The Writer

 

 

Nineteenth-century life had dealt the ten-year-old London ¹⁾lad a bad hand. While his father ²⁾languished in debtor’s jail, painful ³⁾pangs of hunger ⁴⁾gnawed at his stomach. To feed himself, the boy took a job pasting labels on ⁵⁾blacking bottles in a ⁶⁾grim, ⁷⁾rat-infested ⁸⁾warehouse⁴. He slept in a ⁹⁾dismal^{5 10)}attic⁶ room with two other street ¹¹⁾urchins, while secretly dreaming of becoming a writer. With only four years of ¹²⁾schooling⁸, he had little confidence in his ability. To avoid the ¹³⁾jeering⁹ laughter he expected, he ¹⁴⁾sneaked out in the dead of night to mail his first ¹⁵⁾manuscript.

Story after story was refused, until finally one was accepted. He wasn’t paid for it, but still, one editor had praised his work.

The recognition he received through the printing of that one story changed his life. If it hadn’t been for the encouragement of that one editor, he might have spent his entire working life in a rat-infested factory.

You may have heard of this boy, whose books brought about so many reforms in the treatment of children and the poor: his name was Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas ¹⁶⁾Carol. CE

 

 

15、作家

 

19世纪时，生活没有礼遇这名十岁的伦敦少年。他的父亲因为债台高筑而心力交瘁，他的胃还饱受饥饿的痛苦折磨。为了能吃饱，男孩找了份工作--在一个条件简陋、耗子滋生的仓库里往鞋油瓶上粘商标。他和另外两个街上的流浪儿一起睡在光线幽暗的阁楼房间里，内心一边暗暗地梦想着成为作家。因为只上过四年学，他对自己是否具备此能力几乎不怀任何信心。为了避免遭受他人的愚弄和嘲笑，他的第一份稿件是等到深夜才悄悄地投寄出去的。

遭遇了一次又一次的退稿后，终于有一份稿件被录用了。没有稿费，但他的作品受到一名编辑的赞扬。

那份发表的稿件使他获得认可，并改变了他的一生。如果不是因为那名编辑的鼓励，他这一辈子也许都将在耗子滋生的工厂里度过。

你可能已经听说过这个男孩了，他写下的许多书使孩子们与穷人的待遇得到极大改善。他叫查尔斯·狄更斯，《圣诞颂歌》即出自他的手笔。CE

 

1)  lad [lAd] n. 少年，青年男子

2)  languish¹ [5lANgwiF]v. 憔悴

3)  pang² [pAN ]n. 剧痛，悲痛

4)  gnaw³ [nC:] v. 折磨，侵蚀

5)  blacking [5blAkiN] n. 黑色鞋油

6)  grim [grim] a. 严酷的，讨厌的

7)  rat-infested [rAt-in5festitid] a. 老鼠滋生的

8)  warehouse [5wZE-haus] n. 仓库

9)  dismal [5dizmEl] a. 阴沉的，使人消沉的

10) attic [5Atik] n. 阁楼

11) urchin⁷ [5E:tFin] n. 顽童

12) schooling [5sku:liN] n. 学校教育

13) jeering [5dViEriN] a. 嘲弄的

14) sneak¹⁰ [sni:k] v. 鬼鬼祟祟地做事

15) manuscript [5mAnjuskript] n. 手稿，原稿

16) carol [5kArEl] n. 颂歌

 

 

1 languish   

vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎

参考例句：

• Without the founder's drive and direction,the company gradually languished.没有了创始人的斗志与指引，公司逐渐走向没落。
• New products languish on the drawing board.新产品在计划阶段即告失败。

2 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

3 gnaw   

v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨

参考例句：

• Dogs like to gnaw on a bone.狗爱啃骨头。
• A rat can gnaw a hole through wood.老鼠能啃穿木头。

4 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

5 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

6 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

7 urchin   

n.顽童；海胆

参考例句：

• You should sheer off the urchin.你应该躲避这顽童。
• He is a most wicked urchin.他是个非常调皮的顽童。

8 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

9 jeering   

adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Hecklers interrupted her speech with jeering. 捣乱分子以嘲笑打断了她的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He interrupted my speech with jeering. 他以嘲笑打断了我的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。