Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What did the old lady find when she got home?
Vocabulary:
lift n. 电梯
prudent adj. 谨慎的
monstrous adj. 极大的，可怕的
composure n. 镇静，沉着
negligence n. 粗心大意
intruder n. 入侵者（尤指欲行窃者）
lurk v .潜藏
toss v .扔
hinder v .妨碍
discard v .丢弃
fingerprint n .指纹
constable n .警察
chaos n .混乱，无秩序
ransack v.洗劫
inconceivable adj .不可思议的
balcony n.阳台
veritable adj .真正的；地地道道的
fussy adj .大惊小怪的；小题大作的
magpie n .喜欢收藏物品的人
Passage:
The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived. Her shopping
had tired her and her basket had grown heavier with every step of the way home. In
the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she got out at her own
floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open. She
was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning for such a
monstrous piece of negligence, when she remembered that she had gone shopping
after the home help had left and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks.
She walked slowly into the hall and at once noticed that all the room doors were open,
yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out. Looking into
the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk. It was as
clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence. Her first
impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided
that at her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to
fetch the porter from his basement. By this time her legs were beginning to tremble,
so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police.
Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to
search for any intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.
老妇人回到了她居住的公寓楼，心里很高兴。去商店买东西把她搞得筋疲力尽；
在回家的路上，她每走一步，就感到手里的篮子又重了一点。她乘上电梯后，只
想着午餐和好好休息一下。但她到了自己的楼层走出电梯后，就把这两件事忘了
个干净，因为她突然发现她家的大门开着。她心想明天上午一定要好好训斥那个
干家务的帮手，她竟如此疏忽大意。但突然她记起来了，帮手是在她出去买东西
之前走的，她还记得曾用了两把钥匙把大门锁上了。她慢慢地走进前厅，立即发
现所有的房门都敞开着，而她记得在出门买东西前，她按老规矩是把房门一一锁
上的。她往起居室里看去，写字台边一片狼藉。事情很清楚，在她外出时，窃贼
曾闯进家门。她第一个反应是到各个房间里搜寻一下窃贼，但转念一想，像她这
个年纪，最好是找个人一起去。于是她到地下室去找看门的人。这时，她两腿累
得开始发抖，于是坐了下来，喝了一杯浓茶。与此同时，看门的人给警察打了电
话。此刻老妇人也镇定了下来，准备在看门人的协助下搜寻可能仍躲藏在她房里
的窃贼。
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did not want to
hinder the police in their search for fingerprints. The chaos was inconceivable. She
had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding; and it
seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and
over. At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now
being made easier for her. Then a police inspector arrived with a constable and she
told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat. The inspector began to look for
fingerprints, while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced,
thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the
balcony. There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle
that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So their entry into this
flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been
disturbed. The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was missing by
the next day and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights. The old lady
thought he was a fussy creature, but since the porter agreed with him, she rang up her
daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.
他俩搜遍了每一个房间，小心翼翼地不接触任何东西，因为他们怕妨碍警察寻找
指纹。房间里的紊乱状况是无法想像的。老妇人在这套公寓里住了 30 年，她又
是个名副其实的收藏家。看来她的每一件东西都被翻了出来，并且被里里外外看
了个遍。这样一来，她倒是容易将那些几年前就该扔掉的东西找出来了。过了一
会儿，一位巡官带着一名警察来了。她向他们讲述了发现公寓遭劫的经过。巡官
开始搜寻指纹，警察经检查发现大门锁头并无撬过的迹象。由此可以证明，窃贼
或者是用了万能钥匙，或者是翻越阳台进来的。巡官没有发现指纹，却发现了一
个装有珠宝的、肮脏的红包袱。老妇人说那不是她的。很明显，闯进这套公寓的
窃贼那天并不是首次作案，而且他一定是受了惊吓。巡官请老妇人在次日之前设
法查清丢了些什么，并劝她几夜之内不要独自一人在公寓过夜。老妇人觉得巡官
大惊小怪，但既然看门人也同意他的意见，她只得打电话向女儿求援，说她碰到
了一点儿小麻烦。
Notes:
1 with every step of the way home ，这里介词 with 引起的短语作状语 ，表示
“随……（情况发生某种变化）”。
2 her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest，她只想着午餐和好好休息。
3 reprimand sb.for…，因为……而训斥某人。
4 yet following her regular practice ，然而按照她的惯例。
这是现在分词短语作方式状语，修饰 had shut。
5 as clear as daylight，十分清楚。
6 it might be more prudent to have someone with her，有人陪伴她可能更谨慎一些。
it 是形式主语，不定式短语 to have someone with her 是真正的主语。
7 being careful to touch nothing 是现在分词短语作方式状语，修饰 went through。
8 skeleton key ，万能钥匙。
58.2【阅读理解】A spot of bother
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Was the old lady glad to be back at her block of flats? (Yes, she was.)
2 What had made her tired? (Her shopping.)
3 What did she think about in the lift up to her flat? (Lunch and a good rest.)
4 When she got to her floor, what did she discover? (She discovered that her front
door was open.)
5 When had she gone shopping? (After the home help had left.)
6 And had she turned both keys in their locks? (Yes, she had.)
7 How many of the room doors were open? (All of them.)
8 Had she shut them all before she went out? (Yes, she had.)
9 Who had clearly forced an entry during her absence? (Burglars.)
10 Where did she go to fetch the porter? (The basement.)
11 Who did the porter telephone? (The police.)
12 And what did the old lady do while he was doing that? (She sat down and drank a
cup of strong tea.)
13 Did she and the porter searched the flat for any intruders? (Yes, they did.)
14 Did they touch anything? (No, they didn't.)
15 How long had the old lady lived in the flat? (For thirty years.)
16 What had happened to all her possessions? (They had been turned over and over.)
17 A police inspector arrived—accompanied by whom? (A constable.）
18 What did the inspector look for? (Fingerprints.)
19 Why did the constable check the front door locks? (To see if they had been forced.)
20 The inspector found a dirty red bundle. What did it contain? (Jewellery.)
21 Was it the burglars’first job that day? (No, it wasn't.)
22 What did the inspector advise the old lady to do? (Not to stay alone in the flat for a
few nights.)
58.3【拓展写作】A spot of bother
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition on the following subject；the length should be between 250 and
350 words.
• Your adventures when you first visited a foreign country.
Key to composition
Plan and ideas for composition
Title: My first visit to the UK
Introduction: Nothing like first visit abroad —what to expect?—new language, new
culture—everything new and strange
Development: 3 years ago — UK— arrival at airport — experiences
Landed at Heathrow — met by rep of Al English Language School — taken to
accommodation — small English family — at first everything strange—after 3-4 days
began to enjoy stay
So many things to learn in England — example—asking way to ‘Albert Hall’ = ‘the
Albert Hall’
Conclusion: Foreign travel —impossible to overestimate value —also helps
understand foreign visitors to our country
Composition
There is nothing like your first visit to a foreign country. Whatever you may have
heard, or whatever you have read or seen, you still don't really know what to expect.
You will hear and read a new language, you will be surrounded by a completely
different culture, and everything will seem new and strange.
My first visit abroad was three years ago when I went to the UK. I had booked to
attend a short English language course in London with a friend of mine. After a very
long flight, we landed at Heathrow Airport and were met by a representative of the
Al English Language School. She welcomed us and took us to our accommodation.
We were staying with a small English family. At first everything was so strange—the
food,
the furniture in their home and the way they live, everything! But after three or four
days we both began to enjoy our stay, and of course we made lots of friends at the
school, which was only half a mile away.
There are so many things to learn when you are in England. For example, one day
my friend and I were sightseeing in London and stopped to ask an Englishman the
way.
‘Excuse me,' I said. ‘Where is Albert Hall?" I thought my English was just right.
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘you mean the Albert Hall!”
‘Yes, ’ I said, ‘ where is the Albert Hall?’
He then explained how to get to the Albert Hall, but I didn’t realize the word
‘the’ was so important in English!
It is impossible to overestimate what you get from foreign travel. Going to the UK
made me realize how small the world is, it made me see how important travel is, and
it helped me to understand what foreign visitors feel like when they visit China for the
first time.
(317 words)
课外练习：
1 The old lady’s thoughts were on lunch and a good rest .
(a) because she had done so much shopping on her way home
(b) as she climbed the steps to the floor her flat was on
(c) but the sight of the open front door put them both out of her mind
(d) until she remembered she had gone shopping after the home help had left
2 When the old lady and the porter got back to the scene of the crime .
(a) he made her a cup of strong tea and then telephoned the police
(b) they searched the rooms for any burglars who might not have escaped
(c) they took care not to touch anything the burglars had touched
(d) they waited for the police before going into every room in the flat
3 What made the police think the burglars had been disturbed?
(a) They had been forced to leave the front door open.
(b) There was no trace of their fingerprints.
(c) They had made no attempt to disguise the fact they had been there.
(d) They had left behind some jewellery which did not belong to the lady.
4 She was thinking that she reprimand her home help..
(a) would have to
(b) had to
(c) was having to
(d) has to
5 -the room doors were open, yet she never went out ...
(a) without shutting them
(b) before she shut them
(c) except to have shut them
(d) in case they were not shut
6 -so she went to fetch the porter.
(a) down to the basement
(b) below to his basement
(e) from his basement
(d) along to the basement
7 At least it was now being made easier out the things she should have
discarded years ago.
(a) than she sorted
(b) that she sorted
(c) for her to sort
(d) sorting
8 -locks had not been forced, that the burglars ...
(a) which proved
(b) by this proving
(c) so that he proved
(d) in that it proved
9 -for thirty years and had hoarded .
(a) anything of value
(b) every conceivable article
(c) quite a few items of interest
(d) odd bits and pieces
10 -and advised her not to stay in the flat ...
(a) single
(b) on her own
(c) lonely
(d) selfish
11 The old lady thought he was concerned.
(a) rather
(b) quite
(c) hardly
(d) unduly
12 In describing the burglary as ‘a little spot of bother’, the old lady was .
(a) underestimating her losses
(b) undercharging the burglars
(c) underlining the evidence
(d) understating the case
答案：1c 2b 3d 4a 5a 6a 7c 8a 9b 10b 11d 12d