Robinson Crusoe (Vocabulary of 1200 for 8th Grade Students to Read)

Author: Liu Wenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Robinson Crusoe was born into a respectable merchant family and longed for sea adventures, determined to see the world overseas. He secretly set sail without his father's knowledge. On his first voyage, he encountered a fierce storm, his ship sank, and he barely escaped with his life. On his second voyage to Africa for trade, he made a fortune. His third voyage, however, ended in misfortune as he was captured by Moors and became a slave. Later, he escaped in the master's small boat but was rescued by a Portuguese merchant ship. Upon arriving in Brazil, he bought a plantation and became a landowner. Unsatisfied with his sudden wealth, he set sail again, this time to Africa to trade slaves. During the journey, the ship was caught in a storm and wrecked, leaving all the crew and passengers dead except for Robinson Crusoe, who survived alone and drifted to a deserted island. Using the ship's mast, he built a raft and repeatedly transported food, clothing, weapons, tools, and other supplies from the ship to the shore. He set up a tent near a hill and settled there. Next, he drove sharpened wooden stakes around the tent to build a fence and dug a hole behind the tent for shelter. With simple tools, he made tables, chairs, and other furniture, hunted wild game for food, and drank from the stream, overcoming the initial hardships. He began planting barley and rice on the island, crafting wooden mortars, pestles, and sieves to grind flour and bake coarse bread. He captured and domesticated wild goats, allowing them to reproduce. He also made pottery and other necessities to sustain himself. Despite this, Robinson Crusoe never gave up on finding a way to leave the island. He felled a large tree and spent several months building a single-log boat, but it was too heavy to drag to the sea. Discouraged, he abandoned the project and started building a smaller one instead. After living alone on the island for 17 years, one day, he discovered human bones on the shore, evidence of a cannibalistic feast held by a group of wild natives from a nearby island. Robinson Crusoe was horrified. From then on, he remained vigilant and paid closer attention to his surroundings. In his 24th year, another group of wild natives arrived, intending to kill and eat their captives. Robinson Crusoe rescued one of them and named the native "Friday." From then on, "Friday" became Robinson Crusoe's loyal servant and friend. Later, Robinson Crusoe and "Friday" rescued a Spanish man and "Friday's" father.，，，。“”，。，“”。35。，。，，，。，，，。