新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
, c( a* A4 U: H7 p417. We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years.
* \4 M" l. t. z/ u( e1 h2 Y! f4 j        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。
2 Y6 d3 a4 o5 X3 r( o6 o4 f418. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation.
        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”。
; e- Z: Z1 S# s5 ]420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
/ ~$ a2 ?9 ?0 n3 N  }6 V        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。
421. 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 f8 r. x& g3 N2 r, V        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。
422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
2 V, d1 m- L1 n6 C$ L% X423. 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.
/ T0 N( L; n- u; ]) A        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。
424. 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。
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。
' I" J- Z2 z+ T426. 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.
3 S1 `2 W4 U( k! T        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
5 ]; O) x: m2 u. B428. 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, M5 M1 b% r% i7 v/ Z5 y429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
' ?- e0 Q4 I$ p) k3 q! X        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
  F/ u& L& w4 j4 @% h: }  @9 t% y        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。
% }) {$ E' @2 Z% R2 w; r8 T1 {431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
! v' c- W  C/ n) J( e& g) l432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
        一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，
) a( o9 }- ?% ]' e433. 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.
4 _! g) Z; n% X7 D7 i0 q) p0 F        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。
0 [5 P! e! ~% n& |- O434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
4 E7 E" O7 b( [# ^2 o; ^$ G8 _435. 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！
, [% [& V4 l( D436. 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。
; Y/ ^1 C$ P; l6 t0 M5 B437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.