Lesson 24

　　A skeleton in the cupboard

　　“家丑”

　　Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

　　听录音，然后回答以下问题。

　　Who was Sebastian?

　　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 pound 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 spend 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 tow suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it 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 read 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.'

　　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

　　v. (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

　　参考译文

　　在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家庭，却有着某种多年不为人所知的骇人听闻的秘密。英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。惊人的秘密称作“柜中骷髅”。在小说的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出来，接着便是某人的声誉扫地。当读者到小说最后几页了解到书中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可爱的老妇人年轻时一连毒死了她的5个丈夫时，不禁会毛骨悚然。

　　这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。尽管我们人人都有各种大小秘密。连最亲密的朋友都不愿让他们知道， 但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。我所认识的唯一的在柜中藏骷嵝的人便是乔治.卡尔顿，他甚至引以为自豪。乔治年轻时学过医，然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。有一次，我在他家里度周末，