Humphrey and his wife Hildy had ten white sheep, eight black-faced sheep, and five long-legged lambs. Early every autumn, they would drive their sheep onto the ground beside the big, yellow barn(畜棚). Then Humphrey would hold each sheep still while Hildy cut off the wool.
When they finished, there were twenty-three soft piles of wool on the floor, and twenty-three pink, skinny sheep jumping around happily as they were freed into the field. Humphrey and Hildy collected piles of wool and put them in the house.
The next few weeks were very busy. They finally finished on a cold, fall evening. Twenty-three bright, woolly blankets lay in cheerful piles around the kitchen. They would sell the warm blankets when winter came. By the time the snow flew, the sheep's wool would have grown long enough to keep them nice and warm. Humphrey and Hildy both smiled, content with a job well done, and went to bed early.
The alarm clock went off at 5:00 a. m. Humphrey and Hildy listened to the local weather report. "The earliest cold air in history," The announcer said, "has brought a freeze(霜冻) to our area! So put warm coverings, folks!" They stared at each other in horror.
"The sheep!" shouted Humphrey. They hurried to put on their clothes and raced outside. What a freeze it was! The golden autumn grass fell to the ground, and the sheep without wool were shaking with cold painfully. Their pink skins had turned blue.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
"What will we do?" Hildy cried. "The barn can't hold so many sheep."
Outside the messy kitchen, Hildy had a good idea, eyes falling on the blankets.
