I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses -- not destroyed -- not dulled them. Above

我瘋了？這病讓我的感官更加敏銳－不是毀了它們－也不是讓它們遲鈍了。以上

all was the -- oh, hey guys. This is Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson

全都是－喔！嗨，大家好。我是艾力克斯。感謝你的點閱，歡迎來到這堂課

on "What books should I read?!" So very often, students are asking me -- especially at the

「我應該要讀什麼書？」學生很常問我這個問題－尤其是

intermediate and advanced levels -- they say, "Alex, or Teacher, I want to improve my English.

中級或進階程度的學生－他們說：「艾力克斯或是老師，我想要英文進步

I want to improve my vocabulary. Can you give me some suggestions of books and authors to

我想要增進我的單字能力。你可以建議我一些書和作者來看嗎？

check out? What's easy enough for me, but challenging enough so that I can improve?"

對我來說不會太難，又可以對我有點挑戰性，讓我能夠進步？」

Today I'm going to give you a couple of book suggestions. In addition to that, I'm also

今天我要給你們一些選書的建議。除此之外，我也會

going to give you ten vocabulary words that I've picked out from the books.

告訴你我從這些書中挑出來的十個單字

So today, to start out, I was reading "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by famous American

所以今天一開始我在讀的書「戰慄的角落（Tales of Mystery and Imagination）」由知名美國

author Edgar Allan Poe. And this is actually an excellent, excellent collection of stories.

作家愛倫波所著。這本其實是一本很棒很棒的故事集

However, it might be a little bit too advanced for intermediate speakers, and even for advanced

不過，它對中級程度的人可能有點太高階了，即使是對進階程度的

speakers it poses a challenge. It poses a challenge for native speakers. So what do

人都會有一定的挑戰。對母語人士來說也是有挑戰。所以你會做

you do if you're interested in reading Edgar Allan Poe or other classic authors, but you

什麼如果你對於愛倫波或其他經典作者的書有興趣，但是你

might find the language of the real book to be too challenging or too difficult. Well,

或許會發現真實書籍裡面的語言太過艱深、太具挑戰性了

thankfully, there are, actually, a couple of companies out there who make graded versions

很感激其實現在有一些公司在做這些書的分級版本

of books such as the Edgar Allan Poe "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", Sherlock Holmes,

像是愛倫波的「顫慄的角落」、福爾摩斯

"To Kill a Mockingbird", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" -- any number of classics you can think

「梅岡城故事」、「化身博士」－不論多少你可以想到的經典名著

of. And I'm going to show you a couple of those today. So give me one moment.

而今天我要給你看其中幾個。請等我一下

Okay. This is a Penguin Reader. So Penguin Readers are really, really excellent because

好。這個是一本朗文企鵝讀本。企鵝讀本真的真的很棒，因為

what they do is they take famous authors, famous books and they make them accessible

他們就是把知名作家和知名書籍拿來變得更好入門

to an English as a second language learner. So, again, if you're interested in starting

對英語是第二語言的學習者來說。所以，再說一次，如果你們有興趣開始

out to read English, this is an excellent way of doing that. So today, I'm going to

閱讀英文，這是一個很棒的方式。所以今天，我要

give you two suggestions. And if you're interested in horror, if you're interested in mystery,

給你們兩個建議。而且如果你對於恐怖故事、神祕事物有興趣

if you're interested in detective stories, you really can't do much better than Edgar

或你對於偵探故事有興趣，你最好的選擇就是

Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle. Now, you might not be familiar with the name Arthur

愛倫波和柯南道爾的書。現在，你或許對於這個名字

Conan Doyle, but you are probably familiar with the name Sherlock Holmes. And Arthur

柯南道爾不是那麼熟悉，但是你很有可能對於福爾摩斯這個名義很熟。而

Conan Doyle is, actually, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Now, these two books here,

柯南道爾其實就是福爾摩斯故事的作者。現在，這邊的這兩本書

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by Edgar Allan Poe and "Sherlock Holmes Short Stories" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

愛倫波的「顫慄的角落」和柯南道爾博士的「福爾摩斯探案故事」

are both short story collections. So if you feel a

都是短篇故事集。如果你覺得

little bit intimidated by reading a complete novel, another thing that's great about these

要看一整本的小說覺得很可怕，這兩本書很棒的一點就是

is a lot of these stories are five pages, six pages. So you can sit down -- you can

很多故事都只有五、六頁。所以你可以坐下來－你可以

learn a lot of vocabulary, a lot of grammatical structure just with six pages of reading,

學到許多單字，許多文法結構，就只要在這六頁的閱讀裡面就有了

and you'll feel that you have read a complete story, okay?

而且你感覺你已經讀完了一篇完整的故事，對吧？

So, again, I really, really recommend these, especially if you're into murder mysteries,

所以，再說一下，我真的真的很推薦這些，尤其如果你喜歡謀殺故事

detective fiction, and you want something that is very short but gives you enough so

偵探故事，而且你想要短但是又可以提供你夠多

that you can learn a lot. And what I'm going to do now is, actually, give you guys ten

能學習的東西。接下我要做的其實是，給你們十個

vocabulary words that I have chosen from these two books, and I'll give you the definitions.

我從這兩本書裡面選出來的單字，而且我還會給你定義

We'll talk about some examples, and then you can finish the quiz and test your understanding as usual.

我們也會談一些例子，然後你可以一如往常的去做測驗來確認你了解了沒

All right. Let's get to it. Okay, so the first word that we have here

好！讓我們開始吧。好，所以這邊的第一個字

is "disturb". Now, "disturb" is a verb which means to interrupt someone or to make someone

是「擾亂」。現在「擾亂」是一個動詞，意味著打斷他人或者是讓他人感覺到

nervous or a little scared. So for example, if you see a bloody crime, like in a Sherlock

緊張或是一點點害怕。例如，如果你目睹了一場血案，就像福爾摩斯故事裡的一樣

Holmes story, that might disturb you; it might make you feel a little weird, a little nervous.

這或許擾亂你的心；它也或許可以讓我覺得有點奇怪、有點緊張

Someone can also come in and "disturb" you while you are working.

一個人也可以跑進來然後當你工作的時候「打擾」了你

The next word is "horizon". "Horizon" is a noun, and when you think of a picture of the

下一個字是「地平線」。「地平線」是一個名詞，當你想像一下海洋的圖片

ocean, of the sea, and you think of the sun in the back, the "horizon" is that line; it's

你就會想到太陽在海的後面，「地平線」就是那條線

the line where the land or the sea seems to meet the sky. Okay? So it's that line in a

陸地或是海洋和天空相接的那條線，懂了嗎？所以就是圖片中的那

picture. The next word is "immense". This is an excellent

條線。下一個字是「廣大的」。這是一個超棒的

vocabulary word. This is an adjective which just means extremely large. So you can say,

單字。這是一個形容詞，意味著超級的大。所以你可以這樣說

"The buildings in New York are immense" -- extremely large.

「紐約的高樓大廈都超巨大的」－超級的大

The next word is "mercy", which is a noun. Now, "mercy" is something that you show towards

下一個字是「寬恕」，是一個名詞。現在「寬恕」是你對某個人所展現的

a person or that you have for someone. So "mercy" is "kindness and a willingness to

或是你要給某人的東西。所以「寬恕」是「仁慈和願意去

forgive". So for example, if you're fighting with someone and you're beating them and they

原諒。」所以這有個例子，如果你在跟人打架，而且你正在毆打他們，然後他們

say, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Have mercy! Show me mercy!" This means, like, "Show sympathy for

說「停！停手！停手！有點寬恕之心！原諒我吧！」這就代表，像是「對我展現你的同情！

me! Be kind! Please forgive me! I give up!" Okay? You might see this a lot in, like, war

親切一點！請原諒我！我放棄了！」懂了嗎？你或許會很常在這看到，像是，戰爭

movies and stuff like Gladiator and all that stuff. Okay.

電影或是鬥劍士之類的還有類似的東西。

"Misery", "misery" is a noun. The adjective is "miserable". So "misery" just means "great

「悲慘」、「悲慘」是一個名詞。形容詞是「悲慘的」。所以「悲慘」就是表示「很大的

unhappiness", so you can live in "misery". And there's actually a book by Stephen King

不幸」，所以你可以活在「悲慘」的生活之中。而且其實有一本史蒂芬金的書

of the same title, so you can check that out if you're into Stephen King and stuff like

就是同個名字，所以你可以查查看如果你對史蒂芬金或是類似的東西有興趣的話

that. So the next word is "consult". This comes

接下來下一個字是「諮詢」。這是從

from "consultation", which is the noun form. "Consult" is to ask for advice or information.

「諮詢」這個字來的，也就是從名詞來的。「諮詢」就是尋求建議或者是訊息

So in the Sherlock Holmes stories, people with problems come to consult with Sherlock

所以在福爾摩斯故事集裡面，有問題的人會去尋求福爾摩斯的諮詢

Holmes. If you are having some kind of difficulty, some kind of physical illness, you should

如果你有某種的困難，某種的生理疾病，你應該

probably consult a doctor. The next word is "forge". Now, to "forge"

或許要跟一位醫生諮詢。下一個字是「偽造」。現在，「偽造」

is to illegally copy something. Usually, we talk about "forging money" or "forging a person's

就是違法的拷貝。通常，我們說「偽造錢幣」或是「偽造某人的

signature". So maybe when you were a child and you had to get permission to go somewhere,

簽名」。所以或許當你是一個小孩的時候，你必須得到允許才能去別的地方

but you knew your parents would not let you go there, maybe you would forge your parents'

但是你知道你的家長不會讓你去，或許你就會違法地偽造你父母親的

signature illegally -- copy it, essentially. Don't do that.

簽名－其實就是複製。不要這樣做

"Soil" -- okay. "Soil", we're talking about the noun, which is the top layer of earth

「土壤」－好。「土壤」，我們在談的是名詞，地球表面最上層的植被

where plants grow. So if you want to start a garden in your house, you have to go and

所以如果你想要在你家建一座花園，你必須去

buy some soil, okay? "Tremble": This is a verb which means "to

買一些土壤，懂了嗎？「顫抖」，這是一個動詞代表

shake because of worry or fear or excitement". You can also tremble because you're cold,

因為擔心、恐懼或是刺激而搖晃」。你也可以因為很冷而顫抖

okay? Very, very useful verb. And finally, a word that most of my students

懂了？非常非常好用的動詞。然後最後一個，一個我一生中大部分學生

in my life have had a difficult time pronouncing, and it's "thoroughly", "thoroughly". So "thur-oh-ly".

都有困難唸好這個字。而且這個字是「徹底地」、「徹底地」。就是「thur-oh-ly」

Okay? This is an adverb which means "completely" or "wholly". So "I was thoroughly surprised

懂了嗎？這是一個副詞，意思是「完全地」或是「整個」。所以「聽到這個新聞

to hear the news" -- completely. "The police searched the room thoroughly", okay?

我被徹底的嚇呆了」－完全地。「警方徹底地搜索這個房間」，懂了嗎？

So let's just do a quick listen and repeat with pronunciation of this vocab, guys. So

所以來快速的一個聽、重複發音的單字練習。所以

from the top: disturb, horizon, immense, mercy, misery, consult, forge, soil, tremble, thoroughly.

從最上面開始：紛擾、地平線、廣大的、寬恕、悲慘、諮詢、偽造、土壤、顫抖、徹底地

Okay, now that you have looked at these vocabulary items, you might be interested to know, "Where

好，現在你已經看過這些單字了，你或許想要知道，「哪裡

can I get the books that Alex is talking about?" Attached to this video, you will find a link

可以取得那些艾力克斯在講的書？」附在影片的，你就會看到一個亞馬遜網頁

to the Amazon website. You will also find a link to a list of authors who are in the

的連結。你也會找到一個連結有一串作者的作品是在

public domain. Now, what this means is that there are authors whose works, whose fiction

公領域。現在，也就是說這些作者的作品、小說

is freely available on the Internet for everyone to read because the copyright is so old. And

是每個人都可在網路上自由取得來閱讀的因為版權已經太古老了。而且

finally, you will also find a link to the Penguin Readers website, which you can check

最後，你也會看到一個企鵝讀本網站的連結，你可以在上面

out if you're interested in finding out which books are available in the Penguin Readers

看看你是否對於企鵝讀本集裡面有的書有

collection. All right, guys. So, as always, you can test

興趣。好了，大家。所以，一如往常，你可以測試

your knowledge of this material by doing the quiz on www.engvid.com, and don't forget to

你對於這教材的知識藉由在www.engvid.com做一個測驗，而且不要忘記

subscribe to my YouTube channel. Nevermore!

訂閱我的YouTube頻道。不多說啦！