精读13：‘It's only me’

第13篇精读

1：精读原文和译文摘自新概念英语；每周更新一篇；

2：新概念英语精读系列旨在通过精读经典教材，夯实英语基础（词汇、长难句、语法点），积攒原汁原味的表达；

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精读原文

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After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any housework that morning, for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress party with her husband. 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. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear. 

Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dining room, there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the metre. She tried to explain the situation, saying 'It's only me', but it was too late. The man let out cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs. Richards walked towards him, he fled, slamming the door behind him.

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精读注解

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‘It's only me’

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“是我，别害怕”

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After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any housework that morning, for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress party with her husband. She intended to dress up as a ghost and as she had made her costumethe night before, she was impatient to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear.

【语法小学堂】After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom.本句涉及“过去完成时”和“一般过去时”同时出现的用法。简言之，“一般过去时”表示过去，“过去完成时”表示“过去的过去”。本句过去时态中，sent her children to school和went upstairs的动作发生在gone to work之后，为了区别两个动作的先后，先发生的动作用“过去完成时”，后发生的动作用“一般过去时”

too…to…：太……以致不能……，比如：It's never too old to learn.学到老活到老。

【语法小学堂】would be going：是过去将来进行时，表示在过去将来某一时间正在发生的动作。构成：would be+现在分词，如：He said he would be doing his homework at 9 o'clock.他说9点的时候他会在做作业。

fancy-dress party：A fancy dress party (British English) or a costume party (American English) is a type of party, common mainly in contemporary Western culture, where guests dress up in costumes.化妆舞会

【熟词僻义】intend：①If you intend to do something, you have decided or planned to do it. 打算，如：Maybe he intends to leave her. 也许他打算离开她。②指望，如：The fund is intended for emergency use.这笔基金专攻应急之用。③意旨，如：What do you intend by saying so?你说这话什么意思？

dress up as：化妆成……，如：Children dress up as witches, monsters or ghosts. 孩子们打扮成女巫、怪物或者鬼。

costume /kɒstjuːm/: a set of clothes worn by an actor or by someone to make them look like something such as an animal, famous person etc.戏装；化装服，如：Halloween costumes 万圣节前夕化装服

try it on：表示穿上，而下文的put it on动作意味很强

sheet /ʃiːt/：a large piece of thin cloth that you put on a bed to lie on or lie under床单，被单，如：I’ll go and find you some clean sheets and blankets. 我去给你们找些干净的床单和毯子。

consist of…由……构成，包括。表明整体与部分的关系。如：The house consists of three rooms.这间屋子有三个房间。

only 用作副词，表示“仅仅”“只有”，通常应放在它所修饰的词语之前。如果所修饰的词位于句末，则也可将其放在被修饰词语之后。比较以下句由于 only 位置不同所导致的含义上的变化：Only I kissed her last night. 昨晚只有我吻了她（即别人没吻她）。I only kissed her last night. 昨晚只是吻了她（即没干别的事）。I kissed only her last night. 昨晚我吻的只有她（即没吻过别人）。I kissed her only last night [last night only]. 我只是在昨晚才吻了她（即其他时候未吻过她）。

only引用地址:

http://www.yygrammar.com/Article/201103/2001.html

effective /ɪ'fektɪv/: successful, and working in the way that was intended有效的；产生预期效果的，如：Training is often much less effective than expected.训练的效果往往远低于预期。

comfortable /ˈkʌmftəbl/ : making you feel physically relaxed, without any pain or without being too hot, cold etc.舒适的，令人舒服的，如：Joyce has a comfortable apartment in Portland. 乔伊丝在波特兰有一套舒适的公寓。

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理查兹夫人等丈夫上班走后，把孩子送去上学，然后来到楼上自己的卧室。那天上午，她兴奋得什么家务活都不想做，因为晚上她要同丈夫一起参加一个化装舞会。她打算装扮成鬼的模样。头天晚上她已把化装服做好，这时她急于想试试。尽管化装服仅由一个被单制成，却十分逼真。理查兹夫人穿上化装服后下了楼，想看看穿起来是否舒服。

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Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dining room, there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the metre. She tried to explain the situation, saying 'It's only me', but it was too late. The man let out cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs. Richards walked towards him, he fled, slamming the door behind him.

just as…正当……的时候，如：Just as I was busiest, he must come bothering me with some questions. 正在我最忙的时候，偏巧他来问我一些问题来烦我。

She knew that it must be the baker.宾语从句中的must表示“肯定”推断

straight: adj. 直的；连续的；笔直的；正直的; adv. 直接地；不断地；立即；坦率地，本文straight是副词。如：A straight road goes straight from one place to another.一条直路从一处笔直地通往另一处。（第一处是形容词，第二处是副词）

【复杂句分析】She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table.①if是从属连词，引导条件状语从句；②ever：a word meaning at any time; used mostly in questions, negatives, comparisons, or sentences with ‘if’〔一般用于疑问句、否定句、比较结构或带 if 的句子中〕在任何时候，如：If you’re ever in Seattle, come and see me. 如果你什么时候到了西雅图，就来看我吧。③fail to do sth.表示“未能做成某事”，如：He failed to pass the exam.他未能通过考试。④to come和to leave都是动词told的宾语补足语

Not wanting…现在分词的否定形式，构成原因状语从句。肯定形式：Being unable to help them in any other way, he gave them some money.由于不能以任何其他方式帮助他们，他就给了他们一些钱。

storeroom /'stɔːruːm; -rʊm/ : a room where goods are stored贮藏室，储藏室，如：a storeroom filled with massive old furniture covered with dust. 一间堆满了尘封的大件旧家具的贮藏室。

She heard the front door open…感官动词heard后面跟不定式作宾补时省略to，但被动语态需要恢复to，，因此open作动词heard的宾语补足语。参见精读：Not guilty

electricity /,ɪlek'trɪsɪtɪ/: the power that is carried by wires, cables etc., and is used to provide light or heat, to make machines work etc.电，如：The farm was very isolated, but it had electricity. 那个农场非常偏远，但有电力供应。

metre /mi:tə/:电表

…saying 'It's only me'…现在分词短语：逻辑主语与句中主语相一致，此处作方式状语，译为：说了声“别怕，是我！”

let out cry：大叫一声

pace/peɪs/: a single step when you are running or walking, or the distance you move in one step〔跑或走的〕一步；一步之距，如：He took a pace towards the door. 他朝门口走了一步。

flee /fliː/: to leave somewhere very quickly, in order to escape from danger逃离，逃走，如：His attackers turned and fled. 袭击他的人转身逃走了。

slam/slæm/: if a door, gate etc. slams, or if someone slams it, it shuts with a loud noise（把…）砰地关上，如：He slammed the door shut . 他把门砰地关上。

…slamming the door behind him现在分词短语作时间状语，表示动作与he fled同时发生

现在分词作状语的语法参考链接：http://www.yygrammar.com/Article/200811/715.html

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理查兹夫人刚刚走进餐厅，前门就传来敲门声。她知道来人一定是面包师。她曾告诉过面包师，如果她不去开门，他可直接进门，把面包放在厨房的桌上。理查兹夫人不想吓唬这个可怜的人，便赶紧躲到了楼梯下的小储藏室里。她听见前门被打开，走廊里响起重重的脚步声。突然贮藏室门开了，一个男人走了进来。理查兹夫人这才想到一定是供电局来人查电表了。她说了声“是我，别怕！”然后想进行一番解释，但已来不及了。那人大叫了一声，惊退了几步。理查兹夫人朝他走去，只见他“砰”的一声关上门逃走了。

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Summary writing：(last paragraph)

用不多于80个单词描述理查兹夫人走进餐厅后发生的事情。（摘自新概念英语教师用书新版3）

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Mrs. Richards had dressed up as a ghost and was just going into the dining room when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was the baker, she hid in the storeroom under the stairs. She heard footsteps in the hall and then the man from the Electricity Board opened the storeroom door. Though she said “It’s only me”, he got a bad fright. When she walked towards him, he fled, slamming the front door behind him.

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精读：‘It's only me’