英语听力精选进阶版 7303

媒体已经揭开了新书作者之谜。此前，哈里波特的作者JK罗林以一位男性的化名出版了一部侦探小说。这部四月出版的新书名叫《杜鹃鸟在呼唤》，讲述了一名退役老兵变身为私人侦探的故事。

It was something of a literary mystery. How was Robert Galbraith, a former military policeman, able to produce such an assured debut¹ novel?

Extract from the book:

The face was crushed and swollen², one eye reduced to a pucker³, the other showing as a sliver⁴ of dull white between distended⁵ lids. When the sequinned top she wore glittered in slight changes of light, it gave a disquieting⁶ impression of movement, as though she breathed again.

And now it turns out that Robert Galbraith is actually the nom de plume⁷ of none other than JK Rowling. The secret was only discovered when Britain's Sunday Times newspaper realised that Galbraith and Rowling shared the same agent and editor. Computer analysis showed they used similar phrases and styles.

It was also not the first time Rowling had hidden her gender⁸, having chosen to be called JK rather than Joanne when she was first published.

Rowling confessed. In mitigation, she said she wanted to know how her book would be received without her name and that she had found it a liberating⁹ experience. 

The book had sold fifteen hundred copies before Sunday, and now the mystery has been solved it is number one in the Amazon best seller list.

Quiz 听力测验

1. True or false? Robert Galbraith wrote "The Cuckoo's Calling" for JK Rowling.

False.

2. Where was JK Rowling's secret revealed?

In the Sunday Times newspaper.

3. What was similar about the writing of Rowling and Galbraith?

They both used similar styles and phrases.

4. What has happened to this book now that the real author has been revealed?

It has reached number one in the Amazon best seller list.

Glossary 词汇表

a literary mystery 文学之谜

assured 有把握的，十拿九稳地

debut 处女作

it turns out 原来是

nom de plume 笔名，化名

gender 性别

confessed 承认，供认

mitigation 辩解

liberating 令人舒畅的

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

3 pucker   

v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子

参考例句：

• She puckered her lips into a rosebud and kissed him on the nose.她双唇努起犹如一朵玫瑰花蕾，在他的鼻子上吻了一下。
• Toby's face puckered.托比的脸皱了起来。

4 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

5 distended   

v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童
• The balloon was distended. 气球已膨胀。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 disquieting   

adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
• That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句

7 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）