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The Midnight VisitorRobert Arthur Ausable did not fit the description of any secret agent Fowler had ever read about. Following him down the corridor of the gloomy French hotel where Ausable had a room, Fowler felt disappointed. It was a small room on the sixth floor and hardly a setting for a romantic figure.Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent. Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost New England accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago."You are disappointed," Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder. "You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in espionage and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You thought you would have mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine.""Instead, you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a sloppy fat man who, instead of having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only an ordinary telephone call making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!" The fat man chuckled to himself as he unlocked the door of his room and stood aside to let his frustrated guest enter."You are disillusioned," Ausable told him. "But take cheer, my young friend. Before long you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me in the next-to-last step of its journey into official hands. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history. There is drama in that thought, don't you think?" As he spoke, Ausable closed the door behind him. Then he switched on the light.And as the light came on, Fowler had his first real thrill of the day. For halfway across the room, a small automatic pistol in his hand, stood a man.Ausable blinked a few times."Max," he wheezed, "you gave me quite a start. I thought you were in Berlin. What are you doing in my room?"Max was slender, not tall, and with a face that suggested the look of a fox. Except for the gun, he did not look very dangerous."The report," he murmured. "The report that is being brought to you tonight concerning some new missiles. I thought I would take it from you. It will be safer in my hands than in yours."Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. "I'm going to raise the devil with the management this time; I am angry," he said grimly. "This is the second time in a month that somebody has gotten into my room off that confounded balcony!" Fowler's eyes went to the single window of the room. It was an ordinary window, against which now the night was pressing blackly."Balcony?" Max asked curiously. "No, I had a passkey. I did not know about the balcony. It might have saved me some trouble had I known about it.""It's not my balcony," explained Ausable angrily. "It belongs to the next apartment." He glanced explanatorily at Fowler. "You see," he said, "this room used to be part of a large unit, and the next room through that door there used to be the living room. It had the balcony, which extends under my window now. You can get onto it from the empty room next door, and somebody did, last month. The management promised to block it off. But they haven't."Max glanced at Fowler, who was standing stiffly a few feet from Ausable, and waved the gunwith a commanding gesture. "Please sit down," he said. "We have a wait of half an hour, I think.""Thirty-one minutes," Ausable said moodily. "The appointment was for twelve-thirty. I wish I knew how you learned about the report, Max."The little spy smiled evilly. "And we wish we knew how your people got the report. But, no harm has been done. I will get it back tonight. What is that? Who is at the door?"Fowler jumped at the sudden knocking at the door. Ausable just smiled, "That will be the police," he said. "I thought that such an important paper should have a little extra protection. I told them to check on me to make sure everything was all right."Max bit his lip nervously. The knocking was repeated."What will you do now, Max?" Ausable asked. "If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot."Max's face was black with anger as he backed swiftly toward the window; with his hand behind him, he opened the window and put his leg out into the night. "Send them away!" he warned. "I will wait on the balcony. Send them away or I'll shoot and take my chances!"The knocking at the door became louder and a voice was raised. "Mr. Ausable! Mr. Ausable!"Keeping his body twisted so that his gun still covered the fat man and his guest, the man at the window swung his other leg up and over the window sill.The doorknob turned. Swiftly Max pushed with his left hand to free himself and drop to the balcony. And then as he dropped, he screamed once, shrilly.The door opened and a waiter stood there with a tray, a bottle and two glasses. "Here is the drink you ordered, sir." He set the tray on the table, uncorked the bottle, and left the room.White faced and shaking, Fowler stared after him. "But... but... what about... the police?" he stammered."There never were any police." Ausable sighed. "Only Henry, whom I was expecting.""But what about the man on the balcony?" Fowler began."No," said Ausable, "he won't return."。
midnight visitor课文"Midnight Visitor" is a short story written by Robert Arthur. It tells the tale of a young girl named Emily who is visited by a mysterious figure late at night.One stormy night, Emily is awoken by a loud knocking on her bedroom window. She is startled and scared, but curiosity gets the better of her and she decides to investigate. She cautiously opens the window and is surprised to find a man standing outside.The man introduces himself as Mr. Charles and claims to be a distant relative of Emily's family. He explains that he has traveled a long way to visit her and has arrived at such a late hour due to unforeseen circumstances. Emily finds his story strange but lets him in, as he seems harmless.As Mr. Charles enters the room, Emily notices that he appears disheveled and tired. He tells her that he urgently needs her help with a family matter. According to him, there is a hidden treasure that rightfully belongs to their family, and he needs Emily's assistance in finding it.Emily is skeptical but intrigued. Mr. Charles insists that they must leave immediately to search for the treasure. Despite her doubts,Emily agrees to accompany him. They venture out into the stormy night, following Mr. Charles' directions to a nearby forest.Within the forest, Mr. Charles leads Emily to a secluded spot where he believes the treasure is buried. He starts digging frantically, urging Emily to help him. However, Emily's suspicion grows as she notices inconsistencies in his story and behavior.Just as Emily is about to confront Mr. Charles about her doubts, they are interrupted by the sound of approaching police sirens. It turns out that Mr. Charles is a criminal who had been on the run, using his distant family connection to manipulate Emily into aiding him in his escape.Realizing she has been deceived, Emily quickly distances herself from Mr. Charles and helps the police apprehend him. She returns home, feeling shaken but grateful that she trusted her instincts and did not become entangled in his criminal activities."Midnight Visitor" serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of being cautious and not easily trusting strangers, even if they claim to be family. It highlights the need to rely on one's instincts and to prioritize personal safety in uncertain situations.。
现代大学英语精读1(带译文)一、课文背景本单元选自美国作家埃德加·爱伦·坡的短篇小说《黑猫》。
故事讲述了一位酗酒成性的男子，因虐待并杀害自己收养的黑猫，最终被黑猫的鬼魂复仇，自己也在精神崩溃中走向毁灭。
这篇小说通过恐怖、悬疑的情节，揭示了人性的黑暗面和道德的沦丧。
二、课文概要1. 故事发生在美国一个偏远的农场，主人公是一位酗酒成性的男子。
他收养了一只黑猫，取名普卢托。
随着时间的推移，他对黑猫产生了强烈的依赖，甚至将它视为自己的朋友。
2. 有一天，男子在醉酒后用刀划伤了普卢托的左眼。
酒醒后，他为自己的行为感到愧疚，但为了掩盖罪行，他决定将黑猫埋在院子里。
3. 在黑猫被埋葬的当晚，男子听到了黑猫的哀嚎声。
他开始怀疑自己的行为，精神状态逐渐恶化。
4. 为了摆脱黑猫的纠缠，男子决定离开农场，搬到城里居住。
然而，他发现黑猫的鬼魂无处不在，甚至出现在他的新家中。
5. 最终，男子在精神崩溃中走向毁灭，被黑猫的鬼魂复仇。
三、课文难点解析1. 生词短语(1)酗酒成性：drunkard，意为“酒鬼”。
(2)虐待：torture，意为“折磨”。
(3)复仇：revenge，意为“报复”。
2. 句子结构(1)It was in the early part of the evening that I first became aware of the symptoms of my little trouble.本句中，It wasthat为强调句型，强调时间状语“in the early part of the evening”。
symptoms意为“症状”，指男子开始意识到自己的精神状态出现问题。
(2)I resolved to get rid of the cat at once.本句中，resolve to do sth. 意为“决定做某事”，get rid of意为“摆脱”。
男子决定立刻摆脱黑猫。
现代大学英语精读1简介《现代大学英语精读1》（Advanced English Reading 1）是一本面向大学英语学习者的教材。
本教材旨在提高学生的英语阅读理解能力，拓宽学生的知识面，并为学生进一步学习和研究相关领域的学术文献打下坚实的基础。
本教材共分为六个单元，每个单元包含了一篇长篇文章，文章主题涵盖了社会科学、自然科学、文化艺术、历史人文等多个领域。
通过阅读这些文章，学生不仅可以提高对英语语言的理解和运用能力，还能够对不同领域的知识有所了解，并培养批判思维和学术研究能力。
教材特点强调语言运用《现代大学英语精读1》注重学生对英语语言的掌握和运用。
教材中的文章难度适中，涉及的词汇和语法点相对简单，有利于学生理解和运用。
同时，教材中还提供了大量的例句和语法解析，帮助学生更好地理解和掌握语言结构。
多领域知识本教材以不同领域的文章为载体，涵盖了社会科学、自然科学、文化艺术、历史人文等诸多领域的知识。
学生通过阅读这些文章，可以了解不同领域的基本概念、发展历史和重要人物，培养对多领域的兴趣和理解能力。
提升阅读理解能力教材中的文章选取自真实的学术文献和著名作品，语言严谨、逻辑严密。
学生通过阅读这些文章，可以培养批判性思维和阅读理解能力，并通过理解隐含意思、分析论证过程等方式进行深度阅读。
建议的学习方法提前预习在每个单元开始学习之前，建议学生先对文章的主题进行预习。
可以先从标题、摘要和关键词入手，了解文章的基本内容和结构。
预习的目的是帮助学生在阅读时更好地理解文章，并提前了解相关领域的基本概念和术语，有助于增强阅读效果。
分段阅读对于较长的文章，建议学生进行分段阅读。
每次只阅读一个段落或一个小节，逐段理解文章的逻辑和论证过程。
在阅读过程中，学生可以用笔记记录重要观点和关键词，帮助理清文章的结构和思路。
多角度思考在阅读文章时，建议学生从不同角度思考问题。
可以提出自己的问题，比如作者的观点是否有力地支持了论点？文章中的证据是否充分可靠？通过多角度思考，可以培养批判性思维和分析能力，并提高阅读理解的深度和广度。
