亡灵岛
Dead Man's lsland 英文 中文 双语对照 双语交替 首页 目录 下一章 | |
1 Coming to England
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My name is Carol Sanders.
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I live in England now,but when I was younger,I lived in Hong Kong.My father was a businessman there and my mother worked as a secretary.We lived in Hong Kong for seven years.
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I was happy at school, with lots of friends,and we had a good time.I liked pop music—the Rolling Stones,David Bowie and Jake Rosso were my favourites.
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Jake Rosso was my favourite singer. He died in a car accident the year I left school, but I listened to his pop records all the time.I had hundreds of pictures and photos of him on my bedroom wall.
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Then one day in winter when I was seventeen,things began to go wrong for me.
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My father went to Australia on business.I loved him very much and didn't like him going away.
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‘Come home quickly,’I always said to him.
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He was in Australia for two weeks.Then, on the day of his journey home, an aeroplane from Sydney crashed into the sea just south of Hong Kong.Everybody on the plane died.
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I heard about the plane crash on television.At first, I did not think about my father.Then I remembered he was flying back from Sydney on that day.
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‘Oh,no!’I cried.
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I telephoned the airport but they did not know the names of all the passengers then.
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‘Perhaps my father didn't get that plane,’I thought.‘ Oh,please!Please!’
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My mother was at work and I called her on the telephone.She came home quickly and we went to the airport and waited for news.
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Later,we learned my father was on the plane.
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‘It's not true!’I shouted.
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But it was true, and I began to cry.
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I cried for weeks and weeks.I spent many days alone in my room.I was lonely and sad and I wanted to die,too.
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I stopped going out with my friends. I didn't want to see other people.I stopped listening to Jake Rosso's records, and took his pictures off my bedroom wall. I didn't listen to music or watch television. Nothing mattered any more.
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Then I stopped crying.I stopped feeling sad and began to feel angry.
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‘Why did it happen to him?’I asked my mother.‘Why do the best people die?Jake Rosso.My father.’
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‘I… I don't know, Carol,'my mother said.She was unhappy,too.
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At the time of the plane crash, I was a student at college.I enjoyed the college work and life very much, but after my father's death I stopped doing my work at the college.I began to go out with some new friends.They were different from my other friends,and my mother didn't like them.
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‘ They're bad people,Carol,'she told me.‘They do dangerous things.’
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‘They're exciting,’I said.‘And I like them.’
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I knew she was angry but I didn't care. But then I learned my new friends took drugs,and I began to take drugs,too.It was wrong and stupid,I know that now, but I was unhappy and angry.
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The police came to the college to arrest some of the students.They didn't arrest me, but I had to leave the college.It was a bad time.
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My mother was very unhappy with me.‘What am I going to do with you,Carol? she said.
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‘I'm sorry,’I told her.
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‘We'll go back to England,'she said.‘You can find a college there.Perhaps you can be happier in England.’
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‘All right,’I said.‘I want to forget what's happened.I want to forget what I've done and begin a new life, be a new person.’
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A month later, we came back to England.We lived in London,in a hotel.It was strange,at first, with all the red buses and everybody speaking English.It was the beginning of the summer,three months before college began in the autumn.London was full of tourists.
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We looked at all the famous buildings—Buckingham Palace,the Tower of London.And we went to restaurants and theatres in the evenings.It was interesting and exciting and I began to forget the bad times in Hong Kong.
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‘I'm pleased we came to London,’I told my mother.
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But after a few weeks,she said,‘You need to find a college,Carol.You must go on studying. And I need a job.’
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That evening, we looked in the newspapers.
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‘What about this?’I said.I showed my mother a job in the newspaper.
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SECRETARY
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for the summer months
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on a small private island in Scotland.
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Live with the family in a big house.
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interseting work and good pay
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for the right person.
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Phone Greta Poss.Telephone number 071…
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‘Well, that sounds interesting,'said my mother.‘I'd like to work as a secretary on an island in Scotland.It's a beautiful country, Carol, and you can go to a college there in the autumn.’
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‘And it's a place to live for the summer,’I said.‘Hotels are expensive.’
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My mother telephoned Greta Ross.
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Come and see me tomorrow, Greta Ross told her.‘Come to Savoy Hotel at eleven o'clock.’
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I went to Savoy Hotel with my mother.It was big and ex pensive,bigger than our hotel,and in the centre of London.
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‘Mum needs this job,I thought.‘And a private island in Scotland is a nice place to live.Perhaps I can forget what's happened if I go there.’
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‘Room twenty-two,'said the woman at the hotel desk.‘Go on up. Mrs Ross will see you now.’
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Greta Ross was waiting for us.She was about thirty years old and very beautiful.She wore an expensive red dress and her hair was very long and dark.
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‘This is my daughter,Carol,'said my mother.
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‘Hallo, Carol,'said Greta Ross.
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‘Hallo,’I said.
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‘Carol is eighteen years old,'said my mother.‘Can she come with me,if I get the job? Perhaps she can help in the house or in the garden.She likes gardening.She's studying farming at college.’
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‘Perhaps, said Greta Ross.‘There's a small farm on the island.’
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‘I'd like to work on the farm,’I said.
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Greta Ross looked at my mother.‘How long did you live in Hong Kong,Mrs Sanders?’
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‘Seven years,’answered my mother.‘My husband died in a plane crash last year,so we've come back to live in England.’
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‘Where did you live before Hong Kong?’
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‘We lived in India for three years.’
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Then Greta Ross took my mother into a room and asked her more questions.I waited outside.
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‘Greta Ross is nice,’I thought.‘I hope my mother gets the job.’
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Soon after,the door opened and my mother came out.She was smiling.
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Greta Ross said,‘Please wait here for a minute,Mrs Sanders.I want to make a phone call.'she went back into the room,and closed the door.
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I was sitting on a chair near the door,and I could just hear Greta Ross's voice speaking on the phone.
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‘I think I've found someone,'she was saying.‘She has a daughter,but the girl can work in the garden or on the farm… Don't worry,they've been away from England for ten years… It'll be all right,I tell you… Don't worry.’
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After a few minutes, Greta Ross put down the phone and came ont of the room.
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‘You've got the job,'she told my mother.
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My mother was pleased.‘Thank you,'she replied.
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I was pleased,too, but now I was worried about that phone call.I didn't understand it.
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