Lesson 28
Five pound too dear
五磅也太贵
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1Lesson 28
2Five pounds too dear
3Why was even five pounds 'too dear' ?
4Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.
5Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board
6and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia,
7silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.
8It was difficult not to be tempted.
9Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen,
10but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
11I had no sooner got off the ship
12than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.
13I had no intention of buying one,
14but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.
15Some of them were as big as marbles.
16The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.
17As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window
18and made a deep impression in the glass.
19It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
20The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.
21I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine.
22At the base of the gold cap,
23the words 'made in the U.S.A.' had been neatly inscribed.
24The man said that the pen was worth ￡50, but as a special favour,
25he would let me have it for ￡30.
26I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay ￡5.
27Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous,
28but he eventually reduced the price to 10 pounds.
29Shrugging my shoulders I began to walk away when,
30a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.
31Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair,
32he readily accepted the ￡5 I gave him.
33I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain--until I got back to the ship.
34No matter how hard I tried,
35it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink
36and to this day it has never written a single word!
1Listen to the tape then answer the question below. 2听录音，然后回答以下问题。 3Why was even five pounds 'too dear'? 4 Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were son covered with colourful rugs from Persia, silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decide not to buy anything until I had disembarked. 5 I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him. 6 The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. The man said that the pen was worth $50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for $30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay $5. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to $10. Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the $5 I have him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain -- until I got back to the ship. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single world! 7New words and expressions 生词和短语 8 wares 9n. 货物，商品 10 anchor 11v. 停航下锚 12 deck 13n. 甲板 14 silverware 15n. 银器 16 tempt 17v. 吸引；引诱 18 bargain 19v. 讨价还价 20 disembark 21v. 下船上岸 22 assail 23v. 纠缠 24 marble 25n. 小玻璃球 26 inscribe 27v. 刻写，雕 28 favour 29n. 好处，优惠 30 gesticulate 31v. （讲话时）打手势 32 outrageous 33adj. 出人预料的；令人不悦的 34 thrust 35v. 硬塞给 36参考译文 37 当一艘大型班船进港的时候，许多小船载着各种杂货快速向客轮驶来。大船还未下锚。小船上的人就纷纷爬上客轮。一会儿工夫，甲板上就摆满了色彩斑斓的波斯地毯。印度丝绸。铜咖啡壶以及手工制作的漂亮的银器。要想不为这些东西所动心是很困难的。船上许多游客开始同商贩讨价还价起来，但我打定主意上岸之前什么也不买。 38 我刚下船，就被一个人截住，他向我兜售一枚钻石戒指。我根本不想买，但我不能掩饰这样一个事实：其钻石之大给我留下了深刻的印象。有的钻石像玻璃球那么大。那人竭力想证明那钻石是真货。我们路过一家商店时，他将一颗钻石使劲地往橱窗上一按，在玻璃上留下一道深痕。我花了半个多小时才摆脱了他的纠缠。 39 向我兜售的第二个人是卖名贵钢笔和手表的。我仔细察看了一枝钢笔，那看上去确实不假，金笔帽下方整齐地刻有"美国制造"字样。那人说那支笔值50英镑，作为特别优惠，他愿意让我出30英镑成交。我摇摇头，伸出5根手指表示我只愿出5镑钱。那人激动地打着手势，仿佛我的出价使他不能容忍。但他终于把价钱降到了10英镑。我耸耸肩膀掉头走开了。一会儿，他突然从后追了上来，把笔塞到我手里。虽然他绝望地举起双手，但他毫不迟疑地收下了我付给他的5镑钱。在回到船上之前，我一直为我的绝妙的讨价还价而洋洋得意。然而不管我如何摆弄，那枝漂亮的钢笔就是吸不进墨水来。直到今天，那枝笔连一个字也没写过！