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A lovable eccentric True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add color to the dull routine of everyday life.
Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy business-man, but the ordinary town-folk hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died. 真正古怪的人从不有意引人注意。 他们不顾社会习俗，意识不到自己所作所为有什么特殊之处。 他们总能赢得别人的喜爱与尊敬，因为他们给平淡单一的日常生活增添了色彩。理查德.科尔森生前是我们镇上最有名望的人之一。 他是个精明能干、有钱的商人，但镇上大部分人对他生活中的这一个方面几乎一无所知。大家都管他叫迪基。早在他去世前很久，他的古怪行为就成了传奇故事了。 Dickie disliked snobs(势利小人) intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot. Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a 300 dollars fur coat for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him. 迪基痛恨势利小人。 尽管他有一辆豪华小轿车，但却很少使用，常常喜欢以步代车。即使大雨倾盆，他也总是拒绝带伞。 一天，他遇上一场瓢泼大雨，淋得透湿。他走进一家高级商店，要为妻子买一块价值300的皮毛大衣。但店员见他浑身泥水的样子，竟不肯接待他。 Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and 'reprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the fur coat, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained &300 in pennies. He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left 72,000 pennies in all! 迪基二话没说就走了。一会儿，他带着一个大布口袋回到店里。 布袋很沉，他重重地把布袋扔在柜台上。 店员让迪基走开，他置之不理，并要求见经理。 经理认出了这位顾客，表示了深深的歉意，还严厉地训斥了店员。 店员为迪基拿出了那件大衣，迪基把布口袋递给他，口袋里面装着300镑的便士。 坚持要店员点清那些硬币后他才离去。 On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists, they had in fact been painted by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about. 还有一次，他邀请一些著名评论家来参观他私人收藏的现代画。 这次展览引起报界广泛注意，因为这些画名义上是名家的作品，事实上是迪基自己画的。他花了4年时间策划这出精心设计的闹剧，只是想证明评论家们有时并不解他们所谈论的事情。  1.eccentric [ik'sɛntrik] （1） adj. （行为或装束）怪异的，古怪的 （2）n. 行为古怪的人 2.deliberately [dɪ'lɪbərətli] （1）adv. 故意地，蓄意地 （2）deliberate [dɪ'lɪbərət] ①adj. 故意的，有意的 ②v. 仔细考虑 3. set out to do sth. 打算，企图做某事 （1）放置，放下 （2）确定（时间、日期、价格等） （3 ）常见短语： set an example 树立榜样 set off 出发，动身，启程 set in （尤指不愉快的事情）开始，来临；盛行 4. draw attention to 引起对…的注意 （1）pay (no) attention to 关注/不关注 （2）give sb/ sth your attention倾听某人/专注于某人，某事 5. disregard [,dɪsrɪ'ɡɑrd] 忽略，轻视 6. regard （1 ）尊重，尊敬 （2）认为，看作 （3 ）相关短语as regards ; with/ in regard to 至于,关于 7. convention [kən'vɛnʃən] （1）习俗，惯例 by convention 按照习俗 （2）大会，会议 8. conscious ['kɑnʃəs] （1） adj. 注意到的，意识到的 （2） adj. 清醒的，有知觉的 （3） consciousness ['kɑnʃəsnəs] 知觉 9. extraordinary [ɪkˈstrɔrdəˌnɛri] （1） extra- 在…之外，超出，额外 （2） extraordinary ＝extremely 极其的，极端的 10.invariably [ɪn'vɛrɪəbli] adv. 总是，经常 11.dull [dʌl] =boring 枯燥的，无聊的 =not shiny or bright 暗淡的（光/颜色） =not clear or loud 不清楚地，沉闷的(声音) =not bright and with lots of clouds 阴沉的，昏暗(天气) 12. notable ['notəbl] 显要的，显著的，值得注意的 13. figure ['fɪɡjɚ] 1 = number 数字（尤指官方公布的数字） 2 人物的形象 14. shrewd [ʃrud] adj. 善于判断的，精明的 15. legendary ['lɛdʒən'dɛri] 1 非常有名的，大名鼎鼎的 2 传奇般的，传说中的 16. intensely [in'tensli] adv. 强烈地，极度地 （1） intensive adj. 加强的，集中的 17. prefer [prɪ'fɝ] 更喜欢 （1） prefer sb./sth. to sb./sth “和…比起来更喜欢…” （2） prefer to do sth. / prefer doing sth. （3） would prefer to do sth. 宁愿，更希望 18. particularly [pɚ'tɪkjəlɚli] （1）adv. 特别，尤其 （2）not particularly = not very 不太… （3） particular 19. bedraggled [bɪ'dræɡld] adj.（尤指淋雨后的）衣冠不整的，又脏又湿的 20. dump [dʌmp] （1） 把…乱放、堆放… （2） =get rid of 丢弃(人/物) （3）dump on 诋毁，贬低 21. request [rɪ'kwɛst] （1） n. 要求，请求 at sb’s request 应某人的要求 （2） v. 要求，请求 22. reprimand ['rɛprɪmænd] 谴责，训斥 23. severe (ly) [sə'vɪrli] =serious 严重的 =strict 严厉的 24. present ['prɛznt] （1） adj.= to be in a place 出席的，到场的 （2 ）adj.= exiting now 现存的，目前的，现在的 （3）present company excepted 在坐者除外 （4 ）v. = give 给予，赠送 （5）n. =gift 礼物; 现在，目前 25. contain [kən'ten] （1 ）v.=to have something inside 包含，容纳 （2 ）v.= to keep a strong feeling or emotion under control 克制（感情） （3） container n. 容器，集装箱 （4）containment n. 控制，抑制 26.insist [ɪn'sɪst] 坚决认为，坚决宣称 27. occasion [ə'keʒn] （1 ）（某事发生的）时刻 （2 ） 活动 （3 ）on occasion 有时，偶尔 （4 ）on the occasion of 在…之际 28. press [prɛs] n./ v. （1）=news 新闻 （2） 出版社 （3） 按 29. stage [stedʒ] （1 ）n. = time 时间，状态 （2）n = the raised floor in a theatre on which plays are performed. 舞台 （3）v. = to organize an event that people will come to see 举行，策划 30. elaborate [ɪ'læbəret] （1 ）adj. = containing a lot of small details that are connected with each other in a complicated way. 精心构思的，详尽的 （2 ）v. = to give more details about something 详尽说明，阐述 |
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