Jasper White is one of those rare2 people who believes in ancient myths3. he has just bought a new house in the city, but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with cars and their owners. When he returns home at night, he always finds that someone has parked a car outside his gate. Because of this, he has not been able to get his own car into his garage even once. Jasper has put up ‘No Parking’ signs outside his gate, but these have not had any effect. Now he has put an ugly stone head over the gate. It is one of the ugliest faces I have ever seen. I asked him what it was and he told me that it was Medusa, the Gorgon4. jasper hopes that she will turn cars and their owners to stone. But none of them has been turned to stone yet!
New words and expressions 生词和短语
rare adj. 罕见的
ancient adj. 古代的，古老的
myth n. 神话故事
trouble n. 麻烦
effect n. 结果，效果
Medusa n. 美杜莎（古希腊神话中3位蛇发女怪之一）
Gorgon n. （古希腊神话中的）3位蛇发女怪之一（凡见其貌者都会变成石头）
参考译文
贾斯珀.怀特是少有的相信古代神话的人之一。他刚在城里买下一所新房子，但自从搬进去后，就和汽车及车主们发生了磨擦。当他夜里回到家时，总是发现有人把车停在他家大门外。为此，他甚至一次也没能把自己的车开进车库。贾斯珀曾把几块“禁止停车”的牌子挂在大门外边，但没有任何效果。现在他把一个丑陋的石雕头像放在了大门上边，这是我见过的最丑陋的头像之一。我问他那是什么？他告诉我那是蛇发女怪美杜莎。贾斯珀希望她把汽车和车主们都变成石头。但到目前为止还没有一个变成石头呢！
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自学导读
1．Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths. 贾斯珀·怀特是少有的相信古代神话的人之一。
在第21课的课文详注中，我们曾经提到“one of +名词／代词”这个结构，of后面的名词必须是复数，但与这个结构连用的动词必须是单数：
One of your friends is waiting for you now.
你的一位朋友正在等你。
课文中who代指的是one of those rare people，所以动词用believes。
2．… but ever since he moved in, he has had trouble with cars and their owners.………但自从搬进去后，就和汽车及车主们发生了摩擦。
ever since的语气比since强，表示“从那以后一直，，主句一般用完成时：
I’ve been interested in flying ever since I was a boy.
自从我的孩提时代起，我就对飞行一直感兴趣。
He left the village last year and has never returned ever since.
他去年离开了这座村庄，从那以后一直没有回去过。
3．Jasper has put up‘No Parking’ signs outside his gate…贾斯珀曾把几块“禁止停车”的牌子挂在大门外边……
put up在这里表示“挂起”、“竖起”等意思。
4．Jasper hopes that she will turn cars and their owners to stone.
贾斯珀希望她把汽车和司机们都变成石头。
（1）she指的是蛇发女怪美杜莎。根据希腊神话，凡看她一眼的人都会变成石头。
（2）turn在这儿的意思是“把……变成”，是及物动词：
They have turned the famous beauty spot to/into an ugly place.
他们把那著名的风景胜地变成了一个丑陋的地方。
