胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯029：夜晚一擊 A Bump in the Night
I don’t care to live in a burgeoning city. When a city burgeons too rapidly, it creates two unfortunately by-products, crime and pollution.
我不喜歡生活在一個日益發(fā)展的城市。如果一個城市發(fā)展過快，就將帶來兩大不幸的后果：犯罪與污染。
That’s why I live in a cabin in the woods. It’s miles away from the nearest bypass. It’s the perfect place for a retired cabinetmaker. It’s relatively quiet except for the buzz of the bees and the occasional cadence of horses galloping in the distance. Nobody comes to visit me, although a mouse did burrow into my cabin once. You can’t even get a cab here. The isolation has left me with plenty of time for hobbies. I’ve ever had time to sculpt a bust of my father and to burnish it.
所以我選擇住在樹林里的小木屋，這里距離最近的旁道有數(shù)里之遙，這里還是退休細(xì)木工人的最佳選擇。除了蜜蜂的嗡嗡聲和遠(yuǎn)處偶然疾馳而來的有節(jié)奏的馬蹄聲，樹林里相對安靜。沒有人來拜訪我，不過確實有一只耗子曾挖洞來過我的小木屋。這里甚至叫不到出租車。遠(yuǎn)離塵囂的我有充足的時間搞些業(yè)余愛好。我甚至花時間雕了一尊我父親的半身像，并把它擦得锃亮。
I don’t need to travel very far. The furthest I need to go is through the trees and bushes to collect a bundle of firewood and a bunch of fruit. I do wish I had some animals. Perhaps a cow for milk and some chickens for eggs. It would be interesting to make butter with the milk.
我不用走很遠(yuǎn)，我最遠(yuǎn)只需穿過樹林和灌木叢，去找一堆柴火、摘一串水果。我真希望我能擁有一些動物，也許是一頭能擠奶的母牛和幾只能下蛋的雞。用牛奶做奶油應(yīng)該很有趣。
The woods are a relative safe place, so calamities are rare. The closest misfortune I came to was the time a burglar broke into my cabin and tried to steal some food. It was late at night. Fortunately, the buzzer of my homemade burglar alarm woke me up. I bumped him on the head with my broom and he went running out the door.
樹林里相對安全，極少有災(zāi)難發(fā)生。我遇上的最能稱之為不幸的事就是一個試圖偷食物的夜賊闖進(jìn)我的小木屋。那是深夜，幸好我自制的警報器把我吵醒了。我用掃把猛抽了他腦袋一下，然后他奪門而出，逃之夭夭。
I didn’t get a clear look at his face because of his black mask. Although I was angry, I didn’t call the police. You don’t bother the police with these kinds of things in the woods, especially if your burglar is just a raccoon.
我沒有看清他的臉，因為他蒙著黑色的面罩。我盡管很生氣，但還是沒有叫警察。你不會為樹林里發(fā)生的這點小事麻煩警察的，尤其當(dāng)你遇到的夜賊不過是只浣熊。
Words:
bump n. 腫塊;突起;v. 碰(傷)，撞(破);猛擊;沖撞
bunch n. 串，束;群;vi. 捆成一束;聚焦
bundle n. 捆，束，包;vt. 捆
burgeon vi. 迅速成長，發(fā)展
burgeoning adj. 迅速成長的，發(fā)展的
burglar n. 夜盜，竊賊
burnish v. 磨光，使光滑，擦亮
burrow n. 洞穴;vi. 挖地洞
bush n. 矮樹叢
bust n. 半身(雕)像
butter n. 奶油
buzz n. 嗡嗡聲
buzzer n. 蜂鳴器
bypass vt. 繞過，迂回;n. 旁道，旁路
by-product n. 副產(chǎn)品;附帶產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果
cab n. 出租馬車，出租汽車
cabin n. 小屋，船艙
cabinetmaker n. 家具師，細(xì)工木匠
cadence n. (音樂、舞蹈動作步伐等的)節(jié)律，節(jié)拍，節(jié)奏;(說話時語調(diào)的)抑揚頓挫
calamity n. 災(zāi)難，不幸事件
