Five Pounds Too Dear 五磅也太貴

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were soon covered with colourful rugs form Persia, silks from India, copper coffee pots, and beautiful handmade silverware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I had disembarded.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one, but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap, the words‘made in the U.S.A.’had been neatly inscribed. The man said that the pen was worth 50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for 30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay 5. Gesticulating wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous, but he eventually reduced the price to 10. shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the 5 I gave him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain — until I got back to the ship. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single word!

19.Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the 5 I gave him.

雖然他絕望地舉起雙手，但他毫不遲疑地收下了我付給他的5鎊錢。

語言點:句子結構分析:though引導讓步狀語從句。In despair的意思是“絕望地”，作狀語。I gave him為定語從句，前面省去了關系代詞that,注意關系代詞只能是that而不能是which,因為which不能作“錢”的關系代詞。

20.I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain — until I got back to the ship.

在回到船上之前，我一直為我的絕妙的討價還價而洋洋得意。

語言點1:句子結構分析:破折號之后的內容是對前一句的補充說明。

語言點2:feel pleased with的意思是“對…感到滿意”。

21.No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single word!

然而不管我如何擺弄，那枝漂亮的鋼筆就是吸不進墨水來。直到今天，那枝筆連一個字也沒寫過！

語言點:句子結構分析:no matter how引導讓步狀語從句，其后的it為形式主語，真正的主語是to fill this beautiful pen with ink。