Lesson 6 Smash-and-grab砸橱窗抢劫
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.听录音,然后回答以下问题。
How did Mr. Taylor try to stop the thieves?
The expensive shops in a famous near Piccadilly were just "opening. At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty. Mr. Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new display. Two of his assistants had been working busily since eight o'clock and had only just finished. Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet. After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop.
The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its horn blaring, roared down the arcade. It came to a stop outside the jeweller's. One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stocking over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr. Taylor was upstairs. He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade. One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain. The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed. Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds.
参考译文
皮卡迪利大街附近的一条著名拱廊街道上,几家高档商店刚刚开始营业。在早晨的这个时候,拱廊街上几乎空无一人。珠宝店主泰勒先生正在欣赏新布置的橱窗。他 手下两名店员从早上8点就开始忙碌,这时刚刚布置完毕。钻石项链、戒指漂亮地陈列在黑色丝绒上面。泰勒先生站在橱窗外凝神欣赏了几分钟就回到了店里。
宁静突然被打破,一辆大轿车亮着前灯,响着喇叭,呼啸着冲进了拱廊街,在珠宝店门口停了下来。一人留在驾驶座上,另外两个用黑色长筒丝袜蒙面的人跳下车 来。他们用铁棒把商店橱窗的玻璃砸碎。这开始发生时,泰勒先生正在楼上。他与店员动手向窗外投掷家具,椅子,桌子飞落花流水在拱廊街上。一个窃贼被一尊很 重的雕像击中,但由于他忙着抢钻石首饰,竟连疼痛都顾不上了。这场抢劫只持续了3分钟,因为窃贼争先恐后地爬上轿车,以惊人的速度开跑了。就在轿车离开的 时候,泰勒先生从店里冲了出来,跟在车后追赶,一边还往车上扔烟灰缸、花瓶。但他已无法抓住那些窃贼了。他们已带着价值数千镑的首饰逃之夭夭了。
New words and expressions 生词和短语
smash-and-grab
n. 砸橱窗抢劫
arcade
n. 有拱廊的街道(两旁常设商店)
Piccadilly
n. 皮卡迪利大街
jewellery
n. 珠宝(总称)
necklace
n. 项链
ring
n. 戒指
background
n. 背景
velvet
n. 天鹅绒,丝绒
headlight
n. (汽车等)前灯
blare
v. 发嘟嗜声,吼叫
staff
n. 全体工作人员
raid
n. 偷袭
scramble
n. 偷袭
scramble
v. 爬行
fantastic
adj. 非常大的
ashtray
n. 烟灰缸
Notes on the text课文注释
1 Piccadilly,皮卡迪利,这是伦敦市中心一条著名的街。这条街从海德公园通向一个著名的广场,叫作“皮卡迪利广场“
2 with its headlights on and its horn blaring...这是with引导的独立主格结构,在句中表示伴随状况。
3 but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain.
但他只顾忙着抢劫钻石,根本顾不上疼痛了。这里help oneself to sth.是“擅自取用,侵占某物”的意思。