外刊精读｜Cockroach‑infested London flat

来源：The Guardian 作者：Tim Jonze 题材：个人叙事记叙文 主题：伦敦租房遭遇臭虫、蟑螂虫害的亲身经历及留下的心理阴影

全文一共9个正文段落，开头一句为全文总起句。

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原文+译文+逐段深度解析

开篇总起句

In a cheap London flat with no heating, dozens of the insects swarmed, leading to a Valentine’s Day that still makes me break out in a cold sweat. 译文：在伦敦一间没有供暖的廉价公寓里，大批虫子四处泛滥，造就了一个至今想起来仍让我惊出一身冷汗的情人节。

✅词汇&短语

1. swarm /swɔːm/ v.（虫类）成群涌来、蜂拥
2. break out in a cold sweat 吓出一身冷汗

✅语法

• leading to…：现在分词作结果状语
• that still makes me…：定语从句，修饰先行词Valentine’s Day

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Paragraph 1

I don’t know if cockroaches really could, as we’re often told, survive a nuclear apocalypse, but I can tell you this with certainty: they can definitely survive pest control. “Hopefully that should be a bit better now,” said the friendly exterminator after his first visit to our flat. By the third visit he was speaking more honestly. “The only way to get rid of your cockroaches,” he said, “would be to burn this whole block of flats to the ground.” 译文：我不知道蟑螂是否真如人们常说的那样，能够在核灾难中存活，但有一点我可以十分确定：它们完全扛得住虫害消杀。“希望现在情况能有所好转。”友善的消杀人员第一次到访我们公寓后说道。等到第三次上门，他说得就直白多了：“除掉你们家蟑螂的唯一办法，就是把整栋公寓楼烧为平地。”

📝逐段分析 本段为文章引入，用广为流传的“蟑螂抗核爆”传闻做对比，引出核心矛盾：蟑螂不怕消杀。通过消杀人员前后两次话语对比，用夸张的说法burn this whole block of flats to the ground，凸显虫害已经严重到无法处理，制造黑色幽默，奠定全文叙事基调。

✅核心单词&短语

1. apocalypse /əˈpɒkəlɪps/ n. 大灾难，末日
2. with certainty 确定地，确凿地
3. pest control 害虫防治，消杀
4. exterminator /ɪkˈstɜːmɪneɪtə(r)/ n. 灭虫人员
5. get rid of 除去，摆脱
6. burn … to the ground 把……烧成平地

✅长难句拆解

I don’t know if cockroaches really could, as we’re often told, survive a nuclear apocalypse, but I can tell you this with certainty: they can definitely survive pest control.

1. if引导宾语从句，作don’t know的宾语；
2. as we’re often told 插入语，“正如我们常听说的”；
3. but并列连词连接前后两个分句；冒号后解释说明this指代的内容。
   

   翻译：我不知道蟑螂是否真如人们常说的那样，能够在核灾难中存活，但有一点我可以十分确定：它们完全扛得住虫害消杀。

✅从句标记：if宾语从句；as引导方式状语插入语。

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Paragraph 2

It was January 2003 when I moved with my girlfriend Helen into our first London flat. It’s fair to say there were red flags we probably should have spotted. It was suspiciously affordable – £140 a week for a place less than a minute’s walk from Finsbury Park tube station? Sure, the place looked pretty skanky, but it was still spacious for a studio flat. We put the price down to the fact there was absolutely no way of heating the property and signed up. 译文：2003年1月，我和女友海伦搬进我们在伦敦的第一套公寓。平心而论，当初有不少隐患我们本该察觉到。这套房租便宜得不对劲：离芬斯伯里公园地铁站步行不到一分钟，每周仅140英镑。诚然房子看上去十分破旧，但作为单间公寓，空间还算宽敞。我们把低价归因于这套房子完全无法供暖，于是签了租房合同。

📝逐段分析 交代故事背景：租房时间、人物、公寓情况。red flags we probably should have spotted用虚拟语气，体现事后回望的懊悔。解释房租异常低廉，把原因简单归为无供暖，为后文虫害爆发埋下伏笔。

✅核心单词&短语

1. red flags 潜在隐患，危险信号
2. spot /spɒt/ v. 察觉，发现
3. suspiciously /səˈspɪʃəsli/ adv. 令人怀疑地
4. affordable /əˈfɔːdəbl/ adj. 价格实惠的
5. skanky /ˈskæŋki/ adj. 【口语】肮脏破旧的
6. spacious /ˈspeɪʃəs/ adj. 宽敞的
7. studio flat 单间公寓（厨卫卧室一体）
8. put … down to 把……归因于
9. property /ˈprɒpəti/ n. 房产，房屋
10. sign up 签约（租房）

✅长难句拆解

It’s fair to say there were red flags we probably should have spotted.

• It’s fair to say形式主语，真正主语是to say…；
• there were red flags宾语从句，省略that；
• we probably should have spotted定语从句，修饰red flags；should have done本应该做（实际没做）。
  

  翻译：平心而论，当初有不少隐患我们本该察觉到。

✅从句标记：宾语从句；定语从句（should have done虚拟语气）。

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Paragraph 3

That winter was bleak – we were freezing cold and, worse, waking up each morning with lines of red bites down our arms and legs. It took us a while to work out the culprits: bedbugs. 译文：那个冬天十分难熬。我们冻得瑟瑟发抖，更糟的是每天早上醒来胳膊腿上布满一串串红色咬痕。我们花了很久才找出罪魁祸首：臭虫。

📝逐段分析 故事发展：冬天的双重折磨——寒冷+臭虫叮咬。破折号补充说明生活处境；worse递进，突出虫害带来更大痛苦，引出第一个害虫：臭虫。

✅核心单词&短语

1. bleak /bliːk/ adj. 凄惨的，难熬的
2. lines of 一串串，一排排
3. work out 弄明白，找出
4. culprit /ˈkʌlprɪt/ n. 元凶，罪魁祸首
5. bedbug /ˈbedbʌɡ/ n. 臭虫

✅长难句拆解

That winter was bleak – we were freezing cold and, worse, waking up each morning with lines of red bites down our arms and legs.

• 破折号后面解释bleak；worse插入语；with lines of red biteswith复合结构作伴随状语。
  

  翻译：那个冬天十分难熬。我们冻得瑟瑟发抖，更糟的是每天早上醒来胳膊腿上布满一串串红色咬痕。

✅语法点：with复合结构作伴随状语。

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Paragraph 4

Bug spray was deployed, but it just made them angrier – the bites actually got worse. We replaced the mattress and that problem disappeared. (Despite not having encountered bedbugs anywhere since, Helen still checks down the headboards in every hotel she stays at and won’t let her kids leave their bags on the floor.) The true horror, though, was yet to come. 译文：我们喷了驱虫喷雾，但这只会让臭虫更加猖獗，叮咬反而更严重。我们换掉床垫，臭虫问题才消失。（尽管之后海伦再也没有遇到臭虫，但她住每家酒店依旧会检查床头板缝隙，还不让孩子把包放在地上。）然而真正的恐怖还在后面。

📝逐段分析 臭虫问题得到解决，但插入括号补充海伦留下长期心理阴影；结尾The true horror, though, was yet to come制造悬念，承上启下，引出更恐怖的蟑螂灾难。

✅核心单词&短语

1. deploy /dɪˈplɔɪ/ v. 使用，动用
2. mattress /ˈmætrəs/ n. 床垫
3. encounter /ɪnˈkaʊntə(r)/ v. 遭遇，碰到
4. headboard /ˈhedbɔːd/ n. 床头板
5. be yet to come 尚未到来，还在后头

✅长难句拆解

Despite not having encountered bedbugs anywhere since, Helen still checks down the headboards in every hotel she stays at and won’t let her kids leave their bags on the floor.

1. Despite + 动名词完成式作让步状语；
2. she stays at定语从句修饰hotel；
3. 主句两个并列谓语：checks… and won’t let…。
   

   翻译：尽管之后海伦再也没有遇到臭虫，但她住每家酒店依旧会检查床头板缝隙，还不让孩子把包放在地上。

✅从句标记：定语从句；despite后非谓语动名词。

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Paragraph 5

The lack of central heating wasn’t all bad: as it turned out, it had been keeping another set of houseguests out of sight. Now, with spring approaching, they began to make themselves known. At first it was just in the night. The odd one darting across the bathroom when you turned on a light. But soon we were spotting cockroaches on a daily basis – huge, black and shiny. By April, turning on the light in the middle of the night meant bracing yourself as dozens scurried to safety. 译文：没有集中供暖也不全是坏事：事实证明低温让另一批“房客”隐藏起来。随着春天来临，它们开始现身。一开始只在夜里出现，开灯时偶尔有一只飞速窜过浴室。但很快我们每天都能看见蟑螂，又大又黑油亮。到了四月，半夜开灯就必须做好心理准备，几十只蟑螂慌忙四散逃窜。

📝逐段分析 转折：无供暖的低温抑制蟑螂；春天气温回升，蟑螂大规模出没。从零星一只到成群爆发，细节层层递进，渲染惊悚的居住体验。houseguests拟人修辞，戏谑指代蟑螂。

✅核心单词&短语

1. central heating 集中供暖
2. as it turned out 事实证明
3. keep … out of sight 使……藏起来、看不见
4. make oneself known 现身，显露出来
5. the odd one 零星的一只
6. dart /dɑːt/ v. 飞奔，疾窜
7. on a daily basis 每天
8. brace oneself 做好心理准备
9. scurry /ˈskʌri/ v.（小动物）慌忙逃窜

✅长难句拆解

By April, turning on the light in the middle of the night meant bracing yourself as dozens scurried to safety.

• turning on the light动名词短语作主语；
• meant bracing mean doing意味着做某事；
• as引导时间状语从句：当……的时候。
  

  翻译：到了四月，半夜开灯就必须做好心理准备，几十只蟑螂慌忙四散逃窜。

✅从句标记：as引导时间状语从句；动名词作主语。

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I’d read somewhere that squishing a cockroach simply dispersed their eggs across the room to hatch elsewhere (a myth, it turns out, although they do apparently release dying chemicals that attract more cockroaches to the spot). We took to trapping them under glasses and bowls instead, then waiting for them to die that way. Our living space ended up littered with various pieces of roach‑covering crockery. No, we didn’t have people round for dinner. 译文：我曾经读到，踩死蟑螂会把虫卵散播到房间各处，在别的地方孵化。事实证明这是谣言。不过蟑螂死亡确实会释放化学物质，吸引更多蟑螂来到此处。于是我们改用玻璃杯、碗扣住蟑螂，等着它们自行死亡。屋子里到处都是扣着蟑螂的杯碗。可想而知，我们不再邀请朋友来家里吃饭。

📝逐段分析 介绍网上流传的谣言与科学事实；描述两人无奈的灭虫方式，生活环境被严重破坏，社交生活被迫停止，体现虫害带来的生活折磨。

✅核心单词&短语

1. squish /skwɪʃ/ v. 踩扁，碾碎
2. disperse /dɪˈspɜːs/ v. 散开，散播
3. hatch /hætʃ/ v. 孵化
4. myth /mɪθ/ n. 谬论，谣言；神话
5. take to doing sth 开始养成做……的习惯
6. littered with 到处散落着
7. crockery /ˈkrɒkəri/ n. 陶器，杯碗餐具
8. have people round 邀请人来家里做客

✅长难句拆解

I’d read somewhere that squishing a cockroach simply dispersed their eggs across the room to hatch elsewhere (a myth, it turns out, although they do apparently release dying chemicals that attract more cockroaches to the spot).

1. that引导宾语从句作read的宾语；从句内部squishing…动名词做主语；
2. 括号内作补充说明；although引导让步状语从句；
3. that attract more cockroaches定语从句修饰chemicals。
   

   翻译：我曾经读到，踩死蟑螂会把虫卵散播到房间各处，在别的地方孵化。事实证明这是谣言。不过蟑螂死亡确实会释放化学物质，吸引更多蟑螂来到此处。

✅从句标记：宾语从句；although让步状语从句；that定语从句。

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We did have a particularly memorable Valentine’s Day dinner, though – not for any romantic effort on my part, sadly, but because at one point Helen reached for her wine and ended up grasping the shell of a massive roach that had climbed on to the stem of her glass. 译文：不过我们确实度过一个记忆深刻的情人节晚餐。可惜不是因为我的浪漫举动，而是海伦伸手拿红酒时，一把抓到一只爬到酒杯柄上的巨型蟑螂外壳。

📝逐段分析 全文高潮，呼应开篇的Valentine’s Day。本应浪漫的情人节，遭遇蟑螂，极具戏剧反差感。

✅核心单词&短语

1. memorable /ˈmemərəbl/ adj. 难忘的
2. on one’s part 就某人而言，出自某人
3. reach for 伸手去拿
4. end up doing 最终做了……
5. grasp /ɡrɑːsp/ v. 抓住
6. massive /ˈmæsɪv/ adj. 巨大的
7. stem /stem/ n.（酒杯）杯柄

✅长难句拆解

We did have a particularly memorable Valentine’s Day dinner, though – not for any romantic effort on my part, sadly, but because at one point Helen reached for her wine and ended up grasping the shell of a massive roach that had climbed on to the stem of her glass.

1. did have助动词did表强调，“确实有”；
2. not for… but because… 不是因为……而是因为……；
3. that had climbed…定语从句修饰roach。
   

   翻译：不过我们确实度过一个记忆深刻的情人节晚餐。可惜不是因为我的浪漫举动，而是海伦伸手拿红酒时，一把抓到一只爬到酒杯柄上的巨型蟑螂外壳。

✅从句标记：because原因状语从句；that定语从句；did强调谓语。

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Paragraph 8

The landlord refused to accept we had an issue. Only when a traumatised Helen resorted to bringing dead bugs to his office in an empty takeaway box did he reluctantly send for the aforementioned pest guy. Although the guy couldn’t fix the problem, he was keen to inform us that we had oriental cockroaches – black rather than brown, and apparently much bigger and harder to kill than the more common German ones. His eyes lit up a bit when talking about it. At least someone was enjoying themselves. 译文：房东拒不承认房屋存在虫害问题。直到饱受惊吓的海伦把死蟑螂装在外卖空盒子带到他办公室，他才不情愿地叫来了前面提到的消杀人员。虽然消杀人员解决不了问题，但兴致勃勃告诉我们这是东方蜚蠊，通体黑色而非褐色，比常见的德国小蠊体型更大、更难灭杀。聊起蟑螂时他眼睛都发亮。至少还有人乐在其中。

📝逐段分析 写房东推诿不作为；Only when…did he…部分倒装，突出海伦被逼无奈的举动；消杀人员面对灾难却兴致勃勃，讽刺意味浓厚。

✅核心单词&短语

1. traumatised /ˈtrɔːmətaɪzd/ adj. 受惊吓的，精神受创的
2. resort to doing sth 诉诸，采取（不好的办法）
3. reluctantly /rɪˈlʌktəntli/ adv. 不情愿地
4. send for 派人去请
5. aforementioned /əˈfɔːmenʃnd/ adj. 前面提到的
6. oriental cockroach 东方蜚蠊
7. light up（眼神）发亮，神采飞扬

✅长难句拆解（倒装重点）

Only when a traumatised Helen resorted to bringing dead bugs to his office in an empty takeaway box did he reluctantly send for the aforementioned pest guy.

• Only+状语从句置于句首，主句部分倒装：did提到主语he前面；正常语序：He reluctantly sent for…only when…
  

  翻译：直到饱受惊吓的海伦把死蟑螂装在外卖空盒子带到他办公室，他才不情愿地叫来了前面提到的消杀人员。

✅从句标记：when时间状语从句；Only+状语从句引发部分倒装。

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Mercifully, our rental agreement was only for six months. The feeling of living without cockroaches was overwhelming and joyful – although it wasn’t total freedom. I retained a fear that one of them might have snuck into a suitcase and followed us to the next property. For a while I saw pointy little antennae everywhere. I’ve still not totally shaken it. 译文：万幸，我们租房合约只有六个月。摆脱蟑螂的生活令人无比喜悦，但并未完全解脱。我一直担心有蟑螂偷偷钻进行李箱跟着我们搬到下一处住所。有一段时间，我到处都仿佛看见尖尖的小触角。直到现在，我仍没有完全摆脱这份心理阴影。

📝逐段分析 结尾：租约到期得以搬走，但心理创伤长久留存。呼应前文海伦的后遗症，升华主题：糟糕租房经历带来长久心理阴影。

✅核心单词&短语

1. mercifully /ˈmɜːsɪfəli/ adv. 万幸地
2. rental agreement 租房合同
3. overwhelming /ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ/ adj. 强烈的，巨大的
4. retain /rɪˈteɪn/ v. 留存，保持
5. sneak /sniːk/ v. 偷偷溜入，潜入 (snuck过去式)
6. antennae /ænˈteniː/ n.（昆虫）触角（复数）
7. shake sth 摆脱（不好的情绪/阴影）

✅长难句拆解

I retained a fear that one of them might have snuck into a suitcase and followed us to the next property.

• that引导同位语从句，解释fear的具体内容；
• might have done对过去事情的推测：可能已经做了。
  

  翻译：我一直担心有蟑螂偷偷钻进行李箱跟着我们搬到下一处住所。

✅从句标记：that引导同位语从句；might have done虚拟推测。

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核心词填空练习

提示：用方框内单词正确形式填空，词可变形，有多余词。 方框词：swarm, spot, culprit, deploy, dart, scurry, disperse, myth, resort to, mercifully, retain, traumatise, bleak

1. The insects ________ all over the kitchen, making us terrified.
2. It took me a long time to ________ the hidden danger in the contract.
3. Experts are trying to find out the ________ of the disease outbreak.
4. Soldiers were ________ to rescue people trapped in the flood.
5. When the light went on, mice ________ across the floor.
6. It is a ________ that eating carrots can greatly improve your eyesight.
7. He had no other choice but ________ lying to cover his mistake.
8. ________, nobody got hurt in the fire accident.
9. She ________ the memory of that terrible night for many years.
10. The long cold winter made everyone feel ________ and hopeless.

参考答案

1. swarmed
2. spot
3. culprit
4. deployed
5. scurried
6. myth
7. to resort to
8. Mercifully
9. retained
10. bleak