labourer 特别强调使用体力，而不是技能；户外工作

workman    指具有某种工艺技能的半熟练工人

worker     泛指，暗示具有更高的技术水平，通常指脑力劳动者

farmhand   农场雇工，农业工人; farm labourer

■overnight adv. 一夜之间

■hay n. 干草

■corn n. 谷物

■moonlight n. 月光

■conscientious adj. 认真的

a conscientious teacher

conscious adj. 意识到的，清楚的

■suspect v. 怀疑

suspect vt. 怀疑  to believe to be true or likely

I suspected him of stealing the car.

suspected that…

He suspected that his girlfriend tried to hide her true feelings.

suspect sb. to be

I suspect him to be a spy.

doubt 怀疑, 表示否定的语意

I doubt whether he is a liar. / I suspect that he is a liar.

I doubt the truth of his statement.

suspicious adj.

Cats are suspicious of human beings.

suspicion n. 猜疑，怀疑

■desert v. （军队中）开小差

desert vt. run away without permission

The soldier deserted his army.

We sheltered from the storm in a deserted hut.

abandon 放弃

desert 违背法律、道义、责任、信仰

desert the army, desert school, desert his duty, desert his family

abandon 被迫放弃所感兴趣或所负责任的东西。

He had to abandon his favorite research because of the war.

forsake vt.  放弃，抛弃，与……脱离关系

Eg.: He forsook his family.

discard v. 放弃，丢弃： give up as useless

Eg.: everyday we discard a large amount of rubbish.

■regiment n. （军队）团

■action n. 战斗

■recluse n. 隐士

For years villagers believed that Endley farm was haunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farm hands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the sam story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find the work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cow sheds had been cleaned. A farm worker,who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact that the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.

No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over forty years.

Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his farther hid him until the end of the war. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse.He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.

参考译文

多年来，村民们一直认为恩得利农场在闹鬼。恩得利农场属于乔.考科斯和鲍勃.考科斯兄弟俩所有。他们雇了几个农工，但谁也不愿意在那儿长期工作下去。每次雇工辞职后都叙述着同样的故事。雇工们说，常常一早起来发现有人在夜里把活干了，干草已切好，牛棚也打扫干净了。有一个彻夜未眠的雇工还声称他看见一个人影在月光下收割庄稼。随着时间的流逝，考科斯兄弟雇了一个尽心尽责的鬼，他们家的活大部分都让鬼给干了，这件事成了公认的事实。

谁也没想到农场竟会有一个从未露面的人。但事实上确有此人。不久之前，村民们惊悉恩得利农场的鬼死了。大家都去参加了葬礼，因为那“鬼”不是别人，正是农场主的兄弟埃里克.考科斯。人们以为埃里克年轻时就死了。葬礼之后，乔和鲍勃透露了他们保守了长达50多年的秘密。

埃里克是这家长子。年龄比他两个弟弟大很多，第二次世界大战期间被迫参军。他讨厌军旅生活，决定逃离所在部队。当他了解自己将被派遣出国时，他逃回农场，父亲把他藏了起来，直到战争结束。由于害怕当局，埃里克战后继续深藏不露。他的父亲告诉大家，埃里克在战争中被打死了。除此之外，只有乔与鲍知道这个秘密。但他俩连自己的妻子都没告诉。父亲死后，他们兄弟俩认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。这些年来，埃里克过着隐士生活，白天睡觉，夜里出来干活，一点不知道自己已成了恩得利家场的活鬼。他死后，他的弟弟们才觉得无法再保守这个秘密了。

【课文讲解】

It is said the public house was haunted.

haunt: visit somewhere very often

He haunted this cinema.

own == possess

the farm was possessed by two brothers.

be willing to ==be ready to do

every time ==whenever引导时间状语从句

Every time I listen to his advice, I get into trouble.

Whenever I listen to his advice, I get into trouble.

wake up to find that  醒过来的时候，结果却发现……

to 不定式做结果状语

He woke up to find that he was surrounded by a large crowd of people.

He hurried to the post office only to find that it was shut.

and 平行句式结构

hay 干草

A farm worker, who…, claimed to …

句子主干：A farm worker claimed to …

claim to have done

claim to have done 声称做过某事

Eg: He claimed to have seen the puma.

Seamen claimed to have seen monsters.

see sb. doing sth. 看见某人正在做某事

who 引导非限制性定语从句，补充说明 a farm worker

These young people, who love the peace of the moutains, always receive a warm welcome at Salnt Bernard Monastery.

stay up : not to go to bed

I stayed up last night

The boy sat up to see the film.

wait up for/sit up for 为了等待某人回来而不睡觉

Don’t wait up for me, I’ll be home very late.

burn the midnight oil 开夜车

Eg: I have to burn the midnight oil tonight to complete work.

in time 最后，终于

It became an accepted fact that…

变成一个大家都接受的事实

that 引导同位语从句，补充说明fact

同位语补充说明先行词的内涵

An idea came to her that she might do the experiment in another way.

Everybody had already accepted the fact that the puma is still at large.

It becomes an accepted fact that eht puma is still at large.

that引导定语从句

No one suspected that…

someone else who had neer been seen

be astonished = be surprised

astonish, surprise, amaze, astound

be astonished to do sth.

I’m not surprised to see he is still as fat as before.

for == as 是对全句的补述

none other than == no other than  强调结构，表示不是别人而正是……

Eg: The man who had sent the flowers was none other than the man she had spoken to the night before.

It was no other than my old friend Johnson.

The man who spoke to her was none other than her husband.

nothing else than 仅仅

Eg: His failiure was due to nothing else than his own carelessness.

a third brother 又一位兄弟

who was supposed = who was thought

He was supposed to have died 20 years before.

keep secret    保密

reveal secret   揭露秘密，披露秘密

The press revealed the scandal.

He kept secret for a long time.

he kept it to himself for a long time.

very much : much 用来加强语气

be obliged to do = be forced to do 被迫做某事

He had been in hiding...

Fearing the authorities...现在分词引导原因状语

in hiding = in concealment

he remained in hiding at home...

the only other people who knew the secret 仅知道的人

the only other people who finished the work 仅完成这项工作的人

they thought it their duty to...

it 形式宾语

I thought it very difficult to pass this examination.

We all think it our duty to support our parents.

形式宾语it和宾语补足语直接搭配连用，宾语补足语可以是名词或形容词

形容词短语做状语，进一步补充说明全句

 quite unaware of the fact that...

that 引导同位语从句

We amass requisites quite unaware of the fact.

amass  收藏，积聚

his brothers found it impossible to do...

it形式宾语

It is quite impossible to finish the hard work in 2 hours.

I found it quite impossible to finish the hard work in 2 hours.