Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Why did the two brothers keep the secret?

    For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
    No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
    Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.

New words and expressions 生词和短语

     labourer
n.   劳动者

     overnight
adv. 一夜期间

     hay
n.   干草

     corn
n.   谷物

     moonlight
n.   月光

     conscientious
adj. 认真的

     suspect
v.   怀疑

     desert
v.   （军队中）开小差

     regiment
n.   （军队）团

     action
n.   战斗

     recluse
n.   隐士

参考译文

    多年来，村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。他们雇了几个农工，但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。雇工们说，常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了，干草已切好，牛棚也打扫干净了。有一个彻夜未眠的雇工还声称他看见一个人影在月光下收割庄稼。随着时间的流逝，考科斯兄弟雇了一个尽心尽责的鬼，他们家的活大部分都让鬼给干了，这件事成了公认的事实。
    谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。但事实上确有此人。不久之前，村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。大家都去参加了葬礼，因为那“鬼”不是别人，正是农场主的兄弟埃里克.考科斯。人们以为埃里克年轻时就死了。葬礼之后，乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。
    埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多，第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。他讨厌军旅生活，决定逃离所在部队。当他了解自己将被派遣出国时，他逃回农场，父亲把他藏了起来，直到战争结束。由于害怕当局，埃里克战后继续深藏不露。他的父亲告诉大家，埃里克在战争中被打死了。除此之外，只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。父亲死后，他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。这些年来，埃里克过着隐士生活，白天睡觉，夜里出来干活，一点不知道自己已成了恩得利家场的活鬼。他死后，他的弟弟们才觉得无法再保守这个秘密了。

New words and expression 生词和短语

Labourer  n.劳动者（劳工）

-- 强调使用体力, 而不是技能, 在户外工作。

Workman  n.技工, 工匠  -- 具有某种工艺技能的半熟练工人

worker  n.工人（泛指）

-- 具有更高水平的工人

-- white-collar worker 白领职员(指非体力劳动者)

-- blue-collar worker 蓝领工人(指体力劳动者)

-- a factory worker 工厂工人 /  farm worker 雇农, 农业工人

farmhand（n.农业工人, 农场工人）= farm labourers = farm worker

Overnight  adv.一夜期间

Hay  n.干草

Corn  n.谷物  -- Corn  n.［英］谷物, 五谷, 小麦 ［美、加、澳］玉米 ［苏、爱］燕麦

Moonlight  n.月光

Conscientious  adj.认真的

Conscientious  adj.尽责的, 凭良心的, 谨慎的

-- a conscientious teacher

-- a conscientious worker 勤勤恳恳的工作者

conscious  adj.有意识的, 神志清醒的

-- He is hurt but still conscious. 他受了伤, 不过神志还清醒。

conscious  adj.了解的, 察觉的

-- She was not conscious of his presence in the room. 她不晓得他在这房间里。

-- I was conscious of her presence. 我知道她在场。

Suspect  v.怀疑

Suspect  vt.怀疑, 猜疑, 疑心  -- I suspected her motives. 我怀疑她的动机。

Suspect sb to be   -- suspect him to be ill 猜想他病了  -- I suspect him to be a spy.

suspect sb of doing/n  -- I suspect him of stealing the car.

-- suspect sb. of giving false information 怀疑某人提供假情报

-- suspect sb. of a crime 怀疑某人犯罪

Suspect that…

-- I suspect that his girlfriend hide her true feelings.

-- We suspect they'll be a little late. 我们揣想他们会晚来一会儿。

Suspicion  n.猜疑, 怀疑

Suspicious  adj.可疑的, 引起怀疑的  -- Cats are suspicious of human beings.

Suspect表示一种肯定的语义, Doubt 表示一种否定的语义

Doubt  vt.怀疑, 不信, 拿不准（用 that, 往往表示非常怀疑）

-- I doubt the truth of it. 我怀疑它的真实性。

-- I doubt that he will come. 我看他不见得会来。

-- I doubt whether [if] he is at home. 我看他不一定在家。

-- I do not doubt (but) that he can recite it. 我相信他能把它背下来。

-- Can you doubt that he will win? 你不相信他会获胜吗?

-- I doubt what he said. 我不相信他说的话。

Doubtful  adj.怀疑的；不信任的

-- It is doubtful that he will come.

Doubtable  adj.可疑的, 令人怀疑的

Desert  v.（军队中）开小差

-- The soldier deserted his army.  这个士兵开小差。

Desert  vt.vi.遗弃, 抛弃, 舍弃（= abandon vt.放弃, 遗弃;违背法律、道义、责任、信仰

-- desert the army, desert school, desert his duty, desert his family

Abandon  vt.抛弃, 舍弃, 离弃（被迫放弃所喜爱的或所负责的东西）

-- He had to abandon his favorite research because of the war.

-- abandon one's home 离弃家园

-- He abandoned his wife and went away with all their money.（research n.研究, 调查）

他抛弃了妻子还带走了两人所有的钱。

Forsake  vt.(-sook, -saken )  舍弃, 放弃, 背弃, 和…脱离关系

-- He forsook his family.

-- He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

革除(旧风习等), 抛弃(坏习惯)

-- You must forsake your bad habits. 你必须革除你的坏习惯。

Discard  vt.放弃, 丢弃, 抛弃（= give up as useless）

-- Everyday we discard a large amount of rubbish.

Regiment  n.（军队）团

Action  n.战斗

Recluse  n.隐士

give up  放弃, 抛弃, 认输

labour  n.劳动, 劳力, 劳工 v.劳动, 苦干

cowshed  n.牛棚, 牛舍

oblige  vt.迫使, 责成

TOP

品牌课堂

口语课堂

听力课堂

考试课堂

专项课堂

新概念一

新概念二

新概念三

新概念四

新东方一