听播客学英语 165 耻辱

 　　Welcome back. I hope you all had a good Easter break.

　　Today I want to tell you about the English expression “in disgrace”. The best way to explain is to give you some examples.

　　Example one. A little girl wants to make some new clothes for her doll. She makes the clothes by cutting up one of her mother’s dresses. Her mum is furious¹. She sends the little girl to her bedroom with no supper. The little girl is “in disgrace”.

　　Example two. A politician makes speeches about the importance of the family and family values in society. Then the newspapers report that he is having an affair with his secretary. Everyone laughs at him and he is forced to resign. He is “in disgrace”.

　　Example three is a true story that was reported in the newspapers over the Easter holiday. The Bell family – Alan and Elaine Bell and their four children – live in a very nice modern house in a very nice estate of houses in the north-east of England. Elaine Bell is houseproud – that means that she likes to keep her house very neat and tidy. During the Easter holiday, Elaine and Alan and their three younger children went away for a holiday. But their eldest² daughter Rachael, who is 17 years old, did not want to go. “OK, Rachael,” said her parents. “You can stay at home. But no parties, and definitely no alcohol, while we are away.” So Rachael stayed at home by herself.

　　But she wasn’t alone for long. She decided³ to have a party for a few friends. Or maybe quite a lot of friends. She wrote about the party on her MySpace page, inviting⁴ everyone to come and to bring plenty of alcohol. And everyone did come. About two or three hundred young people arrived at her parents’ house. Some of them were her friends, others were people she had never met before. The party became a riot⁵. The party-goers trashed the house. They broke things; they wrote graffiti on the walls; they urinated on the carpets; and some were sick over the furniture. They got drunk and made a lot of noise. The neighbours called the police. The police arrived in vans with police dogs. Some of the neighbours tried to chase the young people away with golf-clubs. It was a night to remember.

　　When Rachael’s parents arrived home, they found their house in a terrible state. They think that the damage will cost ?20,000 to put right. They are of couse furious with Rachael. Rachael herself has disappeared. She has gone to stay with a friend, perhaps for a long time. She says she is very sorry; but she is definitely “in disgrace”.

1 furious   

adj.狂怒的，暴怒的，强烈的，激烈的

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• His wife was furious with him.他妻子对他大发雷霆。

2 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

5 riot   

n.暴（骚）乱，（色彩等）极度丰富；vi.聚众闹事

参考例句：

• They had to call the police in order to put down the riot.他们只得叫来警察以平定骚乱。
• Flowers of all sorts are blooming in a riot of colour.百花盛开，万紫千红。