Section B
The Romantic Life of Secret Agent Albert
Albert did not fit the description of any secret agent Charles had ever read about. Following him down the corridor of thegloomy French hotel where Albert had a room, Charles felt disappointed. It was a small room, on the sixth and top floor, andscarcely a setting for a romantic figure.
Albert was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent. Though he spoke French and German fairly well, hehad never altogether lost the American accent he had brought to Paris twenty years ago.
“You are disappointed,” Albert said over his shoulder. “You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in secrets anddanger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You imagined mysterious figures in the night,the crack of guns, clever disguises, secret exploits.”
“Instead, you have spent an exceedingly dull evening at the opera with a fat man who, instead of having messages slippedinto his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only an ordinary telephone call making an appointment in his room. You have beenbored!” The fat man laughed to himself as he unlocked the door of his room and stood aside to let his frustrated guest enter.
“Take cheer, my young friend,” Albert told him. “Presently you will see a paper of singular importance for which severalmen and women have risked their lives. Some day soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought isdrama, is there not?” As he spoke, Albert closed the door behind him. Then he switched on the light.
And as the light came on, Charles had his first thrill of the day. For across the room, a small gun in his hand, stood a man.
“Max,” he said, “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 verydangerous.
“The report,” he said. “The report that is being brought to you tonight concerning some new missiles. I thought I would takeit from you. It will be safer in my hands than in yours.”
Albert moved to a chair and sat down heavily. “I swear I'm going to raise the devil with the management this time; I amangry,” he said. “This is the second time in a month that somebody has gotten into my room off that damn balcony!”
Charles's eyes went to the single window of the room. It was an ordinary window; outside was utter blackness.
“Balcony?” Max asked curiously, “No, I had a key. I did not know about the balcony. It might have simplified things had Iknown about it.”
“It's not my balcony,” explained Albert angrily. “It belongs to the next apartment. You see,” he said, “this room used to bepart of a large unit, and the next room 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.”
Max waved the gun with a commanding gesture. “Please sit down,” he said. “We have a wait of half an hour, I think.”
“Thirty-one minutes,” Albert said, in a bad mood. “The appointment was for twelve-thirty. I wish I knew how you learnedabout the report, Max.”
The little spy smiled an evil smile. “And from our standpoint, we wish we knew how your people got the report. Anyhow, noharm has been done. I will get it back tonight. What is that? Who is at the door?”
Charles jumped at the sudden knocking at the door. Albert just smiled, “That will be the police,” he said. “I told them tocheck on me to make sure everything was all right.”
“What will you do now, Max?” Albert asked. “If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. Andthey will not hesitate to shoot.”
Max's face was black with anger as he made a swift movement towards the window; with his hand behind him, he openedthe window and put his leg out into the night. “Send them away!” he warned. “I will wait on the balcony.”
The knocking at the door became louder and a voice was raised. “Mr. Albert! Mr. Albert!”
Keeping his body twisted so that his gun still pointed at the fat man and his guest, Max grasped the window frame andheaved his other leg up and over the bottom of the window.
The door began to open. Swiftly Max pushed to free himself and drop to the balcony. And then as he dropped, he screamedonce.
The door opened and a waiter stood there with an oval tray, a bottle of liquor, and two glasses. “Here is the drink youordered, sir.” He set the tray on the table, opened the bottle, and left the room.
White-faced and shaking, Charles stared after him. “But … but … what about … the police?” he finally was able to say.
“There never were any police.” Albert sighed. “Only Henry, whom I was expecting.”
“But what about the man on the balcony…?” Charles began with a shiver.
“No,” said Albert, “he won't return.”
New Words
romantic a. 1.傳奇性的，有浪漫色彩的 2.不切實(shí)際的，空想的
agent n. 1.政府或其他組織的特工人員 2.代理人
corridor n. 走廊，通道
accent n. 1.口音，腔調(diào) 2.重音，強(qiáng)音
writer n. 作家，作者
mysterious a. 神秘的，難解的，不可思議的
crack n. 1.爆炸聲，劈啪聲 2.裂縫，裂紋
v. 1.（使）劈啪作響，（使）發(fā)爆裂聲 2.打開，砸開
disguise n. 偽裝，偽裝物
vt. 1.偽裝 2.掩蓋，掩藏
exploit n. 英勇的行為，冒險(xiǎn)的行為
vt. 1.利用，開發(fā) 2.剝削
exceedingly ad. 非常地，極度地
opera n. 歌劇
aside ad. 在邊上，朝邊上
switch v. 轉(zhuǎn)變，改變
n. 1.開關(guān)，電閘 2.轉(zhuǎn)變，改變
▲thrill n. 興奮，激動(dòng)，緊張感
v. （使）非常興奮，（使）非常激動(dòng)
slender a. 苗條的，纖細(xì)的
missile n. 導(dǎo)彈，飛彈
swear v. 1.發(fā)誓 2.詛咒，罵
devil n. 魔鬼
damn a. (表示憤怒、厭煩等)該死的，可惡的
int. （表示憤怒、厭煩等）該死，討厭
balcony n. 陽臺(tái)
utter a. 完全的，徹底的，十足的
vt. 發(fā)出（聲音），說
simplify vt. 使易懂，使易做，簡(jiǎn)化
mood n. 心情，情緒
evil a. 道德敗壞的，邪惡的，罪惡的
standpoint n. 立場(chǎng)，觀點(diǎn)
anyhow ad. 1.不管怎樣，無論如何，至少 2.粗心大意地，隨隨便便地
swift a. 快的，迅速的，敏捷的
twist vt. 1.彎曲或壓擠 2.曲解，歪曲
n. 變化，轉(zhuǎn)折，改變
grasp vt. 1.抓住 2.理解，領(lǐng)悟
frame n. 1.畫框，邊框，框架 2.構(gòu)架，骨架
vt. 1.在... ...上加框 2.表達(dá)，設(shè)計(jì)，構(gòu)想出
heave vt. 1.很費(fèi)勁地抬起，舉起，拽起 2.（用力）發(fā)出(嘆息聲)
n. 舉起，升降
oval a. 橢圓形的
n. 橢圓
tray n. 盤，托盤，碟
liquor n. 烈性酒
sigh vi. 嘆息，嘆氣
n. 嘆息，嘆息聲
shiver vi. 戰(zhàn)栗，發(fā)抖
n. 戰(zhàn)栗，發(fā)抖
Phrases and Expressions
read about 借助閱讀發(fā)現(xiàn)或查明
for one thing （用以列舉理由）首先；一則
in the night 在夜晚，在半夜
make an appointment 預(yù)約，約會(huì)
switch on 接通(電源)，開啟
come on （電燈、電力機(jī)器等）開，開動(dòng)，運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)
raise the devil 非常生氣，大聲抱怨
check on 檢查，核實(shí)，調(diào)查
answer the door 應(yīng)聲開門
point (sth.) at 瞄準(zhǔn)，對(duì)著
stare after 目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地追隨（某人），以凝視的目光隨著（某人）移動(dòng)
Proper Names
Albert 艾伯特
Charles 查爾斯
French 法國的；法國人，法語
German 德國的；德國人，德語
Paris 巴黎 (法國首都)
Max 馬克斯
Berlin 柏林 (德國首都)
Henry 亨利