新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
4 W+ n( l4 L8 L$ `  g; c417. We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years.
  E: ?; w1 N2 g4 |6 Q        在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家庭，却有着某种多年不为人所知的骇人听闻的秘密。
418. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation.
: I- `! \% a  K; p9 o! U        英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。
5 \  e/ E9 J" L- _& D& s419. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'.
7 C2 ]  G$ E5 {1 N        惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。
420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
        在小说的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出来，接着便是某人的声誉扫地。
3 @" E  ^. d  e6 R) Y& w# H& c! H2 J421. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
5 ]2 [% h" P. K. G) v0 b; N1 L4 M        当读者到小说最后几页了解到书中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可爱的老妇人年轻时一连毒死了她的5个丈夫时，不禁会毛骨悚然。
: P! _) l% `5 e7 Z422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
8 b7 |0 a: C/ B3 ]2 }2 I        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
& ^0 b' D. V! N2 T+ @423. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard.
7 S. c$ s( ?6 w9 J        尽管我们人人都有各种大小秘密。连最亲密的朋友都不愿让他们知道，但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。
8 u! W9 V4 Y2 c) V1 o424. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact.
        我所认识的唯一的在柜中藏骷嵝的人便是乔治.卡尔顿，他甚至引以为自豪。
1 l; {0 @7 e1 }425. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories.
        乔治年轻时学过医，然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。
426. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house.
        有一次，我在他家里度周末，过得很不愉快。这事我永远不会忘记。
1 i% ^( a% ?+ T+ D9 H427. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used.
        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
8 A! i! w& x- z9 u8 r( U  V. g428. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
        他让我打开行装后下楼吃饭。
' F: `% }7 [6 g- A! [' R429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
6 A1 M3 O. R8 V; e        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
, L3 E  b0 m- z! p( d430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
+ I: O7 G8 Z' B2 B1 q: e        然后我想把随身带来的两套西服中的一套挂到大衣柜里去。
431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
! J) [! I# ~/ _4 Z/ Y        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
, ]5 X7 `; d( F# @5 z432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
! K8 @4 U" Z5 {        一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，
5 C! \" g0 b7 M4 \433. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me.
  \) u9 i* g4 A! @. y, v        由于柜门突然打开，它也随之轻微摇晃起来，让我觉得它好像马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。
" |' s0 w/ S4 X9 T  b7 q434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
, S% n9 R$ I) u& ^/ l        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
2 ]& D9 c/ m/ A0 O0 O435. This was worse than 'a terrible secret'; this was a real skeleton!
        这是比“骇人听闻的秘密”更加惊人的东西，这是一具真正的骷髅啊！
436. But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend.
        但乔治却无动于衷。“噢，是它呀！他笑着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。
4 s6 y9 H9 t% J# K/ D5 U* y437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.