【课文】
Antique shops exert a peculiar fascination on a great many people. The more expensive kind of antique shop where rare objects are beautifully displayed in glass cases to keep them free from dust is usually a forbidding place. But no one has to muster up courage to enter a less pretentious antique shop. There is always hope that in its labyrinth of musty, dark, disordered rooms a real rarity will be found amongst the piles of assorted junk that litter the floors.
No one discovers a rarity by chance. A truly dedicated bargain hunter must have patience, and above all, the ability to recognize the worth of something when he sees it. To do this, he must be at least as knowledgeable as the dealer. Like a scientist bent on making a discovery, he must cherish the hope that one day he will be amply rewarded.
My old friend, Frank Halliday, is just such a person. He has often described to me how he picked up a masterpiece for a mere £50. One Saturday morning, Frank visited an antique shop in my neighbourhood. As he had never been there before, he found a great deal to interest him. The morning passed rapidly and Frank was about to leave when he noticed a large packing case lying on the floor. The dealer told him that it had just come in, but that he could not be bothered to open it. Frank begged him to do so and the dealer reluctantly prised it open. The contents were disappointing. Apart from an interesting looking carved dagger, the box was full of crockery, much of it broken. Frank gently lifted the crockery out of the box and suddenly noticed a miniature Painting at the bottom of the packing case. As its composition and line reminded him of an Italian painting he knew well, he decided to buy it. Glancing at it briefly, the dealer told him that it was worth £50. Frank could hardly conceal his excitement, for he knew that he had made a real discovery. The tiny painting proved to be an unknown masterpiece by Correggio and was worth thousands of pounds.
【课文翻译】
古玩店对许多人来说有一种特殊的魅力。高档一点的古玩店为了防尘,把文物漂亮地陈列在玻璃柜子里,那里往往令人望而却步。而对不太装腔作势的古玩店,无论是谁都不用壮着胆子才敢往里进。人们还常常有希望在发霉、阴暗、杂乱无章、迷宫般的店堂里,从杂乱地摆放在地面上的、一堆堆各式各样的破烂货里找到一件稀世珍品。
无论是谁都不会一下子就发现一件珍品。一个到处找便宜的人必须具有耐心,而且最重要的是看到珍品时要有鉴别珍品的能力。要做到这一点,他至少要像古董商一样懂行。他必须像一个专心致志进行探索的科学家那样抱有这样的希望,即终有一天,他的努力会取得丰硕的成果。
我的老朋友弗兰克.哈利戴正是这样一个人。他多次向我详细讲他如何只花50英镑便买到一位名家的杰作。一个星期六的上午,弗兰克去了我家附近的一家古玩店。由于他从未去过那儿,结果他发现许多有趣的东西。上午很快过去了,弗兰克正准备离去,突然看见地板上放着一只体积很大的货箱。古董商告诉他那只货箱刚到不久,但他嫌麻烦不想把它打开。经弗兰克恳求,古董商才勉强把货箱撬开了。箱内东西令人失望。除了一柄式样别致、雕有花纹的匕首外,货箱内装满陶器,而且大部分都已破碎裂。弗兰克轻轻地把陶器拿出箱子,突然发现在箱底有一幅微型画,画面构图与纸条使他想起一幅他所熟悉的意大利画,于是他决定将画买了下来。古董商漫不经心看了一眼那幅画,告诉弗兰克那画值50英镑。弗兰克几乎无法掩饰自己兴奋的心情,因为他明白自己发现了一件珍品。那幅不大的画原来是柯勒乔的一幅未被发现的杰作,价值几十万英镑。
【生词和短语】
antique n. 古玩
fascination n. 魅力,迷惑力
forbidding adj. 望而生畏的,望而却步的
muster v. 鼓起
pretentious adj. 自命不凡的,矫饰的
labyrinth n. 迷宫
musty adj. 陈腐的,发霉的
rarity n. 稀世珍品
assorted adj. 各式各样的
junk n. 破料货,废品
litter v. 杂乱地布满
dedicated adj. 专心致志的
dealer v. 商人
cherish v. 期望,渴望
amply adv. 足够地
masterpiece n. 杰作
mere adj. 仅仅的
prise v. 撬开
carve v. 镌刻
dagger n. 短剑,匕首
miniature adj. 小巧的,小型的
composition n. 构图
【知识点】
词汇
【fascination】
例句:
1. Old castles have a certain strange fascination for me.
旧城堡对我具有某种奇特的魅力。
2. The little boy had a fascination for motorcycles.
男孩对摩托车有强烈的爱好。
【forbidding】
例句:
1. Then I saw a police officer with a forbidding look on his face.
然后,我看到一位警官,一脸令人生畏的表情。
2. Offering no assistance, she warns of a violent, unseen force lurking in the forbidding countryside.
虽没有提供帮助,但她警告在这令人生畏的乡间潜伏着一种残暴,不可见的力量。
【muster】
英英:gather or bring together
例句:
1. Shall I muster the crew on the deck?
我必须召集船员在甲板集合吗?
2. Generally, our bodies can muster a defense to routine strains of influenza.
一般在正常情况下,人类身体有能对抗普通流感病毒的防卫机制。
3. We have to muster all our resolve and resources in order to fight earthquake.
为了同地震做斗争,我们现在众志成城并集中所有的人财物力。
【pretentious】
例句:
1. The way to make it enjoyable is to sound like who you are, not to be pretentious.
使人从你的作品中得到享受的方法是做你自己,而不需要华丽的文体或矫揉造作。
2. Did you just see a blond guy with a pretentious accent?
你见过一个口音造作的金发男人么?
【dedicated】
例句:
1.We can catch sight of her dedicated expression and catch her wonderful answer in class.
课堂上总能看到她专注的神情,听到她精彩的回答
2. We have a group of professional, dedicated technical personnel, the quality of technology in the domestic leading level.
本厂拥有一批专业、专注的技术人才,质量技术在国内处于水平。
【cherish】
英英:be fond of; be attached to
例句:
1. Please cherish greenwood.
请爱护绿林。
2. We treasure resources. We cherish talents.
我们珍惜资源,我们爱惜人才。
3. As writers, they cherish economical, and witty phrases .
他们在写作上喜欢用简洁机智的词句。
【amply】
例句:
1. But the past experience has amply justified this belief.
但是过去的实验已经充分证实了这种信仰。
2. The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterward be amply repaid.
牺牲眼前的一些虚荣,日后就会大有收获。
搭配
【free from】
【by chance】
【above all】
【know well】
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