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Lesson 28 Five pounds too dear
五镑也太贵
Listen to the tape then answer the
question below.
听录音,然后回答以下问题。
Why
was even five pounds 'too dear'?
Small
boats
loaded
with
wares
sped
to
the
great
liner
as
she
was
entering
the
harbour. Before she had
anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on
board and
the decks were son covered
with colourful rugs from Persia, silks from India,
copper
coffee
pots,
and
beautiful
handmade
silverware.
It
was
difficult
not
to
be
tempted.
Many of the
tourists on board had begun bargaining with the
tradesmen, but I decide
not to buy
anything until I had disembarked.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I
was assailed by a man who wanted to sell
me a diamond ring. I had no intention
of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact
that
I
was
impressed
by
the
size
of
the
diamonds.
Some
of
them
were
as
big
as
marbles.
The man went to great lengths to prove that the
diamonds were real. As we
were walking
past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the
window and made a
deep impression in
the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid
of him.
The next man to
approach me was selling expensive pens and
watches. I examined
one of the pens
closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base
of the gold cap, the
words 'made in the
U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. The man said
that the pen was
worth $$50, but as a
special favour, he would let me have it for $$30. I
shook my head
and held up five fingers
indicating that I was willing to pay $$5.
Gesticulating wildly,
the man acted as
if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually
reduced the price
to $$10. Shrugging my
shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment
later, he ran
after me and thrust the
pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his
arms in
despair,
he
readily
accepted
the
$$5
I
have
him.
I
felt
especially
pleased
with
my
wonderful bargain -- until I got back
to the ship. No matter how hard I tried, it was
impossible
to
fill
this
beautiful
pen
with
ink
and
to
this
day
it
has
never
written
a
single
world!
New words and expressions
生词和短语
wares
n.
货物,商品
anchor
v.
停航下锚
deck
n.
甲板
silverware
n.
银器
tempt
v.
吸引;引诱
bargain
v.
讨价还价
disembark
v.
下船上岸
assail
v.
纠缠
marble
n.
小玻璃球
inscribe
v.
刻写,雕
favour
n.
好处,优惠
gesticulate
v.
(讲话时)打手势
outrageous
adj.
出人预料的;令人不悦的
thrust
v.
硬塞给
参考译文
< br>当一艘大型班船进港的时候,许多小船载着各种杂货快速向客轮驶来。大船
还未下
锚。
小船上的人就纷纷爬上客轮。
一会儿工夫,
甲板上就摆满了色彩斑斓
的波斯地毯。
印度丝绸。
p>
铜咖啡壶以及手工制作的漂亮的银器。
要想不为这些东
西所动心是很困难的。
船上许多游客开始同商贩讨价还价起来,
但我打定主意上
岸之前什么也不买。
我刚下船,就被一个人截住,他向我兜售一枚钻石戒指
。我根本不想买,但
我不能掩饰这样一个事实:
其钻石之大给我
留下了深刻的印象。
有的钻石像玻璃
球那么大。
那人竭力想证明那钻石是真货。
我们路过一家商店时,
他将一颗钻石
使劲地往橱窗上一按,
在玻璃上留下一道深痕。<
/p>
我花了半个多小时才摆脱了他的
纠缠。
向我兜售的第二个人是卖名贵钢笔和手表的。我仔细察
看了一枝钢笔,那看
上去确实不假,金笔帽下方整齐地刻有
“<
/p>
美国制造
”
字样。那人说那支笔值
50
英
镑,作为特别优惠,他愿意让我出
p>
30
英镑成交。我摇摇头,伸出
5
根手指表示
我只愿出
5
镑钱。
那人激动地打着手势,
仿佛我的出价使他不能容忍。
p>
但他终于
把价钱降到了
10
英镑。
我耸耸肩膀掉头走开了。
一会儿,
他突然从后追了上来,
把笔塞到我手里。虽然他绝望地举起双手,但他毫不迟
疑地收下了我付给他的
5
镑钱。
在回到
船上之前,
我一直为我的绝妙的讨价还价而洋洋得意。
然而不管
我
如何摆弄,
那枝漂亮的钢笔就是吸不进墨水来。
直到今天,
那枝笔连一个字也没
写过!
New words and expression
生词和短语
Wares
n.
货物
,
商品
Ware
n.
器皿
,
陶器
,
物品(总称
,
常用于复合词)
--
silverware
银器
/
ironware
铁器
/
chinaware
陶器
/
glassware
玻璃器皿
-- software
软件
/
hardware
五金器具
, (
电脑的
)
硬件
-- a
popular ware
热门货
/
small wares
小百货
goods
n.
商品
,
货物(商店里出售的物品)
--
half-done goods
半成品
/
home made goods = native
goods
国货
--
leather goods
皮件
/
frozen goods
冻结货物
/
consumer goods
日用消费品
commodity
n.
商品
,
物品(总称
,
正式的经济学术语)
--
commodity price
商品价格
,
commodity economy
商品经济
-- commodity
market
商品市场
,
agricultural commodity
农产品
Anchor
v.
停航下锚
Deck
n.
甲板
Silverware
n.
银器
Tempt
v.
吸引
,
引诱
Tempt sb to do
sth
吸引某人做某事
Temptation
n.
勾引
,
诱惑
,
引诱
-- The temptation to steal is greater
than ever before - especially in large shops.
偷窃的诱惑力比以往任何时候更强烈了
,
在大商
店里尤其如此。
Tempting
adj.
诱惑人的
,
吸引人的
=
(
attractive
adj.
吸引人的
,
有魅力的)
Bargain
v.
讨价还价
Bargain
n.
交易
,
合同交易
,
协议
-- a good
bargain
赚钱的生意
/
make a bargain
成交
,
达成协议
-- drive a
hard bargain with sb
极力和某人讨价还价
--
bargain with sb for sth.
和某人就某事讨价还价
--
bargain away
议价出售
Disembark
v.
下船上岸(
=
debark
)
Embark
v.
上船
,
上飞机
-- He
disembarked.
他下船上了岸。
-- He decided to embark.
他决定上船。
Assail
v.
纠缠
-- He was assailed with worries.
Afflict
vt.
使痛苦
,
折磨
--
Tramps
can
keep
free
from
the
thousands
of
anxieties
which afflict
other people.
Marble
n.
小玻璃球
Inscribe
v.
刻写
,
雕
Favour
n.
好处
,
优惠
in favor of
赞成
,
支持
-- I am in favor of stopping work now.
我赞成现在停止工
作。
in sb.'s favor
得某人欢心
,
对某人有利
-- The
situation, both at home and aboard,
is
in our favor.
out
of
favor
失宠
,
不利
by
favor
of
sb
请面交给某人
(
信封上用语
)
do
sb
a
favor
给某人恩惠
favorite
adj.
心爱的
,
受宠的
favorite
n.
受宠的人或物
favorable
adj.
赞成的
,
赞
许的
,
讨人喜欢的
Gesticulate
v.
(讲话时)打手势
Outrageous
adj.
出人预料的
,
令人不悦的
-- He
played an outrageous joke.
Outrage
n.
暴行
,
侮辱
,
愤怒
vt.
凌辱
,
强奸
,
虐待
,
伤害
,
迫害
Rage
n.
愤怒
,
情绪激动
,
狂暴
,
精神错乱
-- My father
was in a rage last night.
我父亲昨天晚上十分生气。
fly
into a rage
勃然大怒
Thrust
v.
硬塞给
Thrust sth into…
塞进
…
-- He thrust the pen into my hand.
Thrust aside
推开
-- He thrust the girl aside.
Thrust oneself forward
--
He thrust himself forward in the crowd.
thrust oneself in
强行闯入
,
干涉
,
探听(
= thrust one's nose
into
)
--
Don?t thrust
yourself in
private sth.
thrust sth. on/upon sb.
强卖给某人
--
Don?t thrust your idea on me. = Don?t
exert
your idea on me.
thrust out
推出
,
逐出
,
解雇
other words:
speed .
(
speeded,
speeded, speeding
)或(
sped,
sped, speeding
)
liner
n.
班机
,
定期轮船
rug
n.(
小
)
地毯
,
垫子
Persia
n.
波斯(西南亚国家,现在的伊朗)
Iran
n.
伊朗
Iranian
adj.
伊朗的
n.
伊朗人(
=
Irani
)
Silk
n.
蚕丝
,
丝
,
丝绸
,
绸缎
copper
n.
铜
,
警察
tradesman
n.
零售商
,
工匠
,
手艺人
conceal
vt.
隐藏
,
隐蔽
,
隐瞒
diamond
n.
钻石
,
菱形
intention
n.
计划
,
目的
firmly
adv.
强有力的
approach
.
走近
,
靠近
close
adj.
近的
,
近亲的
,
紧密的
,
严格的
neat
adj.
整齐的
,
整洁的
indicate
vt.
指出
,
显示
,
象征
,
预示
hold up
v.
举起
,
支撑
,
继续下去