英语听力：雾都孤儿 01. Oliver's early life

1  Oliver’s early life 

 

Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse，and when he arrived in this hard world，it was very doubtful² whether he would live beyond the first three minutes．He lay on a hard little bed and struggled to start breathing． 

Oliver fought his first battle without much assistance³ from the two people present at his birth．One was an old woman，who was nearly always drunk⁴， and the other was a busy local doctor，who was not paid enough to be very interested in Oliver’s survival⁵． After all，death was a common event in the workhouse，where only the poor and homeless lived． 

However，Oliver managed to draw his first breath，and then announced his arrival to the rest of the workhouse by crying loudly．His mother raised her pale young face from the pillow and whispered， ‘Let me see the child， and die．’ 

The doctor turned away from the fire， where he had been warming his hands． ‘You must not talk about dying⁶ yet，’he said to her kindly⁷．He gave her the child to hold．Lovingly，she kissed the baby on its forehead with her cold white lips，then stared wildly around the room，fell back-and died. ‘Poor dear！’said the nurse，hurriedly putting a green glass bottle back in the pocket of her long skirt. 

The doctor began to put on his coat． ‘The baby is weak and will probably have difficulties，’ he said． ‘If so， give it a little milk to keep it quiet．’Then he looked at the dead woman.  ‘The mother was a good－looking girl．Where did she come from？’ 

‘She was brought here last  night，’replied the old woman. ‘She was found lying in the street. She’d walked some distance，judging by her shoes，which were worn to pieces．Where she came from，where she was going to，or what her name was，nobody knows.’ 

The  doctor lifted  the  girl’s  left  hand. ‘The old story’he said sadly，shaking his  head． ‘No wedding ring， I see．Ah！Good night.’ 

And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse．Without clothes，under his first blanket， he could have been the child of a king or a beggar⁸．But when the woman dressed him later in rough cotton clothes， yellow with age，he looked exactly what he was - an orphan⁹ in a workhouse， ready for a life of misery，hunger， and neglect¹⁰.  

Oliver cried loudly．If he could have known that he was a workhouse orphan， perhaps he would have cried even more loudly. 

There was no one to look after the baby in the workhouse，so Oliver was sent to a special  ‘baby farm’ nearby. There，he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day，without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing. Mrs. Mann，the old  woman who looked after’them， was very experienced¹¹．She knew what was good for children，and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health. She also knew what was good for herself， so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children’s food．The board responsible for the orphans¹² sometimes checked on the health of the children， but They always sent the beadle，a kind of local policeman，to announce their visit the day before．So whenever the board arrived， of course，the children were always neat and clean． 

This was the way Oliver was brought up. Consequently¹³， at the age of nine he was a pale，thin child and short for his age．But despite frequent beatings by Mrs Mann， his spirit was strong， which was probably the reason why he managed to reach the age of nine at all． 

On Oliver’s ninth birthday， Mr Bumble the beadle came to the house to see Mrs Mann．Through the front window Mrs Mann saw him at the gate， and turned quickly to the girl who worked with her． 

‘Quick！Take Oliver and those others upstairs to be washed！’she said．Then she ran out to unlock¹⁴ the gate．（It was always kept locked to prevent official visitors walking in unexpectedly¹⁵．） 

‘I have business to talk about，’Mr Bumble told Mrs Mann as he entered the house．He was a big fat man， often bad-tempered¹⁶， and was full of self-importance. He did not like to be kept waiting at a locked gate. 

Mrs Mann took his hat and coat，placed a chair for him，and expressed great concern for his comfort． ‘You’ve had a long walk，Mr Bumble’she said,‘and you must be thirsty．’She took out a bottle from the cupboard． 

‘No， thank you， Mrs Mann. Not a drop．’He waved the bottle away． 

‘Just a little drop， Mr Bumble， with cold water，’ said Mrs Mann persuasively¹⁷． 

Mr Bumble coughed． ‘What is it？’ he asked， looking at the bottle with interest． 

‘Gin．I keep it for the children’s medicine drink.’ 

‘You give the children gin，Mrs Mann？’asked Mr Bumble，watching as she mixed his drink． 

‘Only with medicine，sir． I don’t like to see them suffer．’ 

‘You’re a good woman， Mrs Mann．’ Mr Bumble drank half his glass immediately． ‘I’ll tell the board about you．Now - the reason why I’m here． Oliver Twist is nine years old today． We’ve never been able to discover anything about his parents.’ 

‘Then how did he get his name？’ 

‘I gave it to him，’said Mr Bumble proudly． ‘We follow the alphabet．The last one was an S-Swubble.Then it  was T， so this one is Twist． The next one will be Unwin．Anyway，Oliver Twist is now old enough to return to the workhouse． Bring him here，please．’ While Mrs Mann went to get him，  Mr Bumble finished the rest of his gin． 

Oliver,his face and hands now almost clean，was led into the room. 

‘Will you come along with me，Oliver？’asked Mr Bumble in a loud voice． 

Oliver was very glad to be free of Mrs Mann’s violence， but he said nothing because she was angrily shaking her finger at him．However，as the gate closed behind Oliver，he burst into tears. He was leaving behind the other children,the only friends he had，and he realized at that moment how lonely he was in the world. 

Mr Bumble walked on with long steps，with Oliver on his short little legs running beside him．The feeling of contentment produced by gin－and－water had now disappeared，and the beadle was in a bad mood once more． 

Back at the workhouse， Oliver was taken to see the board. He stood in front of ten fat men who were sitting around a table． 

‘What’s your name， boy？’ asked a particularly fat man with a very round，red face． 

O liver¹ was frightened at the sight of so many people， and started to cry. 

‘Why are you crying？’ 

The beadle hit him on the back，and so naturally Oliver cried even more. 

‘The boy is a fool，’one member of the board announced. 

‘You know you have no father or mother，’said the first man,‘and that you have been brought up with other orphans？’ 

‘Yes， sir，’replied Oliver， crying bitterly． 

‘Why is the boy crying？’repeated the other man， puzzled． 

‘You have come here to be educated，’continued the fat man,‘so you will start working here tomorrow at six o’clock．’ 

Oliver was led away to a large room，where，on a rough hard bed，he cried himself to sleep． 

The room in the workhouse where the boys were fed was a large stone hall，and at one end the master and two women served the food．This consisted of a bowl of thin soup three times a day，with a piece of bread on Sundays．The boys ate everything and were always hungry．The bowls never needed washing．The boys polished them with their spoons until They shone．After three months of this slow starvation，one of the boys told the others he was so hungry that one night he might eat the boy who slept next to him．He had a wild hungry eye，and  the  other  boys  believed  him．After a long  discussion，They decided¹⁸ that one of them should ask for more food after supper that evening，and Oliver was chosen． 

The evening arrived；the soup was served，and the bowls were empty again in a few seconds．Oliver went up to the master，with his bowl in his hand．He felt very frightened，but also desperate with hunger． 

‘Please，sir，I want some more．’ 

The master was a fat，healthy man， but he turned very pale. He looked at the little boy in front of him with amazement¹⁹．Nobody else spoke²⁰． 

‘What？’ he asked at last， in a faint voice． 

‘Please，sir，’replied  Oliver,‘I want  some  more.’ 

The master hit him with the serving spoon，then seized O liver’s arms and shouted for the beadle．The beadle came quickly，heard the dreadful²¹ news，and immediately ran to tell the board． 

‘He asked for more？’ Mr Limbkins，the  fattest  board member，asked in horror²².‘Bumble - is this really true？’ 

‘That boy will be hanged！’ said  the  man who  earlier had called Oliver a fool． ‘You see if I’m not right．’ 

Oliver was led away to be locked up，and a reward was offered to anybody who would take him away and use him for work.

1 liver   

n.肝；肝脏

参考例句：

• He has a weak liver.他的肝脏不好。
• The largest organ in the body is the liver.人体最大的器官是肝脏。

2 doubtful   

adj.难以预测的，未定的；怀疑的，可疑的

参考例句：

• Let's try to clear up our difficult and doubtful points.让我们设法把难处和疑点解决一下。
• Everyone was doubtful at first,but his statement in detail held up.起初大家都怀疑，但他的详细叙述证明情况属实。

3 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

4 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

5 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

6 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 beggar   

n.乞丐，穷人，募捐者

参考例句：

• The beggar begged from the rich but they refused.那个乞丐向富人们乞讨，但遭到了拒绝。
• He is so rich and lives like a beggar.他非常有钱可是生活得象个乞丐。

9 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

10 neglect   

vt.忽视，忽略；疏忽，玩忽；n.疏忽，玩忽

参考例句：

• Don't neglect to lock the door when you leave.你离开时别忘了锁门。
• Today's housing problems are the product of years of neglect.今天的住房困难是多年来忽视的结果。

11 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

12 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

13 consequently   

adv.因此，因而，所以

参考例句：

• She was a bright and eager student and,consequently,did well in school.她是个聪明好学的学生，因此学习成绩很好。
• The company went bankrupt and consequently he lost his job.公司破产，因此他失业了。

14 unlock   

v.启示，揭示，开...的锁

参考例句：

• The border police required the traveler to unlock his luggage.边防警察要求旅客打开行李。
• We heard somebody unlock the door.我们听见有人开门锁。

15 unexpectedly   

adv.未料到地，意外地；竟；居然；骤然

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning. 火山一早突然爆发了。
• I had just put the dinner on when Jim walked in unexpectedly. 我刚把晚饭摆上桌，吉姆突然走进来。

16 bad-tempered   

adj.脾气坏的

参考例句：

• He grew more and more bad-tempered as the afternoon wore on.随着下午一点点地过去，他的脾气也越来越坏。
• I know he's often bad-tempered but really,you know,he's got a heart of gold.我知道他经常发脾气，但是，要知道，其实他心肠很好。

17 persuasively   

adv.口才好地；令人信服地

参考例句：

• Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
• He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句

18 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。

19 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• 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。

20 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

21 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

22 horror   

n.惊骇，恐怖，惨事，极端厌恶

参考例句：

• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
• The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。