新概念英语2140.docx

1、新概念英语2140 Lesson 21 Daniel Mendoza 丹尼尔.门多萨 Boxing matches were very popular in England two hundred years ago. In those days, boxers fought with bare fists for prize money. Because of this, they were known as prizefighters. However, boxing was very crude, for these were no rules and a prizefighter co

2、uld be seriously injured or even killed during a match. One of the most colourful figures in boxing history was Daniel Mendoza, who was born in 1764. The use of gloves was not introduced until 1860, when the Marquis of Queensberry drew up the first set of rules. Though he was technically a prizefigh

3、ter, Mendoza did much to change crude prizefighting into a sport, for he brought science to the game. In this day, Mendoza enjoyed tremendous popularity. He was adored by rich and poor alike. Mendoza rose to fame swiftly after a boxing match when he was only fourteen years old. This attracted the at

4、tention of Richard Humphries who was then the most eminent boxer in England. He offered to train Mendoza and his young pupil was quick to learn. In fact, Mendoza soon became so successful that Humphries turned against him. The two men quarrelled bitterly and it was clear that the argument could only

5、 be settled by a fight. A match was held at Stilton, where both men fought for an hour. The public bet a great deal of money on Mendoza, but he was defeated. Mendoza met Humphries in the ring on a later occasion and he lost for a second time. It was not until his third match in 1790 that he finally

6、beat Humphries and became Champion of England. Meanwhile, he founded a highly successful Academy and even Lord Byron became one of his pupils. He earned enormous sums of money and was paid as much as $100 for a single appear one of his pupils. He earned enormous sums of money and was paid as much as

7、 $100 for a single appearance. Despite this, he was so extravagant that he was always in debt. After he was defeated by a boxer called Gentleman Jackson, he was quickly forgotten. He was sent to prison for failing to pay his debts and died in poverty in 1836.New words and expressions 生词和短语Boxing n.

8、拳击 boxer n. 拳击手 bare adj. 赤裸的 prizefighter n. 职业拳击手（尤指古时赤手拳击手） crude adj. 粗野的 marquis n. 侯爵 technically adv. 严格根据法律意义地 science n. 科学 popularity n. 名望 adore v. 崇拜，爱戴 alike adv. 一样地 fame n. 名声 eminent adj. 著名的，杰出的 bitterly adv. 厉害地 bet v. 打赌 academy n. 专业学校 extravagant adj. 浪费的，奢移的 poverty n. 贫困参考译文 两

9、百年前，拳击比赛在英国非常盛行。当时，拳击手们不戴手套，为争夺奖金而搏斗。因此，他们被称作“职业拳击手”。不过，拳击是十分野蛮的，因为当时没有任何比赛规则，职业拳击手有可能在比赛中受重伤，甚至丧命。 拳击史上最引人注目的人物之一是丹尼尔.门多萨，他生于1764年。1860年昆斯伯里侯爵第一次为拳击比赛制定了规则，拳击比赛这才用上了手套。虽然门多萨严格来讲不过是个职业拳击手，但在把这种粗野的拳击变成一种体育运动方面，他作出了重大贡献。是他把科学引进了这项运动。门多萨在的全盛时期深受大家欢迎，无论是富人还是穷人都对他祟拜备至。 门多萨在14岁时参加一场拳击赛后一举成名。这引起当时英国拳坛名将理查德

10、.汉弗莱斯的注意。他主动提出教授门多萨，而年少的门多萨一学就会。事实上，门多萨不久便名声大振，致使汉弗莱斯与他反目为敌。两个人争吵不休，显而易见，只有较量一番才能解决问题。于是两人在斯蒂尔顿设下赛场，厮打了一个小时。公众把大笔赌注下到了门多萨身上，但他却输了。后来，门多萨与汉弗莱斯再次在拳击场上较量，门多萨又输了一场。直到1790年他们第3次对垒，门多萨才终于击败汉弗莱斯，成了全英拳击冠军。同时，他建立了一所拳击学校，办得很成功，连拜伦勋爵也成了他的学生。门多萨挣来大笔大笔的钱，一次出场费就多可达100英镑。尽管收入不少，但他挥霍无度，经常债台高筑。他在被一个叫杰克逊绅士的拳击手击败后很快被遗

11、忘。他因无力还债而被捕入狱，最后于1836年在贫困中死去。 Lesson 22 By heart 熟记台词 Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end, In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never

12、have cause to falter. Yet this is not always the case. A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the

13、prisoner. Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that it should be written out in full. One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter

14、by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his bands. He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not be

15、en written out in full as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then, squinting his eyes, he said: The light is dim. Read the letter t

16、o me. And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied: The light is indeed dim, sire, I must get my glasses. With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrats amusement, the gaoler returned a few m

17、oments later with a pair of glasses and the usual copy of the letter with he proceeded to read to the prisoner.New words and expressions 生词和短语run (ran, run) v. （戏剧，电影等）连演，连映 lines n. （剧本中的）台词 partn. 剧中的角色，台词 falter v. 支吾，结巴说 cast (cast, cast) v. 连派扮演角色role n. 角色 aristocrat n. 贵族 imprison v. 关押 Basti

18、lle n. 巴士底狱 gaoler n. 监狱长，看守 colleague n. 同事 curtain n. （舞台上的）幕布 revealv. 使显露 cell n. 单人监房，监号 blank adj. 空白的 squint v. 眯着（眼）看，瞄dim adj. 昏暗 sire n. （古用法）陛下 proceed v. 继续进行参考译文 有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。这样一来，可怜的演员们可倒霉了。因为他们需要一夜连着一夜地重复同样的台词。人们以为，这些演员一定会把台词背得烂熟，绝不会临场结巴的，但情况却并不总是这样。 有一位名演员曾在一出极为成功的剧目中扮演一个贵族角色，这

19、个贵族已在巴士底狱被关押了20年。在最后一幕中，狱卒手持一封信上场，然后将信交给狱中那位贵族。尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那封信。但他还是坚持要求将信的全文写在信纸上。一天晚上，狱卒决定与他的同事开一个玩笑，看看他反复演出这么多场之后，是否已将信的内容记熟了。大幕拉开，最后一幕戏开演，贵族独自一人坐在铁窗后阴暗的牢房里。这时狱卒上场，手里拿着那封珍贵的信。狱卒走进牢房，将信交给贵族。但这回狱卒给贵族的信没有像往常那样把全文写全，而是一张白纸。狱卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否记熟了台词。贵族盯着纸看了几秒钟，然后，眼珠一转，说道：“光线太暗，请给我读一下这封信。”说完，他一下子把信递给狱

20、卒。狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不住，于是便说：“陛下，这儿光线的确太暗了，我得去眼镜拿来。”他一边说着，一边匆匆下台。贵族感到非常好笑的是：一会儿工夫，狱卒重新登台，拿来一副眼镜以及平时使用的那封信，然后为那囚犯念了起来。 Lesson 23 One mans meat is another mans poison 各有所爱 People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for

21、instance, you would consider octopus a great delicacy. You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat - the normally accepted practice in many northern countries. The sad truth is that mos

22、t of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we stick to them all our lives. No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail. Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world. There are countless people who, ever since their early years, ha

23、ve learned to associate snails with food. My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised. As his flat is in a large town, he has no garden of his own. For years he has been asking me to collect snails from my garden and take them to him. The idea never appealed to me very much, but

24、one day, after heavy shower, I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants. Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag, and took them to Robert. Robert was delighted to see me and equally pl

25、eased with my little gift. I left the bag in the hall and Robert and I went into the living room where we talked for a couple of hours. I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert suddenly said that I must stay to dinner. Snails would, of course, be the main dish. I did not fancy the idea and I

26、 reluctantly followed Robert out of the room. To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere: they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete possession of the hall! I have never been able to look at a snail since then.New words and expressions 生词和短语poison (title) n. 毒药 illogical

27、 adj. 不合逻辑的，无章法的 octopus n. 章鱼 delicacy n. 美味，佳肴 repulsive adj. 令人反感的，令人生厌的 stomach n. 胃 turn v. 感到恶心，翻胃 fry v. 油炸 fat n. （动物，植物）油 abuse n. 辱骂，责骂 snail n. 蜗牛 luxury n. 奢移品，珍品 associate v. 联想到 despise v. 鄙视 appeal v. 引起兴致 shower n. 阵雨 stroll n. 溜达，散步 impulse n. 冲动 dozen n. 12个，一打fancy v. 喜爱，喜欢参考译文 在决

28、定什么能吃而什么不能吃的时候，人们往往变得不合情理。比如，如果你住在地中海地区，你会把章鱼视作是美味佳肴，同时不能理解为什么有人一见章鱼就恶心。另一方面，你一想到动物油炸土豆就会反胃，但这在北方许多国家却是一种普通的烹任方法。不无遗憾的是， 我们中的大部分人，生来就只吃某几种食品，而且一辈子都这样。 没有一种生物所受到的赞美和厌恶会超过花园里常见的蜗牛了。蜗牛加酒烧煮后，便成了世界上许多地方的一道珍奇的名菜。有不计其数的人们从小就知道蜗牛可做菜。但我的朋友罗伯特却住在一个厌恶蜗牛的国家中。他住在大城市里的一所公寓里，没有自己的花园。多年来，他一直让我把我园子里的蜗牛收集起来给他捎去。一开始，他

29、的这一想法没有引起我多大兴趣。后来有一天，一场大雨后，我在花园里漫无目的散步，突然注意到许许多多蜗牛在我的一些心爱的花木上慢悠悠的蠕动着。我一时冲动，逮了几十只，装进一只纸袋里，带着去找罗伯特。罗伯特见到我很高兴，对我的薄礼也感到满意。我把纸袋放在门厅里，与罗伯特一起进了起居室，在那里聊了好几个钟头。我把蜗牛的事已忘得一干二净，罗伯特突然提出一定要我留下来吃晚饭，这才提醒了我。蜗牛当然是道主菜。我并不喜欢这个主意，所以我勉强跟着罗伯特走进了起居室。使我们惊愕的是门厅里到处爬满了蜗牛：它们从纸袋里逃了出来，爬得满厅都是！从那以后，我再也不能看一眼蜗牛了。 Lesson 24 A skeleton

30、 in the cupboard “家丑” 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 cup

31、board. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The readers 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

32、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 h

33、e 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