华尔街高级英语Lesson 47

Look Annie, I’ve got a confession¹ to make. When I said I was a journalist,  that  wasn’t actually true.
Really? I must say, I did wonder.
No, it was just an excuse to meet you,  that’s all. I hope you don’t mind terribly.
It doesn’t make any difference to me what you are.
I still don’t see why you’re so interested in me though.
I’m interested in your ideas, Annie. I read that fantastic article of yours in “Earth First”.
Which one was that?
The one about “Gender² and Ecology”.
Ah ,Yes. I was quite pleased with that, I must say.
And I thought: “Gosh, I’ve got to meet this lady, we’ve got so much in common, we’d have so much to talk about.”
Let’s hope so. Tell me then, what do you do, Kristi, if you’re not a journalist?
Oh, I work as a sort of a personal assistant to my father.
To your father?
That’s right. I do translations of business documents, and I interpret³ for him at meetings, and look after his correspondence⁴.
I hate it though, he’s so conservative⁵ and right wing. It goes against everything I believe in.
What line of business is your father in?
I’m not absolutely sure, Annie. Some of the time he buys and sells antiques⁶, but he has other kinds of business, too.
I suspect that some of it’s against the law even. But what can I do? He is my father, after all.
You know, it’s really strange, the way you describe him. He sounds a lot like my father, as a matter of fact.
Still, we were talking about your problems, not mine .
We don’t have to. You can tell me what’s on your mind, Annie, if you feel like it.
I ought to keep it to myself really, but…oh, I don’t know! I’m just so confused at the moment. I thought my father had died five years ago, and he’s suddenly turned up again, right here in Washdon.
Really? Have you seen him, then?
Yeah. I had lunch with him the other day. He left early, because he thought the police were after him,
Oh, it’s so horribly embarrassing⁷, apart from anything else. He seems to want to be close to me, like I was still a little girl; he just won’t accept that I’ve changed.
And he’s got this awful sentimental⁸ idea about “the family”. What family? Apart from me, there’re just my brother and his horrible wife Juanita.
Isn’t she the daughter of that Mexican businessman who was kidnapped? I read about it in the papers.
That’s right. He’s supposed to be worth millions. I wonder who did it?
Juanita probably blames me for it.
You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?
Of course not! Kidnapping just one person is pointless, it doesn’t change anything at all. Not that I feel sorry for him;
I’m sure he deserved⁹ it. It was a group of women who kidnapped him, wasn’t it?
Looks like it. We’ve got this American lady Called Lauran staying with us who says she knows some of the women behind it.
Hey, I’ve got to be out of my mind telling you all this, when I don’t even know you! What am I doing?
Annie, you can trust me. It does you good to talk to someone who understands how you feel.
How do I know you won’t go straight to the cops¹⁰?
I promise you I won’t. You can depend on me. Look, why don’t you go on telling me about your father. It sounds extraordinary! Why did he disappear for all that time?
I can’t tell you, Kristi, really shouldn’t have spoken to you in the first place. I’d better go.
Oh, very well. Can we meet again sometime?
Maybe I’ll call you sometime. I’ve got your number. So long, Kristi.
Hello, Richard. Yes, I’ve spoken to her, she didn’t tell me much. Do we have to? Yes,
I suppose she might agree to see me again. But the thing is, I feel awful about it.
It’s hard to explain, but…Yes, I know I promised you a story. OK, OK, Have it your own way.
What, Speak to her brother? There’s no point, he’s a fool. Anyway, his wife won’t even let him look at another woman.

1 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 interpret   

vt.解释，说明，理解；vi.作口译

参考例句：

• We have to interpret his words in a modern light.我们不得不用现代观点来解释他的话。
• Please interpret the comments of our foreign guest.请把外宾的话翻译一下。

4 correspondence   

n.信件，通信（联系）符合，一致，相似

参考例句：

• He showed me all the correspondence relating to the matter.他把与这件事有关的全部信件都给我看了。
• What she has just said isn't in correspondence with the views of the majority.她刚才所说的同大多数人所持的观点不一致。

5 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

6 antiques   

n.古玩，古董，古物( antique的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The room was furnished with antiques. 房间里摆放了古董。
• a priceless collection of antiques 价值连城的古文物收藏

7 embarrassing   

adj.使人尴尬的，令人为难的v.（使）窘迫，（使）局促不安( embarrass的现在分词)

参考例句：

• His jokes didn't even raise a smile, which was embarrassing. 听了他讲的笑话，都没人笑一下，真是太尴尬了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was in the embarrassing position of having completely forgotten her name. 当时我完全忘记了她的名字，很是尴尬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

9 deserved   

adj.应得的，当然的v.应受，应得，值得( deserve的过去式和过去分词 )；应受报答；应得报酬；应得赔偿

参考例句：

• Some of you deserved to succeed and others only scraped through. 你们当中有些人成功是理所当然，而有些人只是勉强及格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Don't glare at me like that, you deserved the scolding. 不要那么瞪着我，你本该受到训斥的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cops   

n.堆，顶；警察( cop的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As usual, the cops get the baddies in the end. 跟平常一样，警察最后把坏人都抓起来了。
• Somebody call the cops! 去个人报警啊！