新概念英语第三册31至40课

[ti:A Lovable Eccentric]

[00:00.28]Lesson 31

[00:02.52]A lovable eccentric

[00:10.58]Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?

[00:16.37]True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves.

[00:22.11]They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary.

[00:29.72]This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.

[00:40.57]Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town.

[00:47.86]He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman,

[00:48.62]but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life.

[00:57.14]He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.

[01:05.80]Dickie disliked snobs intensely.

[01:08.92]Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.

[01:15.83]Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella.

[01:21.11]One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower.

[01:29.15]He wanted to buy a ￡300 watch for his wife,

[01:33.97]but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him.

[01:40.84]Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag.

[01:47.20]As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter.

[01:51.79]The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager.

[02:00.08]Recognizing who the customer was,

[02:02.94]the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely.

[02:09.63]When Dickie was given the watch, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag.

[02:15.59]It contained ￡300 in pennies.

[02:20.43]He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left--30, 000 pennies in all!

[02:28.76]On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings.

[02:37.20]This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press,

[02:41.74]for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists,

[02:46.56]they had in fact been painted by Dickie.

[02:50.63]It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.

[ti:A Lost Ship]

[00:00.23]Lesson 32

[00:02.18]A lost ship

[00:09.03]Did the crew of the Elkor find what they were looking for? Why?

[00:15.38]The salvage operation had been a complete failure.

[00:19.20]The small ship, Elkor, which had been searching the Barents Sea for weeks, was on its way home.

[00:26.72]A radio message from the mainland had been received by the ship's captain instructing him to give up the search.

[00:34.53]The captain knew that another attempt would be made later,

[00:38.10]for the sunken ship he was trying to find had been carrying a precious cargo of gold bullion.

[00:45.33]Despite the message, the captain of the Elkor decided to try once more.

[00:51.89]The sea bed was scoured with powerful nets and there was tremendous excitement on board when a chest was raised from the bottom.

[01:00.76]Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship had been found,

[01:05.99]the contents of the chest proved them wrong.

[01:09.52]What they had in fact found was a ship which had been sunk many years before.

[01:15.62]The chest contained the personal belongings of a seaman, Alan Fielding.

[01:20.76]There were books, clothing and photographs, together with letters which the seaman had once received from his wife.

[01:28.34]The captain of the Elkor ordered his men to salvage as much as possible from the wreck.

[01:34.32]Nothing of value was found,

[01:36.48]but the numerous items which were brought to the surface proved to be of great interest.

[01:41.75]From a heavy gun that was raised, the captain realized that the ship must have been a cruiser.

[01:48.01]In another chest which contained the belongings of a ship's officer,

[01:52.68]there was an unfinished letter which had been written on March 14th, 1943.

[02:00.01]The captain learnt from the letter that the name of the lost ship was the Karen.

[02:05.21]The most valuable find of all was the ship's log book, parts of which it was still possible to read.

[02:13.41]From this the captain was able to piece together all the information that had come to light.

[02:19.06]The Karen had been sailing in a convoy to Russia when she was torpedoed by an enemy submarine.

[02:25.63]This was later confirmed by a naval official at the Ministry of Defence after the Elkor had returned home.

[02:33.16]All the items that were found were sent to the War Museum.

[ti:A Day to Remember]

[00:00.19]Lesson 33

[00:02.45]A day to remember

[00:08.98]What incident began the series of traffic accidents?

[00:15.47]We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong.

[00:19.83]A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control.

[00:25.98]What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment.

[00:33.97]It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions.

[00:39.93]Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time.

[00:47.23]The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes.

[00:55.44]While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table,

[01:01.12]smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process.

[01:06.49]You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc.

[01:11.90]Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt.

[01:14.62]As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.