2014年考研英語36篇必背作文精選2(新概念)_跨考網(wǎng)

　　Lesson 24 A skeleton 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(chǎn) skeleton in the cupboard’. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's 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 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 he is very proud 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 spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guest-room which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than ‘a(chǎn) terrible secret’; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. ‘Oh, that,’ he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. ‘That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time. ’

　　在小說中，我們經(jīng)常讀到一個表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，卻有著某種多年不為人所知的駭人聽聞的秘密。英語中有一個生動的說法來形容這種情況。驚人的秘密被稱作“柜中骷髏”。在小說的某個戲劇性時刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出來，接著便是某人的聲譽掃地。當讀者讀到小說最后幾頁了解到書中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可愛的老婦人年輕時一連毒死了她的5個丈夫時，不禁會毛骨悚然。

　　這種事發(fā)生在小說中是無可非議的。盡管我們?nèi)巳硕加懈鞣N大小秘密，連最親密的朋友都不愿讓他們知道，但我們當中極少有人有柜中骷髏。我所認識的唯一的在柜中藏骷髏的人便是喬治·卡爾頓，他甚至引以為自豪。喬治年輕時學過醫(yī)，然而，他后來沒當上醫(yī)生，卻成了一位成功的偵探小說作家。有一次，我在他家里度周末，過得很不愉快。這事我永遠不會忘記。喬治把我領進客房，說這間房間很少使用。他讓我打開行裝后下樓吃飯。我將襯衫、內(nèi)衣放進兩個空抽屜里，然后我想把隨身帶來的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣柜里去。我打開柜門，站在柜門前一下子驚呆了。一具骷髏懸掛在眼前，由于柜門突然打開，它也隨之輕微搖晃起來，讓我覺得它好像馬上要跳出柜門朝我撲過來似的。我扔下西服沖下樓去告訴喬治。這是比“駭人聽聞的秘密”更加驚人的東西，這是一具真正的骷髏啊!但喬治卻無動于衷。“噢，是它呀!他笑著說道，儼然在談論一位老朋友。“那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學醫(yī)的了。”

　　Lesson 27 Nothing to sell and nothing to buy 沒有東西可賣也沒有東西可買

　　It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material good in terms of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.

　　Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but he is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?

　　據(jù)說每個人都靠出售某種東西來維持生活。根據(jù)這種說法，教師靠賣知識為生，哲學家靠賣智慧為生，牧師靠賣精神安慰為生。雖然物質(zhì)產(chǎn)品的價值可以用金錢來衡量，但要估算別人為我們?yōu)樗峁┑姆盏膬r值卻是極其困難的。有時，我們?yōu)榱送炀壬?，愿意付出我們所占有的一切。但就在外科大夫給我們提供了這種服務后，我們卻可能為所支付的昂貴的費用而抱怨。社會上的情況就是如此，技術是必須付錢去買的，就像在商店里要花錢買商品一樣。人人都有東西可以出售。

　　在這條普遍的規(guī)律前面，好像只有流浪漢是個例外，乞丐出售的幾乎是他本人，以引起過路人的憐憫。但真正的流浪并不是乞丐。他們既不出售任何東西，也不需要從別人那兒得到任何東西，在追求獨立自由的同時，他們并不犧牲為人的尊嚴。游浪漢可能會向你討錢，但他從來不要你可憐他。他是故意在選擇過那種生活的，并完全清楚以這種方式生活的后果。他可能從不知道下頓飯有無著落，但他不像有人那樣被千萬樁愁事所折磨。他幾乎沒有什么財產(chǎn)，這使他能夠輕松自如地在各地奔波。由于被迫在露天睡覺，他比我們中許多人都離大自然近得多。為了生存，他可能會去打獵、乞討，偶爾偷上一兩回;確實需要的時候，他甚至可能干一點兒活，但他決不會犧牲自由。說起流浪漢，我們常常帶有輕蔑并把他們與乞丐歸為一類。但是，我們中有多少人能夠坦率地說我們對流浪漢的簡樸生活與無憂無慮的境況不感到有些羨慕呢?

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