2.The French tried to destroy the English settlements in both quarters；but in India all their efforts were made fruitless by the bravery of Lord Clive，who took away all the French possessions in that part of the world.By theagreat Battle of Plasseyhe conquered Bengal，and founded the English Empirein India.Shortly before that，the native prince of Bengal had suffocated one hundred and twenty-three English prisoners by shutting them up for a whole night in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
b
3.In North America，Quebec
was taken by the English under General
Wolfe，and the whole of Canada came into the hands of England.Wolfe was killed in battle on the Heights of Abraham.
4.George the Second died suddenly of heart disease，in the seventy-seventh year of his age.He was a good king，and his homely manners and kindly ways made him a favourite with his people.His eldest son，Frederick，had died from the stroke of a cricket ball some years before，leaving nine children，the eldest of whom came next to the throne as George the Third.
5.Important Events.-In this reign Whitefield and the two Wesleysa Plassey.-In the province of Bengal，on the west bank of the Hoogly，the branch of the Ganges on which Calcutta stands；90miles north of Calcutta.
b Quebec.-The oldest city in Canada，then the capital of the French possessions there.It stands on the north bank of the St Lawrence.
separated from the Established Church of England，and founded the Society of Wesleyan Methodists.-The Porteous riot made a great stir in Scotland：a smuggler named Wilson was being executed at Edinburgh：the hangman and the soldiers were pelted by the mob，which also.made a rush to get Wilson out of their hands：Captain Porteous fired on the crowd，and several were killed；forwhich he was seized by the enraged mob，and hanged on a dyer’s pole （1736）.
6.Towards the end of this reign，the famous William Pitt，afterwards Earl of Chatham，became leader of the House of Commons （1756）.Other leading statesmen of the time were Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke.
中文阅读
1.与法国的战争结束了，但新的争端又起（即“七年战争”），尽管主要战场在印度和北美洲，但英国和法国的陆战和海战却遍及世界各地。
2.法国企图摧毁英国在这两个地区殖民地，但是在印度，由于英勇的克莱夫勋爵掠走了法国在世界这一地区的所有根基，使得法国的努力毫无意义。通过伟大的普拉西战役a，克莱夫勋爵征服了孟加拉，并建立了英国在印度的王权。此前不久，孟加拉本地出生的王子曾将123名英国囚犯关在加尔各答“黑洞”里整整一夜，活活将他们闷死。
3.在北美，魁北克b被乌尔夫将军指挥下的英军占领，整个加拿大落入英国之手。乌尔夫在亚伯拉罕高地战役中牺牲。
4.乔治二世77岁那年因心脏病突发而死。他是一个好国王，朴实的言行和平易近人的处事方式使他受到人民拥戴。他的长子弗雷德里克在数年前因被一个板球击中而身亡，留下九个孩子，最大的一个随之继承了王权，称为乔治三世。
5.重要事件--在这一统治时期，怀特菲尔德和两名卫斯理派成员从英国国教圣公会中脱离出来，创立了“卫斯理公会教派”。波提尔斯骚乱在苏格兰引起巨大反响：一个名叫威尔逊的走私者在爱丁堡被行刑，但刽子手和卫兵受到一帮歹徒的袭击，这又引发了一场骚乱，使得威尔逊逃出了他们的手掌。波提尔斯队长向人群开枪，当场杀死七人，但由此他被激怒的歹徒抓获，并被绞死在一家染坊前面的柱子上。
6.在这一统治时期行将结束时，著名的威廉·皮特（后来成为查塔姆伯爵）当上了国会的领袖。这一时期的其他主要政治家有查理·詹姆士·福克斯和埃德蒙·伯克。
a 普拉西：位于孟加拉省，在胡格利水道（为加尔各答市旁恒河的支流）西岸，离加尔各答北部90英里。
b 魁北克：加拿大最古老的城市，后来成为法占领土的首府。位于圣劳伦斯的北岸。
132
THE EXPLOITS OF CLIVE
克莱夫的伟绩
admirably，splendidly.baffled，defeated；balked.citadel，fortress.damming，stopping.desponding，losing hope.enormous，very large.exploits，feats.intoxication，drunkenness.
massive，weighty.
protected，guarded.
sallies，attacks on besiegers.sufficiently，enough.suffocation，choking.suicide，self-destruction.supreme，most powerful.wearisome，tiresome.
1.The pranks of the boy，who was once the terror of the shopkeepers of Market-Drayton in Shropshire，foreshowed a firmness and a daring which can be clearly discerned in the ripe manhood of Robert Lord Clive.On one occasion，while he was engaged with a troop of idle boys in damming up a dirty stream with turf for the purpose of turning its course into the shop of a hostile tradesman，the bank of turf gave way.The toil of an hour seemed likely to be destroyed in a moment by the gushing water.But Clive flung his body across the breach，and blocked the way，until his playmates had made a heap of sods sufficiently high to stop the flow.At last he became so great a torment to the neighbours，and to his parents，that a writership in the East India Company‘s service was obtained for him，and he was shipped off to Madras.
2.His life as a clerk was wearisome to him；and the debts into which his scanty pay forced him grew very heavy.Vexed and disheartened，he locked himself into his own room one day for the purpose of committing suicide.Twice he raised the flint pistol to his head and pulled the trigger；twice it snapped without going off！
3.He laid down the pistol and sat brooding over his troubles，when a friend knocked at the door.Clive let him in.The pistol was lying on the table.“Take it and fire it out of the window，”said the desponding clerk.The friend took it up，drew the trigger，and the report echoed through the room.Clive sprang up and cried，“I feel that I am reserved for something great！”
4.The two great exploits，by which Clive secured to England the possession of Madras and Bengal，were the Defence of Arcot and the Battle of Plassey.
5.After the French seized Madras，Clive escaped in the dress of a Mussulman to Fort St.David.There，with nothing to do as a clerk，he took a musket and went out to fight：and his daring valour soon made him so marked that he was intrusted with a command.
6.While a native pretender，who was in alliance with the French，Wasabesieging Trichinopoly，Clive advanced in the midst of a terrific storm ofbthunder and lightning to the town of Arcot，cwhich was the capital of theCarnatic.
Arcot consisted of some straggling streets，surrounding a citadel，the ramparts of which were low and broken.So frightened was the native officer who commanded the place，that he yielded it at once to Clive.