Lesson Five Trifles (Part One) Words and Expressions
Text Explanation
1are all much bundled up
all of them wear a lot of clothes
2and would ordinarily be called more comfortable looking
in ordinary times you would say she is cheerful, relaxed looking woman
3and you know Frank
and you know what kind of person Frank is.
4 a party telephone / line
a telephone line shared by two or more houses, offices, etc.
5that I didn't know as (that) what his wife wanted made much difference to John.
It shows that even the neighbour knows that John Wright doesn't pay attention to his wife's needs, that he decides things in the family and that the wife has no say.
6And kind of done up.
She was, roughly speaking, dressed up.
to do up: tidy oneself up, to dress up properly.
7Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worrying about her preserves.
The sheriff was very much surprised at Mrs. Wright's worry about her preserves. To him, since she was arrested for murder, she should worry about her own life, not such unimportant things as preserves.
Can you beat that?
Have you ever seen or heard anything as surprising as that?
8…that would point to any motive
…that would indicate why somebody should want to kill John Wright.
9I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct.
I thingk that it is because she lacks the instinct to mak the home a cheerful place.
10I want to get the lay of things…
I want to find out the layout of things upstairs, the arrangements of things upstairs
11Of course it's no more than their duty.
You can't blame them. They are only doing what their duty demands them to do.
12but I guess that deputy sheriff … have got a little of this on.
but the deputy sheriff might have made the roller towel dirty.
13I wonder if it's all gone.
I wonder if all the jars containing her preserved fruit were broken.
14This all you was to take in?
Are these all the things you are going to take in to Mrs. Wright?
15I want you to know I had my hands full yesterday.
I want you to know that I was very busy yesterday.
have one's hands full: to be busy with something 忙于做事
David always has his hands full with the work, so he seldom goes shopping with his wife.
My daughter always has her hands full with her study.
16I spoke to Wright about it once before and he put me off,…
I talked about a party telephone with Wright once before but he made excuses to avoid installing a telephone.
put somebody off: make excuses and try to avoid 闪避，敷衍
He tried to put me off with vague promises.
17To be sure.
Yes.
to be sure: it is admitted, granted 诚然，的确
Tom is not rich, to be sure, but he is a gentleman.
18But I would like to see what you take, Mrs. Peters, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us.
I would like to see what you take and check carefully whether there is something that might be useful to us.
keep an eye on: keep a watch on 注意，留神
Would you please keep an eye on my lugguage.
19I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself.
I think maybe that's why she avoided meeting other people.
keep to oneself: avoid meeting people 不与人交往
Sally has kept to herself since her husband died.
Hanent整理