KIERAN: So Jane – you'll be off to Denmark soon to do your work placement.

基兰：简，你很快就要去丹麦实习了。

JANE: Yes, I'm really looking forward to it and I've just started packing up all my books to put in storage.

简：是的，我真的很期待，我刚开始收拾我所有的书，准备放进仓库。

KIERAN: Well, I hope they don't get spoilt.

基兰：希望它们不会被弄坏。

JANE: It's OK – my grandfather works in a bookshop and he told me how to pack them.

简：没事的，我爷爷在书店工作，他告诉我怎么打包。

KIERAN: Oh, that's helpful.

基兰：这很有用。

JANE: He says you have to support the spine otherwise the paper can come away from the cover.

简：他说必须支撑住书脊，否则纸张会从封面上脱落。

KIERAN: Yeah – that's obvious.

基兰：是的，很显然。

JANE: He also told me to pack them flat in the box not on their side – again because they can bend and if you leave them like that for, say, a year, it's quite hard to get them back to their normal shape.

简：他还告诉我要把书平放在盒子里，不要侧放，因为书会弯曲，如果你把书这样放一年，就很难让它们恢复正常形状了。

KIERAN: Well, it's pretty clear that ruins them, but a lot of people just can't be bothered to protect their books.

基兰：很明显这会毁了他们，但很多人就是懒得保护他们的书。

JANE: He always says it's such a shame that publishers don't use better-quality paper.

简: 爷爷总是说，出版商不使用质量更好的纸张真是太可惜了。

KIERAN: It's the acid in the paper that causes the problem, isn't it?

基兰：纸张里的酸性物质才是问题所在，不是吗？

JANE: Yeah – that's why old books go yellow. You know some of the books my grandfather's given me are like that already.

简：是啊，这就是为什么旧书会变黄。你知道我爷爷给我的一些书就已经是这样了。

KIERAN: Oh . . .

基兰：天啊……

JANE: I should dump them really if they're going to deteriorate further, but I'd feel bad.

简：如果这些书继续变黄的话，我真应该把它们扔了，但是又觉得很可惜。

They'll always remind me of him. He's quite a collector, you know.

这些书总是让我想起我爷爷，他是个收藏家。

KIERAN: Well, if they're important to you . . .

基兰：是的，如果它们对你很重要的话. . .

JANE: Yeah – I'd regret just throwing them away.

简：是啊，要是把它们扔掉我会后悔的。

KIERAN: You know, maybe it's because I was taught to treasure books . . . but I hate seeing students force open the pages – of paperbacks. They press so hard they end up breaking the spine.

基兰：也许是因为我从小就被教育要爱惜书本吧，但我最讨厌看到学生们用力撕开平装书的书页，他们用力过猛，最后把书脊都压断了。

JANE: I know, but unfortunately, paperbacks aren't designed to last a long time and people know that. Hardbacks aren't quite as weak.

简：我知道，但不幸的是，平装书的设计并不耐用，人们也知道这一点。精装书就没那么脆弱了。

KIERAN: Yeah, they're different, I suppose. But I still don't think people value hardbacks like they used to.

基兰：是的，我想它们是不一样的。但是我仍然认为人们不像以前那样看重精装书。

JANE: Well, they aren't decorative, are they, like other objects. Plus, nowadays, people don't keep them out on shelves as much as they used to.

简：精装书不像其他物品那样具有装饰性，不是吗？另外，现在人们不再像以前那样把精装书放在书架上了。

KIERAN: That's such a pity. When I visit someone – if they have, say, a colourful book on a table, it's the first thing I'm drawn to.

基兰：真遗憾。我去拜访别人时，如果他们的桌子上摆着一本色彩缤纷的书，我首先就会被它吸引。

JANE: I agree – and book covers can be a work of art in themselves. Some are really eye-catching.

简：我同意，书的封面本身就是一件艺术品。有些封面真的很引人注目。

KIERAN: I've always been taught to handle books carefully. If you watch someone take a book off a shelf, well, they usually do it wrong.

基兰：我一直被教导要小心处理书籍。如果你看到有人从书架上取下一本书，那么，通常他们取书的方式是错的。

JANE: Ah, my grandfather says, you should put your hand right over the top of the book . . . or if you can't do that, pull the other books on the shelf aside so that you can hold the whole cover.

简：我爷爷说，应该把手放在书的正上方，或者如果做不到，把书架上的其他书拉到一边，这样就可以把整个封面都拿起来。

KIERAN: When did you learn all this?

基兰：你什么时候学会这些的？

JANE: He watched me pull a heavy book off the shelf when I was small, and it fell on the floor and broke apart.

简：小时候，他看着我从书架上取下一本很重的书，书掉在地上摔散架了。

KIERAN: Oh dear!

基兰：天哪！

JANE: I can still remember it!

简：我一直记到现在！

KIERAN: You know what I really like?

基兰：你知道我最喜欢什么吗？

JANE: What?

简：是什么？

KIERAN: The smell of new books.

基兰：新书的味道。

JANE: Me too.

简：我也是。

KIERAN: My parents used to laugh at me when I was a kid because I loved putting books up to my nose. Almost as much as reading them!

基兰：小时候，我父母常常嘲笑我，因为我喜欢把书放在鼻子上。几乎和我喜欢读书一样不相上下！

JANE: New books aren't cheap, though, are they?

简: 不过新书并不便宜，不是吗？

KIERAN: I guess we're lucky we can buy them.

基兰：我想我们能买到它们已经很幸运了。

JANE: My grandfather stocks second-hand books as well as new ones and they don't smell quite as good.

简: 我爷爷存放二手书和新书，它们闻起来没有那么好。