新概念英语第三册 less49_new

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[00:00.00]喜欢chazidian.com，就把chazidian.com复制到QQ个人资料中！Lesson 49 The ideal servant
[00:05.30]49 理想的仆人
[00:10.61]Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:13.28]听录音,然后回答以下问题.
[00:15.96]What was Bessie's 'little weakness'?
[00:19.64]贝西的"小小弱点"是什么?
[00:23.33]It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago.
[00:25.85]我的姑妈哈丽特好多年前就去世了,这倒是件好事.
[00:28.37]If she were alive today
[00:30.35]如果她活到今天,
[00:32.34]she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation:
[00:35.46]她将不能就她热衷的话题"佣人"发表意见了.
[00:38.58]domestic servants.
[00:40.22]她热衷的话题是:佣人.
[00:41.85]Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age
[00:44.28]哈丽特生活在一个悠闲的年代,
[00:46.71]when servants were employed to do housework.
[00:48.84]家务事都由雇来的佣人代劳.
[00:50.96]She had a huge,rambling country house called 'The Gables'.
[00:54.30]她在乡下有一幢巨大杂乱的房子,叫做"山墙庄园".
[00:57.63]She was sentimentally attached to this house,
[00:59.90]她对这幢房子在感情上难舍难分,
[01:02.17]for even though it was far too big for her needs,
[01:04.65]因为虽然房子实在太大,
[01:07.13]she persisted in living there long after her husband's death.
[01:10.07]但在丈夫去世多年后,她仍然执意长年住在那儿.
[01:13.01]Before she grew old,aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly.
[01:16.40]哈丽特姑妈年轻时,喜欢大摆宴席,招待宾客.
[01:19.78]I often visited The Gables when I was a boy.
[01:22.26]我小时候常去"山墙庄园"做客.
[01:24.74]No matter how many guests were present,
[01:26.86]不管去多少宾至如归客,
[01:28.97]the great house was always immaculate.
[01:31.55]大房子里总是收拾得干干净净.
[01:34.12]The parquet floors shone like mirrors;
[01:36.46]镶木地板洁如明镜,
[01:38.80]highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets;
[01:41.83]探得发亮的银器陈列在明亮的玻璃柜里,
[01:44.86]even my uncle's huge collection of books
[01:46.93]连姑夫的大量藏书也保存得很好,
[01:49.01]was kept miraculously free from dust.
[01:51.37]奇迹般地一尘不染.
[01:53.74]Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants
[01:56.66]哈丽特姑妈统率着一支看不见的佣人大军,
[01:59.59]that continuously scrubbed,cleaned,and polished.
[02:02.57]他们不停地擦拭、清扫、刷洗.
[02:05.54]She always referred to them as 'the shifting population',
[02:08.33]她称这些佣人叫"流动人口",
[02:11.11]for they came and went with such frequency
[02:13.39]因为他们来去匆匆,
[02:15.68]that I never even got a chance to learn their names.
[02:18.20]我甚至都没有机会知道他们的姓名.
[02:20.72]Though my aunt pursued what was,in those days an enlightened policy,
[02:24.10]姑妈待佣人在当时算是开明的,
[02:27.49]in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day
[02:30.77]从来不让佣人每天工作超过8小时,
[02:34.04]she was extremely difficult to please.
[02:36.38]但他们很难使她称心如意
[02:38.72]While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature,
[02:41.75]她一方面总批评人的本性朝三暮四,
[02:44.78]she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant
[02:47.86]另一方面她又持之以恒地寻找一个理想的佣人,
[02:50.95]to the end of her days,
[02:52.92]一直到她死去都未停止.
[02:54.89]even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie.
[02:57.71]即使在贝西大大地伤了她的心之后,依然在找.
[03:00.53]Bessie worked for aunt Harriet for three years.
[03:02.87]贝西在哈丽特家干了3年.
[03:05.21]During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence,
[03:08.13]在此期间,她赢得了姑母的赏识,
[03:11.06]that she was put in charge of the domestic staff.
[03:13.44]甚至当上了大管家.
[03:15.81]Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency.
[03:19.54]哈丽特不知该用什么言辞来赞扬贝西的勤奋与高效
[03:23.26]In addition to all her other qualifications,Bessie was an expert cook.
[03:26.88]贝西除了有各种本领以外,还是一个烹饪大师.
[03:30.49]She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years
[03:33.32]她担任"理想仆人"角色3年之后,
[03:36.14]before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'.
[03:38.57]哈丽特终于发现了她有"小小的弱点".
[03:41.00]After being absent from The Gables for a week,