英语沙龙：幸福的回忆

A Beautiful Memory

Er...the loveliest house that I've ever lived in was one that I lived in with my grandparents when I was a child. And the name of the house was Crosslands. And I have some very happy memories of Crosslands. It was, it seemed, so huge to me as a child. And it had a lovely living room with a piano in it and a lovely sort of hall with lots of carpets and chests¹ and antiques² and so on. And there was a mysterious room, it was the drawing room, and we only used it on Sundays, or when the vicar came for tea, or Christmas Day or Easter Day, and I was used to be amazed³ about this room because it had the best furniture in it but it was covered up with sheets- it was as if all the furniture was wearing clothes- and it seemed to me ridiculous⁴ that we couldn't enjoy this beautiful furniture all the week through really.

And probably my favorite room was the kitchen. It had a lovely red flagstone floor, which was always highly⁵ polished⁶, and an Aga, you know, one of those big cookers that heats the whole room so it was always warm there, and there was a kind of clothes horse above it that we used to hang all our clothes on, and it was just lovely. It was a very warm room with baked bread and my grandmother used to make ice cream and we'd eat it in there and... there was a vegetable garden leading from there

so I spent a lot of time in the vegetable garden picking peas⁷ and eating them—my grandmother used to get really cross with me because I used to pick all the vegetables and the fruit for our meals and then I'd eat half of them, because they tasted so delicious coming fresh from the garden.

Now, I went back to it a few years ago and it was a big mistake. They've modernized⁸ it inside, they've got rid of those lovely old fire-places...have just gone. And they've knocked a wall down so the drawing room and the living room have become one big modern plastic kind of room.

But I think what upset me most about it was the feeling that the house had shrunk⁹, it had become smaller and that my memory of this lovely large warm comfortable house had turned into an old house with modernized rooms inside it. And it taught me a lesson really, that you can't go back on the past and recapture it. But there's a beautiful memory there.

1 chests   

n.胸部( chest的名词复数 )；（常为木制的）箱子；有…胸的；胸部…的

参考例句：

• The special agents broke into his room and rummaged through chests and cupboards but couldn't find anything suspicious. 那些特务冲进他的房间翻箱倒柜地搜了一遍，但没有发现任何可疑的东西。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I particularly liked the wooden chests and chairs. 我格外喜欢木箱子和木椅子。 来自辞典例句

2 antiques   

n.古玩，古董，古物( antique的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The room was furnished with antiques. 房间里摆放了古董。
• a priceless collection of antiques 价值连城的古文物收藏

3 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

4 ridiculous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的；荒唐的

参考例句：

• It is simply ridiculous to attempt such a thing.试图干这种事，简直可笑。
• It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.这是我有生以来听到的最为荒唐可笑的事。

5 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

6 polished   

adj.磨光的，擦亮的；完美的，精良的；优雅的v.使光滑，擦亮(polish的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The boxer polished off his opponent in the first round. 那个拳击手在第一个回合就把他的对手击倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The silver will need to be polished up for the dinner party. 为了宴会，这些银器需要擦得光亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 peas   

豌豆

参考例句：

• My little sister picked up many green peas in the field. 小妹从田野里拾到许多豌豆。
• The twin brothers are as like as two peas. 那两个兄弟毫无二致。

8 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

9 shrunk   

shrink的过去式和过去分词:收缩,缩短,皱缩,退避

参考例句：

• I confess it with shame--shrunk icily into myself, like a snail. 我羞愧地忏悔了——冷冰冰地退缩，像个蜗牛。
• The peasantry has shrunk from 74.6 millions to 65.5. 农民人数已从7460万减至6550万。