咕咕愛囉唆

Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase《神探南西》

Part 1

One morning, 18-year-old Nancy Drew gets a call from her friend, Helen Corning.

某天早上，18歲的南西‧茱爾接到一通電話來自她的朋友海倫‧康寧。

Helen wants Nancy's help with a mystery at Twin Elms, an old family home owned by her relatives.

海倫想要南西幫忙她解開一個發生在她親戚擁有的老家Twin Elms的謎團。

Helen's great-grandmother, Miss Flora, has heard strange noises at the old house.

海倫的曾祖母芙蘿拉太太在老房子裡聽到一些怪聲音，

She thinks there may be a ghost there!

她認為房子裡可能有鬧鬼！

Nancy agrees to help them.

南西答應要幫助她們。

As soon as Nancy finishes her phone conversation with Helen, a strange man knocks on her door by chance.

南西一結束與海倫的通話，有名陌生男子突然敲了她的門

His name is Nathan Gomber, and he warns Nancy that her father is in danger.

他的名字是納森‧岡伯，他還警告南西她的爸爸現在有危險。      

Mr. Drew, who's a lawyer, helped a railroad company buy some land recently.

茱爾先生是名律師，他近期協助一家鐵路公司購入一些土地。

Now there's a problem with the deal, and the landowner, Mr. Wharton, is missing.

現在那筆交易出了一些問題，而地主沃頓先生失蹤了。

Nancy and her father think Mr. Wharton wants to try to get more money from the railroad company.

南西與爸爸認為沃頓先生想企圖從鐵路公司那得到更多錢

When they go to check the railroad construction site, they are nearly run over by a truck!

當他們去鐵路施工地查看時，差點就被一台卡車撞到！

Solving this mystery is getting dangerous.

要找出真相看似越來越危險，

Mr. Drew leaves town to look for Mr. Wharton, whom he suspects is in Chicago.

茱爾先生揣測沃頓先生人在芝加哥，並出發去尋人。

mystery（n.）

The book tries to explain some of the mysteries of life.

該書試圖解釋一些生命之謎。

mysterious（adj.）神祕的；不可思議的；詭祕的

the mysterious universe 奧祕的宇宙

She's an actress whose inner life has remained mysterious, despite the many interviews she has given.

作為一名演員，她雖然接受過多次採訪，但私生活依然很神秘。

relative （n.）親戚

I don't have many blood relatives (= people related to me by birth rather than by marriage).

我沒有幾個有血緣關係的親戚。

All her close/distant relatives came to the wedding.

她所有的近親／遠親都來參加她的婚禮了。

landowner （n.）地主；土地所有者

construction （n.）建造；修築

sth is under construction架構中；在建造中

construction site工地

have a conversation with sb

She had a strange conversation with the man who moved in upstairs.

她跟搬到樓上的那個傢夥進行了一次奇怪的交談。

介係詞+抽象名詞

by chance = accidently

with care= carefully

in anger = angrily

in happiness = happily

Part 2

Nancy visits Twin Elms to try to catch the ghost.

南西到了Twin Elms試著抓到鬧鬼的傢伙。

Miss Flora finds food and jewelry missing, and a hanging lamp moves by itself.

芙蘿拉太太發現一些食物及珠寶都不見了，有個吊燈還自己在晃

Music seems to be playing from the radio at times even if there's no one in the room!

有時就算房間裡沒人，還會聽到音樂似乎從收音機播出來！

Nancy and Helen inspect the grounds to search for clues.

南西與海倫勘查房子附近的土地尋找線索，

They learn that there may be a secret passage between Twin Elms and a nearby house.

而得知Twin Elms與附近一棟房子之間好像有一條秘密通道。

Maybe that is how the ghost is getting inside!

這或許就是鬼進到Twin Elms裡的途徑。

Later, Gomber arrives at Twin Elms.

不久後，岡伯來到Twin Elms。

He wants to buy the house and threatens Miss Flora so that she will sell it.

他想要買這棟房子，並威脅芙蘿拉太太使她出售房屋。

There's also another problem: Mr. Drew doesn't return from his trip on time.

現在還有另一個問題：茱爾先生沒有準時回來

After questioning people at the train station, Nancy learns that he may have been drugged and kidnapped.

南西詢問火車站裡的人之後，得知爸爸可能被下藥後綁架走了。

In the end, Nancy and Helen find the hidden passage.

最後，南西與海倫找到了秘密通道，

They discover Mr. Wharton and Mr. Drew are being held as prisoners inside.

還發現沃頓先生與茱爾先生都被監禁在裡面

Gomber admits he was the "ghost", and planned the whole thing in order to get rich.

岡伯承認他就是「鬼」，策劃了這一切就為了賺大錢。

The police arrest him and the mystery is solved.

警察逮捕他，謎題也解開了。

kidnap（v.）綁架

at times= sometimes

Everyone may make mistakes at times. 每個人不時都會犯錯誤。

at all times 隨時 = anytime 隨時 / 不客氣

even if 即使【含有強烈的假設性】

Even if I win the lottery, I will always lead a simple life.

即使我中了樂透，我還是會過著簡單的生活。

Even though= although雖然儘管【有點令人意外的事實，或描述某個既定的、公認的事實。用法有點像 despite / in spite of the fact that...「儘管事實是如此」】

Even though it was raining, he still managed to make it to work on time.

儘管在下雨，他還是設法準時上班。

I’m not interested in the movie, even though I was invited to the premiere.

儘管我被邀請參加首映，我對這部電影不感興趣。

admit

He admitted his guilt/mistake. 他承認有罪／犯了錯誤。

She admitted (that) she had made a mistake.

她承認自己犯了一個錯誤。

She admitted making a mistake.

她承認自己犯了一個錯誤。

admission （n.）

He made an admission that he had used threatening behavior. 他承認用了恐嚇手段。

Part 3

The smart, independent character of Nancy Drew was created at a time when girls had few female heroes in literature.

在南西這聰明又獨立的角色登場的年代裡，女孩子們很難在文學中找到女性榜樣。

Since the young detective's first appearance in 1930, Nancy has been a strong role model for girls.

從1930年這名年輕偵探第一次出現開始，南西就成為了女孩們的榜樣。

For one thing, she doesn't stay home like many women of the time.

一來，她不像當時的大部分女性一樣待在家裡。

For another, she also uses her reasoning and good sense to solve mysteries and get herself out of danger.

二來，她擅用推理能力與敏銳的知覺來解開謎團及擺脫危機。

In the end, Nancy always catches the criminals and saves the day.

最後，南西總是能化險為夷抓到罪犯。

Nancy Drew's cultural influence has affected girls for almost 90 years.

南西‧茱爾對於女孩們的文化影響力擴及了將近90年。

Many modern female heroes in stories are based on her character.

許多現代故事中的女性主角都是根據她的角色所塑造

In addition, many successful women have even felt encouraged to follow their dreams because they read Nancy Drew books as girls.

除此之外，很多成功的女性覺得她們年幼時讀了《神探南西》系列的書，激勵她們去追逐夢想。

These women include everyone from judges in the US's highest court to actresses to authors.

這些女性包含了美國最高法院的法官到演員到作家

On the other hand, created as a single character featured in many books, Nancy Drew started a new trend.

另一方面，南西‧茱爾的系列書以單一角色出現在好幾本書裡，帶領了一種新的潮流。

Girls have looked forward to reading the next book about their favorite hero.

女孩們為此期待著看到她們最愛的角色出現在下一本書裡。

This method has proved both popular and successful in many forms of media.

這作法於各種媒體中被證實既受歡迎又成功。

literature（n.）文學；文學作品

detective（n.）偵探；私家偵探

For one thing

For another

In addition

On the other hand