'What happened to the roses?'asked Mary.
'They were left there, in the garden.'
If rose branches look dry and grey, are they still alive?' asked Mary. It was so important to know!
"In the spring they'll show green shoots, and then - But why are you so interested in roses?' he asked.
Mary's face went red. 'I just.. . wanted to pretend l've got a garden. I haven't got anyone to play with.'
'Well, that's true, 'said Ben. He seemed to fell sory for her. Mary decided she liked old Ben, although he was sometimes bad-tempered.
"那些玫瑰怎么了？"玛丽问道。
"它们被留在那里，在花园里。"
"如果玫瑰枝干看起来干燥发灰，它们还活着吗？"玛丽问道。这实在太重要了！
"春天它们会发出绿芽，然后——不过你为什么对玫瑰这么感兴趣？"他问道。
玛丽脸红了。"我只是...想假装自己有个花园。我没有玩伴。"
"嗯，这倒是真的。"本说。他似乎很同情她。玛丽觉得自己喜欢这个老本，尽管他有时脾气不好。
一、单词
1. rose /rəʊz/ n. 玫瑰
2. branch /brɑːntʃ/ n. 枝条
3. pretend /prɪˈtend/ v. 假装
4. bad-tempered /ˌbæd ˈtempəd/ adj. 脾气暴躁的
5. important /ɪmˈpɔːt(ə)nt/ adj. 重要的
6. alive /əˈlaɪv/ adj. 活着的
7. decide/dɪˈsaɪd/ v. 决定
8. although/ɔːlˈðəʊ/ conj. 尽管
9. grey/ɡreɪ/ adj. 灰色的
10. dry /draɪ/ adj. 干燥的
二、词组和短语
1. look dry 看起来干燥
The leaves look dry in the sun.
树叶在阳光下看起来干干的。
2. feel sorry for 同情
I feel sorry for the lonely kitten.
我很同情那只孤独的小猫。
3. go red 变红
His face went red when he made a mistake.
他犯错时脸变红了。
三、语法：直接引语与转述结构
原文通过直接引语生动展现对话：
1. 问句结构："asked Mary"置于引语后
"What happened?" asked the girl.
"发生什么了？"女孩问道。
2. 描述性插入语："he asked"分隔对话
"But why?" he asked, "are you so interested?"
"但为什么，"他问道，"你这么感兴趣？"
3. 动作与语言结合：said Ben + He seemed...
"It's true," said Tom. He looked unhappy.
"是真的。"汤姆说。他看起来不太开心。
注意直接引语中标点符号的使用（问号、引号位置），以及转述动词（asked/said）与主语可以倒装（said Ben）的特殊用法。这种结构能让英语对话描写更地道。
