Lesson 30
The death of a ghost
幽靈之死
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽錄音,然后回答以下問題。
Why did the two brothers keep the secret?
For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
labourer
n. 勞動者
overnight
adv. 一夜期間
hay
n. 干草
corn
n. 谷物
moonlight
n. 月光
conscientious
adj. 認真的
suspect
v. 懷疑
desert
v. (軍隊中)開小差
regiment
n. (軍隊)團
action
n. 戰(zhàn)斗
recluse
n. 隱士
多 年來,村民們一直認為恩得利農(nóng)場在鬧鬼。恩得利農(nóng)場屬于喬.考科斯和鮑勃.考科斯兄弟倆所有。他們雇了幾個農(nóng)工,但誰也不愿意在那兒長期工作下去。每次 雇工辭職后都敘述著同樣的故事。雇工們說,常常一早起來發(fā)現(xiàn)有人在夜里把活干了,干草已切好,牛棚也打掃干凈了。有一個徹夜未眠的雇工還聲稱他看見一個人 影在月光下收割莊稼。隨著時間的流逝,考科斯兄弟雇了一個盡心盡責的鬼,他們家的活大部分都讓鬼給干了,這件事成了公認的事實。 誰也沒想到農(nóng)場竟會有一個從未露面的人。但事實上確有此人。不久之前,村民們驚悉恩得利農(nóng)場的鬼死了。大家都去參加了葬禮,因為那“鬼”不是別人,正是農(nóng) 場主的兄弟埃里克.考科斯。人們以為埃里克年輕時就死了。葬禮之后,喬和鮑勃透露了他們保守了長達50多年的秘密。 埃里克是這家長子。年齡比他兩個弟弟大很多,第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間被迫參軍。他討厭軍旅生活,決定逃離所在部隊。當他了解自己將被派遣出國時,他逃回農(nóng)場, 父親把他藏了起來,直到戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束。由于害怕當局,埃里克戰(zhàn)后繼續(xù)深藏不露。他的父親告訴大家,埃里克在戰(zhàn)爭中被打死了。除此之外,只有喬與鮑知道這個秘 密。但他倆連自己的妻子都沒告訴。父親死后,他們兄弟倆認為有責任繼續(xù)把埃里克藏起來。這些年來,埃里克過著隱士生活,白天睡覺,夜里出來干活,一點不知 道自己已成了恩得利家場的活鬼。他死后,他的弟弟們才覺得無法再保守這個秘密了。
l peasant(職業(yè))農(nóng)民
├farmer農(nóng)夫(農(nóng)場中勞動)
├labourer工者(無固定職業(yè))
└farm hands農(nóng)場幫手
l overnight(不一定一晚)一夜(成名)
The singer rose to fame overnight.
┌corn玉米,谷物
└barn倉庫(corn被buy回來)
My girlfriend and I swam in the moonlight.
l conscious意識的
└conscientious勤勞的
be conscious of意識到
l sceptical adj.充滿懷疑的
├doubt v.對…表示懷疑(不相信)
└suspect懷疑是(This is fact)
suspect疑犯
This is a sceptical age.
There is no doubt,不用懷疑
I suspect that…
l desert the army軍中開小差
His villa is haunted.(別墅)鬧鬼,縈繞/Rn/
His smiles still haunt my mind / memory / imagination.
No one was willing to work there long.
l one more time再來一下
├each time每次
├every time每一次
├once(過去時)曾經(jīng)
├at one time曾幾何時
├yet another time又一次
├for a second time又一次
├once again再一次
└time and time again一次次
I’m far from smoking.決不
Smoking is the last thing I will do.
(最不可能)決不做的事
I have given up smoking.
It’s the same old story.那是老調(diào)重談
It’s a long story.說來話長
stay up all night一夜未睡
= white night
claim to have done宣稱做過…
a perfect figure身材很美
l In time, 放句首譯“一時間,最后”放中間表“及時”
└With time, 隨著時間推移
suspect以為,認為是
This was indeed the case.情況確實如此
a short time age不久以前
l 否定詞組肯定含義
├nothing but僅僅,只
├none other than正是
└no more than僅僅,不過
He’s none other than Mr.Wang.
He knows nothing beyond English.
只知道…(=but)
l brigade旅
└regiment團
┌fight打架
├action小規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗
├battle戰(zhàn)役
├war戰(zhàn)爭
├raid襲擊
├attack襲擊
├assault打女的
└=attack insult污辱
Fearing my teacher, I dare not go to school.害怕…而不敢…
remain in hiding保持著藏
He died in poverty.死于(靜態(tài))
He was killed in action.
I think it my duty to protect the weak.責任,弱者
┌All these years這些年來
└For years, 數(shù)年
l be anxious to do
├be afraid of
├be aware of
└be unaware of沒有意識到
The young man works very hard, unaware of his bad health.
把be去掉放句首做狀語,后接名詞或that從句
find it impossible to do發(fā)現(xiàn)不可能
l 經(jīng)典口語習語
1. take one’s breath away太讓人吃驚了
2. What’s all about? 怎么了?
3. That’s really something.真棒
4. be on edge(邊緣)緊張
5. be chilled to the bone凍死啦
I’m frozen.
6. It came to nothing.不了了之
7. He is dead to the world.熟睡
pig-headed豬腦子
1
我們正在學習的是新概念美音版,
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: 點擊觀看
全部:新概念英語第三冊視頻
3
詞匯速記:新概念英語詞匯隨身聽速記手冊3 第28-30課
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*It never occurred to sb. that超級句型“某人從來沒有想到…”
1. Farm labourers said that on waking up they would find work had been done.
*on doing…, someone would do / will do表示“某人一干某事就常常會干…”
2. – employed a conscientious ghost, which did most of their work for them.
*which did在句中做非限制性定語從句
3. As he hated life in the army, he decided to desert…
*“軍隊的生活”應理解為“在軍隊里的生活”life in the army而不是life of the army
4. – Eric had been killed while fighting with his regiment.
*while后可跟v-ing形式
*during后可能跟名詞,通常與in換用:during / in the holiday
5. Joe and Bob were the only other people who knew the secret and did not even tell their wives.
*主干是Joe … were…and did…
6. With time, it became an accepted fact…
*with time常用于句首,表示“最后,一時間”
*at the time當時
*on time準時
7. He was cons cripted during the Second World War.
*recruit僅指招募軍隊、人員等,有時可以非法招募
*cons cript正式用語,表示根據(jù)法律或憲法征兵,公對本國公民而言
8. All these years, Eric had lived the life of a hermit.
*the life of a hermit隱士般的生活
9. He used to work at night, never realizing that he had become the ghost of Endley.
*原文中的be unaware of表示“沒意識到,意識不到”,意思與never realize相同
*ignore (pay no attention to)表示忽視,也表示故意不注意“無視,不理睬”