新概念英语第三册第24课-A skeleton in the cupboard

新概念英语第三册第24课:A skeleton in the cupboard

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard“家丑〞

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

听录音，然后答复以下问题。

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

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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.

参考译文

在小说中，我们经常读到一个外表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。英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。惊人的秘密 称作“柜中骷髅〞。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。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。

这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。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。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。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。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。乔治把我领进客房，

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说这间很少使用。他让我翻开行装后下楼吃 饭。我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，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。我翻开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，由 于柜门突然翻开，它也随之轻微摇晃起来，让我觉得它好似马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。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！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。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是学医的了。〞

New words and expressions 生词和短语

skeleton

n. 骷髅

seemingly

adv. 外表上地

respectable

adj. 体面的，雅观的

conceal

v. 隐藏，隐瞒

vivid

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adj. 生动的

dramatic

adj. 令人冲动的，扣人心弦的

ruin

v. 毁坏

heroine

n. 女主人公

fiction

n. 小说

varying

adj. 不同的

medicine

n. 医学

guestroom

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n. 〔家庭中的〕来客住房

unpack

vt. 〔从箱中〕取出

stack

v. 〔整齐地〕堆放，排放

underclothes

n. 内衣

drawer

n. 抽屉

petrify

v. 使惊呆

dangle

v. 悬挂

sway

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v. 摇摆

unsympathetic

adj. 不表同情的，无动于衷的

medical

adj. 医学的

Notes on the text课文注释

1 A skeleton in the cupboard，直译为“柜中骸骸〞，此系一成语作“家丑〞解释。

2 conceal sth from sb.作“对某人隐瞒某事〞解说。

3 The reader s hair stands on end,读者感到毛骨谏然。

4 to varying degrees，在不同程度上。

5 stood in front of it petrified，站在柜前吓呆了。

stand此处表示处于某种状态，起系动词的作用，后面常接形容词、介词短语或过去分词，表示主语处于某种状态中的特征，可视作表语。

6 the impression that it was about to ，

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that引导的从句作impression的同位语。be about to do sth，表示按照方案即将做的动作。

Lesson 24 课后练习和答案Exercises and Answer

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