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 soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia, silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful hand-made silver-ware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
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.
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 neatly 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 five pounds. 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 five pounds I gave 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 word !
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。
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。
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!
wares [weəz] goods [plural] merchandise (un)
n. 货物，商品
waren. 某种产品(不可数)
software hardware
silverware ironware
chinaware earthenware
anchor [‘æŋkə(r)]v. 抛锚
They anchored the ship in the harbor.
The ship anchored in the harbor.
cast / drop anchor
weigh anchor / set sail
tempt [tempt]v. 吸引，引诱
tempt sb. to do sth.
tempt sb. into doing sth.
The serpent tempted Eve to pick the forbidden fruit.
The serpent tempted Eve into picking the forbidden fruit.
lure / seduce / entice sb. into doing sth.
I guess I set up the video camera to try and entice Joey. But sadly I could not be enticed.
bargain [‘bɑ:ɡən]
v. 讨价还价
bargain with sb. over / about sth.
He bargained with the vendor over / about the price of the eggplants.
haggle with sb. over / about sth.
Oh, this one’s nice! I like this one! Sir? Uh, kind sir? Can I see this one?
Wait a minute, no, this is, this is the reason you brought me. Okay? I know how to haggle. So let me handle this from here on out.
bargain / buy
Oh my! Here‘s a real buy. It’s a bargain. This house just came on the market.
disembark [dɪsɪm’bɑ:k]v. 下船，下飞机
disembark from ...
The passengers disembarked from the ferry / plane.
embark on…
We embarked on the ship for Shanghai.
board
The couple boarded the train for New York.
Flight No. 714 is now boarding at Gate 8.
assail [ə’seɪl]
v. 纠缠
be assailed by / with …
He was assailed by / with a street vendor.
He was assailed by / with worries.
pester harry harass
From the moment he arrived there, he kept on pestering his doctor to tell him when he would be able to go home.
sexual harassment
inscribe [ɪn’skraɪb]
v. 刻字;题写
“in” + “scribe”(= to write)
He inscribed his name in the stone.
He inscribed his name in the book.
describe
prescribe
proscribe
subscribe
transcribe
outrageous [aut’reɪdʒəs] adj. 出人意料的，过分的
- The price is outrageous.
- The price is preposterous.
- The price is absurd.
- That’s highway robbery / daylight robbery.
- The car costs a fortune.
- The car costs me an arm and a leg.
(A) Linda didn’t like it.
(B) Bill lost it.
(C) It was very expensive.
(D) It was very small.
M: Did you see the diamond ring Bill gave to Linda?
W: I sure did. It must have cost him an arm and a leg.
Q: What does the woman imply about the ring?
Answer: (C) It was very expensive.
dear: expensive; costly; pricey; steep
Italian ex-mayor murdered
Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour.
Small boats (which were) loaded with wares ……
be loaded with …
They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and cans of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island.
be covered with …
be filled with …
… it is filled with what looks like a thick, greyish substance.
All at once, I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm.
be packed / crammed with …
It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity.
The streets were packed / crammed with Christmas shoppers.
be stuffed with …
a pillow stuffed with feathers
duck stuffed with ‘eight treasures’
stuffed birds
I’m stuffed. = I’m full.
He was fined for speeding.
We sped down the ski slopes.
The tragic sinking of this great liner will always be remembered, for she went down on her first
216
voyage with heavy loss of life. enter the harbor
depart from the harbor
pull / draw in the station
pull / draw out of the station
Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs from Persia, silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware.
Before she had anchored, …
Before she had dropped / cast anchor, …
on board = aboard adv. & prep.
one of the most colorful figures
rug
doormat
blanket
copper
the Bronze Age
a brass band
potbelly
flowerpot
the pot calling the kettle black
pan frying pan
out of the frying pan into the fire
It was difficult to avoid being tempted.
No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
It was difficult to resist temptation.
Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
I shaved before I went to the party.
…, but I decided to disembark
before I bought anything.
before buying anything.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring.
no sooner … than …
hardly / barely / scarcely … when / before …
No sooner had I got off the ship than I was assailed …
I had hardly got off the ship when I was assailed …
Hardly had I got off the ship when I was assailed …
get off the bus / ship / plane
I had no sooner disembarked from the ship than …
get on the bus / ship / plane
get into the car / taxi
get out of the car / taxi
carpet
bronze
coffee pot kettle
mat bathmat
brass
teapot
217
… than I was harried / harassed / pestered by a man who …
I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds.
have no intention of doing sth.
not intend to do sth.
She intended to dress up as a ghost and as she had made her costume the night before, she was impatient to try it on.
I didn’t intend to buy one, …
…, but the man must have noticed that I was …
…, but I could not deny that I was …
…, but I had to admit / acknowledge that I was … 造句:我当时并没有打算在这家公司工作，但我不能掩饰这样一个事实:他们提供的丰厚的 薪水 (handsome salary) 给我留下了深刻的印象。
I had no intention of working for the company, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the handsome salary they offered.
go to great lengths to do
They have gone to great lengths to make us feel welcome.
do / try one’s best to do
Though the doctor did his best, the patient’s recovery was slow.
do / try one’s utmost to do
You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.
do everything / all one can to do
give one’s all to do
spare no effort to do
China will spare no effort to realize peaceful reunification.
go all out to do
(A) They should wait for John to bring the dessert.
(B) He thinks John must have spent a lot of money for the dinner.
(C) The dessert also looks impressive.
(D) He helped John make the sandwiches.
W: Look at the delicious sandwiches. John’s really gone all out this time.
M: Just wait until you see the dessert.
Q: What does the man imply?
Answer: (C) The dessert also looks impressive.
…… and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me.
have / get the impression that …
be under the impression that …
Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship had been found, the contents of the chest proved them wrong.
He hit me on the nose.
He hit me in the face.
If you are lucky enough to get a sleeper, you spend half the night staring at the small blue light in the ceiling, …
I took over half an hour to get rid of him.
218
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them.
I spent over half an hour (in) getting rid of him.
getrid ofsb. disposeofsb.
There is no quicker method of disposing of patients than by giving them what they are asking for, …
expel
He was expelled from school for bad behavior. thefirst,thesecond,thenext,thelast,thebest,theonly… 后常跟不定式作定语
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches.
When he landed near Dover, the first person to greet him was a local policeman.
The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae.
The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead.
The last creature to compete with man was the mosquito.
My birthday is fast approaching.
My birthday is coming soon.
My birthday is near at hand.
My birthday is just around the corner.
closely = carefully
… advertisers have made a close study of human nature…
atthebaseof …
on the basis of …
Decisions were often made on the basis of false information.
gold gold ring / medal
golden golden sunshine / hair
Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
His handwriting is neat.
He has a teacher ’s handwriting.
His handwriting is illegible.
He has a doctor ’s handwriting.
inscribe engrave
Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been engraved on walls, bones, and the ivory tusks of mammoths.
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.
I shook my head …
I disagreed …
I said no to him …
hold up = extend 伸出
indicate = signify(间接地)表示
Her tone indicated that she didn’t believe a word of my explanation.
She signified her agreement by nodding her head.
219
… held up five fingers signifying that I was …
Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to £10.
outrageous
preposterous
eventually
at last
finally
in the end
Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands.
shrug one’s shoulders
with a shrug
I will be on vacation till the end of the month when I return to shanghai.
run after = chase
Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, … readily = willingly
There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, …
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 word!
However hard I tried, …
Judges, however wise or eminent, are human and can make mistakes.
Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash.
to this day = so far
I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single card!
He earned enormous sums of money and was paid as much as £100 for a single appearance. They had a single aim, a solitary goal—the top!
造句:无论我多么好地喂养 (feed) 这只鸡，它就是不肯产卵 (breed)，直到今天它连一个蛋 也没下过。
No matter how well I fed her, it was impossible to persuade the beautiful hen to breed and to this day she has never laid a single egg!