大學(xué)英語精讀文本第2冊UNIT 2

UNIT2TEXTAheateddiscussionaboutwhethermenarebraverthanwomenissettledinaratherunexpectedway.TheDinnerPartyIfirstheardthistaleinIndia,whereistoldasiftrue--thoughanynaturalistwouldknowitcouldn'tbe.LatersomeonetoldmethatthestoryappearedinamagazineshortlybeforetheFirstWorldWar.Thatmagazinestory,andthepersonwhowroteit,Ihaveneverbeenabletotrackdown.ThecountryisIndia.Acolonialofficialandhiswifearegivingalargedinnerparty.Theyareseatedwiththeirguests--officersandtheirwives,andavisitingAmericannaturalist--intheirspaciousdiningroom,whichhasabaremarblefloor,openraftersandwideglassdoorsopeningontoaveranda.Aspiriteddiscussionspringsupbetweenayounggirlwhosaysthatwomenhaveoutgrownthejumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouseeraandamajorwhosaysthattheyhaven't."Awoman'sreactioninanycrisis,"themajorsays,"istoscream.Andwhileamanmayfeellikeit,hehasthatouncemoreofcontrolthanawomanhas.Andthatlastounceiswhatreallycounts."TheAmericandoesnotjoinintheargumentbutwatchestheotherguests.Ashelooks,heseesastrangeexpressioncomeoverthefaceofthehostess.Sheisstaringstraightahead,hermusclescontractingslightly.Shemotionstothenativeboystandingbehindherchairandwhisperssomethingtohim.Theboy'seyeswiden:hequicklyleavestheroom.Oftheguests,noneexcepttheAmericannoticesthisorseestheboyplaceabowlofmilkontheverandajustoutsidetheopendoors.TheAmericancomestowithastart.InIndia,milkinabowlmeansonlyonething--baitforasnake.Herealizestheremustbeacobraintheroom.Helooksupattherafters--thelikeliestplace--buttheyarebare.Threecornersoftheroomareempty,andinthefourththeservantsarewaitingtoservethenextcourse.Thereisonlyoneplaceleft--underthetable.Hisfirstimpulseistojumpbackandwarntheothers,butheknowsthecommotionwouldfrightenthecobraintostriking.Hespeaksquickly,thetoneofhisvoicesocommandingthatitsilenceseveryone."Iwanttoknowjustwhatcontroleveryoneatthistablehas.Iwillcountthreehundred--that'sfiveminutes--andnotoneofyouistomoveamuscle.Thosewhomovewillforfeit50rupees.Ready?"The20peoplesitlikestoneimageswhilehecounts.Heissaying"...twohundredandeighty..."when,outofthecornerofhiseye,heseesthecobraemergeandmakeforthebowlofmilk.Screamsringoutashejumpstoslamtheverandadoorssafelyshut."Youwereright,Major!"thehostexclaims."Amanhasjustshownusanexampleofperfectself-control.""Justaminute,"theAmericansays,turningtohishostess."Mrs.Wynnes,howdidyouknowthatcobrawasintheroom?"Afaintsmilelightsupthewoman'sfaceasshereplies:"Becauseitwascrawlingacrossmyfoot."NEWWORDSheateda.withstrong,excited,andoftenangryfeelings熱烈的；激烈的unexpecteda.notexpected意外的naturalistn.onewhomakesaspecialstudyofplantsoranimalsoutdoors博物學(xué)家（尤指直接觀察動植物者）shortlyad.Soon;(in)alittletime不久，馬上colonial]a.oforrelatedtoacolonyorcolonies殖民地的spaciousa.big;havingmuchspace廣闊的；寬闊的diningn.餐廳barea.notcovered(withacarpet);empty不鋪地毯的；赤裸的；光禿的marblen.大理石raftern.oneoftheslopingbeamsthatsupport椽ontoprep.toapositionorpointon到...之上;向...之上verandan.陽臺spiriteda.fullofspirit;livelyoutgrowvt.leavebehind,asonegrowsolderormoremature長大得使...不再適用;成長得不再要mousen.鼠eran.時代，年代majorn.少校crisisn.timeofdifficulty,danger,etc.危機(jī)ouncen.盎司;少量argumentn.discussionbypersonswhodisagree;dispute爭論;辯論hostessn.女主人musclen.肌肉contractvi.becomeshorterorsmaller收縮contractionn.slightlyad.alittle稍微地slighta.motionvi.giveasignalbymovingthehandorhead打手勢;點(diǎn)(或搖)頭示意widenv.makeorbecomewiderbaitn.foodusedtoattractfish,animals,orbirdssothattheymaybecaught誘餌cobran.poisonoussnakefoundinIndiaandAfrica眼鏡蛇bable可能的impulsen.suddenwishtodosth.沖動commotionn.noisyconfusionorexcitement混亂;騷動tonen.qualityofvoiceormusic語氣;音調(diào)commandinga.authoritative威嚴(yán)的forfeitvt.sufferthelossof(sth.)asapunishment(作為懲罰而)失去rupeen.monetaryunitofIndia,Pakistan,etc.盧比imagen.sta