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　　Lesson 24

　　一、【Text】课文

　　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 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 guestroom 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 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.'

　　二、【New words and expressions】生词和短语

　　●skeleton n. 骷髅

　　●seemingly adv. 表面上地

　　●respectable adj. 体面的，雅观的

　　●conceal v. 隐藏，隐瞒

　　●vivid adj. 生动的

　　●dramatic adj. 令人激动的，扣人心弦的

　　●ruin v. 毁坏

　　●heroine n. 女主人公

　　●fiction n. 小说

　　●varying adj. 不同的

　　●medicine n. 医学

　　●guestroom n. (家庭中的)来客住房

　　●unpack vt. (从箱中)取出

　　●stack adj. (整齐地)堆放，排放

　　●underclothes n. 内衣

　　●drawer n. 抽屉

　　●petrify v. 使惊呆

　　●dangle v. 悬挂

　　●sway v. 摇摆

　　●unsympathetic adj. 不表同情的，无动于衷的

　　●medical adj. 医学的

　　■skeleton n. 骷髅

　　a skeleton in the cupboard==a skeleton in the closet==a family skeleton 家丑

　　It’s time to bring a family skeleton out of the cupboard

　　skeleton key 万能钥匙

　　a walking skeleton 骨瘦如柴的人

　　reduced to too a skeleton 瘦的皮包骨

　　He has nothing to eat for a couple of days so he has been reduced to too a skeleton.

　　■seemingly adv. 表面上地

　　■respectable adj. 体面的，雅观的

　　respectable decent, graceful, deserving respect: 体面的，雅观的，可敬的

　　Eg.: He is a most respectable man.

　　The tie is for a respectale man only.

　　respectable: 可敬的

　　respectful : 充满敬意的，尊敬人的

　　A respectable person is respectful to others.

　　respective 各自的

　　Eg.:Our students return to their respective classroom.

　　■conceal v. 隐藏，隐瞒

　　conceal : hide, 比hide更加正式，语气强烈

　　conceal sth. from sb.

　　Eg.: He concealed his disappoint from his friends.

　　He concealed his bets from his wife.

　　When the mother coming, the little girl hid behind the curtain.

　　hide, hid, hidden

　　■vivid adj. 生动的

　　vivid 生动的，栩栩如生的,鲜艳的，活泼的

　　Eg.: There is a vivid proverb.

　　vivid blue 碧蓝色

　　he is vivid with life. 他是生气勃勃。

　　Yours discription is really vivid.

　　more vivid, the most vivid

　　■dramatic adj. 令人激动的，扣人心弦的

　　dramatic 比exciting更加强烈

　　The dramatic things is still vivid in his mind.

　　■ruin v. 毁坏

　　■heroine n. 女主人公

　　■fiction n. 小说

　　fiction 和novel

　　fiction (集合名词)不可数 (poetry )

　　novel 某一部具体的小说 (poem)

　　I prefer reading fiction to hearing about real invent.

　　■varying adj. 不同的

　　=various

　　different 与......不一样

　　My idea differents from yours.

　　■medicine n. 医学

　　■guestroom n. (家庭中的)来客住房

　　■unpack vt. (从箱中)取出

　　■stack adj. (整齐地)堆放，排放

　　stack up the books

　　The housewife is stacking up the clothing.

　　■underclothes n. 内衣

　　underclothing, underwear

　　■drawer n. 抽屉

　　■petrify v. 使惊呆

　　=shock, dumbfound

　　Heard the news I was petrified.

　　■dangle v. 悬挂

　　■sway v. 摇摆

　　■unsympathetic adj. 不表同情的，无动于衷的

　　sympathetic 同情的

　　sympathy n. in sympathy 同情地 (=sympathetically )

　　■medical adj. 医学的