💬 新概念英语第三册

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'.

惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction.

这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn,

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，

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard.

但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton,

我所认识的唯一的在柜中藏骷嵝的人便是乔治。卡尔顿，

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

and he is very pound of the fact.

他甚至引以为自豪。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

George studied medicine in his youth.

乔治年轻时学过医，

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories.

然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

I once spend 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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used.

乔治把我领进客房，说这间很少使用。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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，

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

I decided to hang one of the tow 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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified.

我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下惊呆了。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

A skeleton was dangling before my eyes.

一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George.

我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

This was worse than a terrible secret'; this was a read skeleton! But George was unsympathetic.

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。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

'Oh, that,' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend.

“噢，是它呀！他笑着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

'That's Sebastian.

“那是塞巴斯蒂安。

Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard

You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.'

你忘了我以前是学医的了。”

Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark

One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greewich.

人们在格林威治仍可看到19世纪最有名的帆船之一“卡蒂萨克”号。

Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark

She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year.

它停在陆地上，每年接待成千上万的参观者。

Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark

She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of past.

它给人们留下深刻的印象，使人们回忆起历史上的巨型帆船，

Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark

Before they were replaced by steamships,

在蒸汽船取代帆船之前。

Lesson 25 The Cutty Sark

sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia.

“卡蒂萨克”号之类的帆船被用来从中国运回茶叶，从澳大利亚运回羊毛。