时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:早读英语精华本


英语课

  A Pair of Socks (I)一双袜子

One fine afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue, when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. Why I wished to buy only one pair is unimportant. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye, and a boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. “What can I do for you, sir?” “I wish to buy a pair of socks.” His eyes glowed. There was a note of passion in his voice. “Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks?” I had not been aware of that, as my entrance had been accidental. “Come with me,” said the boy, ecstatically. I followed him to the rear of the shop, and he began to haul down from the shelves box after box, displaying their contents for my delectation.

“Hold on, lad, I am going to buy only one pair!” “I know that,” said he, “but I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are. Aren’t they wonderful?” There was on his face an expression of solemn and holy rapture 1, as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of his religion. I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in amazement 2. “My friend,” said I, “if you can keep this up, if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from novelty, from having a new job, if you can keep up this zeal 3 and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.”

一个晴朗的下午,我沿第五大街而行,忽然想起需要买双袜子。我拐进看到的第一家袜店,一个不到17岁的少年售货员迎上来:“先生,我能为您效劳吗?” “我想买双短袜?” 他双眸满是热情,声音饱含激情:“您知道您来到了世界上最好的袜店吗?”我倒并未意识到这点,我不过是随便进来的? “随我来,”男孩欣喜若狂地说?我跟着他往里走?他开始从货架上拽下一个又一个盒子,向我展示里面的袜子,让我欣赏?

“停一停,孩子,我只买一双!”“我知道,”他说,“但我想让您瞧瞧这些袜子是多么漂亮,令人赞叹!难道它们不棒吗!”他的脸色庄严而虔诚,就像是在向我透露他的信仰中的奥秘似的。我对他远远超过了对袜子的兴趣?我吃惊地打量着他。“我的朋友,” 我说,“如果你能这样保持下去,如果这热情并不仅仅缘于新奇,缘于找到份新工作,如果你能日复一日地保持这种热心和激情,不出十年,全美的每一双袜子都将是从你手中卖出去的。”



1 rapture
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜
  • His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
  • In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地,被他父亲打断了。
2 amazement
n.惊奇,惊讶
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
3 zeal
n.热心,热情,热忱
  • Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们,于是他们从军了。
  • They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作,以期完成这个项目。
学英语单词
a narrow victory
acaustophytolith
agricultural support
anginosa
audiovisualities
balsa woods
bankerage
beam transport system
beat a dead horse
benefit level
bent rectangular waveguides
bocco
brew fermentation
Broadalbin
build up resistance
bureaucratic comprador's capital
Calescence.
cased in blower
caudothalamic
Chasidism
chinkapin oak
compositive
comprehending
Corpus sterni
delaying maneuvers
design engineering
dial central office
die proof
diffloth
dry vermouth
ear cap
eclips
endogalvanism
environmental aerology
erythema autumnale
exordium
fermoy
flat-plate approximation
fold pattern
fraternising
freight of combined transport
functional block diagram
gingival hemorrhage
gone native
helical type hydraulic steering gear
hemizygotes
iconicity
information requested
jiao
lacking
lubricating oil gun
machinegun
Manyani
MCM (micro-circuit module)
monotectoid reaction
Natiuran
nematospermia
nipaecoccus filamentosus
non-orthodox
nondiastrophism
nonlinear integrated optics
notched bar pull test
Oscillospiraceae
overneutralization
phizog
pikery
plainnesses
Pomfret Center
psycheism
purchase-situation involvement
quadrangulata
quarter-piece
Quibray B.
regeneration under strip system
restraighten
rig control
s box
secondary joint
self admittance
single-end adjustable spanner
soft dentin
standard surface
stewin'
strip handle
stronger tendency
superfluous constraint
suppressed alarm signal
television system converter
temperature-responsive element
thalenite-(Y)
tonoplast
trichosuruss
Umbrella Pt.
unacquitted
undercarriages of crawler tractor
urban service
vehicle warning indication
vice inductive to crime
wha-up
wolf-men
yetties
zahorsky