【生詞預覽】

take out帶出去，certain某個

【笑話原文】

Not to Be Taken Out

Mark Twain once went to borrow a certain book from a neighbour in Tarry town.

"May I borrow a book from you?" he asked politely.

"Yes, you're more than welcome to it," the neighbour told him.

"But I must ask you to read it here. You know I make a rule never to let any book go out of my library."

Some days later the neighbour wished to borrow Twain's machine for cutting grass in the garden.

"Why, certainly," Twain told him, "You're more than welcome to it.
But I must ask you to use it here. You know that I make it a rule never to let it go out of my garden."

【中文譯文】

概不外借

在特里鎮，馬克.吐溫有一次去一位鄰居那兒借本書。
“我可以向您借本書嗎？”他禮貌地問道。
“當然，非常樂意，”鄰居告訴他，“但我要求你在這兒讀。你知道我有一條規定，那就是決不讓一本書拿出我的圖書室。 ”
幾天后，這位鄰人想從吐溫那兒借臺割草機。
“噢，當然，”吐溫告訴他，“非常樂意借給你。但我要你在這兒用。你知道我從來不允許它拿出我的花園。”

【詞匯講解】

1. take out“把…帶出去”：Please take the children out, their noise is making my head ache.請把孩子們領出去, 他們吵得我頭痛。也可以指“清除”There's a nasty mark on the tablecloth, and I don't think the usual washing powder will take it out.桌布上有一塊污跡，我想用普通洗衣粉是洗不掉的。

2.certain某個，某些。A certain Mr. Brown telephoned while you were out.你出去的時候, 有個叫布朗的先生來過電話。I am prepared to make certain concessions.我準備做某些讓步。

3.politely禮貌地。也可以指“客氣地，委婉地”：He cannot refuse if you ask politely.如果你客氣一點的話,他是不會拒絕的。He has a politely diffident manner.他的態度是客氣中帶有羞怯。

4.library圖書館。也可以指“（書、唱片等）個人收藏”：He owns a library of two thousand volumes.他擁有2000冊藏書。也有“文庫／資料室”的意思。

5.machine機器。泛指機器，要根據上下文推斷具體指什么機器。也可以指“機動車輛、飛機”：He thundered down the street on his new machine.
他駕駛著新車在大街上呼嘯而去。