Lesson 31
A lovable eccentric
可愛(ài)的怪人
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?
True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without
being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they
add colour to the dull routine of everyday life. Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy
businessman, but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie
and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died. Dickie disliked snobs intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.
Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been
caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a $300 watch for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition
than an assistant refused to serve him. Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was
extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and
requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant
severely. When Dickie was given the watch, the presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. He
insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 pennies in all! On another occasion, he invited a
number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of
attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists, they had in fact been painted
by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are
talking about.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)
lovable adj. 可愛(ài)的
eccentric n. （行為）古怪人
disregard v. 不顧，漠視
convention n. 習(xí)俗，風(fēng)俗
conscious adj. 感覺(jué)到的，意識(shí)到的
invariably adv. 總是，經(jīng)常地
routine n. 常規(guī)；慣例
shrewd adj. 精明的
eccentricity n. 怪僻
legendary adj. 傳奇般的
snob n. 勢(shì)利小人，諂上欺下的人
intensely adv. 強(qiáng)烈地
bedraggled adj. 拖泥帶水的
dump v. 把……砰的一聲拋下
apologetic adj. 道歉的
reprimand v. 訓(xùn)斥
stage v. 暗中策劃
elaborate adj. 精心構(gòu)思的
True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without
being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they
add colour to the dull routine of everyday life. Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy
businessman, but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie
and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died. Dickie disliked snobs intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.
Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been
caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a $300 watch for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition
than an assistant refused to serve him. Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was
extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and
requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant
severely. When Dickie was given the watch, the presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. He
insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 pennies in all! On another occasion, he invited a
number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of
attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists, they had in fact been painted
by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are
talking about.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)
lovable adj. 可愛(ài)的
eccentric n. （行為）古怪人
disregard v. 不顧，漠視
convention n. 習(xí)俗，風(fēng)俗
conscious adj. 感覺(jué)到的，意識(shí)到的
invariably adv. 總是，經(jīng)常地
routine n. 常規(guī)；慣例
shrewd adj. 精明的
eccentricity n. 怪僻
legendary adj. 傳奇般的
snob n. 勢(shì)利小人，諂上欺下的人
intensely adv. 強(qiáng)烈地
bedraggled adj. 拖泥帶水的
dump v. 把……砰的一聲拋下
apologetic adj. 道歉的
reprimand v. 訓(xùn)斥
stage v. 暗中策劃
elaborate adj. 精心構(gòu)思的