新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
417. We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years.
  w  i7 D, _% k0 m. s* |        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。
) b/ v0 @& N8 k  {! C8 Q3 t6 D418. 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。
$ i; i; I* h3 x9 D419. 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.
9 p# L7 L* W' P+ P% `; n& e+ z3 u        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。
/ m) n' `. O9 c: n: e9 H421. 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.
# ?% m) d+ j1 ~7 [4 z        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。
% O( u% P/ [* F. E+ R3 F422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
- E4 Q- W; {, N' \& d+ }        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
* O- L& X+ s* d; T423. 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.
8 |2 j  k7 `0 H" ^: 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。
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。
/ h8 |- M$ E( c9 s426. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house.
/ X% s4 E* r! N$ c( p2 c7 l$ E- L        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.
. s6 M! Z/ `4 w5 a3 m8 X        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
428. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
2 e9 g2 F8 S0 R1 n- D* W! _        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,
- A+ T) a7 F# `, J, L        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
5 M# `0 y/ T4 Q/ Y) J3 ~7 M430. 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.
        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
6 m) R! e4 W/ Z" u        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。
! m* I, u% v# V6 `( c434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
, M* y& o& R, n7 O* p" y3 c435. 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.
7 u: \* a/ f5 T7 w) `        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。
$ m' a; t, w7 @, `+ B7 O# ~4 R2 D" C437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.