更美的世界07-一件大衣

[00:00.00]An overcoat 一件大衣
[00:04.53]My l4-year-old son, John,
[00:07.60]and I spotted¹ the coat simultaneously².
[00:10.22]It was hanging on a rack
[00:12.53]at a secondhand clothing store in Northampton Mass,
[00:14.92]crammed in with shoddy trench³ coats
[00:17.78]and an assortment⁴ of sad, woolen⁵ overcoats—
[00:20.72]a rose among thorns.
[00:22.48]While the other coats drooped⁶,
[00:24.65]this one looked as if it were holding itself up.
[00:27.51]The coat had a beautiful tailoring,
[00:30.01]and an unbelievable price of $28.
[00:33.58]We looked at each other,
[00:35.01]saying nothing,
[00:36.10]but John’s eyes gleamed.
[00:37.51]Dark, woolen topcoats were popular just then with teenage boys,
[00:41.88]but could cost several hundred dollars new.
[00:44.63]This coat was even better,
[00:46.39]bearing that touch of classic elegance⁷ from a bygone era.
[00:50.54]John tried it on.
[00:52.27]The fit was perfect.
[00:53.58]John wore the coat to school the next day
[00:56.22]and came home wearing a big grin.
[00:58.40]“Ho, did the kids like your coat?”
[01:00.93]I asked.
[01:01.70]“They loved it,”
[01:02.66]he said, carefully folding it over the back of a chair
[01:05.52]and smoothing it flat.
[01:06.62]Over the next few weeks, a change came over John.
[01:10.22]Agreement replaced contrariness, quiet,
[01:13.93]reasoned discussion replaced argument.
[01:16.02]He became more judicious⁸, more mannerly,
[01:18.74]more thoughtful, eager to please.
[01:20.39]“Good dinner, Mom,” he would say every evening.
[01:23.12]He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes
[01:26.96]and lecture him on good behavior.
[01:28.69]One day when I suggested
[01:30.56]that he might start on homework before dinner,
[01:32.84]John—a veteran procrastinator—said,
[01:35.92]“You’re right. I guess I will.”
[01:37.68]When I mentioned this incident to one of his teachers
[01:41.40]and remarked that I didn’t know what caused the changes,
[01:44.22]she said laughing.
[01:45.43]“It must be his coat!”
[01:46.97]Another teacher told him she was giving him a good mark
[01:50.02]not only because he had earned it
[01:51.90]but because she liked his coat.
[01:53.41]At the library, we ran into a friend
[01:56.48]who had not seen our children for a long time,
[01:58.87]“Could this be John?”
[02:00.85]he asked, looking up to John’s new height,
[02:03.39]assessing the cut of his coat and extending his hand,
[02:06.33]one gentleman to another.
[02:08.09]John and I both know we should never mistake a person’s clothes
[02:11.69]for the real person within them.
[02:13.33]But there is something to be said
[02:15.29]for wearing a standard of excellence⁹ for the world to see,
[02:18.26]for practising standards of excellence
[02:20.54]in thought, speech, and behaviour,
[02:22.63]and for matching what is on the inside to what is on the outside.

1 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

2 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

3 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

4 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。

5 woolen   

adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的

参考例句：

• She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
• There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。

6 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

7 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

8 judicious   

adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的

参考例句：

• We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
• A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。

9 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。