💬 新概念英语第三册

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

but when she got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open.

但她到自己的楼层走出电梯后，就把这两件事忘了个干净，因为她突然发现她家的大门开着。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning for such a monstrous piece of negligence,

她心想明天上午一定要好好训斥那个干家务的帮手，她竟如此疏忽大意。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

when she remembered that she had gone shopping after the home help had left and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks,

但突然记起来了，帮手是在她出去买东西之前走的，她还记得曾用了两把钥匙把大门锁上了。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

She walked slowly into the hall and at once noticed that all the room doors were open,

她慢慢地走进前厅，立即发现所有的房门都敞开着，

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out.

而她记得在出门买东西前，她按老规矩是把房门一一锁上的。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk.

她往起居室里看去，写字台边一片狼籍。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence.

事情很清楚，在她外出时，窃贼曾闯进家门。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

Her first impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves,

她第一个条件反射是各个房间搜寻一下窃贼，

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

but then she decided that at her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her,

但转念一想，像她这个年纪，最好找个人一起去。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

so she went to fetch the porter from his basement.

于是她到地下室去找看门的人。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

By this time her legs were beginning to tremble,

这时她两腿累得开始发抖，

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police.

于是坐了下来，喝了一杯浓茶。与此同时，看门的人给警察挂了电话。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to search for nay intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.

此刻老妇人也镇定了下来，准备在看门人的协助下搜寻可能仍躲藏在她房里的窍贼。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints.

他俩搜遍这每一个房间，小心翼翼地不接触任何东西，因为他们怕妨碍警察寻找指纹。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

The chaos was inconceivable.

房间里的紊乱状况是无法想像的。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

She had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding;

老妇人在这套公寓里住了30年，她又是个名副其实的收藏家。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and over.

看来她的每一件东西都被翻了出来，并且被里里外外看了遍。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for her.

这样一来，她倒是容易将那些几年前就该扔掉的东西找出来了。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

Then a police inspector arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat.

过了一会儿，一位巡官带着一名警察来了。她向他们讲述了发现公寓遭劫的经过。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

The inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced,

巡官开始搜寻指纹，警察经检查发现大门锁头并无撬过的迹象。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the balcony.

由此可以证明，窍贼或者是用万能钥匙，或者是翻越阳台进来的。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers.

巡官没有发现指纹，却发现了一个装有珠宝的、肮脏的红包袱。老妇人说那不是她的。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

So their entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been disturbed.

很明显，闯进这套公寓的窃贼那天并不是首次作案，而且他一定受了惊吓。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was missing by the next day and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights.

巡官请老妇人在次日之前设法查清丢了些什么，并劝她几夜之内不要独自一人在公寓过夜。

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

The old lady though the was a fussy creature,

老妇人觉得巡官大惊小怪，

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

but since the porter agreed with him,

但既然看门人也同意他的意见，

Lesson 58 A spot of bother

she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.

她只得打电话向女儿求援，说她碰到了一点儿小麻烦。

Lesson 59 Collecting

People tend to amass possessions, sometimes without being aware of doing so.

人们喜欢收藏东西，有时并没有意识到自己在这样做。

Lesson 59 Collecting

Indeed they can have a delightful surprise when they find something useful which they did not know they owned.

确实，一旦无意之中从自己的收藏品中找到某件有用的东西时，可以给人一种惊喜的感觉。

Lesson 59 Collecting

Those who never have to move house become indiscriminate collectors of what can only be described as clutter.

那些从来不必搬家的人们成了一种无所不容的收藏家。他们专门收藏那些只能被称作杂货的东西。