文档介绍：Criteria of Excellency优秀的标准
My l4-year-old son, John, and I spotted the coat simultaneously同时地siməl'teiniəsli
.
It was hanging on a rack at a secondhand clothing store
in Northampton Mass,
crammed in with shoddy假货,赝品
trench coats and an assortment of sad,
woolen overcoats—a rose among thorns.
While the other coats drooped,
this one looked as if it were holding itself up.
The thick, black wool of the double-breasted chesterfield
was soft and unworn, as though it had been preserved
in mothballs卫生球,樟脑球
for years in dead old Uncle Henry's steamer trunk.
The coat had a black velvet天鹅绒
collar, beautiful tailoring剪裁['teiləriŋ]
,
a Fifth Avenue label and an unbelievable price of $28.
We looked at each other, saying nothing,
but John's eyes gleamed. Dark, woolen topcoats were popular
just then with teenage boys,
but could cost several hundred dollars new.
This coat was even better,
bearing that touch of classic elegance from a bygone era.
John slid his arms down into the heavy satin光滑的,绸缎做的
lining of the sleeves
and buttoned the coat. He turned from side to side,
eyeing himself in the mirror with a serious,
studied expression that soon changed into a smile.
The fit was perfect.
John wore the coat to school the next day
and came home wearing a big grin.
“Did the kids like your coat?” I asked.
“They loved it.” he said, carefully folding it
over the back of a chair and smoothing it flat.
I started calling him “Lord Chesterfield” and “The Great Gatsby.”
Over the next few weeks, a change came over John.
Agreement replaced contrariness, quiet,
reasoned discussion replaced argument.
He became more judicious明智的,头脑精明的[dʒu:'diʃəs]
, more mannerly,
more thoughtful, eager to please.
“Good dinner, Mom.” he would say every evening.
He would generously loan his younger brother his tapes
and lecture him on the niceties of
behavior;
without a word of objection,
he would carry in wood for the stove.
One day when I suggested
that he might s