to "long habit", which, he said, enabled him to reach his 14)lightning conclusions. in acknowledging the roles both of inherited and 15)acquired learning, he was well ahead of today's research into the origins of intelligence.

no biography of holmes would be complete without an examination of his greatest triumph, in the hound of the baskervilles. my friends, his life was packed full of adventure and 16)intrigue and it has been my pleasure to act as his 17)boswell.

我的朋友 歇洛克·福尔摩斯

非常感谢。能给各位德高望重的人士讲话，我倍感荣幸。我十分希望福尔摩斯本人也能到场，可是大家也知道，他正在乡下隐居研究养蜂术。我的记忆并不完全牢靠，但我会竭尽所能吐露一切所知，而我想，人人最想问的一个问题就是：“他了解的有多少？” 歇洛克·福尔摩斯。

当然了，我们接手的案子都有记录。福尔摩斯很慷慨地允许我将我们的历险记发表在维多利亚时代晚期的一系列刊物上，其中以英国的《线索》杂志和美国的《科利尔》杂志最为人熟知。

我们住在伦敦西部的贝克街。啊，那段时光太愉快了。贝克街221b号是维多利亚时代晚期的典型建筑，福尔摩斯在房间里摆放着他的职业必需品和我们休闲放松的物件。

他在指出我刚从阿富汗回来时，承认了自己有推理天赋。他是怎么知道的呢？事后他对我进行了一番解释∶尽管我是以医生的身份介绍给他认识的，但我身上有一股军人气质。我的皮肤给晒得黧黑，面容憔悴，显然是因某种热带病而起。他还注意到我的左臂姿势不自然，并准确地推断出那是近伤所致。能让一名英国军医在近期内受伤的热带地区，在当时就只有阿富汗，这是他得出的结论。太容易了！

他对自身拥有这样能力的来由甚感兴趣。例如，在《希腊翻译员》故事中，他将之归功于遗传，因为他哥哥麦克罗夫特在这方面的才能还更高。但是在《血字的研究》中，他又称他能以闪电速度推论出结果是“长期习惯”使然。是遗传因素也好，是习惯造成也好，他对智力起源的研究已遥遥领先于当今一流水准。

如果不提及他最伟大的胜利--《巴斯克维尔庄园的猎犬》，福尔摩斯的传记就称不上完整。朋友们，他的一生中充满了惊心动魄的故事和阴谋诡计，我能成为他的忠实代笔人，真是三生有幸。

注释:

1) privilege n. 特权，特别待遇

2) august a. 威严的

3) apiary n. 养蜂房，养蜂场

4) beekeeping n. 养蜂

5) victorian a. 维多利亚女王时代的

6) publication n. 出版物

7) epitome n. 典型

8) deduction n. 演绎，推论

9) tan v. 晒黑

10) haggard a. 形容憔悴的

11) tropical a. 热带的

12) elementary a. 简单的，基本的

13) possess v. 拥有，占有

14) lightning a. 闪电的

15) acquired a. 已成习惯的，后天通过自己的努力得到的

16) intrigue n. 阴谋，诡计

17) boswell n. 为密友写传记的人

★★《2003年07月号-第41期-disc01-08》★★

madonna

musician 1: i think she is 1)chameleon like. i think she has the ability to absorb what's going on around her and make it her own and learn about it and then use it to advance to the next 2)phase of her career.

musician 2: at certain points in your career, you need different kinds of influences to move to the next level. i think she is smart about what she wants to do, what step she wants to take and the kind of people she needs to surround herself with, people that know what they’re doing in that particular field and she learned from them. and then if it makes sense for what she is trying to do then it works for her.

musician 3: i think it’s determination and 3)naked ambition. you know, she has a drive and she stays focused until she achieves it. whether it’s 4)commercially successful or not, you know, she will see it through if it’s her 5)vision.

fan 1: i like the way she acts because i think all women should be able to act like they want, without been 6)run down by men at all.

fan 2: like marilyn monroe again, except a much harder marilyn monroe.

maripol (stylist): what would be more perfect than to have a girl called, madonna, coming to me to get some my design and having her wear the crosses on her ears and her heart, around her neck and peace sign? because there was an element of a little political messages to my drawing. i had tons of letters from these young kids. they would call me “madonna jewelry designer” and if anything, i was like “excuse me, i am not madonna’s exclusive jewelry designer.” but they were so naive, kids from all over the world would send me letter “i want this cross,” ”i want this,” and the cross was a symbol of rebellion, the fact that you put it in your ears. but it was also perfect. she is madonna and she wears crosses. all of a sudden she didn’t need all that and out of the window. so that did hurt me because a department store, right when my merchandising line was ready to go into the stores, was...caput this never went nowhere.

and every time madonna makes another image change, her fans have to play catch up with their hard earned cash. patrick, thomas, jennifer, and jonathan have 7)collectively spent $20,000 on madonna merchandise.

journalist: you’re all loyal fans, does madonna love you enough because she is fleecing you at the same time she is taking all your money, do you feel bad about that?

jonathan: i don’t feel like she is fleecing us. she’s been a contribution to our lives as far as bringing different points of view, and different artistry and music into our lives and i think that’s a blessing, if anything.

thomas: i feel that she gives us really all that she can, i mean, she is always making more albums for us to listen to, more and more videos.

journalist: albums to buy as well. you’re not just getting them for free, are you?

jennifer: we used to do performances at a club out in long island. and it was a matter of time before we had a bunch of young girls dressing like her. we had to kind of push it along a little bit, you know, “$20 here,” “$30 here,” “why don’t you go get a dress like that?” “why don’t you...” you know, we started it just like brian epstein paid people to scream for the beatles, i mean, we began to get a following and to have girls 8)emulate