Lesson 13
"It's only me'
“ 是我，別害怕 ”
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。
What did the man expect to find under the stairs?
After her husband had gone to work. Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any housework that morning, for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress party with her husband. She intended to dress up as a ghost and as she had made her costume the night before, she was impatient to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear.
Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dinning room, there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the metre. She tried to explain the situation, saying 'It's only me', but it was too late. The man let out cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs. Richards walked towards him, he fled, slamming the door behind him.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
costume
n. 化裝服
consist
v. 由 …… 組成
sheet
n. 被單
effective
adj. 有明顯效果的，有作用的
metre
n. 電表
pace
n. 一步
lee (fled, fled)
v. 逃走
slam
v. 砰地關上
參考譯文
理查茲夫人等丈夫上班走後，把孩子送去上學，然後來到樓上自己的臥室。那天上午，她興奮得什麽家務活都不想做，因為晚上她要同丈夫一起參加一個化裝舞會。她打算裝扮成鬼的模樣。頭天晚上她已把化裝服做好，這時她急於想試試。盡管化裝服僅由一個被單製成，卻十分逼真。理查茲夫人穿上化裝服後下了樓，想看穿起來是否舒服。
理查茲夫人剛剛走進餐廳，前門就傳來敲門聲。她知道來了一定麵包師。她曾告訴過麵包師，如果她不去開門，他可直接進門，把麵包放在廚房的桌上。理查茲夫人不想嚇唬這個可憐人，便趕緊躲到了樓梯下的小儲藏室裏。她聽見前門被打開，走廊裏響起重重的腳步聲。突然貯藏門開了，一個男人走了進來。理查茲夫人這才想到一定是供電局來人查電表了。她說了聲 “ 是我，別怕！ ” 然後想進行一番解釋，但已來不及了。那人大叫了一聲，驚退了幾步。理查茲夫人朝他走去，隻見他 “ 砰 ” 的一聲關上門逃走了。
