新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课24

ltlong52010

课文24  “家丑”
) m4 ~+ S, Q6 L" e* m& e417. 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.
1 u/ A( ^6 ?& N3 M3 E2 f1 r        英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。
) s9 D, M) _- ]; {419. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'.
        惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。
0 [; C  Y0 M3 y$ H420. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined.
        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.
  b) f* [# n6 t/ R! U/ u        这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。
423. 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.
! c5 p3 t: Z7 b- n" W        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。
9 o. ~3 m* e4 N$ W$ a: }% X424. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact.
/ K- ?& h% o( h# S# D        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.
) q( }& \- g9 q        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.
% V' s# ^1 m5 B5 W% }4 ]        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。
' w5 e, Q6 x$ Q; O# C+ y0 }427. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used.
6 F2 U* k2 A1 Y! d+ S        乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。
: f! {3 V* o+ n+ u1 r428. 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。
429. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers,
        我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
& j/ O7 E' D% L( G6 L' w430. I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard.
& X$ M+ @0 }( x  c        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。
  x4 |$ D+ x' A$ m* G1 H431. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.
! w$ F7 X. _5 H" h) K0 o        我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。
432. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.
        一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，
6 I" y! V+ \3 h9 K, C0 e! i433. 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.
        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。
434. 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 Z3 y5 u2 U  A5 ?; g        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！
436. But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend.
: Y) c& f6 @% Q- z$ k        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。
$ N3 U" |* T2 Z) K8 c9 x7 Q0 L) _8 a437. That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.