新概念美文學寫考研作文
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. （1） The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called ‘a skeleton in the cupboard’. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
（2）It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth.（3） Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guest-room which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. （4）I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than ‘a terrible secret’; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. ‘Oh, that,’ he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. ‘That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time. ’
全文翻譯：
在小說中，我們經常讀到一個表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，卻有著某種多年不為人所知的駭人聽聞的秘密。
（1）在小說的某個戲劇性時刻，可怕的秘密洩漏出來，接著便是某人的聲譽掃地。當讀者讀到小說最後幾頁瞭解到書中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可愛的老婦人年輕時一連毒死了她的'5個丈夫時，不禁會毛骨悚然。
（2）儘管我們人人都有各種大小秘密，連最親密的朋友都不願讓他們知道，但我們當中極少有人有櫃中骷髏。我所認識的唯一的在櫃中藏骷髏的人便是喬治·卡爾頓，他甚至引以為自豪。
（3）有一次，我在他家裡度週末，過得很不愉快。這事我永遠不會忘記。喬治把我領進客房，說這間房間很少使用。他讓我開啟行裝後下樓吃飯。我將襯衫、內衣放進兩個空抽屜裡，然後我想把隨身帶來的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣櫃裡去。
（4）一具骷髏懸掛在眼前，由於櫃門突然開啟，它也隨之輕微搖晃起來，讓我覺得它好像馬上要跳出櫃門朝我撲過來似的。我扔下西服衝下樓去告訴喬治。這是比"駭人聽聞的秘密"更加驚人的東西，這是一具真正的骷髏啊！但喬治卻無動於衷。"噢，是它呀！他笑著說道，儼然在談論一位老朋友。"那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學醫的了。"
大家一定要背下來哦。無論是正著背，倒著背，橫著背，豎著背，反正就是要滾花爛熟就對了哦~~