新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
' P7 @$ z) V5 A. g417. We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years.
        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.
5 `! m" U7 d; _8 U' w+ ?        英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。
419. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'.
        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。
  x! L6 {/ p. p& i2 w0 A421. 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.
        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。
) {5 o/ I- L7 A. y& z* K: T( w422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
! J0 _" l/ z3 ^9 @: m        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
; d- ?) M" m  }. X* R2 X. O3 N" o" v( n423. 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.
' a! ~9 V/ n( V4 b; a2 {' h, q' P        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。
9 [3 T, ^3 v, z8 M' `( N- B424. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact.
; M# o3 s# q) u2 {* L        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。
# a' N6 I, L4 A! ?, Y% c425. 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。
6 \& R+ P, r( J8 @/ `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。
427. 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。
3 H* V$ c7 ^- f$ U6 B2 I9 U% G428. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
2 _$ T1 H9 e9 W* a        他让我打开行装后下楼吃饭。
429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
. V; p  p( g5 G( E* y4 Y& y3 l" _        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
6 e6 {6 U5 Q( O. i3 i6 b' T430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
        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.
) K$ @8 p) v- ^; P9 L7 ], y1 O8 N        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
$ c* y0 o) \/ ?' r432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
1 ^# Q% N4 c; {* C        一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，
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.
        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。
$ E$ j8 L' Y: Z( ]- O9 J434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
+ t: T# R! N8 T2 \435. This was worse than 'a terrible secret'; this was a real skeleton!
; ^  E7 g- D2 W( [( b5 Z        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.
" D( `$ x- l! N" g0 x3 a9 U        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。
437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.