听名著练听力之简爱篇 第53期

The next day I got a letter from Gateshead. There was much trouble and sadness¹ there.
My cousin, John Reed², had spent all his money and most of his mother's. He had been in prison³ most of his life. He owed⁴ many people money. A week before this, he had killed himself. [-----1-----] Although she could hardly speak, she told my cousins Eliza and Georgiana that she had to see me. Why, I did not know.
Of course, I did not want to go there, but I could not refuse to see Mrs. Reed, when she might die. So I went to ask Mr. Rochester if I could travel to Gateshead for a short time.
"What is it, Jane?" he asked when I saw him. We had left the guests and were sitting alone in the library.
"Well, sir, I would like to visit my aunt, who is ill, for a week or two."
"Jane, I thought you had no family!"
"[-----2-----]"
"Well, Jane, I see you are determined⁵ to go. Where does she live, and how long will you stay?"
"She lives at Gateshead, sir. It is one hundred miles away. I'll come back as soon as I can."
"You must promise me to stay only a week," Mr. Rochester said. I wondered why he looked so worried.
"[-----3-----]"
"But you can't travel a hundred miles all alone, can you?"
"My cousins sent a carriage⁶ for me, sir, so I can leave tomorrow."
Mr. Rochester did not say anything for a moment.

1 sadness   

n.悲哀；难过

参考例句：

• Smiles help you forget your sadness.微笑让你忘却悲伤。
• The jokes were a mask to hide his sadness.玩笑是掩盖他内心悲伤的方式。

2 reed   

n.芦苇，芦丛，簧舌，簧片

参考例句：

• The river banks were overgrown with reed.河岸长满了芦苇。
• They inhabit reed huts built on stilts above the water.他们住在建于水中木桩之上的芦苇草屋里。

3 prison   

n.监狱(禁)；拘留所

参考例句：

• They put him in a prison.他们将他逮捕入狱。
• If you go on like this you will be put into prison. 你这样下去会进监狱的。

4 owed   

v.感激( owe的过去式和过去分词 )；应把…归功于；欠…债；（对位高权重者）忠诚

参考例句：

• I'd completely forgotten about the money he owed me. 我完全记不得他欠我的钱了。
• He gave me a lot of help.I owed much to him. 他给我许多帮助，我非常感激他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 carriage   

n.马车，客车，举止，运输

参考例句：

• She has a graceful carriage.她举止优雅。
• In another moment she had rushed into the carriage. 转眼工夫，她就走进马车里去了。