Lesson 31
A lovable eccentric
可爱的怪人
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?
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 colour 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 businessman, but most people in the town 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.
Dickie disliked snobs 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 watch for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition than an assistant refused to serve him. 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 watch, the presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 pennies in all! 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.
New words and expressions 生词和短语
lovable
adj. 可爱的
eccentric
n. （行为）古怪人
disregard
v. 不顾，漠视
convention
n. 习俗，风俗
conscious
adj. 感觉到的，意识到的
invariably
adv. 总是，经常地
routine
n. 常规；惯例
shrewd
adj. 精明的
eccentricity
n. 怪僻
legendary
adj. 传奇般的
snob
n. 势利小人，谄上欺下的人
intensely
adv. 强烈地
bedraggled
adj. 拖泥带水的
dump
v. 把……砰的一声抛下
apologetic
adj. 道歉的
reprimand
v. 训斥
stage
v. 暗中策划
elaborate
adj. 精心构思的

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。 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英镑的手表。但店员见他浑身泥水的样子，竟不肯接待他。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 员为迪基拿出了那块手表，迪基把布口袋递给他，口袋里面装着300镑的便士。他坚持要店员点清那些硬币后他才离去。这些硬币加在一起共有30,000枚！ 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。

■lovable adj. 可爱的
lovable == worthy of love
lovely = beautiful 可爱的
lovable 惹人爱
Eg: What he does is lovable.
I like the lovely boy/girl.
A large number of eccentrics are lovable. 许多怪人惹人喜爱。

L30-05_31-01 end 11’02”

L31-02 begin 11’26”

■eccentric n. （行为）古怪的人
eccentric: a person whose behaviou is peculiar, unusual, rather strange.
eccentric: adj. peculiar, unusual; strange
strange因为陌生而奇怪
Eg.: The modern building looks strange to the villages.
eccentric 行为举止古怪
Eg.: I can’t get on well with him, because he is eccentric.
odd 强调因为少见而多怪
Eg.: Look, he is wearing an odd hat.
peculiar 奇异的，不同寻常的
The house is peculiar.
I feel peculiar today. ==I feel uncomfortable / ill. == I’m not myself today.
eccentricity n. 怪癖

■disregard v. 不顾，漠视
disregard: ignore; pay no attention to
Disregard noise and keep working
disregard n.
have disregard of / for
He has complete disregard of / for my feelings.
in disregard of
He did the work in disregard of my 包含uctions.
treat sb. with disregard 怠慢某人
Anyway, don’t treat your friends with disregard.

■convention n. 习俗，风俗
convention: generally accepted practice.
Shaking hands when meeting people is normal convention in China.
custom 历史悠久的社会习俗
It’s a custom of giving presents at Christmas.
He always does exactly what he wants and does not care about convention.
practice 某团体的传统做法或令他人无法接受的习俗
Eg.: The normal practice in the company is to send bill as soon as the job is done.
Your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat- -the normally accepted practice in many northern countries.(三册L23)
tradition 传统
Spending Christmas Day is a tradition for western people.
habit 个人习惯
I have a habit of reading English aloud in the morning.

■conscious adj. 感觉到的，意识到的
conscious ==aware
be conscious of / that
be aware of / that
He is quite unaware of the danger.
He is not conscious of the danger.
class conscious 有阶级意识的
family conscious 有家庭观念的
clothes conscious 注重衣着的
stairs conscious 注重地位的
aware, conscious的反义词直接加un-
unaware, unconscious
subconscious 下意识的
consciousness n.■invariably adv. 总是，经常地
■routine n. 常规；惯例
routine: the regular fixed way of sth. / doing things
follow the routine 墨守常规
break the routine 打破常规
start the daily routine 开始每天的日常生活

■shrewd adj. 精明的
shrewed: showing good practical judgement 精明的，狡滑的，敏锐的，机灵的
He is a shrewed observer.
We have got shrewed common sense.
Sb. is shrewed. == He has good judgement.
shrewed brained
shrewed headed 头脑机灵的
shrewed looking 看起来机灵的

L31-02 end 11’26”

L31-03 begin 11’00”

cunning: clever at deceiving 善于歉骗的
sly 用更隐秘的办法来达到目的
a sly old fox

■eccentricity n. 怪僻
■legendary adj. 传奇般的
■snob n. 诌上欺下的人
■intensely adv. 强烈地
intense adj. very strong ; violent; extreme; sharp; etc.
intense cold 严寒
intense heat 酷暑
intense discussion 激烈的讨论
intensify vt. 使增强
You must intensify your sense of responsibility.你必须加强责任感。
intensity n.
Losing jobs are growing in intensity.

sth are growing in intensity ……（某种程度）在加强
Eg: Losing jobs are growing in intensity.

■bedraggled adj 拖泥带水的
■dump v. 把……砰的一声抛下
■reprimand v. 训斥
reprimand: scold officially and severely
blame 责备(语气程度很弱)
Eg.: The teacher blamed him for his coming late.
scold 斥责(语气稍重一点)
Don’t scold me for a trifle.
reproach 斥责 (语气最严重)
He often reproached his children.
reprimand: scold officially and severely
The boss reprimanded his employees severely.

■apologetic adj. 道歉的
apologize v.
He apologized to his boss.
The boss apologized to his employees.
He was apologetic. 他致以歉意
apology n. 歉意
make apology to sb. for sth.

■stage v. 暗中策划
He stage a joke.

■elaborate adj. 精心构思的
elaborate == carefully worked out
an elaborate design 精心的设计
elaborate vt.
He elaborated a system of computer.

deliberately: on purpose
set out to do = set about doing = start doing / to do sth.
draw attention to 吸引对......的注意
capture/attract/hold/catch/arrest/receive/draw attention to 吸引对……的注意力

He made a mistake without being conscious of the fact
invariably = always
Her fine character quickly won her the friendship of her colleagues

win sb sth 为某人赢得……
add colour to 增添色彩
Eccentrics add colour to our dull life.
背诵第一自然段。

up to the time of his death: before he died. 完成时
notable: famous
this side of his life 生活的这一面

L31-03 end 11’00”

L31-04 begin 11’10”

Dickie disliked snobs intensely / violently
preferring 现在分词做伴随状况状语

be caught in a heavy shower 遇到瓢泼大雨
be caught in a heavy snow 遇到大雪
be caught in a heavy storm 遇到风暴

pay no attention to sb = ignore sb = take no notice of sb = turn a deaf ear to sb对……不予理睬
Dickie took no notice of him
dickie turned a deaf ear to him.
refuse to listen to

request 求见（非常正式而有礼貌的用词，语气相当强烈，假如你request某件东西的话，通常你有权利得到你想要的。）
I requested the headmaster.
Every student can request assistance of their teachers.’
demand 在语气上还要强烈，假如你demand某件东西的话，你坚决认为你有权利得到你想要的，且不愿意接受否定的回答。
I demand my rights. 我要求我的权力。
ask 口头或写信介到某物
I asked to get the book.
he asked me for help.
realizing or recognizing 在这里现在分词做原因状语
most = very much

present sb. with sth. or present sth. to sb. 把......交给

insist on doing / insist that
He insisted that the shop assistant should count the money before he left.

背诵：receive a great deal of attention in the press 引起了报界广泛注意

simply to prove = only to prove

talk nonsense 胡说八道
talk sense 说正经话

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Comprehension
1 Most people in the town would have regarded Dickie’s behaviour as eccentric on the day he visited the shop because _____ .
a. when he set out into the rain he did not take an umbrella
b. he went to such lengths to show his dislike of snobbery
c. he spent so much money on a watch
d. he had not counted the pennies before giving them to the assistant
go to lengths 竭尽全力

2 When Dickie went into an expensive shop _____ .
a. he wanted to shelter from the rain
b. he did not look like a man who could afford a watch
c. he had forgotten to bring his cloth bag with him
d. he had been sent by his wife to buy a watch

3 The press paid a great deal of attention to Dickie’s exhibition because _____ .
a. it had taken him so long to prepare the paintings
b. the critics admired Dickie’s ability to copy the work of famous artists
c. no one had known that Dickie was a painter
d. it became known that Dickie had succeeded in deceiving the critics

Structure
4 They disregard social conentions and requite unaware _____ they are doing anything extraordinary. (ll.2-3)
a. that what b. of the fact that c. if d. when
(of the fact可省略)

5 As it _____ , he dumped it on the counter. (ll.14-15)
a. was weighing b. weighed a lot c. weighed much d. had weighed much
much多用于疑问句或否定句中，而肯定句中多用a lot; a great deal
Eg.: He knows a lot about it.
He doesn’t know much about it.
Does he know much about it?

6 _____ ￡300 worth of pennies in the bag. (ll.17-18)
a. There were b. It was c. They were d. It had

7 He insisted _____ the money before he left.(l.18)
a. that the assistant should count b. the assistant to count
c. to count d. to be counted

8 He asked a number of important critics to come _____ his private… (ll.19-20)
a. and see b. seeing c. see d. so they saw

Vocabulary
9 ----and returned carrying a large _____ . (l.14)
a. cloth case b. clothes-basket c. sack of clothing d. bag made of cloth

10 But dickie paid no attention to his _____… (l.15)
a. question b. inquiry c. query d. demand

11 The pictures were supposed to have been _____ by famous artists.(ll.20-21)
a. worked b. made c. done d. designed

12 Critics do not always _____ . (ll.22)
a. mean well b. speak with understanding c. tell the truth d. takl sense
talk nonsence 胡说

【Key to Multiple choice questions】
1. B 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. B 6. A 7. A 8. A 9. D 10. D 11. C 12. D

L31-05 5’10” [ Lesson 31 41:04 ]

L31-05_32-01 5’43” [ Lesson 32 36:52 ]