第1404期:Do you read to show off

What do you read when you are travelling by train or bus? 

What are other passengers reading? Perhaps a woman sitting near you is reading a trashy romantic novel. A man is reading a serious biography about a politician. And there's a student reading an English textbook.

What do their choices say about them? Do you judge them by what they are reading?

I have got to tell you that your impressions of them are probably completely wrong. The woman reading the romantic novel could be a lawyer. She just wants a light read to take her mind off work.

The man reading the biography wants you to think that he is an intellectual, but he is just showing off. The student reading the textbook isn't a student at all. She's an English teacher.

Publishers know that some people are self-conscious about what they read on public transport and so they put out different versions of a cover. For example, books about Harry Potter have an original cover for young readers and then another more serious version for adults.

So next time you are on a train, look around and see what other people are reading, but don't jump to any conclusions. You will probably be wrong.

Here is a situation where you could say, "Don't judge a book by its cover".

词汇表

trashy 无价值的
a romantic novel 浪漫小说，言情小说
serious 严肃的
a biography 自传
a textbook 课本
a choice 选择
to say about someone  对他们的印象
to judge 判断
an impression 印象
a light read 文笔轻松，欢快的小说
to take one's mind off work 不再思考工作
an intellectual 知识分子
to show off 炫耀
a publisher 出版商
self-conscious 自我意识
a version 版本，说法
a cover 封面
an original 原版、原创
don't jump to any conclusions 不要轻率下结论
don't judge a book by its cover 不要以貌取人