When the Cup Tipped- 適合初級的英語短篇故事

Sam tapped an acorn at the top of a small hill. His sibling Nora crouched on the grass below the slope. A warm breeze moved the short leaves around their knees. Nora kept her palms open, willing to catch the first roll. The acorn slipped, bounced twice, and struck a dry pine cone. The cone began to spin toward a wooden plank they placed.

Sam lined twenty glass marbles on the plank in a row. The spinning cone nudged the first marble; momentum jumped to the next. Each bright sphere tapped ahead, and the line turned into a stream. The last marble struck a tin cup and tipped it over. A yard stick beside the plank showed the fall at mark twenty-eight. The cup rolled downhill, spilling small beads across the dirt. Nora stepped sideways, and her shoe blocked the tumbling beads. One bead kept spinning in a small circle beside her shoe.

山姆在一座小丘頂上輕敲一顆橡子。他的手足諾拉蹲在斜坡下的草地上。溫暖的微風吹動他們膝邊短短的草葉。諾拉張開手掌，準備接住第一個滾下來的東西。橡子滑落、彈跳兩下，撞到一顆乾松球。松球開始旋轉，朝他們放好的木板方向滾去。

山姆把二十顆玻璃彈珠排成一列放在木板上。旋轉的松球頂到第一顆彈珠，動能傳到下一顆。每顆亮晶晶的球向前撞擊，整排變成一條小流。最後一顆彈珠撞上一個錫杯，把杯子推倒。木板旁的碼尺在二十八公分處標示著落點。杯子順坡滾下，把小珠子灑滿泥地。諾拉側身一擋，她的鞋子攔住翻滾的珠子。一顆珠子仍在她鞋旁畫著小圓圈旋轉。