(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Mister Mindon returned home for lunch. His wife Millicent was not at home. The servants did not know where she was. Mister Mindon sat alone at the table in the garden. He ate a small piece of meat and drank some mineral water. Mister Mindon always ate simple meals, because he had problems with his stomach. Why then did he keep a cook among his servants? Because his wife Millicent liked to invite her friends to big dinners and serve them rare and expensive food and wine. Mister Mindon did not enjoy his wife's parties. Millicent complained that he did not know how to enjoy life. She did a lot of things that he did not like. Millicent wasted Mister Mindon's money and was unpleasant to him. But he never got angry with his wife.
After eating, Mister Mindon took a walk through his house. He did not stay long in the living room. It reminded him of all the hours he had spent there at his wife's parties. The sight of the formal dining room made him feel even more uncomfortable. He remembered the long dinners where he had to talk to his wife's friends for hours. They never seemed very interested in what he was saying. Mister Mindon walked quickly past the ballroom where his wife danced with her friends. He would go to bed after dinner. But he could hear the orchestra playing until three in the morning. Mister Mindon walked into the library. No one in the house ever read any of the books. But Mister Mindon was proud to be rich enough to have a perfectly useless room in his house. He went into the sunny little room where his wife planned her busy days and evenings. Her writing table was covered with notes and cards from all her friends. Her wastepaper basket was full of empty envelopes that had carried invitations to lunches, dinners, and theater parties.
Mister Mindon saw a letter crushed into a small ball on the floor. He bent to pick it up. Just as he was about to throw it into the wastepaper basket, he noticed that the letter was signed by his business partner, Thomas Antrim. But Antrim's letter to Mister Mindon's wife was not about business. As Mister Mindon read it, he felt as if his mind was spinning out of control. He sat down heavily in the chair near his wife's little writing table. Now the room looked cold and unfamiliar. "Who are you?" the walls seemed to say. "Who am I?" Mister Mindon said in a loud voice. "I'll tell you who I am! I am the man who paid for every piece of furniture in this room. If it were not for me and my money, this room would be empty!" Suddenly, Mister Mindon felt taller. He marched across his wife's room. It belonged to him, didn't it? The house belonged to him, too. He felt powerful. He sat at the table and wrote a letter to Millicent. One of the servants came into the room. "Did you call, sir?" he asked. "No," Mister Mindon replied. "But since you are here, please telephone for a taxi cab at once."
The taxi took him to a hotel near his bank. A clerk showed him to his room. It smelled of cheap soap. The window in the room was open and hot noises came up from the street. Mister Mindon looked at his watch. Four o'clock. He wondered if Millicent had come home yet and read his letter. His head began to ache, and Mister Mindon lay down on the bed. When he woke up, it was dark. He looked at his watch. Eight o'clock. Millicent must be dressing for dinner. They were supposed to go to Missus Targe's house for dinner tonight. Well, Mister Mindon thought, Millicent would have to go alone. Maybe she would ask Thomas Antrim to take her to the party! Mister Mindon realized he was hungry. He left his room and walked down the stairs to the hotel dining room. The air -- smelling of coffee and fried food -- wrapped itself around his head. Mister Mindon could not eat much of the food that the hotel waiter brought him. He went back to his room, feeling sick. He also felt hot and dirty in the clothing he had worn all day. He had never realized how much he loved his home!
Someone knocked at his door. Mister Mindon jumped to his feet. "Mindon?" a voice asked. "Are you there?" Mister Mindon recognized that voice. It belonged to Laurence Meysy. Thirty years ago, Meysy had been very popular with women -- especially with other men's wives. As a young man he had interfered in many marriages. Now, in his old age, Laurence Meysy had become a kind of "marriage doctor." He helped husbands and wives save their marriages. Mister Mindon began to feel better as soon as Laurence Meysy walked into his hotel room. Two men followed him. One was Mister Mindon's rich uncle, Ezra Brownrigg. The other was the Reverend Doctor Bonifant, the minister of Saint Luke's church where Mister Mindon and his family prayed every Sunday. Mister Mindon looked at the three men and felt very proud that they had come to help him. For the first time in his married life, Mister Mindon felt as important as his wife Millicent.
Laurence Meysy sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette. "Misses Mindon sent for me," he said. Mister Mindon could not help feeling proud of Millicent. She had done the right thing. Meysy continued. "She showed me your letter. She asks you for mercy." Meysy paused, and then said: "The poor woman is very unhappy. And we have come here to ask you what you plan to do." Now Mister Mindon began to feel uncomfortable. "To do?" he asked. "To do? Well…I, I plan to…to leave her." Meysy stopped smoking his cigarette. "Do you want to divorce her?" he asked. "Why, yes! Yes!" Mister Mindon replied. Meysy knocked the ashes from his cigarette. "Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?" he asked. Mister Mindon nodded his head. "I plan to divorce her," he said loudly. Mister Mindon began to feel very excited. It was the first time he had ever had so many people sitting and listening to him. He told his audience everything, beginning with his discovery of his wife's love affair with his business partner, and ending with his complaints about her expensive dinner parties.
His uncle looked at his watch. Doctor Bonifant began to stare out of the hotel window. Meysy stood up. "Do you plan to dishonor yourself then?" he asked. "No one knows what has happened. You are the only one who can reveal the secret. You will make yourself look foolish." Mister Mindon tried to rise. But he fell back weakly. The three men picked up their hats. In another moment, they would be gone. When they left, Mister Mindon would lose his audience, and his belief in himself and his decision. "I won't leave for New York until tomorrow," he whispered. Laurence Meysy smiled. "Tomorrow will be too late," he said. "Tomorrow everyone will know you are here." Meysy opened the hotel room door. Mister Brownrigg and Doctor Bonifant walked out of the room. Meysy turned to follow them, when he felt Mister Mindon's hand grab his arm. "I…I will come with you," Mister Mindon sighed. "It's…it's…for the children." Laurence Meysy nodded as Mister Mindon walked out of the room. He closed the door gently.
重点解析
1.a lot of 大量；很多
I have lost a lot of weight.
我体重减了不少。
2.be angry with 生……的气；对生气
Don't be angry with him. He's your father after all.
别生他的气了，他些毕竟是你的父亲。
3.out of control 失控；不受控制
Fires were burning out of control in the center of the city.
市中心的火势失去了控制。
4.plan to 打算；计划
We plan to go to New York at the weekend.
我们计划周末去纽约。
参考译文
《便利方法》。明顿先生回家吃午饭。他的妻子米莉森特不在家，仆人们不知道她去哪了。明顿先生独自坐在花园的桌子旁，他吃了一小块肉，喝了些矿泉水。明顿先生总是吃简单的饭菜，因为他的胃不好。那他为什么还要在仆人中留一个厨师呢？因为他的妻子米莉森特喜欢邀请朋友们来吃大餐，为他们提供稀有昂贵的食物和葡萄酒。明顿先生不喜欢他妻子的聚会。米莉森特抱怨说他不懂得如何享受生活。她做的很多事情，他都不喜欢。米莉森特挥霍明顿先生的钱，使他很不高兴。但他从不对妻子发火。
饭后，明顿先生在他的房子里散步。他没在起居室呆多久。这使他想起自己参加妻子的聚会时在这儿度过的所有时光。看到正规的晚餐室，使他感到更加不舒服。他还记得那漫长的晚餐，他不得不和妻子的朋友们聊上几个小时。他们似乎对他说的话从来都不感兴趣。明顿先生快速地走过他的妻子和朋友们跳舞的舞厅。他晚饭后会去睡觉。但他能听到管弦乐队演奏到凌晨三点。明顿先生走进图书馆。家里没有人读过这些书。但明登先生很自豪，因为他有钱，能够在家里安置这样一间完全没用的房间。他走进那间阳光明媚的小房间，妻子曾在这儿安排她在白天和晚上的忙碌活动。她的写字台上摆满了所有朋友寄来的便条和卡片。废纸篓里装满了空信封，里面装着午餐、晚餐和戏剧派对的请柬。
明顿先生看见一封信在地板上被揉成一个小球。他弯下腰，把它捡起来。就在他准备把信扔进废纸篓时，他注意到这封信上的签名是他的商业伙伴托马斯·安特里姆。但安特里姆写给明顿妻子的信与生意并不相关。明顿先生读这封信时，感觉自己的思想好像失去了控制。他沉重地坐到妻子小写字台旁的椅子上。现在，房间显得冰冷又陌生。“你是谁？”墙壁好像在说。“我是谁？”明登先生大声说。“我会告诉你我是谁！我是这个房间里为每件家具付钱的人。如果不是我和我的钱，这个房间就空空如也！”突然，明顿先生感觉自己变得高大了。他穿过妻子的房间。这房间是属于他的，不是吗？这幢房子也属于他。他觉得自己强大无比。他坐在桌旁给米莉森特写了一封信。一个仆人走进房间。“您打过电话吗，先生？”他问“没有，”明顿先生回答。“但既然你来了，请马上打电话叫辆出租车。”
出租车把他送到银行附近的一家旅馆。一个职员带他去房间。房间里有股廉价肥皂的味道。房间的窗户开着，街上传来嘈杂的声音。明顿先生看了看手表，现在是四点钟。他寻思着米莉森特是否已经回家，看了他的信。他的头开始疼起来，明顿先生躺到床上。他醒来时，一片漆黑。他看了看手表，八点了。米莉森特一定在为晚餐梳妆打扮，他们今晚应该去塔格太太家吃晚饭。嗯，明顿先生想，米莉森特得一个人去了。也许她会请托马斯·安特里姆带她去参加聚会！明顿先生感到自己饿了。他离开房间，走下楼梯，来到旅馆的餐厅。咖啡和油炸食物的味道弥漫在空气中，笼罩着他的头。旅馆服务员给他端来食物，明顿先生没吃多少。他回到房间，感到不舒服。他还觉得穿了一整天的衣服又热又脏。他从未意识到自己有多么爱他的家！
有人敲门。明顿先生跳了起来。“明顿？”一个声音问道“你在吗？” 明顿先生认出了那个声音。这是劳伦斯·梅西。三十年前，梅西很受女性的欢迎，尤其是有夫之妇的宠爱。他年轻时，曾干涉过许多婚姻。如今，劳伦斯·梅西在晚年已经成为一名“婚姻医生”，他帮助夫妻挽救他们的婚姻。劳伦斯·梅西一走进旅馆房间，明顿先生就感觉好多了。他后面跟着两个人。一位是明顿先生富有的叔叔，以斯拉·布朗里奇。另一位是博尼法特牧师，他是圣卢克教堂的牧师，明顿先生和家人每周日都在那儿做祷告。明顿先生看着这三个人，为他们来帮助自己感到非常自豪。在他的婚姻生活中，明顿先生第一次觉得自己和妻子米莉森特一样重要。
劳伦斯·梅西在床沿上坐下，点了一支烟。他说：“明顿女士叫我来的。”。明顿先生不禁为米莉森特感到骄傲，她做了正确的事。梅西继续说，“她给我看了你的信，她请求你的宽恕。”梅西停顿了一下，接着说：“那个可怜的女人很不高兴。我们是来问你打算怎么做的。”现在，明顿先生开始感到不舒服了。“怎么做？”他问。“怎么做？嗯……我，我打算……离开她。”梅西把烟放下。“你想和她离婚吗？”他问。 “为什么这么问，是的！是的！” 明顿先生回答。梅西弹掉香烟上的灰。”你确定要这样做吗？”他问。明顿先生点了点头。“我打算和她离婚，”他大声说。明顿先生开始感到非常兴奋。这是他生平中第一次，有这么多人坐下听他说话。他把一切都告诉了他的听众，从他发现妻子和他的生意伙伴有染开始，最后是抱怨妻子昂贵的各种晚宴。
他的叔叔看了看表。博尼法特牧师开始凝视酒店的窗外。梅西站了起来，“那你打算羞辱自己吗？”他问“没人知道发生了什么事，你是唯一能泄露秘密的人。你会让自己看起来很傻的。”明顿先生想站起来，但他无力地跌倒了。三个人拿起各自的帽子。又过一会儿，他们要走了。他们离开时，明顿先生失去了他的听众，失去他对自己的信心，失去了他对自己所做的决定的信心。“我明天才去纽约，”他小声说。劳伦斯·梅西笑了。 “明天就太晚了，”他说。“明天大家都会知道你在这儿。”梅西打开酒店的房门。布朗里奇先生和博尼法特牧师走出房间。梅西转身跟在他们后面，这时他感到明顿先生的手抓住了他的胳膊。“我……我和你们一起走，” 明顿先生叹了口气。“是……是……为了孩子们。” 明顿先生走出房间时，劳伦斯·梅西点了点头。他轻轻地关上了房门。
