1 Time did not spoil the beauty of the walls, nor the palace itself, lying like a jewel in the hollow of a hand.

　　2 It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. There was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt.

　　3 He doubtlessly expected hugs, tablefuls of food, tears, laughter, and conversation followed by more conversation, then hugs and more hugs all over again, without end.

　　4 There is nothing more disappointing to a hostess who has gone to a lot of trouble or expanse than to have her guest so interested in talking politics or business with her husband that he fails to notice the flavour of the coffee, the lightness of the cake, or the attractiveness of the house, which may be her chief interest and pride.

　　5 English prose is elaborate rather than simple. It was not always so.

　　解析：

　　1時(shí)光的流逝絲毫無損于圍墻的完美，也無損于宅邸本身，它宛如托在掌心的一顆明珠。

　　2顯然，這只是拆東墻補(bǔ)西墻，要徹底還清這么多的債務(wù)是絕對不可能的。

　　3無疑問，他以為會有熱烈的擁抱，滿桌的食物，激動的淚水，歡樂的笑聲，一段接一段的談話，一次又一次的擁抱，沒完沒了。

　　4最令女主人失望的是，她花了許多心神或費(fèi)用來招待客人，可是這位客人只顧津津有味地與她的丈夫論政治、談生意，絲毫也沒注意到咖啡的濃香、糕點(diǎn)的松軟或房間內(nèi)講究的陳設(shè)，而這些卻可能是她最感興趣、最為自豪的。

　　5今英國散文華巧而欠簡樸，過去卻并非總是如此。