Lesson 24
A skeleton in the cupboard
“家丑”
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽錄音,然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Who was Sebastian?
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. 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.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. 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. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very pound of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spend an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the tow suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. 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. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than "a terrible secret'; this was a read skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. 'That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.'
New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)
skeleton
n. 骷髏
seemingly
adv. 表面上地
respectable
adj. 體面的,雅觀的
conceal
v. 隱藏,隱瞞
vivid
adj. 生動(dòng)的
dramatic
adj. 令人激動(dòng)的,扣人心弦的
ruin
v. 毀壞
heroine
n. 女主人公
fiction
n. 小說(shuō)
varying
adj. 不同的
medicine
n. 醫(yī)學(xué)
guestroom
n. (家庭中的)來(lái)客住房
unpack
vt. (從箱中)取出
stack
v. (整齊地)堆放,排放
underclothes
n. 內(nèi)衣
drawer
n. 抽屜
petrify
v. 使驚呆
dangle
v. 懸掛
sway
v. 搖擺
unsympathetic
adj. 不表同情的,無(wú)動(dòng)于衷的
medical
adj. 醫(yī)學(xué)的
在 小說(shuō)中,我們經(jīng)常讀到一個(gè)表面上受人尊重的人物或家庭,卻有著某種多年不為人所知的駭人聽聞的秘密。英語(yǔ)中有一個(gè)生動(dòng)的說(shuō)法來(lái)形容這種情況。驚人的秘密 稱作“柜中骷髏”。在小說(shuō)的某個(gè)戲劇性時(shí)刻,可怕的秘密泄漏出來(lái),接著便是某人的聲譽(yù)掃地。當(dāng)讀者到小說(shuō)最后幾頁(yè)了解到書中女主人公,那位一向待大家很好 的可愛的老婦人年輕時(shí)一連毒死了她的5個(gè)丈夫時(shí),不禁會(huì)毛骨悚然。 這種事發(fā)生在小說(shuō)中是無(wú)可非議的。盡管我們?nèi)巳硕加懈鞣N大小秘密。連最親密的朋友都不愿讓他們知道, 但我們當(dāng)中極少有人有柜中骷髏。我所認(rèn)識(shí)的唯一的在柜中藏骷嶁的人便是喬治.卡爾頓,他甚至引以為自豪。喬治年輕時(shí)學(xué)過(guò)醫(yī),然而,他后來(lái)沒(méi)當(dāng)上醫(yī)生,卻成 了一位成功的偵探小說(shuō)作家。有一次,我在他家里度周末,過(guò)得很不愉快。這事我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記。喬治把我領(lǐng)進(jìn)客房,說(shuō)這間很少使用。他讓我打開行裝后下樓吃 飯。我將襯衫、內(nèi)衣放進(jìn)兩個(gè)空抽屜里,然后我想把隨身帶來(lái)的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣柜里去。我打開柜門,站在柜門前一下驚呆了。一具骷髏懸掛在眼前,由 于柜門突然打開,它也隨之輕微搖晃起來(lái),讓我覺(jué)得它好像馬上要跳出柜門朝我撲過(guò)來(lái)似的。我扔下西服沖下樓去告訴喬治。這是比“駭人聽聞的秘密”更加驚人的 東西,這是一具真正的骷髏啊!但喬治卻無(wú)動(dòng)于衷。“噢,是它呀!他笑著說(shuō)道,儼然在談?wù)撘晃焕吓笥选?ldquo;那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學(xué)醫(yī)的了。”
A skeleton in the cupboard(英)
=closet(美)家丑
Don’t wash your dirty linen(內(nèi)衣).別自爆其丑
seemingly important表面重要
l The ② young man respects the ③ old man.
①respecting(無(wú)此型)
②respectful尊重他人的
③respectable受人尊重的
He concealed the fact that he was married.
l flesh-and-blood有血有肉的
├realistic真實(shí)的
├vivid生動(dòng)的
├colorful多彩的
├lively /ai/ 鮮活的,生動(dòng)的
└active活潑的
live broadcasting現(xiàn)場(chǎng)廣播
picturesque活靈活現(xiàn)的
l dramatic扣人心弦的
└drastic急劇的
We often read in novels how a poor man succeeded in getting rich.
The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation.
hair stands on end豎立恐懼
My hair stands on end at the news of his death.
in my youth=when I was young
l 經(jīng)典口語(yǔ)
1. Just be yourself. = relax放松點(diǎn)
2. They are playing house.= cohabit同居
3. No cutting in our conversation
= Don’t interrupt me別打斷我
4. He is out with flu. 感冒沒(méi)上班
5. The TV play is just a waste of time.
電視劇浪費(fèi)我的時(shí)間
6. You look a little down.你的情緒不高
7. Are you going to be around.你想出去走走嗎
How nice of you.你真好
It’s very nice of you to say so.你一張好嘴
l ruin sb. reputation毀…名譽(yù)
hero, Negro, potato, tomato復(fù)數(shù)需加“es”
┌detective story偵探小說(shuō)
├essay散文
├novel小說(shuō)
├poem詩(shī)
├article未發(fā)表的文章
└fiction小說(shuō)
l <I>var</I>ious各種各樣的
├<I>var</I>ying不同的
├<I>var</I>iable變化多端的
└<I>var</I>ied不同的,已經(jīng)變的
medicine藥品,醫(yī)學(xué),醫(yī)生
┌guesthouse賓館
├inn客棧
├m(xù)otel汽車旅館
└Holiday Inn假日酒店
┌underwear內(nèi)衣
├underclothes
└brief(男)內(nèi)衣,簡(jiǎn)單明了
l panic驚慌的
├dismay驚愕的
├shocked震驚的
└petrify驚呆了
I’m in panic.
To one’s dismay.
l Don’t keep me dangling.別吊我胃口
dangle懸掛
sway ┐
swing ┴?fù)u擺
l indifferent ┐
├I don’t care ┴不在乎
└unsympathetic(強(qiáng)烈)無(wú)動(dòng)于衷的
┌intimate friend ┐
└closest friend ┴密友
I’m proud of you all.為你自豪
Let me show you around.到處轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)
show sb. to+地點(diǎn)=參觀
l stay to dinner表目的to
└come down to dinner
┌pile堆(無(wú)規(guī)律)
└stack堆放(整齊)
I arrived in Shanghai excited / exhausted.補(bǔ)充主語(yǔ)狀態(tài)(分詞)
He stood in the rain bare-headed and bare-footed.
l impression印象
I was deeply impressed by your perfect performance.很深印象
It gave me an impression that the guy is kind to everybody.表示給我一種印象,實(shí)際并非
leave sb. an impression留下真實(shí)的印象
He always lives under the impression that he is a saint(圣徒).
l shoot at瞄準(zhǔn)某人
├shoot sb.射死
├be mad at對(duì)…生氣
└aim at目的
He said with a smile as if仿佛he were talking about his old friend.
You forget現(xiàn)在時(shí)that I was your classmate.
l 文化:Traveling in the U.S.A
1. Air Travel: “round ticket”往返票“one-way ticket”單程票
2. airlines: Northwest西北/
Unite聯(lián)合
3. Check in: smoking /
unsmoking seat
4. City-buses: tokeas輔幣/
transfers轉(zhuǎn)換證
5. long-distance Bus: Grey hound (toilet) transfer for free免費(fèi)轉(zhuǎn)換
1
我們正在學(xué)習(xí)的是新概念美音版,
傳統(tǒng)版本(英式發(fā)音)的音頻:音頻播放
2
本課的視頻講解: 點(diǎn)擊觀看
3
詞匯速記:新概念英語(yǔ)詞匯隨身聽速記手冊(cè)3 第22-24課
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“新概念”介紹
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新概念第3冊(cè)——掌握英語(yǔ)的關(guān)鍵
為什么專家提倡背誦新概念
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