自考英语综合一下册课文 lesson 7

　　[00:00.00]Text    The Great Idea of Mr.Budd(1)

[00:07.08]￡500 REWARD

[00:11.15]The Evening Messenger has decided 1 to offer the above reward to any person who gives information

[00:19.10]which results inthe arrest of William Strickland,

[00:24.37]who is wanted by the police in connection with the murder of Emma Strickland in Manchester.

[00:32.24]DESCRIPTION OF THE WANTED MAN

[00:36.39]This is the official description of William Strickland;

[00:41.72]Age forty-three;height about six feet one inch;

[00:47.75]thick silver-grey hair,which may be dyed;

[00:53.08]full grey beard,but may now have been shaved off;light grey eyes;

[01:01.86]large nose;strong white teeth,of which some are filled with gold;

[01:09.62]left thumbnail damaged by a recent blow.

[01:14.76]Mr.Budd read the description carefully.

[01:19.44]There were hundreds of barbers'shops in London.

[01:24.19]It was unlikely that William Strickland would choose his small shop for a haircut,

[01:30.85]a shave or even to have his hair dyed.

[01:35.71]Three weeks had passed since the murder,

[01:40.36]and it seemed very probable that William Strickland had already left the country.

[01:46.89]But in spite 2 of this Mr.Budd memorised the description as well as possible.

[01:53.42]There was a chance.

[01:56.98]These were difficult times for Mr.Budd,

[02:01.42]and he was attracted by any opportunity of making money.

[02:06.98]It may seem strange that,

[02:10.82]in an age when it was fashionable for ladies to have their hair styled,

[02:17.20]Mr.Budd should search for opportunities of making money.

[02:23.12]But recently a new"Ladies Hairdressing Department"had opened opposite.

[02:30.49]The result was an endless stream of young ladies

[02:35.64]who hurried there to make appointments.

[02:40.08]Day after day,Mr.Budd watched them goingin and out of the rival shop

[02:48.02]and hoped that some of them would come over to him;but they never did.

[02:55.67]And yet Mr.Budd knew that he was the better hairdresser.

[03:02.02]He had studied especially the art of hair-dyeing,

[03:07.30]and it made him quite angry to see the careless way in which his rival did this particular branch of his work.

[03:15.63]Mr.Budd put the newspaper down,

[03:19.99]and as he did so,caught sight of his face in the mirror.

[03:24.09]He was not the sort of man who catches a violent murderer by himself.

[03:30.65]Even with a razor,he would be no match for William Strickland,

[03:36.22]who had murdered his old aunt so violently.

[03:41.78]Mr.Budd shook his head doubtfully

[03:46.04]and walked to-wards the door to watch the busy shop opposite.

[03:51.60]As he did so,

[03:54.76]he nearly ran into a large man who suddenly came in through the door-way.

[04:01.11]"I beg your pardon,sir,"said Mr.Budd politely,

[04:06.39]not wanting to lose any money."Would you like a shave,sir?"

[04:12.24]The large man quickly took off his coat.

[04:16.89]"Are you ready to die?"he asked fiercely.

[04:22.35]The question was so close to Mr.Budd's thoughts about murder

[04:28.51]that for a moment he was quite frightened.

[04:32.59]"I beg your pardon,sir,"he managed to say at last.

[04:38.05]"Do you dye hair?"said the man impatiently.

[04:42.80]"Oh!"said Mr.Bubb,feeling relieved,"yes,sir,certainly."

[04:49.75]This was a stroke of luck.He could get a good price for dyeing.

[04:56.28]"Good",said the man,sitting down and allowing Mr.Budd to put a cloth about his neck.

[05:02.94]"The fact of the matter is that my young lady doesn't like red hair.

[05:08.30]I thought that perhaps it could be changed to something less noticeable.

[05:14.57]Dark brown is the colour that she would like.What do you think?"

[05:20.81]Mr.Budd,in the interests of business,agreed that dark brown would be very nice.

[05:27.89]Besides,it was very likely that there was no young lady.

[05:33.82]When a man is going to do something foolish he prefers,

[05:39.67]if possible,to put the responsibility on to someone else.

[05:45.63]"Very well,then,"said the man,

[05:49.39]"carry on.And I'm afraid that the beard must go.

　　[05:54.74]My young lady doesn't like beards."

[05:58.71]The man sat back,and Mr.Budd noticed strong,well-kept teeth,

[06:06.45]one of which was filled with gold.

[06:10.39]"I see that you have used a dye before,sir,"said Mr.Budd.

[06:16.87]"Could you tell me--?"

[06:20.42]"Eh?"said the man.

[06:23.95]"Oh,yes--well the fact is that my young lady is much youner than I am.

[06:30.48]You can see that my hair began to go grey early in my life and so I had it dyed.

[06:37.45]But she doesn't really like the colour.

[06:41.29]I should change it to a colour she does like,eh?"

[06:46.47]Mr.Budd got from the man the name of the dye which had been used before

[06:53.23]and decided that he would have to be careful.

[06:57.99]Some dyes do not mix well with other dyes.

[07:03.13]He shaved off the beard.He washed the hair and then began to dry it.

[07:10.11]Meanwhile,he talked about sport and politics,

[07:15.67]and passed on naturally to the Manchester murder.

[07:21.23]"The police seem to have given up in despair,"said the man.

[07:27.11]"Perhaps the reward will help,"said Mr.Bubb who was still thinking of the subject.

[07:33.36]"Oh,there's a reward,is there?I hadn't seen that."

[07:38.92]"It's in this evening's paper,sir.Would you like to have a look at it?"

[07:44.56]"Thanks,yes,I would."

[07:48.22]Mr.Budd fetched the Evening Messenger.

[07:52.27]The stranger read the article carefully

[07:56.71]and Mr.Budd,watching him in the mirror,saw him suddenly pull back his left hand

[08:03.87]which had been resting carelessly on the arm of the chair.

[08:09.01]But not before Mr.Budd had seen the misshapen thumbnail.

[08:15.57]The man looked up sharply 3

[08:19.72]and Mr.Budd saw his eyes watching him closely in the mirror.

[08:26.49]He was examining Mr.Budd's face to find out how much he knew.

[08:33.15]"I've no doubt,"said Mr.Budd,

[08:37.30]"that the man is safely out of the country by now.

[08:42.48]They've offered the reward too late,I think."

[08:47.12]The man laughed.

[08:50.60]"I think they have,"he said.

[08:54.75]Mr.Budd wondered whether many men

[08:59.19]who had a damaged left thumb also had an upper tooth filled with gold.