练习材料：

L31-2：A lovableeccentric

Dickie left theshop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it wasextremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave,but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager.Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic andreprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the watch, hepresented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. Heinsisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 penniesin all! On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to seehis private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a greatdeal of attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be thework of famous artists, they had in fact been painted by Dickie. It took himfour years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do notalways know what they are talking about.

ə ˈlʌvəbᵊl ɪkˈsɛntrɪk

Dickie lɛft ðə ʃɒp

wɪˈðaʊt ə wɜːd ænd rɪˈtɜːnd ˈkæriɪŋ ə lɑːʤ klɒθ bæɡ. æz ɪt wɒz ɪksˈtriːmli ˈhɛvi, hiː dʌmpt ɪt ɒn ðə ˈkaʊntə.

ði əˈsɪstənt ɑːskt hɪm tuː liːv, bʌt Dickie peɪd nəʊ əˈtɛnʃᵊn

tuː hɪm ænd rɪˈkwɛstɪd tuː siː ðə ˈmænɪʤə. ˈrɛkəɡnaɪzɪŋ huː ðə ˈkʌstəmə wɒz, ðə ˈmænɪʤə wɒz məʊst əˌpɒləˈʤɛtɪk

ænd ˈrɛprɪmɑːndɪd ði əˈsɪstənt sɪˈvɪəli. wɛn Dickie wɒz

ˈɡɪvn ðə wɒʧ, hiː prɪˈzɛntɪd ði əˈsɪstənt wɪð

ðə klɒθ bæɡ. ɪt kənˈteɪnd $300 ɪn ˈpɛnɪz. hiː ɪnˈsɪstɪd

ɒn ði əˈsɪstənts ˈkaʊntɪŋ ðə ˈmʌni bɪˈfɔː hiː lɛft -- 30,000 ˈpɛnɪz ɪn ɔːl! ɒn əˈnʌðər

əˈkeɪʒən, hiː ɪnˈvaɪtɪd ə ˈnʌmbər ɒv ɪmˈpɔːtənt ˈkrɪtɪks tuː siː hɪz ˈpraɪvɪt kəˈlɛkʃᵊn

ɒv ˈmɒdən ˈpeɪntɪŋz. ðɪs ˌɛksɪˈbɪʃᵊn rɪˈsiːvd ə ɡreɪt diːl ɒv əˈtɛnʃᵊn ɪn ðə prɛs, fɔː ðəʊ ðə ˈpɪkʧəz wɜː

səˈpəʊzd tuː biː ðə wɜːk ɒv ˈfeɪməs ˈɑːtɪsts, ðeɪ hæd ɪn fækt biːn ˈpeɪntɪd baɪ Dickie. ɪt tʊk

hɪm fɔː jɪəz tuː steɪʤ ðɪs ɪˈlæbərɪt ʤəʊk ˈsɪmpli tuː pruːv ðæt ˈkrɪtɪks duː nɒt

ˈɔːlweɪz nəʊ wɒt ðeɪ ɑː ˈtɔːkɪŋ əˈbaʊt.

任务配置：L0 + L4

知识笔记：

单词：1、dump：倾倒，抛弃，垃圾场，废物堆，2、counter：柜台，计算器，反驳，逆向地，反对的，3、apologetic：道歉的，谢罪的，4、reprimand：申斥，谴责，5、pennies：便士，多指硬币，6、stage：阶段，上演，举办，7、elaborate：复杂的，精心制作的，详尽阐述，8、

音标：

练习感悟：这篇文章，语句拗口，语速也快，跟读都很难，后面单独录音就更难了，最后语调什么的都没法顾及了，录了六七遍才达标。