Kieran: So Jane – you’ll be off to Denmark soon to do your work placement.

基兰：所以简-你很快就要去丹麦实习了。

Jane: Yes, I’m really looking forward to it and I’ve just started packing up all my books to put in storage.

简：是的，我真的很期待，我刚开始收拾我所有的书，准备放进仓库。

Kieran: Well, I hope they don’t get spoilt.

基兰：希望它们不会被弄坏。

Jane: It’s OK – my grandfather works in a bookshop and he told me how to pack them.

简：没事的，我爷爷在书店工作，他告诉了我如何打包。

Kieran: Oh, that’s helpful.

基兰：哦，真有帮助。

Jane: He says you have to support the spine otherwise the paper can come away from the cover.

简：他说必须把书脊支撑起来，否则纸张会从封面处脱落。

Kieran: Yeah – that’s obvious.

基兰：是的，很显然。

Jane: He also told me to pack them flat in the box not on their side – again because they can bend and if you leave them like that for, say, a year, it’s quite hard to get them back to their normal shape.

简：他还告诉我要把书平放在盒子里，不要侧放-因为这样它们会弯曲，如果你把它们这样放着，比如说放一年，就很难让它们恢复原来的形状了。

Kieran: Well, it’s pretty clear that ruins them, but a lot of people just can’t be bothered to protect their books.

基兰：嗯，很明显那会毁了那些书，但很多人就是懒得保护他们的书。

Jane: He always says it’s such a shame that publishers don’t use better-quality paper.

简：我爷爷总是说，出版商不使用质量更好的纸张真是太可惜了。

Kieran: It’s the acid in the paper that causes the problem, isn’t it?

基兰：是纸张中的酸造成了问题，不是吗？

Jane: Yeah – that’s why old books go yellow. You know some of the books my grandfather’s given me are like that already.

简：是的，这就是旧书变黄的原因。我祖父给我的一些书已经变成这样了。

Kieran: Oh . . .

基兰：哦......

Jane: I should dump them really if they’re going to deteriorate further, but I’d feel bad. They’ll always remind me of him. He’s quite a collector, you know.

简：如果那些书的状况进一步变坏的话，我真的应该把它们扔掉，但是我会觉得很可惜。那些书总会让我想起我爷爷。你知道，他是个收藏家。

Kieran: Well, if they’re important to you . . .

基兰：好吧，如果它们对你很重要……

Jane: Yeah – I’d regret just throwing them away.

简：是的-我会后悔把它们扔掉。

Kieran: You know, maybe it’s because I was taught to treasure books . . . but I hate seeing students force open the pages – of paperbacks. They press so hard they end up breaking the spine.

基兰：你知道吗，也许是因为我从小就被教育要珍惜书籍……，我很讨厌看到学生们用力打开平装书。他们用力过度，最后把书脊都压断了。

Jane: I know, but unfortunately, paperbacks aren’t designed to last a long time and people know that. Hardbacks aren’t quite as weak.

简：我知道，但不幸的是，平装书的设计不适合长期阅读，人们也知道这一点。精装书就没那么容易磨损。

Kieran: Yeah, they’re different, I suppose. But I still don’t think people value hardbacks like they used to.

基兰：是的，我想精装书确实不一样。但我还是觉得人们不像以前那样重视精装书了。

Jane: Well, they aren’t decorative, are they, like other objects. Plus, nowadays, people don’t keep them out on shelves as much as they used to.

简：嗯，精装书不像其他物品一样，是装饰品。另外，现在人们不再像以前那样把它们摆在书架上了。

Kieran: That’s such a pity. When I visit someone – if they have, say, a colourful book on a table, it’s the first thing I’m drawn to.

基兰：真遗憾。当我去拜访别人时，如果他们的桌子上摆放着一本色彩鲜艳的书，我首先就会被它吸引。

Jane: I agree – and book covers can be a work of art in themselves. Some are really eye-catching.

简：我同意，书的封面本身就是一件艺术品。有些封面非常引人注目。

Kieran: I’ve always been taught to handle books carefully. If you watch someone take a book off a shelf, well, they usually do it wrong.

基兰：我一直被教导要小心对待书籍。如果你看到有人从书架上取下一本书，你会发现他们拿书的方式通常是错的。

Jane: Ah, my grandfather says, you should put your hand right over the top of the book . . . or if you can’t do that, pull the other books on the shelf aside so that you can hold the whole cover.

简：啊，我爷爷说，你应该把手放在书的上面……如果你做不到，就把书架上的其他书拉到一边，这样你就可以握住整个封面了。

Kieran: When did you learn all this?

基兰：你什么时候学会这些的？

Jane: He watched me pull a heavy book off the shelf when I was small, and it fell on the floor and broke apart.

简：我小的时候，他看着我把一本很重的书从书架上拉下来，书掉在地上摔得四分五裂。

Kieran: Oh dear!

基兰：哦，天哪！

Jane: I can still remember it!

简：我还记得！

Kieran: You know what I really like?

基兰：你知道我最喜欢什么吗？

Jane: What?

简：什么？

Kieran: The smell of new books.

基兰：新书的味道。

Jane: Me too.

简：我也是。

Kieran: My parents used to laugh at me when I was a kid because I loved putting books up to my nose. Almost as much as reading them!

基兰：我小的时候，我父母经常嘲笑我，因为我喜欢把书放在鼻子上闻。几乎和看书一样！

Jane: New books aren’t cheap, though, are they?

简：新书可不便宜，不是吗？

Kieran: I guess we’re lucky we can buy them.

基兰：我想我们可以买书是很幸运的。

Jane: My grandfather stocks second-hand books as well as new ones and they don’t smell quite as good.

简：我爷爷除了买新书，还储备二手书，而且二手书闻起来没新书香。

Kieran: I’d love to have a bookshop like your grandfather. What’s it like?

基兰：我很想跟你祖父那样开一家书店。你祖父的书店是什么样的？

Jane: Well, it’s quite big – it’s got two floors and an attic, and he stocks all kinds of books really.

简：嗯，挺大的，有两层楼和一个阁楼，他有各种各样的书。

Kieran: I guess he treasures things like first editions and other rare books.

基兰：我猜他珍藏的是初版书和其他稀有书籍。

Jane: Yeah – you might think he’d keep those in the attic or somewhere.

简：是的，他也许会把这些书放在阁楼或其他地方。

Kieran: . . . so they’d be hidden?

基兰：所以它们会被藏起来？

Jane: Yeah. But he likes people to know that he has them. So, he puts them out in the shop but makes sure you need a ladder to get them.

简：是的。但他希望人们知道他有这些东西。所以，他把它们放在店里，但确保需要梯子才能拿到它们。

Kieran: Right. That would prevent any thefts!

基兰：好的。这样可以防止偷窃！

Jane: Uhuh.

简：嗯。

Kieran: Does he stock books for children?

基兰：他有儿童读物吗？

Jane: He does. He particularly likes to encourage kids to read; he always says that he used to sit under the stairs as a child with a pile of books and read them all.

简：他有。他特别喜欢鼓励孩子们阅读；他总是说，他小时候经常抱着一堆书坐在楼梯下，把它们都读完。

Kieran: Is that where he keeps them, then?

基兰：他把书都放在那里吗？

Jane: Not exactly – he’s got a dedicated area on the ground floor with cushions so that parents can enter with their toddlers, go there and spend some time reading to them.

简：不完全是-他在一楼专门开辟了一块地方，铺上了垫子，这样家长就可以带着他们的孩子去那里，花一些时间给他们读书。

Kieran: Oh cool.

基兰：哦，好酷。

Jane: And then there’s a place for pushchairs by the front door. And a café if anyone needs refreshments.

简：前门还有一个放婴儿车的地方。如果有人需要点心，还有一个咖啡厅。

Kieran: That’s good to know.

基兰：很高兴知道这些。

Jane: As I said, it’s a big shop and there’s a storage area out the back as well.

简：正如我所说，这是一家大商店，后面还有一个储藏区。

Kieran: Oh, what does he keep there? Books he wants to throw away?

基兰：哦，他在那儿放什么？他想扔掉的书？

Jane: He hardly ever throws anything away – he just leaves unwanted books by the front door for customers to take.

简：他几乎不扔任何东西-他只是把不想要的书放在前门让顾客拿走。

Kieran: Well, that’s very nice.

基兰：嗯，真不错。

Jane: Yeah – and books people or institutions have requested, they all go at the far end.

简：是的，人们或机构订购的书都放在最里面。

Kieran: Oh.

基兰：哦。

Jane: He thinks it’s best to keep these out of the main shopping area as they’re boxed and new.

简：他认为这些书最好不要放在主购物区，因为它们都是装箱的新书。

Kieran: Did you get your coursebooks from him?

基兰：你的课本是从他那儿拿的吗？

Jane: Naturally. He stocks books for a lot of the colleges. He used to keep these books on the first floor, but now there’s a new university in my hometown, he’s moved them downstairs to attract the students. They’re actually part of the coffee shop, on low shelves all around it.

简：当然。他储备了很多大学用的书籍。他以前把这些书放在一楼，但现在我的家乡新开了一所大学，为了吸引学生，他把书搬到了楼下。这些书实际上是咖啡店的一部分，放在咖啡店四周的矮架子上。

Kieran: Pretty central then. You’ll have to take me there some time!

基兰：那是很中心的位置了。有机会你一定要带我去！