胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯048：演講 The Speech
It was the morning of my speech and I was a bit nervous. I took my daughter to the conservatory for her music lessons before going to the meeting. She wore a conspicuous red dress with stars in the form of a constellation. Her style was consonant with her personality. I looked her in the eye and said, “I don’t want you to consort with those students who were suspended from school last week, okay?”
這天早上我要去演講，還有點緊張。我先送女兒去音樂學(xué)院上音樂課，然后再去開會。她穿著一條星星點點的鮮紅裙子，那些星星形如星座。她的衣著風(fēng)格很符合她的性格。我正視著女兒，說道：“你不要跟那些上周被勒令停學(xué)的學(xué)生交往，明白嗎?”
“Okay dad,” she replied. “Don’t worry about your speech,” she added. “You’ve already spent considerable time on it. I know you’ll do well.”
“好的，爸爸，”她回答道，“別擔(dān)心你的演講，”她補(bǔ)充了一句，“你在演講上花了不少時間，我知道你肯定做的好。”
“That’s very considerate of you to be thinking about my speech,” I replied. “You may need to console me later with a Big Mac from McDonalds.”
“你真體貼，還想著我的演講，”我回答道，“也許過會兒你就得用麥當(dāng)勞的巨無霸漢堡來慰勞我了。”
When I arrived at the meeting, the room was already full of conservative people. I wasted no time and walked up to the podium to start my speech. “We need to consolidate our efforts to conserve our natural resources,” I said, maintaining a constant forceful tone. “But conservation alone will not solve the problems facing our country. The oil companies conspire every year to increase the price of oil. They create consternation by claiming that our supply is running short. It is a conspiracy to keep the prices higher than they should be. We need to form a consortium to give thorough consideration to this serious problem. Big changes may be needed and we should not let our conservatism hold us back. We should also be prepared to maintain a consistent and unified position on the issue.”
到會場時，屋子里已經(jīng)坐滿了保守派人士。我立刻走上講壇，開始演講。“我們需要努力加強(qiáng)對自然資源的保護(hù)，”我說道，始終如一地保持著一種鏗鏘有力的聲調(diào)。“但光是保護(hù)還不能解決我們國家面臨的諸多問題。原油公司每年都圖謀著要提高油價。他們聲稱原油供應(yīng)量不足，造成大家驚恐萬分。這是個陰謀，意在將油價維持在正常售價之上。我們需要結(jié)成聯(lián)盟，全面考慮這一嚴(yán)重問題。我們有必要進(jìn)行大變革，不能因為保守主義而裹足不前，在這一問題上，我們一定要堅持一貫聯(lián)合的立場。”
My speech continued for another 15 minutes and ended to the sound of loud applause. “Whem, I’m glad it’s over,” I mumbled to myself. “Forget the Big Mac, I need a beer.”
我又繼續(xù)說了15分鐘，便在一片掌聲中結(jié)束了演講。“嘿，我真高興，終于講完了，”我嘟囔著，“不吃巨無霸了，我需要一杯啤酒。”
Words:
conservation n. 保存，保持
conservative adj. 保守的，謹(jǐn)慎的;守舊的
conservatism n. 保守主義，守舊性
conservatory n. 音樂學(xué)院
conserve vt. 保存，保藏
considerable adj. 相當(dāng)大(或多的);值得考慮的;相當(dāng)可觀的
considerate adj. 考慮周到的，體貼的
consideration n. 體諒，考慮
consistent adj. 一致的，穩(wěn)定的
console vt. 安慰，慰藉
consolidate v. 鞏固;合并
consonant adj. 協(xié)調(diào)一致的，符合的
consort vi. 陪伴，結(jié)交
consortium n. 協(xié)會，聯(lián)盟，(國際)財團(tuán)
conspicuous adj. 顯著的，顯眼的，引人矚目的
conspiracy n. 陰謀
conspire v. 共謀，陰謀
constant adj. (恒久)不變的，持續(xù)的;一再重復(fù)的
constellation n. 星座;燦爛的一群
consternation n. 驚愕，驚惶，失措
