Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?
Vocabulary:
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. 诌上欺下的人
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
Passage:
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.
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。
Notes:
1 set out to do sth. , 打算，企图做某事。
2 draw attention to . . . , 作“引起对……的注意”讲。
3 without being conscious that . . . , 没有意识到……。
这是介词短词作状语，be conscious that . . . 作“意识到……”解。
4 This invariably wins them the love and respect of others. 这常常赢来人们对他们
的爱戴和尊敬。win sb. sth. , 作“使某人获得某事（物）”讲。
5 add . . . to, 把……添加到……。
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.
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 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 that 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.
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。
Notes:
6 this side of his life, 他生活中这方面的情况。
这里指的是 He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman.
7 be caught in, 作“突然遇上，碰上”讲。
Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and
reprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the watch, 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 — 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.
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了解他们所谈论的事情。
Notes:
8 Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic …
由于经理认出这个顾客是谁了，便竭力陪礼道歉……。这句话用现在分词短语作
原因状语，most 在这里起加强语气的作用，相当于 very。
9. insisted on the assistant's counting, 坚持让店员点清。
insist on 后接动名词，the assistant's 是动名词的逻辑主语。
31.2【阅读理解】A lovable eccentric
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Do true eccentrics set out to draw attention to themselves? (No, they don’t.)
2 What do they do to social conventions? (They disregard them.)
3 What do they add to the dull routine of everyday life? (Colour.)
4 Who was one of the most notable figures in Our town? (Richard Colson.)
5 Was he stupid and poor? (No, he wasn't. He was shrewd and wealthy.)
6 Did many people in the town know about this side of his life? (No, they didn't.)
7 What did all of us call him? (Dickie.)
8 What had become legendary before he died? (His eccentricity.)
9 Who did Dickie dislike intensely? (Snobs.)
10 Did he own a large car? (Yes, he did.)
11 Why did he hardly ever use it? (Because he preferred to go on foot.)
12 Did he carry an umbrella when it was raining heavily? (No, he didn't.)
13 He walked into a shop one day. What did he want to buy, for his wife? (A £300
watch.)
14 Why did the assistant refuse to serve him? (Because he was in such a bedraggled
condition.)
15 When Dickie returned, what did he do with the large cloth bag? (He dumped it on
the counter.)
16 Was the manager apologetic? (Yes, he was.)
17 When he was given the watch, what did Dickie do? (He presented the assistant
with the cloth bag.)
18 What did the bag contain? (£300 in pennies.)
19 What did the assistant have to do? (Count the money before Dickie left.)
20 Who were the paintings in Dickie's exhibition painted by? (Dickie himself.)
21 Who were they supposed to be the work of? (Famous artists.)
31.3【拓展写作】A lovable eccentric
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words write an actual or imaginary description of an eccentric
person. Expand the ideas given below into a plan and provide a suitable title. Your
composition should be in three or four paragraphs.
Ideas: Appearance—dress—behaviour —home — way he or she lives — strange
actions (e.g. puts up strange notices to passers-by in his garden; stands for parliament
— gives speeches saying what he would do if he were Prime Minister —gets a few
votes, etc.) The way other people behave towards him.
Key to composition
A true eccentric
Mr. Chew is a man who has lived in our small town for years. He is a large man
(Some would say ‘fat’), he has a round face, a big black moustache and a bald head.
He always wears the same clothes: black trousers, a white shirt and a red waistcoat,
and is always polite to everyone he meets.
He owns an antiques shop near the river, and he lives ‘over the shop’. No one
knows where he gets his things, but there are always lots of different interesting
antiques in the shop window every week.
Mr. Chew is interested in politics, too. Every week he puts up strange notices in
his shop window to passers-by. Usually the notices are trying to make people save a
local building or stop a plan to build a road through the town. Every time there is a
national election, he automatically stands for parliament and gives speeches almost
every day in the town park saying what he would do if he were Prime Minister. (He
usually says he would make sure that antiques dealers did not have to pay Income Tax
and that no cars should be allowed into our little town at all.) Every year he gets a few
votes, but not enough to worry the serious candidates.
For most people Mr. Chew is a harmless eccentric, and everyone likes talking to
him. After all, he is someone who adds colour to the dull routine of their daily lives.
课外练习：
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
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
(e) he had forgotten to bring his to 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
4 They disregard social conventions and are quite unaware they are doing
anything extraordinary.
(a) that what
(b) of the fact that
(c)if
(d when
5 As it , he dumped it on the counter.
(a) was weighing
(b) weighed a lot
(c) weighed much
(d) had weighed much
6 £300 worth of pennies in the bag.
(a) There were
(b) It was
(c) They were
(d) It had
7 He insisted the money before he left.
(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…
(a) and see
(b) seeing
(c) see
(d) to they saw
9-and returned carrying a large .
(a) cloth case
(b) clothes-basket
(c) sack of clothing
(d) a bag made of cloth
10 But Dickie paid no attention to his ...
(a) question
(b) inquiry
(c) query
(d) demand
11 The pictures were supposed to have been by famous artists.
(a) worked
(b) made
(c) done
(d) designed
12 Critics do not always .
(a) mean well
(b) speak with understanding
(c) tell the truth
(d) talk sense
答案：1b 2b 3d 4b 5b 6a 7a 8a 9d 10d 11c 12d