Introduce the story: Today we'll talk about ‘a skeleton in the cupboard’.
Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Who was Sebastian?
Vocabulary:
skeleton n. 骷髅
guestroom n. （家庭中的）来客住房
seemingly adv. 表面上地
respectable adj. 体面的，雅观的
unpack vt. （从箱中）取出
conceal v. 隐藏，隐瞒
stack v. （整齐地）堆放，排放
vivid adj. 生动的
underclothes n. 内衣
dramatic adj. 令人激动的，扣人心弦的
drawer n. 抽屉
petrify v. 使惊呆
ruin v. 毁坏
dangle v. 悬挂
heroine n. 女主人公
sway v. 摇摆
fiction n. 小说
unsympathetic adj. 不表同情的，无动于衷的
varying adj. 不同的
medicine n. 医学
medical adj. 医学的
Passage:
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some
terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English
language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret
is called ‘a skeleton in the cupboard’. At some dramatic moment in the story, the
terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on
end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who
had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her
five husbands.
在小说中，我们经常读到一个表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，却有着某种多年不
为人所知的骇人听闻的秘密。英语中有一个生动的说法来形容这种情况。惊人的
秘密被称作“柜中骷髅”。在小说的某个戏剧性时刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出来，接着
便是某人的声誉扫地。当读者读到小说最后几页了解到书中女主人公，那位一向
待大家很好的可爱的老妇人年轻时一连毒死了她的 5 个丈夫时，不禁会毛骨悚然。
Notes:
1 A skeleton in the cupboard，直译为“柜中骷髅”，此系一成语，作“家丑”解。
2 conceal sth, from sb. 作“对某人隐瞒某事”解。
3 The reader's hair stands on end ，读者感到毛骨悚然。
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have
secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have
skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard
is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his
youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of
detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at
his house. George showed me to the guestroom which, he said, was rarely used. He
told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my
shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I
had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in
front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement
of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to
leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse
than ‘a terrible secret’; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. ‘Oh,
that, ’ he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. ‘That's Sebastian.
You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time. ’
这种事发生在小说中是无可非议的。尽管我们人人都有各种大小秘密，连最亲密
的朋友都不愿让他们知道，但我们当中极少有人有柜中骷髅。我所认识的唯一的
在柜中藏骷髅的人便是乔治 ·卡尔顿，他甚至引以为自豪。乔治年轻时学过医，
然而，他后来没当上医生，却成了一位成功的侦探小说作家。有一次，我在他家
里度周末，过得很不愉快。这事我永远不会忘记。乔治把我领进客房，说这间房
间很少使用。他让我打开行装后下楼吃饭。我将衬衫、内衣放进两个空抽屉里，
然后我想把随身带来的两套西服中的一套挂到大衣柜里去。我打开柜门，站在柜
门前一下子惊呆了。一具骷髅悬挂在眼前，由于柜门突然打开，它也随之轻微摇
晃起来，让我觉得它好像马上要跳出柜门朝我扑过来似的。我扔下西服冲下楼去
告诉乔治。这是比“骇人听闻的秘密”更加惊人的东西，这是一具真正的骷髅啊！
但乔治却无动于衷。“噢，是它呀！他笑着说道，俨然在谈论一位老朋友。“那是
塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是学医的了。”
Notes:
4 to varying degrees，在不同程度上。
5 stood in front of it petrified，站在柜前吓呆了。
stand 此处表示处于某种状态，起系动词的作用，后面常接形容词、介词短语或
过去分词，表示主语处于某种状态中的特征，可视作表语。
6 the impression that it was about to leap out…，
that 引导的从句作 impression 的同位语。be about to do sth. ，表示按照计划即将
做的动作。
24.2【阅读理解】A skeleton in the cupboard
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 In English, what is a terrible secret called? (‘A skeleton in the cupboard’)
2 When does the terrible secret become known (in novel or story)? (At some dramatic
moment.)
3 What does the reader's hair do when he reads the final pages of the novel? (It stands
on end.)
4 What has the dear old lady done in her youth? (She has poisoned every one of her
five husbands.)
5 What kind of secrets do we all have? (Ones that we don't want our closest friends to
learn.)
6 Do many of us have skeletons in the cupboard? (No, we don't.)
7 The writer knows someone who has a skeleton in his cupboard, Who is it? (George
Carlton.)
8 What did George study in his youth? (Medicine.)
9 Did he become a doctor? (No, he didn't.)
10 What did he become? (A successful writer of detective stories.)
11 What word did the writer use to describe the weekend he once spent at George's
house? (‘Uncomfortable’)
12 Was the guest room used a lot? (No, it wasn’t.)
13 Where did the writer put his shirts and underclothes? (in two empty drawers.)
14 Where did he decide to hang a suit? (In the cupboard)
15 What was dangling in front of his eyes inside the cupboard? (A skeleton.)
16 How frightened was the writer? (He was petrified.)
17 What made the skeleton sway slightly? (The sudden movement of the door.)
18 What did the writer do? (He dropped his suit and rushed downstairs to tell
George.)
19 Was George sympathetic? (No, he wasn't)
20 What was the skeleton's name? (Sebastian.)
24.3【拓展写作】A skeleton in the cupboard
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words write a continuation of the above passage in the first
person. Use the ideas given below. Do not write more than four paragraphs.
Title: A Weekend with Sebastian.
Introduction: George Carlton refused to remove skeleton — nowhere to put it.
Development: How I spent the night very uncomfortable — took Sebastian out of the
cupboard — walked around the house with him looking for somewhere to put him —
maid just going to bed-- saw Sebastian walking around—screamed — Carlton
appeared — the scene.
Conclusion: Two years later I read about myself and Sebastian in one of Carlton's
detective stories.
Key to composition
A weekend with Sebastian
Now that George had explained about the skeleton, I felt better, but I still didn't
want to sleep in the room a with a skeleton hanging in the cupboard. I asked George
to remove him, but he refused. ‘There's nowhere else to put him,’ said George, ‘so
he'll have to stay.’
I couldn't disagree of course, but the moment I lay down to sleep, I knew it was
going to be an uncomfortable night. In the end, I decided that I would take Sebastian
somewhere for the night and bring him back up to my room early in the morning. So I
took him out of cupboard and walked around the house with him trying to find
somewhere to put him.
George’s maid was just going to bed as I walked along the landing. She saw
Sebastian apparently walking around, screamed and fainted. She had obviously woken
Carlton who appeared from his bedroom and, when the girl had regained
consciousness, explained everything to her. He accused me of being stupid and sent
me and Sebastian back to 'our' room where I hung him up in the cupboard again.
Imagine my surprise when I picked up one of Carlton's detective stories two years
later. There was, with Sebastian the skeleton, as the main characters in one of his
stories for the whole world to read. Still, he didn't use my real name, so I should be
glad of that! (240 words)
课外练习：
1 In what respect does fact differ from fiction concerning the secrets that people keep
to themselves?
(a) They are rarely so terrible as to ruin our reputations if revealed.
(b) People's closest friends do not even suspect them of having them.
(c) People who have 'skeletons in the cupboard' are rarely found out.
(d) People who have skeletons in their cupboards are very proud of the fact.
2 Before opening the cupboard door, the Writer had .
(a) unpacked and gone down for dinner
(b) changed into some new clothes
(c) put his shirts and his underwear in a couple of drawers
(d) hung one of the two suits he had brought with him
3 What was the most frightening thing about the writer's experience?
(a) The sight of a skeleton hanging in the cupboard.
(b) The sudden movement of the door when he opened the cupboard.
(c) To discover that it was the skeleton of an old friend of George's.
(d) To have found a real skeleton rather than finding out a terrible secret.
4 We often read in novels of a seemingly respectable person or family
some terrible secret…
(a) having
(b) has
(c) whom has
(d) that they have
5 The only person I have ever known a skeleton in the cupboard …
(a) he had
(b) of having
(c) that he has
(d) to have
6 -George Carlton, and it is he is very proud of.
(a) the fact
(b) something
(c) that which
(d) what
7 No sooner had I opened the cupboard door I stood...
(a) and
(b) then
(c) than
(d) that
8 that I was a medical student once upon a time?
(a) Why don't you remember
(b) Have you forgotten
(c) Do you forget
(d) Have you not remembered
9 The English language a vivid saying to…
(a) owes
(b) contains
(c) holds
(d) has
10 - the guestroom, which, he said, was used.
(a) little
(b)a little
(c) uncommonly
(d) preciously
11 He told me to unpack my and then…
(a) items
(b) objects
(c) trunks
(d) belongings
12 - gave me the impression that it leaping out at me.
(a) was on the point of
(b) was concerned with
(c) was thinking of
(d) was almost
答案：1a 2c 3a 4a 5d 6b 7c 8b 9d 10a 11d 12a