26 The Television-Chocolate Room

26 The Television-Chocolate Room
The Teavee family, together with Charlie and Grandpa Joe, stepped out of the lift into a
room so dazzlingly bright and dazzlingly white that they screwed up their eyes in pain
and stopped walking. Mr Wonka handed each of them a pair of dark glasses and said,
‘Put these on quick! And don’t take them off in here whatever you do! This light could
blind you!’
As soon as Charlie had his dark glasses on, he was able to look around him in comfort.
He saw a long narrow room. The room was painted white all over. Even the floor was
white, and there wasn’t a speck¹ of dust anywhere. From the ceiling, huge lamps hung
down and bathed the room in a brilliant blue-white light. The room was completely bare
except at the far ends. At one of these ends there was an enormous camera on wheels,
and a whole army of Oompa-Loompas was clustering around it, oiling its joints² and
adjusting its knobs and polishing its great glass lens. The Oompa- Loompas were all
dressed in the most extraordinary way. They were wearing bright- red space suits,
complete with helmets and goggles³ – at least they looked like space suits – and they
were working in complete silence. Watching them, Charlie experienced a queer sense of
danger. There was something dangerous about this whole business, and the Oompa-
Loompas knew it. There was no chattering⁴ or singing among them here, and they moved
about over the huge black camera slowly and carefully in their scarlet⁵ space suits.
At the other end of the room, about fifty paces away from the camera, a single
Oompa-Loompa (also wearing a space suit) was sitting at a black table gazing at the
screen of a very large television set.
‘Here we go!’ cried Mr Wonka, hopping⁶ up and down with excitement. ‘This is the
Testing Room for my very latest and greatest invention – Television Chocolate!’
‘But what is Television Chocolate?’ asked Mike Teavee.
‘Good heavens, child, stop interrupting me!’ said Mr Wonka. ‘It works by television. I
don’t like television myself. I suppose it’s all right in small doses, but children never
seem to be able to take it in small doses. They want to sit there all day long staring and
staring at the screen…’
‘That’s me!’ said Mike Teavee.
‘Shut up!’ said Mr Teavee.
‘Thank you,’ said Mr Wonka. T shall now tell you how this amazing television set of
mine works. But first of all, do you know how ordinary television works? It is very
simple. At one end, where the picture is being taken, you have a large ciné camera and
you start photographing something. The photographs are then split up into millions of
tiny little pieces which are so small that you can’t see them, and these little pieces are
shot out into the sky by electricity. In the sky, they go whizzing around all over the
place until suddenly they hit the antenna⁷ on the roof of somebody’s house. They then go
flashing down the wire that leads right into the back of the television set, and in there
they get jiggled and joggled around until at last every single one of those millions of tiny
pieces is fitted back into its right place (just like a jigsaw⁸ puzzle), and presto⁹! – the
photograph appears on the screen…’
‘That isn’t exactly how it works,’ Mike Teavee said.
‘I am a little deaf in my left ear,’ Mr Wonka said. ‘You must forgive me if I don’t hear
everything you say.’
‘I said, that isn’t exactly how it works!’ shouted Mike Teavee.
‘You’re a nice boy,’ Mr Wonka said, ‘but you talk too much. Now then! The very first
time I saw ordinary television working, I was struck by a tremendous idea. “Look here!”
I shouted. “If these people can break up a photograph into millions of pieces and send the
pieces whizzing through the air and then put them together again at the other end, why
can’t I do the same thing with a bar of chocolate? Why can’t I send a real bar of
chocolate whizzing through the air in tiny pieces and then put the pieces together at the
other end, all ready to be eaten?” ’
‘Impossible!’ said Mike Teavee.
‘You think so?’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘Well, watch this! I shall now send a bar of my very
best chocolate from one end of this room to the other by television! Get ready, there!
Bring in the chocolate!’
Immediately, six Oompa-Loompas marched forward carrying on their shoulders the
most enormous bar of chocolate Charlie had ever seen. It was about the size of the
mattress¹⁰ he slept on at home.
‘It has to be big,’ Mr Wonka explained, ‘because whenever you send something by
television, it always comes out much smaller than it was when it went in. Even with
ordinary television, when you photograph a big man, he never comes out on your screen
any taller than a pencil, does he? Here we go, then! Get ready! No, no! Stop! Hold
everything! You there! Mike Teavee! Stand back! You’re too close to the camera! There
are dangerous rays coming out of that thing! They could break you up into a million tiny
pieces in one second! That’s why the Oompa-Loompas are wearing space suits! The suits
protect them! All right! That’s better! Now, then! Switch on!’
One of the Oompa-Loompas caught hold of a large switch and pulled it down.
There was a blinding flash.
‘The chocolate’s gone!’ shouted Grandpa Joe, waving his arms.
He was quite right! The whole enormous bar of chocolate had disappeared completely
into thin air!
‘It’s on its way!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘It is now rushing through the air above our heads in
a million tiny pieces. Quick! Come over here!’ He dashed over to the other end of the
room where the large television set was standing¹¹, and the others followed him. ‘Watch
the screen!’ he cried. ‘Here it comes! Look!’
The screen flickered¹² and lit up. Then suddenly, a small bar of chocolate appeared in
the middle of the screen.
‘Take it!’ shouted Mr Wonka, growing more and more excited.
‘How can you take it?’ asked Mike Teavee, laughing. ‘It’s just a picture on a television
screen!’
‘Charlie Bucket!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘You take it! Reach out and grab it!’
Charlie put out his hand and touched the screen, and suddenly, miraculously¹³, the bar
of chocolate came away in his fingers. He was so surprised he nearly dropped it.
‘Eat it!’ shouted Mr Wonka. ‘Go on and eat it! It’ll be delicious! It’s the same bar! It’s
got smaller on the journey, that’s all!’
‘It’s absolutely fantastic!’ gasped¹⁴ Grandpa Joe. ‘It’s… it’s… it’s a miracle!’
‘Just imagine,’ cried Mr Wonka, ‘when I start using this across the country… you’ll be
sitting at home watching television and suddenly a commercial will flash on to the
screen and a voice will say, “EAT WONKA’S CHOCOLATES! THEY’RE THE BEST IN THE
WORLD! IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE US, TRY ONE FOR YOURSELF – NOW!” And you
simply reach out and take one! How about that, eh?’
‘Terrific!’ cried Grandpa Joe. ‘It will change the world!’

1 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

2 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

3 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

4 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

5 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

6 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

7 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

8 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

9 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

10 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 flickered   

（通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
• These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。

13 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

14 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》