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.
        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.
. P* X0 u' e7 {: R2 p        英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。
' J- o/ b5 h* @0 S+ }1 i0 @0 Y  c419. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'.
2 ~3 j) I! Q0 r- L% I        惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。
0 l! M; w+ x) P  a% w# ~8 m) B3 v, M420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
+ c$ Z! S1 N  F/ _- k+ f1 j& n        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.
        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。
) O; k. c/ L# @3 C423. 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.
$ X& l' _. d: G% E% w( q        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。
7 j5 @& r/ Z0 K% m8 h% a# W. A424. 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。
$ w1 J$ J: ~# e425. 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。
+ R5 p! z8 N& F" b5 ^' }4 y426. 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.
5 T3 n6 K! E& q8 e        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
+ g4 S: V7 U; U3 D7 Z0 N* T0 r2 d/ F5 o428. 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。
5 r/ e8 P6 i6 d! E. n429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
3 L' ]% w% B0 e. ^2 o! s8 H        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
& h4 u3 t3 a5 [430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
4 {4 G9 }" [; b& t        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.
% R8 k  p4 w- ]% r3 J5 `+ F9 }6 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.
) `; i: i) T  B/ X- \* o* {        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。
9 z" c, U: U; e% X434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
435. This was worse than 'a terrible secret'; this was a real skeleton!
( x9 z$ _8 R1 _* o        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！
7 z$ J: x8 `& ?2 u0 j" g" [6 ?/ Z& N436. 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。
437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.