Lesson 4 The double life of Alfred Bloggs 阿尔弗雷德.布洛格斯的双重生活
These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices.
如今，从事体力劳动的人的收入一般要比坐办公室的人高出许多。
People who work in offices are frequently referred to as \'white-collar workers\' for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work.
坐办公室的之所以常常被称作“白领工人”，就是因为他们通常是穿着硬领白衬衫，系着领带去上班。
Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers.
许多人常常情愿放弃较高的薪水以换取做白领工人的殊荣，此乃人之常情。
This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.
而这常常会引起种种奇怪的现象，在埃尔斯米尔公司当清洁工的艾尔弗雷德.布洛斯就是一个例子。
When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job.
艾尔弗结婚时，感到非常难为情，而没有将自己的职业告诉妻子。
He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation.
他只说在埃尔斯米尔公司上班。
Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit.
每天早晨，他穿上一身漂亮的黑色西装离家上班，
He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman.
然后换上工作服，当8个小时清洁工。
Before returning home at night, He took a shower and changed back into his suit.
晚上回家前，他洗个淋浴，重新换上那身黑色西服。
Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret .
两年多以来，艾尔弗一直这样，他的同事也为他保守秘密。
Alf\'s wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will,
艾尔弗的妻子一直不知道她嫁给了一个清洁工，而且她永远也不会知道了，
for Alf has just found another job.
因为艾尔弗已找到薪职，
He will soon be working in an office.
不久就要坐办公室里工作了。
He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money.
他将来挣的钱只有他现在的一半。不过他觉得，地位升高了，损失点儿钱也值得。
From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him \'Mr. Bloggs\', not \'Alf\'.
从此，艾尔弗可以一天到晚穿西服了。别人将称呼他为“布洛格斯先生”，而不再叫他“艾尔弗”了。
New words and expressions生词和短语
manual
adj. 体力的
collar
n. 衣领
sacrifice
v. 牺牲，献出
privilege
n. 好处
dustman
n. 清洁工
corporation
n. 公司
overalls
n. 工作服
shower
n. 淋浴
secret
n. 秘密
status
n. 地位
Notes on the text课文注释
1 People who work in offices are frequently referred to as‘white-collar workers’, 那些坐在办公室的人，往往被称为“白领工人”。 white-collar workers往往指脑力劳动者，而体力劳动者则被称为 blue-collar workers, 蓝领工人。
2 for the simple reason that…这里 that引导的从句是 the reason的同位语。
3 Such is human nature, that…
such位于句首，起强调作用，后面要用倒装语序， that引导的是 such的同位语从句。
4 as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who… worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation. 正如给埃尔斯米尔公司当清洁工的艾尔弗雷德•布洛格斯的情况所造成的怪现象那样。 as it did中的 it是指上一句中that 从句所指的情况，而 did是替代give rise to curious situations。
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics.
报刊杂志的编辑常常为了向读者提供成立一些关紧要的事实和统计数字而走向极端。
Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president\'s palace in a new African republic.
去年，一位记者受一家有名的杂志的委托写一篇关于非洲某个新成立共和国总统府的文章。
When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it.
稿子寄来后，编辑看第一句话就拒绝予以发表。
The article began: \'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president\'s palace\'.
文章的开头是这样的：“几百级台阶通向环绕总统的高墙。”
The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
编辑立即给那位记者发去传真，要求他核实一下台阶的确切数字和围墙的高度。
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts,
记者立即出发去核实这些重要的事实，
but he took a long time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press.
但过了好长时间不见他把数字寄来，在此期间，编辑等得不耐烦了，因为杂志马上要付印。
He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply.
他给记者先后发去两份传真，但对方毫无反应。
He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired.
于是他又发了一份传真，通知那位记者说，若再不迅速答复，将被解雇。
When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written.
但记者还是没有回复。编辑无奈，勉强按原样发稿了。
A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist.
一周之后，编辑终于接到记者的传真。
Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well.
那个可怜的记者不仅被捕了，而且还被送进了监狱。
However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor
不过，他终于获准发回了一份传真。在传真中他告诉编辑，
that he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the president\'s palace.
就在他数通向15英尺高的总统府围墙的1，084级台阶时，被抓了起来。
New words and expressions生词和短语
editor
n. 编辑
extreme
n. 极端
statistics
n. 统计数字
journalist
n. 新闻记者
president
n. 总统
palace
n. 王宫；宏伟的住宅
publish
v. 出版
fax
n. 传真
impatient
adj. 不耐烦的
fire
v. 解雇
originally
adv. 起初，原先，从前
Notes on the text课文注释
1 go to extremes. 走极端。
2 provide…with…作“向……提供……”解。
3 to write an article on, 写一篇有关的报道。
4 lead to …作“通往……”、“导致……”解
5 go to press, 付印。
6 Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. 这是 not only… but… as well 引导的并列句子，如果将not only置于句首，后面主谓语应采取倒装结构。
The expensive shops in a famous arcade near Piccadilly were just opening.
皮卡迪利大街附近的一条著名拱廊街道上，几家高档商店刚刚开始营业。
At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty.
在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
Mr. Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new window display.
珠宝店主泰勒先生正在欣赏新布置的橱窗。
Two of his assistants had been working busily since eight o\'clock and had only just finished.
他手下两名店员从早上8点就开始忙碌，这时刚刚布置完毕。
Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet.
钻石项链、戒指漂亮地陈列在黑色丝绒上面。
After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop.
泰勒先生站在橱窗外凝神欣赏了几分钟就回到了店里。
The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its horn blaring, roared down the arcade.
宁静突然被打破，一辆大轿车亮着前灯，响着喇叭，呼啸着冲进了拱廊街，
It came to a stop outside the jeweller\'s.
在珠宝店门口停了下来。
One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stockings over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars.
一人留在驾驶座上，另外两个用黑色长筒丝袜蒙面的人跳下车来。他们用铁棒把商店橱窗的玻璃砸碎。
While this was going on, Mr. Taylor was upstairs.
这开始发生时，泰勒先生正在楼上。
He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade.
他与店员动手向窗外投掷家具，椅子，桌子飞落花流水在拱廊街上。
One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain.
一个窃贼被一尊很重的雕像击中，但由于他忙着抢钻石首饰，竟连疼痛都顾不上了。
The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed.
这场抢劫只持续了3分钟，因为窃贼争先恐后地爬上轿车，以惊人的速度开跑了。
Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves.
就在轿车离开的时候，泰勒先生从店里冲了出来，跟在车后追赶，一边还往车上扔烟灰缸、花瓶。但他已无法抓住那些窃贼了。
They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds.
他们已带着价值数千镑的首饰逃之夭夭了。
2 with its headlights on and its horn blaring, …这是 with引导的独立主格结构，在句中表示伴随状况。3 but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain.
但他只顾忙着抢劫钻石，根本顾不上疼痛了。这里 help oneself to sth. 是“擅自取用，侵占某物”的意思。
Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there was a large bank note in your back pocket?
你有没有把裤子塞洗衣机，然后又想在裤子的后兜有一张大面值的纸币?
When you rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white?
当你把裤子抢救出来时，你有没有发现那张纸币已经变得比白纸还白?
People who live in Britain needn\'t despair when they made mistakes like this (and a lot of people do)!
当英国人犯这种错误时，他们不必感到绝望（而许多国家的人都有这种绝望的感觉）。
Fortunately for them, the Bank of England has a team called Mutilated Ladies
对英国人来说，值得庆幸的是英国银行有一个残钞鉴别组，
which deals with claims from people who fed their money to a machine or to their dog.
负责理那些把钱塞进机器或塞给狗的人提出的索赔要求。
Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money!
看起来，狗很喜欢咀嚼钱币。
A recent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fiancé, John, runs a successful furniture business.
最近的一个案例与简.巴特林有关，她的未婚夫约翰拥有一家生意兴隆家具店。
John had very good day and put his wallet containing $3,000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping.
有一天约翰的生意很好，他把一只装有3,000 英镑的钱包放进微波炉内保存。
Then he and Jane went horse-riding.
然后，他和简一起去骑马。
When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without realizing it, cooked her fiancé\'s wallet as well.
回家后，简用微波炉煮了晚饭，无意中之中把她未婚夫的钱包也一起煮了。
Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash!
可以想像他们发现一只煮得很好看的钱包，钞票已化成灰时的沮丧心情。
John went to see his bank manager who sent the remains of wallet and the money to the special department of the Bank of England in Newcastle: the Mutilate Ladies!
约翰去找银行经理，经理把约翰的钱包和纸币的残留物送到英国银行在纽卡斯尔的一个专门部门--残钞鉴别组。
They examined the remains and John got all his money back.
他们鉴定了这些残留物。约翰拿回了他损失的全部数额。
\'So long as there\'s something to identify, we will give people their money back,\' said a spokeswoman for the Bank.
“只要有东西可供识别，我们会把钱还给人家的，”银行的一位女发言人说。
Last year, we paid $1.5m on 21,000 claims.
“去年，我们对21，000 起索赔要求支付了150万英镑。”
3 whiter than white，这是英国有关洗衣粉的电视广告中常用的一句话。这里的意思是纸币上的字迹、图案均被洗掉了，可以译为“比白纸还白”。
4 they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash，他们发现一只煮得很好看的钱包，钞票已烧成了灰。后半句 they found… notes turned to ash中过去分词短语 turned to ash作宾语 notes的补足语，这后半句话可以看成 they found… that notes had been turned to ash。
The Great St. Bernard Pass connects Switzerland to Italy.
圣伯纳德大山口连接着瑞士与意大利，
At 2,473 metres, it is the highest mountain pass in Europe.
海拔2,473O米，是欧洲最高的山口。
The famous monastery of St. Bernard, which was founded in the eleventh century, lies about a mile away.
11世纪建造的著名的圣伯纳德修道院位于离山口1英里远的地方。
For hundreds of years, St. Bernard dogs have saved the lives of travellers crossing the dangerous Pass.
几百年来，圣伯纳德修道院驯养狗拯救了许多翻越这道山口的旅游者的生命。
These friendly dogs, which were first brought from Asia, were used as watchdogs even in Roman times.
那些最先从亚洲引进的狗，待人友好，早在罗马时代就给人当看门狗了。
Now that a tunnel has been built through the mountains, the Pass is less dangerous,
如今由于山里开挖了隧道，翻越山口已不那么危险了。
but each year, the dogs are still sent out into the snow whenever a traveller is in difficulty.
但每年还要派狗到雪山地里去帮助那些遇到困难的旅游者，
Despite the new tunnel, there are still a few people who rashly attempt to cross the Pass on foot.
尽管修通了隧道，但仍有一些人想冒险徒步跨越圣伯纳德山口。
During the summer months, the monastery is very busy, for it is visited by thousands of people who cross the Pass in cars.
夏天的几个月里，修道院十分忙碌，因为有成千上万的人驾车通过山口，顺道来修道院参观。
As there are so many people about, the dogs have to be kept in a special enclosure.
由于来人太多，狗被关在专门的围栏里。
In winter, however, life at the monastery is quite different.
然而到了冬天，修道院里的生活则是另一番景象。
The temperature drops to -30 and very few people attempt to cross the Pass.
气温下降到零下30度，试图跨越山口的人寥寥无几。
The monks prefer winter to summer for they have more privacy.
修道士们喜欢冬天，而不太喜欢夏天。
The dogs have greater freedom, too, for they are allowed to wander outside their enclosure.
因为在冬天，他们可以更多地过无人打扰的生活。
The only regular visitors to the monastery in winter are parties of skiers who go there at Christmas and Easter.
狗也比较自由，被放出围栏，四处遛达。冬天常来修道院参观的只有一批批滑雪者。
These young people, who love the peace of mountains, always receive a warm welcome at St. Bernard\'s monastery.
他们在圣诞节或复活节到那儿去。这些热爱高山清静环境的年轻人每年都受到圣伯纳德道院的热烈欢迎。
New words and expressions生词和短语
monastery
n. 寺院，修道院
St. Bernard
圣伯纳德
pass
n. 关隘
watchdog
n. 看门狗
rashly
adj. 莽撞地，冒失地
enclosure
n. 围场，圈地
monk
n. 和尚
privacy
n. 清静，隐居
skier
n. 滑雪者
Easter
n. 复活节
Notes on the text课文注释
1 Now that a tunnel has been built through the mountains，由于一条穿山隧道已经开通。now that是连词，当“既然”，“由于”讲，引导一个原因状语从句，说明一种新情况。
2 As there are so many people about, …about为副词，作“在附近”，“到处”讲。也可用around表示。
3 The monks prefer winter to summer，修道士们喜欢冬天而不喜欢夏天。 prefer…to…有“喜欢……而不喜欢……”的意思，to的前后要用名词或动名词来表示所对比的事物或活动。
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.
猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。
They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well.
它们可以对人友好，充满柔情。但是，它们又有自己神秘的生活方式。
They never become submissive like dogs and horses.
它们从不像狗和马一样变得那么顺从。
As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.
结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。
Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.
在它们的一生中，大多数猫都对人存有戒心。
One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.
最使我们感兴趣的一件事情就是一种通俗的信念--猫有九条命。
Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.
显然，这种说法里面包含着许多真实性。
A cat\'s ability to survive falls is based on fact.
猫在跌落时能够大难不死是有事实作为依据的。
Recently the New York Animal Medical Center made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months.
最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期5个月的综合研究。
All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.
所有这些猫有一个共同的经历：它们都曾从高层建筑上摔下来过，但只有其中的8只猫死于震荡或跌伤。
Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings.
当然，纽约是进行这种有趣的试验的一个理想的地方，因为那里根本不缺乏高楼大厦，
There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from!
有的是高层的窗槛从上往下坠落。
One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth.
有一只叫萨伯瑞的猫从32层楼上掉下来，但只摔断一颗牙。
\'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers.\' a doctor said.
“猫就像训练有素的跳伞队员，” 一位医生说。
It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.
看起来，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。
In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.
在一个长长的跌落过程中，它们可以达到每小时60里甚至更快的速度。
At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax.
在高速下落中，猫有时间放松自己。
They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.
它们伸展四肢，就像飞行中的松鼠一样。
This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
这样就加大了空气阻力，并减少了它们着地时冲击力带来的震动。
New words and expressions生词和短语
fascinate
v. 迷住，吸引住
affectionate
adj. 充满深情，柔情的
mysterious
adj. 神秘的，难以理解的
submissive
adj. 服从的，顺从的
feline
adj. 猫的
independence
n. 独立，独立性
high-rise
adj. 高层的
windowsill
n. 窗槛
paratrooper
n. 伞兵
squirrel
n. 松鼠
air-resistance
n. 空气阻力
impact
n. 冲击力
Notes on the text课文注释
1 Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. 在这句话中有一个否定词 never和一个含有否定意义的动词 fail，这两个否定词就组成了双重否定，而双重否定往往用来表示肯定。这句话可以译成：“猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。”
2 be based on，在……基础之上。
3 have in common，有共同之处。
4 the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。“the +形容词或副词比较级…the +形容词或副词比较级”的结构常用来表示比较关系，往往可以译成“越……越……”。 be likely to是“很可能会”的意思。
楼主
