(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I was going to town one morning when my wife gave me a little piece of red calico cloth. She asked me if I would have time, during the day, to buy her two and a half meters of calico cloth like that. I told her that it would be no trouble at all. Putting the piece of brightly colored cloth in my pocket, I took the train to the city. During the day, I stopped in at a large store. I saw a man walking the floor and asked him where I could see some red calico. "This way, sir." And he led me up the store. "Miss Stone," said he to a young woman, "show this gentleman some red calico." "What kind of red do you want?" asked Miss Stone. I showed her the little piece of calico cloth that my wife had given me. She looked at it and gave it back to me. Then she took down a great roll of cloth and spread it out on the counter. "Why, that isn't the right kind of red!" said I. "No, not exactly," said she; "but it looks nicer than your sample." "That may be," said I, "but, you see, I want it to look like this piece. There is something already made of this kind of calico which needs to be enlarged or fixed or something. I want some calico of the same shade."
The girl made no answer, but took down another roll of cloth. "That's the right color," said she. "Yes," I answered, "but it is striped." "Stripes are worn more than anything else in calicoes," said she. "Yes, but this isn't to be worn," I said. "It's for a piece of furniture, I think. At any rate, I want perfectly plain material, to go with something already in use." "Well, I don't think you can find it perfectly plain unless you get Turkey red," she said. "What is Turkey red?" I asked. "Turkey red is perfectly plain in calicoes," she answered. "Well, let me see some." "We haven't any Turkey red calico left," she said, "but we have some very nice plain calicoes in other colors." "I don't want any other color. I want cloth to go with this." "It's hard to find low-cost calico like that," she said. And so I left her. I next went into a store a few doors up the street. I gave a salesman my sample, and asked:"Have you any calico like this?" "Yes, sir," said he. "Third counter to the right." I went to the third counter to the right. A man there looked at my sample on both sides. Then he said: "We haven't any of this." "I was told you had," said I. "We had it, but we're out of it now. You'll get that from an upholsterer, someone who recovers furniture."
I went across the street to the upholsterer's store. "Have you anything like this?" I asked. "No," said the man, "we haven't. Is it for furniture?" "Yes," I answered. "Then Turkey red is what you want." "Is Turkey red just like this?" I asked. "No," said he, "but it's much better." "That makes no difference to me," I said. "I want something just like this." "But they don't use that for furniture," he said. "I should think people could use anything they wanted for furniture," I said, somewhat sharply. "They can, but they don't," he said, calmly. "They don't use red like that. They use Turkey red." I said no more, but left. The next place I visited was a very large store. Of the first salesman I saw, I asked if they sold red calico like my sample. "You'll find that on the second floor," said he. I went up the steps. There I asked a man: "Where will I find red calico?" "In the far room to the left. Over there." And he pointed to a distant corner. I walked through the crowds of purchasers and salespeople, and around the counters and tables filled with goods, to the far room to the left. When I got there I asked for red calico. "The second counter down this side," said the man. I went there and produced my sample. "Calicoes are downstairs," said the man. "They told me they were up here," I said. "Not these plain goods. You'll find them downstairs at the back of the store, over on that side."
I went downstairs to the back of the store. "Where will I find red calico like this?" I asked. "Next counter but one," said the man, walking with me in the direction he pointed out. "Dunn, show this man red calicoes." Mr. Dunn took my sample and looked at it. "We haven't this shade in that quality of goods," he said. "Well, do you have it in any quality of goods?" I asked. "Yes; we've got it finer." And he took down a piece of calico, and unrolled a meter or two of it on the counter. "That's not this shade," I said. "No," said he. "It is finer and the color is better." "I want it to match this," I said. "I thought you didn't care about the match," said the salesman. "You said you didn't care for the quality of the goods. You know you can't match goods unless you take into consideration quality and color both. If you want that quality of goods in red, you ought to get Turkey red." I did not think it necessary to answer this comment, but said: "Then you've got nothing like this?" "No, sir. But perhaps they may have it in the upholstery department on the sixth floor." So I got in the elevator and went to the sixth floor. "Have you any red material like this?" I said to a young man. "Red material? Upholstery department -- other end of this floor." I went to the other end of the floor. "I want some red calico," I said to a man. "Furniture goods?" he asked. "Yes," said I. "Fourth counter to the left." I went to the fourth counter to the left, and showed my sample to a salesman. He looked at it, and said, "You'll get this down on the first floor -- calico department."
I went down in the elevator, and out on the street. I was completely sick of red calico. But I decided to make one more effort. My wife had bought her red calico not long before, and there must be some to be had somewhere. I should have asked her where she got it. But I thought a simple little thing like that could be bought anywhere. I went into another large store. As I entered the door, a sudden nervousness took hold of me. I just could not take out that piece of red calico again. If I had had any other kind of a cloth, I think I would have asked them if they could match that. But I stepped up to a young woman and presented my sample, with the usual question. "Back room, counter on the left," she said. I went there. "Have you any red calico like this?" I asked the saleswoman. "No, sir," she said, "but we have it in Turkey red." Turkey red again! I surrendered. "All right," I said, "give me Turkey red." "How much, sir?" she asked. "I don't know -- say fifteen meters." She looked at me strangely, but measured off fifteen meters of Turkey red calico. Then she touched the counter and called out, "Cash!"
A young girl with yellow hair appeared. The woman wrote the number of meters, the name of the goods, her own number, the price, and the amount of money I gave her, on a piece of paper. She probably wrote some other things, like the color of my eyes and the direction and speed of the wind. She then copied all this into a little book. Then she gave the piece of paper, the money, and the Turkey red cloth to the yellow-haired girl. This girl copied the information into a little book she carried. Then she went away with the calico, the paper and the money. After a very long time, the girl came back, bringing the money I was owed and the package of Turkey red calico. I returned to my office, but had time for very little work the rest of the day. When I reached home I gave the package of calico to my wife. She opened it and declared, "Why, this doesn't match the piece I gave you!" "Match it!" I cried. "Oh, no! It doesn't match it. You didn't want that matched. You were mistaken. What you wanted was Turkey red — third counter to the left. I mean, Turkey red is what they use." My wife looked at me in surprise, and then I told her my troubles. "Well," said she, "this Turkey red is much nicer looking than what I had. You've got so much of it that I don't have to use the other at all. I wish I had thought of Turkey red before." "I wish from the bottom of my heart you had," said I.
重点解析
1.at any rate 无论如何；至少
At any rate the task must be fulfilled.
无论如何，任务总得完成。
2.go with 同......一致；与......相配
I was searching for a pair of grey gloves to go with my new gown.
我在找一副跟我的新礼服相配的灰色手套。
3.be sick of 厌恶；对......感到厌倦
Everyone will be sick of having the same food for several days.
几天连续吃同样的食物，任何人都会腻烦。
4.step up 走上前；登上
Shake it off and take a step up.
抖掉身上的土，向上走一步。
参考译文
《一块印花红布》。一天早上，我正要进城，我妻子给了我一小块红色印花布。她问我白天是否有时间给她买两米半这样的印花布。我告诉她这一点也不麻烦。我把那块颜色鲜艳的布放在口袋里，乘火车进城了。白天，我走到一家大商店旁，看见有个人走过来。于是，我问他在哪能找到些红色的印花布。“这边走，先生。”他把我领到了那家商店。“斯通小姐，”他对一个年轻女子说，“给这位先生看些红色的印花布。”“你想要什么样的红色？”斯通小姐问。我给她看了妻子给我的那块印花布。她看了看，把布还给我。然后她取下一大卷布，铺在柜台上。“为什么，这种红色不对！”我说。“不，不完全是，”她说，“但它看起来比你那块好。”“可能是的，”我说，“但是你看，我想要和这块一样的布。已经用这种印花布做了东西，需要做大、修补或做其它的事情。我要一些同样颜色的印花布。”
女孩没有回答，但又拿下一卷布。“这是正确的颜色，”她说。“是的，”我回答，“但它是条纹的。”她说：“穿印花布时，条纹比其他任何东西都要多。”“是的，但这不是用来穿的，”我说。“我想是做给一件家具用的。不管怎么样，我想要的是纯色布，好搭配已经在用的东西。”她说：“好吧，除非你要土耳其红，否则你找不到完美的纯色布。” “什么是土耳其红？”我问。她回答说：“土耳其红是印花布中的绝对纯色。“好吧，让我看看。”“我们没有土耳其红印花布了，”她说，“但我们有一些其他颜色非常漂亮的纯色印花布。” “我不要别的颜色，我想要和这块布一样的。”“很难找到像这样的低价印花布，”她说。然后，我就走了。接着，我走进街上相隔几个门脸的一家商店。我把自己拿的样品给了售货员，问他：“你有这样的印花布吗？”“是的，先生，”他说，“右边第三个柜台。”我走到右边的第三个柜台，那边有个人把我的样品的两边都看了一下。然后，他说：“我们没有这种布。”“有人告诉我说你这有，”我说。“我们以前有，但现在已经没有了。你可以从家具商那找到这个，就是回收家具的人。”
我穿过马路去了装潢店。“你有这样的东西吗？”我问。“没有，”那人说，“我们没有，是给家具用的吗？”“是的，”我回答。“那土耳其红就是你想要的。” “土耳其红就是这样的吗？”我问。“不是，”他说，“不过要好得多。”“对我来说没什么区别，”我说。“我就想要这样的。” “但它们不是给家具用的，”他说。“我想，人们想给家具用什么就用什么吧，”我语气有点尖锐。“是可以，但不能这么做，”他平静地说。“他们不会用这种红色，他们会用土耳其红。”我不再说话，而是走了。我去的下一个地方是一家很大的商店。我见到第一个售货员时，问他们是否卖和我的样品一样的红色印花布。“你可以在二楼找到，”他说。我走上台阶，问那的一个人：“我在哪儿能找到红色印花布？”“在左边远处的那间屋子里。”他指了指远处的一个角落。货品的桌子，走到左边远处的屋子。我到那里时，询问是否有红色印花布。“这边的第二个柜台，”那人说。我走到那儿，拿出了我那块布。“印花布在楼下，”那人说。“他们告诉我，楼上有，”我说。“不是这些纯色布，你可以在商店楼下的后边找到它们，就在那边。”
我下楼到商店后面去了。“我在哪儿能找到这样的红色印花布呢？”我问。“下个柜台，但只有一块了，”那人说着，和我一起朝他指的方向走去。“邓恩，给这个人看看红色印花布。”邓恩先生拿过我的那块布看了看。他说：“我们没有相同质量的同色印花布。”“嗯，你们有红色的任何质量的印花布吗？”我问。“有，我们的布更精细些。”他取下一块印花布，在柜台上展开了一两米。“不是这个颜色，”我说。“不，”他说。它做工更精细，颜色也更好。”“我想买和这个布一样的，”我说。“我以为你不在乎是否要一样呢，”售货员说。“你说你不在乎布的质量，如果不同时考虑质量和颜色，就无法让它们一致。如果你想要这种质量红色的商品，就应该买土耳其红。”我认为没必要回答这个问题，但我说：“那你们就什么都没有了？”“不，先生。但是，可能在六层的室内装潢部那里有。” 所以我走进电梯，去了六楼。 “你有这种红色布吗？”我对一个年轻人说。 “红色的布？室内装潢部在这层楼的另一端。”
我走到另一端。“我想要一些红色印花布，”我对一个男人说。“做家具用品？”他问。 “对”，”我说。“左边第四个柜台。”我走到左边第四个柜台，把那块样布拿给一个售货员看。他看了看，说：“你可以在一楼的印花布部买到它。”我下了电梯，走到街上。我完全厌倦了红色印花布。但我决定再努力一次。我妻子不久前才买了红色印花布，肯定还能买到一些。我应该问她是从哪儿买到的，但我想这么个小东西在哪都能买到。我去了另一家大商店。我进门时，突然紧张起来。我再也无法拿出那块红印花布了。如果我有其他布料，我想我会问它们是否能和它配上。但我走到一个年轻女子面前，拿出那块布，询问老问题。“后面的屋子，在左边的柜台，”她说。我走过去。“你们有这样的红色印花布吗？”我问售货员。“没有，先生，”她说，“但我们有土耳其红色。”土耳其红，又来了！我投降了。“好吧，”我说，“给我拿土耳其红色。”“要多少，先生？”她问。“我不知道，来15米吧。”她奇怪地看着我，但还是量出了15米土耳其红色印花布。然后，她摸了摸柜台，喊了一声：“现金！”
一个黄头发的年轻女孩出现了，那名女售货员在一张纸上写下了米数、货名、她自己的号码、价格和我给她的钱。她可能还写了其他东西，比如我眼睛的颜色、风向和风速。钱款和那块土耳其红布给了那个黄头发的女孩。这个女孩把信息抄进了她随身携带的一本小册子里，然后带着印花布、那张纸和钱款走了。过了很长时间，女孩回来了，带来了应该找给我的钱和一包土耳其红色印花布。我回到办公室，但剩下的时间只能干很少的活了。到家时，我把那包印花布交给妻子。她打开它，说：“怎么回事，这和我给你的那块布不一样！”“一样啊！”我大叫一声。“哦，不！不一样。你不想让它们一样啊，你错了。你想要的是土耳其红色，左边起第三个柜台。我是说，他们用的是土耳其红色。”我妻子惊讶地看着我，我随后把自己遇到的麻烦告诉了她。“嗯，”她说，“这个土耳其红色比我这块好看多了。你买了那么多，我根本不用使其它的布了，我希望自己之前想到用土耳其红色就好了。”“我真心希望你曾想过，”我说。
