To Have and Have Not It had been boring hanging about the hotel all afternoon. The road crew were playing a game with dollar notes. Folding them into small planes to see whose would fly the furthest.1 Having nothing better to do，I joined in and won five，and then took the opportunity to escape with my profit. Despite the evil-looking clouds，I had to get out for a while.
I headed for a shop on the other side of the street. Unlike the others，it didn’t have a sign shouting its name and business，and instead of the usual impersonal modern lighting，there was an appealing glow inside. Strangely nothing was displayed in the window. Not put off by this，I went inside.
It took my breath away. I didn’t know where to look, where to start. On one wall there hung three hand-stitched American quilts that were in such wonderful condition they might have been newly-made. I came across tin toys and antique furniture, and on the wall in front of me, a 1957 Stratocaster guitar , also in excellent condition. A card pushed between the strings said $50. I ran my hand along a long shelf of records, reading their titles. And there was more……
“Can I help you？” She startled me. I hadn’t even seen the woman behind the counter come in. The way she looked at me, so directly and with such power. It was a look of such intensity that for a moment I felt as if I were wrapped in some kind of magnetic or electrical field. I found it hard to take and almost turned away. But though it was uncomfortable. I was fascinated by the experience of her looking straight into me, and by the feeling that I was neither a stranger, nor strange, to her.
Besides amusement her expression showed sympathy. It was impossible to tell her age；she reminded me faintly of my grandmother because, although her eyes were friendly, I could see that she was not a woman to fall out with. I spoke at last. ’I was just looking really,’ I said, though secretly wondering how much of the stuff I could cram into the bus.
The woman turned away and went at once towards a back room, indicating that I should follow her. But it in no way lived up to the first room. The light made me feel peculiar, too. It came from an oil lamp that was hung from the centre of the ceiling and created huge shadows over everything. There were no rare electric guitars, no old necklaces, no hand-painted boxes with delicate flowers. It was also obvious that it must have taken years, decades, to collect so much rubbish, so many old documents arid papers.
I noticed some old books, whose gold lettering had faded, making their titles impossible to read. ’They look interesting,’ I said, with some hesitation. ’To be able to understand that kind of writing you must first have had a similar experience,’ she said clearly. She noted the confused look on my face, but didn’t add anything.
She reached up for a small book which she handed to me. ’This is the best book I can give you at the moment,’ she laughed. “If you use it.” I opened the book to find it full. or rather empty, with blank white pages, but paid her the few dollars she asked for it, becoming embarrassed when I realised the notes were still folded into little paper planes. I put the book in my pocket, thanked her and left.
词汇：
impersonal adj. 客观的；非个人的；没有人情味的；[语] 非人称的 n.[语]非人称动词；不具人格的事物
antique adj. 古老的，年代久远的 n. 古董，古玩
startle vt. vi. 使吓一跳，使惊奇 n.惊愕，惊恐
arid adj. 干旱的，枯萎的。毫无生气的
magnetic adj. 有吸引力的，磁极的
注释：
1. The road crew were playing a game with dollar notes. Folding them into small planes to see whose would for the furthest.
巡回乐团道具管理组的成员在用美元玩儿游戏，把纸币折成纸飞机的形状然后看谁飞得最远。
2. I was fascinated by the experience of her looking straight into me, and by the feeling that I was neither a stranger , nor strange, to her. 我还是觉得那种被直视的感觉很美妙，那种感觉是我既不是陌生人而且对她来说并不陌生。
3. The light made me feel peculiar, too. It came from an oil lamp that was hung the centre of the ceiling and created huge shadows over everything.
房间的灯光也让我感觉和特别，灯光来自天花板上的油灯，使一切都笼罩在巨大的阴影之下。
2017年职称英语综合类C级阅读理解新增文章（12）.doc
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