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.
* ^1 c; e; H, o* H9 C3 e: ^. l        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'.
. t/ w' e7 X6 s& s/ q! U        惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。
420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
7 H& u  J1 }7 F/ R9 n: U+ T        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.
) t' J6 k" p7 b. v& @! Z" O) o        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。
$ s' ?5 \2 a  R* H422. It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.
7 k1 y0 z2 [. T( D6 \        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
3 A+ Z8 o# H) d4 ~6 h! 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.
        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。
; ~6 ^0 m# m7 ]- B' N8 n424. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact.
7 _- N. j& R1 g. O' c        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.
) R* S* M. W( _/ W* b& b2 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.
        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。
, w1 _2 ]0 D9 b, ^6 C9 Z) Z427. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used.
9 ^7 J6 m! e9 G, n, D3 j        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
428. 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。
# b/ U2 d; j  E( ~2 f429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
1 X: b& b5 _' A        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.
        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。
; ?$ t  ?) D2 i431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
+ Q+ k$ ]" e( _! S        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
2 {, X* m2 q! M" l+ r432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
/ M0 z, [0 ?1 E- p- U8 Y/ 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.
# V: q! N5 b* E' e, j2 u        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 o- l* ~434. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.
7 x6 f, ]( N3 I* q        我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。
. S8 h* [6 }) N7 E7 V435. This was worse than 'a terrible secret'; this was a real skeleton!
* ^) I. g0 k+ b/ G* \8 l& R7 y! q        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！
; b* t4 ~* s9 j/ l436. 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。
( B! {8 a/ [* t! U5 v9 s2 B437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.