱着熟睡的孩子睡着。
王子从一间屋走到另一间屋，他发现以前的国王在桌旁睡着，在他身旁王后双手抱着头睡着。然后，他来到一间有花和有阳光的屋子，窗户开着，玫瑰花已经从外爬进了窗户，长满了房间。金色的阳光透过窗户洒落在床上，公主躺在床上，她的眼睛闭着，也睡着。
王子吻了她，她醒了过来。随即整座房子里的人都醒了。门口的人醒了;一些手里拿着吃的人醒了;妇女醒了，穿上了她的鞋;男孩醒了，看他的故事。在桌旁的国王醒了，王后揉了揉眼睛，说：“国王，你刚才说什么来着?我睡着了。”
公主嫁给了王子，他们成为国王和王后。
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