新概念必背36篇_彩版_

精选新概念必背优秀文章 36 篇 1 - http://renwoxue.taobao.com 1 经典教材精选的美文 这个优秀文章 36 篇是我从新概念三、四的教材里精心挑选出来的，其中新概念三 20 篇和新概念四的 16 篇，从贴近考研英语的角度来筛选，剔除了大部分的记叙文和说明文 题 快递公司问题件快递公司问题件货款处理关于圆的周长面积重点题型关于解方程组的题及答案关于南海问题 材，主要就是论说文了。 这些精选出来的文章作为必须背诵的素材。原来的文档很多都有或多或少的小错误。这里我都精心对 照过，并且尽力避免出现错误。 以前那个版本只有 20 篇文章（新三 12 篇，新四 8 篇），有网友反映排版使用不是很方便，这里重新 排版。另外字体用稍微大一点的 5 号，眼睛会舒服一点，还可以做一点点笔记，不过页数会增加一点。 蓝色加粗是考研重点词汇，要从课文句子中掌握其用法，不是很熟的最好查一下牛津或者其他词典； 加阴影紫色字体是考研用短语和句型。划线的重点要熟练应用的句子，尽量应用到作文中去。 对这 36 篇文章最好是听写、翻译、背诵一步步来。先把文章听写出来，然后翻译成中文，再把中文 翻译成英文，最后背诵。不过这个过程很花时间，但是也能提高英语能力。如果单纯考研应试，英语不想 考那么高分，而其他科目需要的时间多点，那就只背诵吧。 背诵是一件很痛苦的事情，实在背不下来，可以给自己定一个量的要求：―50 遍啊 50 遍！‖甚至更强 的―100 遍啊 100 遍‖读了 50 遍以上就算背不出来也很熟练了吧。 语言是背出来，模仿磁带的读音，大声跟读大声的背，将可以达到听说读写齐头并进。 新概念三 Lesson 14 A noble gangster 贵族歹徒 TThheerree wwaass aa ttiimmee wwhheenn the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters iinn rreettuurrnn ffoorr 'protection.' If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man oouutt ooff bbuussiinneessss by destroying his shop. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime. AAss lloonngg aaggoo aass the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people wwoouulldd rraatthheerr pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters. Six hundred years ago, Sir Johan Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon mmaaddee aa nnaammee ffoorr hhiimmsseellff and ccaammee ttoo bbee kknnoowwnn ttoo the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were aatt wwaarr wwiitthh each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. IInn ttiimmeess ooff peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after bbuurrnniinngg ddoowwnn a few farms, would ooffffeerr ttoo go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood mmaaddee llaarrggee ssuummss ooff mmoonneeyy in this way. IInn ssppiittee ooff tthhiiss, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died aatt tthhee aaggee ooff eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured painted which was dedicated ttoo tthhee mmeemmoorryy ooff 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.' 曾经有一个时期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板们不得不拿出大笔的钱给歹徒以换取"保护"。如果交款不 及时,歹徒们就会很快捣毁他的商店,让他破产.榨取"保护金"并不是一种现代的罪恶行径.早在 14 世纪,英国 人约翰.霍克伍德就有过非凡的发现:"人们情愿拿出大笔的钱,也不愿毕生的心血毁于歹徒之手. 600年前,约翰.霍克伍德爵士带着一队士兵来到意大利,在佛罗伦萨附近驻扎下来,很快就出了名.意大利 人叫他乔凡尼.阿库托.每次意大利各城邦之间发生战争,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇佣给愿给他出高价的君主。 和平时期,当生意萧条时,霍克伍德便带领士兵进入某个城邦,纵火烧毁一两个农场,然后提出,如向他们缴纳 保护金,他们便主动撤离。霍克伍德用这种 方法 快递客服问题件处理详细方法山木方法pdf计算方法pdf华与华方法下载八字理论方法下载 挣了大笔钱.尽管如此,意大利人还是把他视作某种英雄。他 80 岁那年死去时,佛罗伦萨人为他举行了国葬,并为他画像以纪念这位"骁勇无比的战士、杰出的领袖乔凡尼. 阿库托先生." Lesson 17 The longest suspension bridge in the world 世界上最长的吊桥 Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it 精选新概念必背优秀文章 36 篇 2 - http://renwoxue.taobao.com 2 Angouleme. He described it as 'a very agreeable situation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river.' Though Verrazano is bbyy nnoo mmeeaannss considered to be a great explorer, his name will probably remain immortal, for on November 21st, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world was nnaammeedd aafftteerr him. The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklyn to Staten Island. It has a span of 4,260 feet. The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be ttaakkeenn iinnttoo aaccccoouunntt by its designer. Two great towers support four huge cables. The towers are built on immense underwater platforms mmaaddee ooff steel and concrete. The platforms eexxtteenndd ttoo a depth of over 100 feet under the sea. These alone took sixteen months to build. Above the surface of the water, the towers rriissee ttoo a height of nearly 700 feet. They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended. EEaacchh ooff the four cables contains 26,108 lengths of wire. It has been estimated that if the bridge were ppaacckkeedd wwiitthh cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity. However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge. Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant, fulfilling its designer's dream to create 'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'. 1524 年，一位鲜为人知的意大利人维拉萨诺驾船驶进纽约港，并将该港名为安古拉姆。他对该港作了 这样的描述：―地理位置十分适宜，位于两座小山的中间，一条大河从中间流过‖。虽然维拉萨诺绝对算不 上一个伟大的探险家，但他的名字将流芳百世，因为 1964 年 11 月 21 日建成的一座世界上最长的吊桥是 以他的名字命名。 维拉萨诺大桥由奥斯马.阿曼设计，连结着布鲁克林与斯塔顿岛，桥长 4,260 英尺。由于桥身太长，设 计者不得不考虑了地 表 关于同志近三年现实表现材料材料类招标技术评分表图表与交易pdf视力表打印pdf用图表说话 pdf 的形状。两座巨塔支撑着 4 根粗大的钢缆。塔身建在巨大的水下钢盘混凝土平台上。 平台深入海底 100 英尺。仅这两座塔就花了 16 个月才建成。塔身高出水面将近 700 英尺。高塔支撑着钢 缆，而钢缆又悬吊着大桥，4 根钢缆中的每根由 26，108 股钢绳组成。据估计，若桥上摆满了汽车，也只 不过是桥的总承载力的 1/3。然而，这座桥重要特点不仅是它的规模与强度。尽管此桥很大，但它的结构 简单，造型优美，实现了设计者企图创造一个―尽量用细线条勾画出一个庞然大物‖的梦想。 Lesson 21 Daniel Mendoza 丹尼尔.门多萨 Boxing matches were very popular in England two hundred years ago. In those days, boxers ffoouugghhtt wwiitthh bare fists for pprriizzee mmoonneeyy. Because of this, they were kknnoowwnn aass 'prize-fighters'. However, boxing was very crude, for there were no rules and a prize-fighter could be seriously injured or even killed during a match. One of the most colourful figures in boxing history was Daniel Mendoza, who was born in 1764. The use of gloves was not introduced until 1860, when the Marquis of Queensberry ddrreeww uupp the first set of rules. Though he was technically a prize-fighter, Mendoza did much to change crude prize-fighting into a sport, for he brought science to the game. IInn hhiiss ddaayy, Mendoza eennjjooyyeedd ttrreemmeennddoouuss ppooppuullaarriittyy. He was adored by rich and poor alike. Mendoza rroossee ttoo ffaammee swiftly after a boxing-match when he was only fourteen years old. This attracted the attention of Richard Humphries who was then the most eminent boxer in England. He ooffffeerreedd ttoo train Mendoza and his young pupil was quick to learn. In fact, Mendoza soon became so successful that Humphries ttuurrnneedd aaggaaiinnsstt him. The two men quarrelled bitterly and it was clear that the argument could only be settled by a fight. A match was held at Stilton, where both men fought for an hour. The public bet a great deal of money on Mendoza, but he was defeated. Mendoza met Humphries iinn tthhee rriinngg on a later occasion and he lost for a second time. It was not until his third match in 1790 that he finally beat Humphries and became Champion of England. Meanwhile, he founded a highly successful Academy and even Lord Byron became one of his pupils. He eeaarrnneedd eennoorrmmoouuss ssuummss ooff mmoonneeyy and was paid aass mmuucchh aass 100 pounds for a single appearance. Despite this, he was so extravagant that he was always in debt. After he was defeated by a boxer called Gentleman Jackson, he was quickly forgotten. He was sent to prison for failing to pay his debts and died iinn ppoovveerrttyy in 1836. 两百年前，拳击比赛在英国非常盛行。当时，拳击手们不戴手套，为争夺奖金而搏斗。因此，他们被 称作―职业拳击手‖。不过，拳击是十分野蛮的，因为当时没有任何比赛规则，职业拳击手有可能在比赛中 受重伤，甚至丧命。 拳击史上最引人注目的人物之一是丹尼尔.门多萨，他生于 1764 年。1860 年昆斯伯里侯爵第一次为拳 击比赛制定了规则，拳击比赛这才用上了手套。虽然门多萨严格来讲不过是个职业拳击手，但在把这种粗 野的拳击变成一种体育运动方面，他作出了重大贡献。是他把科学引进了这项运动。门多萨在他的全盛时 期深受大家欢迎，无论是富人还是穷人都对他祟拜备至。 精选新概念必背优秀文章 36 篇 3 - http://renwoxue.taobao.com 3 门多萨在 14 岁时参加一场拳击赛后一举成名。这引起当时英国拳坛名将理查德.汉弗莱斯的注意。他 主动提出教授门多萨，而年少的门多萨一学就会。事实上，门多萨不久便名声大振，致使汉弗莱斯与他反 目为敌。两个人争吵不休，显而易见，只有较量一番才能解决问题。于是两人在斯蒂尔顿设下赛场，厮打 了一个小时。公众把大笔赌注下到了门多萨身上，但他却输了。后来，门多萨与汉弗莱斯再次在拳击场上 较量，门多萨又输了一场。直到 1790 年他们第 3 次对垒，门多萨才终于击败汉弗莱斯，成了全英拳击冠 军。同时，他建立了一所拳击学校，办得很成功，连拜伦勋爵也成了他的学生。门多萨挣来大笔大笔的钱， 一次出场费就多可达 100 英镑。尽管收入不少，但他挥霍无度，经常债台高筑。他被一个叫杰克逊绅士的 拳击手击败后很快被遗忘。他因无力还债而被捕入狱，最后于 1836 年在贫困中死去。 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 ccoonncceeaalleedd ffrroomm strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called ‗aa sskkeelleettoonn iinn tthhee ccuuppbbooaarrdd‘. AAtt ssoommee ddrraammaattiicc mmoommeenntt in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hhaaiirr ssttaannddss oonn eenndd 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. IItt iiss aallll vveerryy wweellll ffoorr such things to occur in fiction. TToo vvaarryyiinngg ddeeggrreeeess, 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 pprroouudd ooff 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 iinn ffrroonntt ooff 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 aabboouutt ttoo lleeaapp oouutt 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 aass iiff he were ttaallkkiinngg aabboouutt an old friend. ‗That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student oonnccee uuppoonn aa ttiimmee. ‘ 在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，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。惊人的秘密被称作―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。当读者读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髅的人便是乔治·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，过得很不愉快。这事我永远不会忘记。乔治把我领进客房，说这间房间很少使用。他让 我打开行装后下楼吃饭。我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，然后我想把随身带来的两套西服中的一套挂 到大衣柜里去。我打开柜门，站在柜门前一下子惊呆了。一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，由于柜门突然打开，它也 随之轻微摇晃起来，让我觉得它好像马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。我扔下西服冲下楼去告诉乔治。这 是比―骇人听闻的秘密‖更加惊人的东西，这是一具真正的骷髅啊！但乔治却无动于衷。―噢，是它呀！他笑 着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。―那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是学医的了。‖ Lesson 27 Nothing to sell and nothing to buy 没有东西可卖也没有东西可买 IItt hhaass bbeeeenn ssaaiidd tthhaatt everyone lliivveess bbyy selling something. IInn tthhee lliigghhtt ooff 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 iinn tteerrmmss ooff money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. TThheerree aarree ttiimmeess wwhheenn 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 iinn tthhee ssaammee wwaayy tthhaatt goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell. Tramps seem to be the only eexxccee ppt 关于艾滋病ppt课件精益管理ppt下载地图下载ppt可编辑假如ppt教学课件下载triz基础知识ppt tiioonn ttoo tthhiiss ggeenneerraall rruullee. Beggars almost sell themselves as hhuummaann bbeeiinnggss to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require 精选新概念必背优秀文章 36 篇 4 - http://renwoxue.taobao.com 4 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 ffeeeell ssoorrrryy ffoorr him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aawwaarree ooff the consequences. He may never be sure where the next meal is ccoommiinngg ffrroomm, but he is ffrreeee ffrroomm the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place wwiitthh eeaassee. By having to sleep iinn tthhee ooppeenn, he ggeettss ffaarr cclloosseerr ttoo the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even, iinn ttiimmeess ooff real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often ssppeeaakk ooff 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? 据说每个人都靠出售某种东西来维持生活。根据这种说法，教师靠卖知识为生，哲学家靠卖智慧为生， 牧师靠卖精神安慰为生。虽然物质产品的价值可以用金钱来衡量，但要估算别人为我们为所提供的服务的 价值却是极其困难的。有时，我们为了挽救生命，愿意付出我们所占有的一切。但就在外科大夫给我们提 供了这种服务后，我们却可能为所支付的昂贵的费用而抱怨。社会上的情况就是如此，技术是必须付钱去 买的，就像在商店里要花钱买商品一样。人人都有东西可以出售。 在这条普遍的规律前面，好像只有流浪汉是个例外，乞丐出售的几乎是他本人，以引起过路人的怜悯。 但真正的流浪并不是乞丐。他们既不出售任何东西，也不需要从别人那儿得到任何东西，在追求独立自由 的同时，他们并不牺牲为人的尊严。游浪汉可能会向你讨钱，但他从来不要你可怜他。他是故意在选择过 那种生活的，并完全清楚以这种方式生活的后果。他可能从不知道下顿饭有无着落，但他不像有人那样被 千万桩愁事所折磨。他几乎没有什么财产，这使他能够轻松自如地在各地奔波。由于被迫在露天睡觉，他 比我们中许多人都离大自然近得多。为了生存，他可能会去打猎、乞讨，偶尔偷上一两回；确实需要的时 候，他甚至可能干一点儿活，但他决不会牺牲自由。说起流浪汉，我们常常带有轻蔑并把他们与乞丐归为 一类。但是，我们中有多少人能够坦率地说我们对流浪汉的简朴生活与无忧无虑的境况不感到有些羡慕 呢？ Lesson 33 A day to remember 难忘的一天 We have all experienced days when everything ggooeess wwrroonngg. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to ggeett oouutt ooff ccoonnttrrooll. What invariably happens is that aa ggrreeaatt nnuummbbeerr ooff things choose to go wrong at precisely tthhee ssaammee mmoommeenntt. It is as if a single unimportant event sseett uupp aa cchhaaiinn ooff reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and kkeeeeppiinngg aann eeyyee oonn the baby aatt tthhee ssaammee ttiimmee. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to aann uunnffoorreesseeeenn sseerriieess ooff catastrophes. While you are oonn tthhee pphhoonnee, the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table, smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hhaanngg uupp hurriedly and aatttteenndd ttoo baby, crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal ggeettss bbuurrnntt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner. Things can ggoo wwrroonngg on a big scale, as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rruusshh hhoouurr one evening two cars collided and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars hhaappppeenneedd ttoo bbee a learner. She suddenly ggoott iinnttoo aa ppaanniicc and stopped her car. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry–driver who was ddrraawwiinngg uupp alongside the car, pulled up aallll ooff aa ssuuddddeenn. The lorry was llooaaddeedd wwiitthh empty beer bottles and hundreds of them sslliidd ooffff the back of the vehicle and on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic ppiilleedd uupp behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. IInn tthhee mmeeaannttiimmee, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days! 我们大家都有过事事不顺心的日子。一天开始时，可能还不错，但突然间似乎一切都失去了控制。情 况经常是这样的，许许多多的事情都偏偏赶在同一时刻出问题，好像是一件无关紧要的小事引起了一连串 的连锁反应。假设你在做饭，同时又在照看孩子。这时电话铃响了，它预示着一连串意想不到的灾难的来 临。就在你接电话时，孩子把桌布从桌子上扯了下来，将家中最好的陶瓷餐具半数摔碎，同时也弄伤了他 自己。你急急忙忙挂上电话，赶去照看孩子和餐具。这时，饭又烧糊了。好像这一切还不足以使你急得掉 泪，你的丈夫接着回来了，事先没打招呼就带来 3 个客人吃饭。 就像许多人最近在悉尼郊区帕拉马塔所发现的那样，有时乱子会闹得很大。一天傍晚交通最拥挤时， 精选新概念必背优秀文章 36 篇 5 - http://renwoxue.taobao.com 5 一辆汽车撞上前面一辆汽车，两个司机争吵起来。紧跟其后的一辆车上的司机碰巧是个初学者，她一惊之 下突然把车停了下来。她这一停使得跟在后头的司机也来了个急刹车。司机的妻子正坐在他身边，手里托 着块大蛋糕。她往前一冲，蛋糕从挡风玻璃飞了出去掉在马路上。此时，一辆卡车正好从后边开到那辆汽 车边上，司机看见一块蛋糕从天而降，紧急刹车。卡车上装着空啤酒瓶，成百只瓶子顺势从卡车后面滑出 车外落在马路上。这又引起了一场唇枪舌剑的争吵。与此同时，后面的车辆排成了长龙，警察花了将近一 个小时才使车辆又开起来。在这段时间里，卡车司机不得不清扫那几百只破瓶子。只有两只野狗从这一片 混乱中得到了好处，它们贪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。这就是事事不顺心的那么一天！ Lesson 34 A happy discovery 幸运的发现 Antique shops eexxeerrtt aa ppeeccuulliiaarr ffaasscciinnaattiioonn oonn 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 mmuusstteerr uupp ccoouurraaggee 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 bbyy cchhaannccee. A truly dedicated bbaarrggaaiinn hhuunntteerr must have patience, and aabboovvee aallll, the ability to recognize the worth of something when he sees it. To do this, he must be aatt lleeaasstt aass kknnoowwlleeddggeeaabbllee aass the dealer. Like a scientist bbeenntt oonn making a discovery, he must cherish the hope that one day he will be aammppllyy rreewwaarrddeedd. My old friend, Frank Halliday, is just such a person. He has often described to me how he ppiicckkeedd uupp a masterpiece for a mere￡50. One Saturday morning, Frank visited an antique shop in my neighbourhood. As he had never been there before, hhee ffoouunndd aa ggrreeaatt ddeeaall ttoo iinntteerreesstt hhiimm. The morning passed rapidly and Frank wwaass aabboouutt ttoo leave when he noticed a large packing-case lying on the floor. The dealer told him that it had just ccoommee iinn, but that he could not be bothered to open it. Frank bbeeggggeedd hhiimm ttoo ddoo so and the dealer reluctantly prised it open. The contents were disappointing. AAppaarrtt ffrroomm an interesting-looking carved dagger, the box was full of crockery, mmuucchh ooff iitt bbrrookkeenn. Frank gently lifted the crockery out of the box and suddenly noticed a miniature painting aatt tthhee bboottttoomm ooff the packing-case. As its Composition and line reminded him of an Italian painting he knew well, he decided to buy it. GGllaanncciinngg aatt it briefly, the dealer told him that it was worth￡50. Frank could hardly ccoonncceeaall hhiiss eexxcciitteemmeenntt, for he knew that he had mmaaddee aa rreeaall ddiissccoovveerryy. The tiny painting pprroovveedd ttoo bbee an unknown masterpiece by Correggio and was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. 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。一个到处找便宜货买的人必须具有耐心，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在行。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，结果他发现了许多 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，货箱内装满了陶器，而且大部分都已破碎。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，画面构图与线条使他想起了一幅他所熟悉的意大 利画，于是他决定将画买下来。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。 Lesson 38 The first calender 最早的日历 Future historians will be iinn aa uunniiqquuee ppoossiittiioonn when they ccoommee ttoo record the history of our own times. They will hardly know which facts to sseelleecctt ffrroomm the ggrreeaatt mmaassss ooff evidence that steadily accumulates. WWhhaatt iiss mmoorree, they will not have to rreellyy ssoolleellyy oonn