英语笑话听力+文本：我给花瓶上了色

【生词预览】

matron主妇，antique古董，shade色度／色调，eccentric古怪的

笑话原文】

I Painted the Vase

A wealthy matron was so proud of a valuable antique vase that she decided¹ to have her bedroom painted the same color as the vase. Several painters tried to match the shade, but none came close enough to satisfy the eccentric woman.

Eventually, a painter approached who was confident that he could mix the proper color. The woman was pleased with the result, and the painter became famous.

Years later, he retired² and turned the business over to his son. "Dad," said the son, "there's something I've got to know. How did you get those walls to match the vase so perfectly³?"
"

Son," the father replied, "I painted the vase."

中文译文】

我给花瓶上了色

一个有钱的主妇很骄傲自己有一个价值连城的古董花瓶，所以她决定把她的卧室也油漆成花瓶的颜色。
好几个油漆匠试着调色，可是没一个人能把颜色调得足够接近花瓶的,来满足这个奇怪的女人的要求。

终于，一个油漆匠找到一个自信能调好颜色的人。主妇对结果非常满意，那个调色的人也出名了。

多年后，他退休了并把家业移交给了儿子。
“爸爸，”儿子问，“有件事我必须得知道。您是如何那么完美地使墙壁的颜色贴合花瓶呢？”

“儿子，”爸爸回答，“我给花瓶上了色。”

词汇讲解】


1.proud骄傲的。与proud有关的惯用语除了文中的be proud of，还有do sb. Proud， 是“给某人增光”之意：His honesty did him proud.他的正直为他增光。

2.valuable价值连城的，它的对义词是valueless，而不是invaluable⁴。Invaluable 是valuable的同义词，是“非常珍贵的”、“无法估价的”的意思。

3.antique，形容词“古老的／过时的”，名词“古董、古玩”

4.have her bedroom painted，这里有一个句型“have sth. done”让某人做某事，比如：He had his hair cut.他（请人）给他理头发了。

5.eccentric，形容词“古怪的”，名词“怪人”。

6.turn over，移交，也有“仔细考虑” 的意思： He turned over the problem for hours.他对这个问题思考了好几个小时。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。