新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
' c8 ]4 F. Y4 Y! d6 T1 S  ~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.
4 j" F5 g& y) S6 F        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”。
6 y7 w: T4 X6 |" Y420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
4 ^- k. W" V+ X$ ~0 r        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。
+ `/ M6 _. r+ f' x& y: _' ]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.
# \; h$ d* u0 ?* q  R" [3 E        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。
% N  q" M0 G# k, h' p422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
9 p& R8 P+ W+ {% P4 k/ w1 v2 \7 v        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
  g3 G1 ]+ Q! j+ s- R423. 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.
3 `1 q: |6 d2 L& {- 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。
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.
3 b$ x/ X- G7 k) a4 o' _        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
+ r$ k( A' n! I& ~4 v428. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner.
8 U9 G1 D& N8 R0 m5 B" S6 I        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 @; x0 ~" d; l        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.
0 Q9 }2 M5 d5 b8 x; m3 s+ r% |        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。
+ t9 N' ]) d1 S431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
4 w4 J2 Q- n2 q; x7 K        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
8 i1 N  {4 H* f8 C; {1 y        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.
; g. z9 v8 E5 z3 J8 H        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。
$ o) A- |: l/ g9 e7 C1 l3 Q434. 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!
4 {% w1 m% P9 q4 t) W        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！
5 Z( Y3 M! e4 a& a9 \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。
437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.