胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯045：公園里的午餐 Lunch in the Park
Lunch break at the hotdog stand in the park is the most enjoyable and interesting time of day for me. There’s nothing like putting your favorite condiments on your hotdog and feeling the condensation on an ice-cold can of coke. And there’s nothing like eavesdropping on the conversations.
對我來說，在公園里熱狗攤旁度過的午餐休息時(shí)間是我一天中最快樂、最有趣的時(shí)光。在熱狗上涂一層你最愛吃的調(diào)料，在感受一下冰鎮(zhèn)可樂罐上的冰凝水珠實(shí)在是愜意。而且偷聽別人的談話也是再有趣不過的事。
“I like collecting old things,” bragged a collector to his friend. “I have a collection of belt buckles that were owned by a confederate General back in the days of the confederacy, 140 years ago, Some of these were actually worn to the conferences he had with the Union. I also own a piece of copper wire that was used 160 years ago as a conductor for the original Morse telegraph system. Copper wire was used because of its great conductivity. I even have a wooden mallet that was used by a judge over 300 years ago during condemnation proceedings in Salem. Imaging condemning someone for refusing to confess to witchcraft! Even a confession would result in condemnation!”
“我喜歡收集古老的東西，”一位收藏家對他的朋友吹噓道，“我收集了一位南部聯(lián)軍將領(lǐng)成用過的一些皮帶扣，那可是140年前南部聯(lián)邦時(shí)期的東西。有些皮帶扣還是他參加南北會談時(shí)帶過的。我還有一根銅絲，那是160年前最早的摩爾斯電報(bào)系統(tǒng)曾用過的導(dǎo)體。之所以使用銅是因?yàn)樗鼘?dǎo)電性能良好。我甚至還有一把300多年前的木槌。那是一位法官在撒冷進(jìn)行判決的程序中用過的。想想吧，不過是拒絕承認(rèn)使用巫術(shù)就能給人判刑。甚至是一招供就能判。”
“I’ve just conferred with the prosecutor and the judge on both of your cases,” said a lawyer to his criminal client. “It was a long meeting so I’m going to condense what we discussed into a few sentences. The prosecutor has concrete evidence that could put you in jail for two consecutive five-year terms. That’s a total of ten years. But if you plead guilty today, I’m confident that you’ll receive two concurrent five-year terms. That means you’ll be out of jail in five years.”
“我已就你的兩個(gè)案子同檢察官和法官談過了，”一位律師對他的行事委托人說，“會談過程很長，我現(xiàn)在把我們討論的內(nèi)容精簡為以下幾句話：檢察官有確鑿的證據(jù)證明你有罪，這樣你就的連續(xù)坐上兩個(gè)5年的牢，加起來一共是10年。但如果你今天服罪，我有信心你將被判同時(shí)進(jìn)行的5年刑期，也就是說5年后你就能出獄。”
“I can’t condone your cheating on the examination,” said a father to his son. “But I’m glad that you conduct yourself honestly next time.”
“我無法容忍你考試作弊的行為，”一位父親對兒子說道，“但我很高興你向我吐露了這一令人遺憾的舉動。我對你有信心，兒子。我知道下次你一定會誠實(shí)地做人。”
See how interesting lunchtime can be?
你瞧，午餐時(shí)間多有趣!
Words:
concrete n. 水泥;adj. 具體的，實(shí)體的
concurrent adj. 同時(shí)發(fā)生的
condemn v. 譴責(zé)，判刑
condemnation n. 譴責(zé)，定罪
condensation n. 譴責(zé)，定罪
condense vt. 使?jié)饪s;精簡
condiment n. 調(diào)味品
condone v. 寬恕，不咎(過錯);寬容，容忍
conduct vt. 做(試驗(yàn)，研究等);引導(dǎo)，帶領(lǐng);傳導(dǎo);表現(xiàn)，為人;n. 舉止，行為
conductivity n. 導(dǎo)電率;傳導(dǎo)率
conductor n. 導(dǎo)(電、熱等)體
confederacy n. 聯(lián)盟
confederate n. 同盟者，盟友
confer v. 頒給，賦予;協(xié)商;商談，交換意見
conference n. 會議;協(xié)商會，討論會
confess vt. 坦白承認(rèn)
confession n. 承認(rèn)，招供
confide vt. 吐露(心事)，傾訴
confidence n. 信心
confident adj. 有信心的，自信的
