新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
5 o0 ~" R% V7 o4 T! M417. 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.
        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”。
* L/ F# ]( A: G& }0 f$ U! t$ P420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
: D# ]9 ?" {6 T5 w+ [        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。
6 b& l4 ?; X3 @0 T  h/ X421. 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。
" ^* N0 L0 |, j. k" j422. 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。
6 \* }  C  t" `7 ^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.
9 P( o& r& F1 \% f! \        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。
+ c1 R. r% [2 C! `3 r! x1 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。
425. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories.
9 R7 A3 k+ `3 Z        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.
% C+ C0 U+ V6 s/ P        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。
, I7 o0 ~9 F7 r427. 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。
% G! N7 v! c4 u+ \0 ~2 ?4 g) v( `428. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
: y9 o' ?$ b! J$ N' ^4 i' `6 n        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,
4 c# b6 ?6 M" H/ y/ T6 b6 o* G* t        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
* Y) s& u/ Q1 K; p# z430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
7 \. g( q6 h3 q3 v        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。
' Y( A4 t! a% d  i( m' v, b1 J$ I" {431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
% P4 ?- K2 n, p% j' |4 y* H        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
6 N  y, {4 L- O1 t( Y5 Z432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
7 y$ f3 D0 z  K3 \( j" A        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.
2 H4 k* k3 W) k6 p% w        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。
434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
- W( }" ~9 c) [! Y        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
9 \  Y4 ^& p5 K0 u435. 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！
& T" h# E: m" }" |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。
# k# U+ q2 D/ ]" P$ E437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.