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高级中学课本英语教育分类：
英文资料LESSON TWO
A GERMAN STAMP
Mr. Amory, a businessman
Mallet, his manservant
Mr. Ramsay, a visitor to the house
The sitting-room of Amory’s house in London. It is a few minutes past seven o’clock on a cold October evening in 1946. Amory is standing with his back to the fire. Mallet is busy with glasses and drinks which are standing on a table near one of the walls.
Amory: We’ll have dinner at eight o’clock, Mallet. Please, tell your wife.
Mallet: Yes, sir.
Amory: Your wife is sometimes a little late with the dinner, Mallet.
Mallet: I’m sorry, sir. She didn’t work before the war. I wasn’t a servant before I met you in the war, and my wife stayed at home and took care of me. When my dinner was late, sir, it didn’t matter much.
Amory (taking a stamp from a small table): Look at this, Mallet. Can you see anything unusual about it?
Mallet: It’s a stamp, sir. Is it unusual?
Amory: Very. Look at the head on it.
Mallet: Yes, sir. The head’s upside down. That is rather unusual, isn’t it?
Amory: It certainly is. Have you ever seen a stamp like this in your life?
Mallet: No, sir; never. Where did you get it?
Amory: At the post office. I was posting thirteen letters and I bought stamps for them. Twelve of the stamps were of the usual kind. This was the thirteenth. I was just going to put it on the envelope when I noticed the head. So I kept it.
Mallet: Very wise, I’m sure, sir.
Amory: Yes. Some people will pay a lot of money for a stamp like this. Perhaps Mr. Ramsay will.
Mallet: Is he the gentleman who’s coming to dinner tonight, sir?
Amory: He is.
Mallet: Does he know that you have the stamp, sir?
Amory: Yes. I wrote to him about it. He may give me two or three hundred pounds for this stamp. He’s a rich man and he has a lot of strange stamps. So tell your wife to have dinner ready at eight o’clock. Mr. Ramsay will be here soon. He’s coming from Scotland, and he’s on his way to Dover. He’ll want a good dinner after his long journey.
Mallet: I’ll tell my wife, sir.
(The sound of a taxi is heard outside the house.)
Amory: Here he is now. Rather early. Go and bring him in, and then be ready to give us drinks.
Mallet (going out of the room): Yes, sir.
(Amory moves one of the chairs nearer to the fire and puts a small table near it. Mallet returns with Ramsay.)
Mallet: Mr. Ramsay, sir. (Mallet goes to the drinks.)
Amory: Good evening, Ramsay. I’m very glad to see you. Come in and sit down.
Ramsay: Good evening, Amory. Thanks. (Sits down)
Amory: Did you have a good journey? Will you have a drink?
Ramsay: Thanks. I need one. I’m glad to be out of that taxi alive.
(Mallet brings two drinks and gives them to Ramsay and Amory.)
Ramsay: Thanks.
Amory: Thank you, Mallet. (He speaks to Ramsay.) What happened in your taxi?
(Mallet goes out of the room.)
Ramsay: The driver nearly killed me. He drove too fast. We nearly killed a man who was crossing the street. I told the driver to slowly, but he wouldn’t listen.
Amory: I’m surprised. Most of our London taxi-drivers are very careful. They’re good drivers usually.
Ramsay: Yes, nearly always. But not quite always.
(Mallet returns and stands by the drinks.)
Amory: I’ve always found them safe enough.
Ramsay: Yes, they’re often too slow for me. But once before I was driven too fast. It was many years ago. About 1939, I believe.
Amory: That’s a long time ago. Why do you remember it after so many years?
Ramsay: Because I lost something. It was all very strange; very strange. I reached Victoria station and ran out to find a taxi. I wanted to go to King’s Cross station to catch a train.
Amory: The other side of London.
Ramsay: Yes. I hadn’t much time. I got into the taxi and the driver started off at once and drove much too fast. I said nothing at first because I wanted to catch that train. But the man drove very badly, and he wasn’t going the right way. I got angry.
Amory: Perhaps he knew a better way to King’s Cross.
Ramsay: I don’t think so. He drove along a lot of small streets that I didn’t know at all. He went faster and faster. It wasn’t safe. I asked him to go the right way to the station, but he didn’t listen to me. He seemed to be in a very strange state of mind. He just went on and on. I was lost. I didn’t remember any of the streets.
Amory: London taxi-drivers know all the small streets. Sometimes they use them to save time. The bigger streets are full of cars. Mallet, Mr. Ramsay wants another drink, please.
Mallet (taking Ramsay’s glass): Yes, sir.
Ramsay: Thanks. My driver took me far out of my way. Then, in a small street somewhere, he stopped the taxi and looked out of his window. I told him to go on. I didn’t want to miss my train. But he got out.
(Mallet drops Ramsay’s glass on the floor.)
Amory (looking round at Mallet): Must you do things like that, Mallet? Bring Ramsay another glass.
Mallet (quietly): Yes, sir. I’m sorry.
Ramsay: The taxi-driver left me in the taxi and ran into a doorway near a shop.
(Mallet listens with a troubled face.)
Amory (surprised): Left you in the taxi?
Ramsay: Yes, he did just that. I got out to look for another taxi, but of course there weren’t any there. The driver was away for about two minutes and then he came out of the doorway again. I got back into the taxi, but the driver ran into the shop. I waited. What else could I do? But then he came back to the taxi. (Mallet gives Ramsay a drink.) Thanks.
(Mallet goes out of the room.)
Amory: Where has that man gone now? What happened next?
Ramsay: The driver took me as fast as he could to King’s Cross station.
Amory: Did you catch your train?
Ramsay: Yes, I just caught it. I’ve often wanted to meet that driver again. I lost a stamp that day. Perhaps I left it in the taxi.
Amory: What kind of stamp?
Ramsay: It was a German stamp and it was still on its envelope. The postmark was clear. The date was clear too: July 1st. Those stamps were sold for the first time on July 1st, and so I was very sorry to lose that envelope. I’ve often tried to find another like it, but there aren’t many in the world. The German post offices didn’t sell any more stamps like that after about a week. There was something wrong with the name of the country on them.
Amory: How did you get the stamp?
Ramsay: I bought it. It cost quite a lot of money. And now those stamps cost even more.
(Mallet returns with an envelope in his hand. He gives it to Ramsay.)
Mallet: Is this yours, sir?
Ramsay (looking at the envelope): Mine? Oh, look at this! Well, well, well! Where did you get this? Yes, it’s mine. It’s the lost stamp. I can’t believe it! How did you get it? The same envelope! The same German writing! Who gave you this?
Mallet (quietly): You left it in the taxi, sir. I was the taxi-driver.
Amory and Ramsay (together): You?!
Mallet: Yes, sir. I drove a taxi before the war.
Amory: Do you mean that you are the driver who left Mr. Ramsay in the taxi and ran into a shop?
Mallet (in a low voice): Yes, sir.
Amory: But why did you do that? Tell us, man. There must be a reason. Taxi-drivers don’t usually do things like that.
Mallet: My wife was ill, sir. She was in bed and she was alone.
Amory: Why didn’t you stay with her?
Mallet: I had to get some money, sir, with my taxi. We needed money. I went to Victoria station and Mr. Ramsay got into my taxi. I didn’t know him then, of course. He wanted to go to King’s Cross. I took him along those small streets so that I could see my wife’s bedroom window.
Ramsay: Why?
Mallet: She was alone in her room, in bed. When she wanted me, she turned her light on. When it wasn’t turned on, she wasn’t very ill. That was our plan, sir.
Ramsay: I see. And on that day …
Mallet: When I stopped the taxi on that day and looked up at the window of her room, I saw the light. It was turned on, sir. You could just see it from the side of the street.
Amory: So you knew that she needed help.
Mallet: Yes, sir. I ran into the house to see her. She was very bad. I thought that she was dying.
Ramsay: But after you came back, you ran into the shop. Why did you do that?
Mallet: There was a telephone in the shop. I telephoned to the doctor. Then I ran back to the taxi and took you to King’s Cross.
Ramsay: I see; I see. Yes, I understand now. But I was rather angry at the time. I said a lot of unkind things to you. I’m sorry.
Mallet: It didn’t matter, sir. You wanted to catch your train and you didn’t know about my wife’s illness.
Ramsay: Well, I’m very glad to have this stamp again. Thank you very much. Why did you keep it?
Mallet: I knew that it was yours, sir, but I didn’t know your name or your address. The address on the envelope isn’t English. It’s a place in Germany. Once I nearly posted it to Germany, but, to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to spend money on a stamp. Then the war started and I went to fight. When I came home again last year, I found the envelope in a book. I never did anything more about it. But when I heard your story, sir, I remembered it; and there it is.
Ramsay: Well, I’m very glad. Thank you very much again. I’m glad that I came to see you, Amory. This is a great day for me. Did your wife get better, Mallet?
Mallet: Yes, thank you, sir. She got better, but the doctor was glad that I telephoned. She’s getting your dinner ready now. I’ll just go and see her now. It’s five minutes to eight. I’ll serve dinner in five minutes, sir. (He goes out.)
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
Amory n.艾默利（姓）
Mallet n.马利特（男名）
Ramsay n.拉姆齐（姓）
Matter vi.（主要用于否定句、疑问句）要紧，有重大关系
Unusual adj.不常见的；奇异的
Upside n.上部；上边 upside down颠倒；乱七八糟
Envelope n.信封；纸袋；封皮
Scotland n.苏格兰
Dover n.多佛（英国港市）
Taxi n.出租汽车
Victoria n.维多利亚
Cross n.十字架；十字形（物）
Doorway n.门口；出入口
Troubled adj.不安的，困惑的
Postmark n.邮戳
Unkind adj.不亲切的，不和善的
Serve vt.开（饭），上（菜），斟（酒）
NOTES TO THE TEXT
1. It didn’t matter much（相当于it was not very important）没有多大关系。
matter在这里的意思是be important（要紧，有关系），主要用于否定句和疑问句。又如：
It doesn’t matter to me what he says.他说什么对我无关紧要。
what does it matter?那有什么关系（要紧）？
2. He seemed to be in a very strange state of mind.他好象精神很不正常。
a state of min精神状态；心境，心情
She was in a very excited (calm) state of mind.她心情很激动（平静）。
3. Must you do things like that, Mallet?马利特，小心点不行吗？（直译：偏要这么干吗？）
must在这里表示发生了某种与说话人的愿望相反、不受欢迎的事，意思是“偏偏”、“偏巧”又如：
Why must he do it that way?为什么他偏要那样做？
Why must it rain on Sunday?怎么偏偏在星期天下雨，讨厌！
4. Tell us, man.喂，快告诉我们吧。
man在这里表示急切或不耐烦的情绪，意思是“嗨”、“喂”。又如：
Hurry up, man!嗨，快点儿！
Come, man, we’ve no time to lose.喂，来呀，时间不早啦（我们得快点）。
EXERCISES
Ⅰ. Choose the suitable words to complete the sentences by putting a tick “√” before a, b, c, d:
1. Mr. Amory is .
a. a stamp collector b. a bus-driver c. a manservant d. a businessman
2. Mallet used to be before the war.
a. a manservant b. a businessman c. a bus-driver d. a taxi-driver
3. Mallet’s wife used to be and now she is .
a. a cook … a servant b. a housewife … a cook c. a teacher … a servant d. a nurse … a cook
4. Ramsay visited Amory in order to .
a. get his lost stamp b. see Amory’s man servant c. buy an unusual stamp d. see Amory’s wife
5. Ramsay lost about years earlier. He had left it in a .
a. a stamp … three … a taxi b. an English stamp … five … a bus
c. a strange stamp … seven … a post office d. a German stamp … seven … a taxi
6. When Mallet gave Ramsay an envelope with on it, Ramsay was to see that it was his lost stamp.
a. an English stamp … glad b. a clear postmark … happy
c. a German stamp …surprised d. a clear date … astonished
7. There was something wrong with on those German stamps.
a. the name of the country b. the postmark c. the date d. the design
8. Mallet had kept the envelope. He did not send it to Ramsay because .
a. he used it as a paper bag b. the address on the envelope was in English
c. he liked the stamp and wanted to keep it for himself d. he did not want to spend any money on a stamp
Ⅱ. Composition:
Tell the story of A German Stamp briefly, using these words and phrases:
a businessman, servant
one evening, visit, during the talk, lose a German stamp, in a taxi, on his way to, not much time, taxi-driver, along small streets, lost
hear the talk, give, envelope, be surprised, the same stamp, at that time, wife, ill, in order to, run into, a nearby shop, telephone to the doctor
be glad, get the lost stamp back, thank very much
Do like this and finish it:
Amory was a businessman. Mallet and his wife were Amory’s servants.
One evening, a rich man named Ramsay visited Amory. During their talk, Ramsay said that he lost a German stamp in a taxi seven years before, on his way to the station to catch a train. There was not much time then, so he had to hurry. The taxi-driver, however, was not going the right way. He drove along a lot of small streets. He seemed to be in a strange state of mind and drove so badly that Amory was lost and did not remember any of the streets.
Mallet heard their talk and went to fetch … He said that he took Ramsay along those small streets in order to see his wife’s bedroom window, because … Seeing the light on, he knew … then he hurried back to send Ramsay to the station in time.
Ⅲ. Each of the following sentences can be made to express just the opposite meaning by putting the prefix dis-, in-, im- or un- before one of the words in the sentence. Find that word and add the correct prefix. Use your dictionary if you are not sure.
1. He was very kind to us.
2. Such a disease is quite usual among people there.
3. This boy is very attentive in class.
4. You are correct in thinking he is a fool.
5. Tom’s boss is satisfied with his work.
6. It is possible that he will find the lost stamp.
7. I agree with you on that point.
8. The old woman led a very happy life in the past.
9. The child is polite to old people.
10. We’ve had a very pleasant time.
Ⅳ. Match the words and phrases given under A with the meanings under B. List B has some extra items.
A B
1. Manservant a. paper cover for a letter
2. Matter vi. b. a car for hire
3. Unusual c. worried or anxious
4. Upside down d. a place where one enters a building or a room
5. Envelope e. take care of
6. Taxi f. a man who is paid to work for another, especially in helping to run a house
7. Doorway g. uncommon, rare
8. Trouble h. a man who makes a living by buying and selling things
9. Serve i. frightened
10. Businessman j. be important
k. with the top side at the bottom
l. bring food or drink
Ⅴ. Translate the sentences under A into Chinese and those under B into English:
A B
1. Can you see anything unusual about this stamp? 1.你能看出这部电影有什么有教育意义的东西吗？
2. I never did anything more about the stamp. 2.对于那件事我再也没有说什么。
3. He is standing with his back to the fire. 3.她背靠着墙坐着。
4. She is sometimes a little late with the dinner. 4.这小男孩常常迟交作业。
5. He may give me two or three hundred pounds for this stamp. 5.我花了十元钱买这本词典。
6. The taxi-drivers are often too slow for me. 6. 这裙子的颜色对你来说太深了。
7. Twelve of the stamps were of the usual kind 7.这两个男孩年龄相同。
8. I didn’t want to spend money on a book like that. 8.他把自己所有的余钱都用来买书了。
Ⅵ. Tell what each of the following abbreviations means in Chinese:
A.M.(a.m.) P.M.(p.m.) USSR pp. viz PRC P.S. U.S.A. UN TV c/o i.e. e.g. etc.
mm BBC VOA UK Ltd. AD(A.D.) BC(B.C.) BA MA Ph.D. SOS
Check your answers with the list below. Learn the English meanings:
A.M. = in the morning
USSR = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
PRC = People’s Republic of China
UN = United Nations
TV = television
i.e. = that is
etc. = et cetera
BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation
UK = United Kingdom
AD (A.D.) = Anno Domini
BA = Bachelor of Arts
Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy
P.M. = in the afternoon
pp. = pages
viz = that is to say
P.S. = postscript
U.S.A = United States of America
c/o = care of
e.g. = for example
mm = millimeter
VOA = Voice of America
Ltd. = limited
BC (B.C.) = Before Christ
MA = Master of Arts
SOS = urgent appeal for help
Ⅶ. Read the following passage, then answer the questions at the end of the passage:
The Third Man’s Story
One evening three men arrived at a New York hotel, where they had booked rooms. It was their first visit to New York and they had visited many interesting places before they came to the hotel. Now they were very tired.
“The rooms which you have booked are on the 43rd floor,” said the porter, “but I’m sorry to tell you that the lift is out of order. If the hotel weren’t full up, I’d give you rooms on the first floor. So you must use the stairs.”
The men, who were not very young, were sad about this, but there was nothing they could do.
They agreed to tell some stories on the way up the stairs. It would make things easier.
The first man began to tell a story. It was very long and when he had finished, they had reached the 14th floor. The second man’s story lasted until they had climbed up the 31st floor.
The third man, whose turn it was now to tell his story, suddenly stopped.
“What’s the matter?” asked his two friends. “Can’t you think of a story?”
“Oh, yes,” he answered, “I can! But if I tell you my story, you won’t like it.”
“We shan’t go a step further if you refuse to tell us your story,” said the other two.
The third man sighed. “All right, then. The story which I’ll tell you is very short and very sad. It’s the saddest one you’ve ever heard today. We have left the keys of our rooms downstairs with the porter.”
1. Where and when did the story happen? On which floor had the three men booked rooms?
2. How many times had they been to New York city? Why were they very tired when they came to the hotel?
3. What did the porter tell them when they went to get their keys to their rooms? How did they feel then?
4. What did they decide to do to make things easier on the way up the stairs?
5. Which floor had they reached when the first man finished his story? Which floor had they climbed up when the second man finished his story?
6. Why did the third man suddenly stop when it was his turn to tell a story? Was his story long and interesting?
7. Did the other two men like his story? Why?
