新概念美音版第三冊 Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard “家醜”

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard “家醜”
         
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。

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

     skeleton
n.   骷髏

     seemingly
adv. 表麵上地

     respectable
adj. 體麵的，雅觀的

     conceal
v.   隱藏，隱瞞

     vivid
adj. 生動的

     dramatic
adj. 令人激動的，扣人心弦的

     ruin
v.   毀壞

     heroine
n.   女主人公

     fiction
n.   小說

     varying
adj. 不同的

     medicine
n.   醫學

     guestroom
n.   （家庭中的）來客住房

     unpack
vt.  （從箱中）取出

     stack
v.   （整齊地）堆放，排放

     underclothes
n.   內衣

     drawer
n.   抽屜

     petrify
v.   使驚呆

     dangle
v.   懸掛

     sway
v.   搖擺

     unsympathetic
adj. 不表同情的，無動於衷的

     medical
adj. 醫學的

參考譯文

    在小說中，我們經常讀到一個表麵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。英語中有一個生動的說法來形容這種情況。驚人的秘密稱作“櫃中骷髏”。在小說的某個戲劇性時刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出來，接著便是某人的聲譽掃地。當讀者到小說最後幾頁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一連毒死了她的5個丈夫時，不禁會毛骨悚然。
 
    這種事發生在小說中是無可非議的。盡管我們人人都有各種大小秘密。連最親密的朋友都不願讓他們知道， 但我們當中極少有人有櫃中骷髏。我所認識的唯一的在櫃中藏骷嶁的人便是喬治.卡爾頓，他甚至引以為自豪。喬治年輕時學過醫，然而，他後來沒當上醫生，卻成了一位成功的偵探小說作家。有一次，我在他家裏度周末，過得很不愉快。這事我永遠不會忘記。喬治把我領進客房，說這間很少使用。他讓我打開行裝後下樓吃飯。我將襯衫、內衣放進兩個空抽屜裏，然後我想把隨身帶來的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣櫃裏去。我打開櫃門，站在櫃門前一下驚呆了。一具骷髏懸掛在眼前，由於櫃門突然打開，它也隨之輕微搖晃起來，讓我覺得它好像馬上要跳出櫃門朝我撲過來似的。我扔下西服衝下樓去告訴喬治。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！但喬治卻無動於衷。“噢，是它呀！他笑著說道，儼然在談論一位老朋友。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學醫的了。”