31 A Lovable Eccentric

名称：31 A Lovable Eccentric
内容简介：
新概念英语第三册（英音）
[al:新概念英语（三）]
[ar:MP3 同步字幕版（英音）]
[ti:A Lovable Eccentric]

[00:01.46]Lesson 31
[00:03.40]A lovable eccentric
[00:12.00]Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?
[00:18.28]True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves.
[00:23.75]They disregard social conventions
[00:26.31]without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary.
[00:30.43]This invariably wins them the love and respect of others,
[00:34.53]for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
[00:39.03]Up to the time of his death,
[00:40.99]Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town.
[00:45.63]He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman,
[00:48.62]but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life.
[00:53.78]He was known to us all as Dickie
[00:56.84]and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.
[01:02.32]Dickie disliked snobs intensely.
[01:05.24]Though he owned a large car,
[01:07.46]he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.
[01:11.56]Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella.
[01:16.12]One day, he walked into an expensive shop
[01:19.75]after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower.
[01:23.67]He wanted to buy a ￡300 watch for his wife,
[01:27.70]but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him.
[01:33.41]Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag.
[01:39.46]As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter.
[01:43.77]The assistant asked him to leave,
[01:46.34]but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager.
[01:51.20]Recognizing who the customer was,
[01:53.91]the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely.
[01:59.37]When Dickie was given the watch, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag.
[02:04.54]It contained ￡300 in pennies.
[02:09.13]He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left--
[02:13.52]30, 000 pennies in all!
[02:16.44]On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics
[02:20.56]to see his private collection of modern paintings.
[02:23.91]This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press,
[02:28.06]for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists,
[02:31.84]they had in fact been painted by Dickie.
[02:34.55]It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke
[02:38.31]simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.