胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯082：選舉 The Election

“Do you think an election is an exciting event?” Jane asked. She was wearing an elegant dress with an elliptical pattern. We both entered the elevator at the same time.

我和簡同時進(jìn)了電梯，她穿著橢圓式樣的裙裝，看上去很雅致。“你以為選舉是件令人興奮的事嗎?”簡問我。

“In some ways it is,” I replied. “We’re witnessing a vital element of democracy. Unfortunately, the voting process is not as elementary as it once was.”

“在某些方面是必須的。”我回答。“我們正目睹著民主制度最重要的組成部分——民主選舉。可惜啊，選舉過程不像過去那樣單純初級了。”

“If only we could elevate the quality of the candidates,” Jane said. “Have you noticed how hard it is to elicit a straight answer from them? Some of them sound pretty dizzy, like they’ve spent too much time at a high elevation.”

“要是我們能提高候選人的素質(zhì)就好了。”簡說，“你是否注意到要從他們的嘴里得到一個直接的回答有多難?其中一些人的話聽起來天花亂墜，玄之又玄，似乎要炫耀他們身居高位已有多時。”

“Oh, that’s funny!” I said. “But not everyone can be as eloquent as you are if you were eligible to run for an elected office, would you do it?”

“噢，多滑稽啊!”我說，“但并非每個人都像你這樣能言善辯。如果有資格來競選一個政府公職，你會參加競選嗎?”

“I don’t know,” Jane replied. “Would you vote for me if I told you that I could eliminate crime? What if I said I could capture that elusive terrorist, Bin Laden?”

“不知道，”簡回答說，“如果我說我能消除犯罪，你會選我嗎?如果我說我能抓住難以捉到的恐怖分子本拉登，又會怎么樣?”

“You may as well claim that you can emancipate the slaves,” I said. “If I was that gullible, I’d probably be willing to buy a bottle of elixir from you.”

“你不妨聲稱你能解放奴隸，”我說，“如果我那么容易上當(dāng)，我真可能要買你一瓶長生不老藥了。”

“I think you should stop talking before I elongate your neck,” Jane joked. “The emancipation you’re referring to was a serious and significant issue back then. These days, we still have very serious issues, both worldwide and domestic like how to elucidate the federal budget and how to aid the emaciated children in undeveloped countries.”

“別再說了，否則我會把你的脖子拽長的，”簡開玩笑說，“你所說的解放奴隸在當(dāng)時是個嚴(yán)肅重要的問題。目前，不論國際，還是國內(nèi)，我們都面臨著一些很嚴(yán)肅的問題，比如，如何解釋聯(lián)邦的預(yù)算和怎樣救助欠發(fā)達(dá)國家的貧弱兒童等問題。”

“Figuratively speaking, my 24-27 schedule during this election has emaciated me,” I said. “Would you mind if we continued this discussion over lunch?”

“說得形象些，我選舉期間的24-27日的日程安排已經(jīng)使我衣帶漸寬，身心憔悴。”我說，“如果我們邊吃午飯邊繼續(xù)討論，你不介意吧?”

“Not at all,” replied Jane. “It’s hard to think with a empty stomach.”

“當(dāng)然不，”簡回答，“肚子空空，腦子懵懂。此之謂也。”

Words:

election n. 選舉;當(dāng)選

elegant adj. 雅致的

element n. 成分，要素

elementary adj. 基本的，初級的

elevate vt. 舉起;抬高;使上升

elevation n. 高度，海撥

elevator n. 起重機(jī);電梯;谷倉

elicit vt. 得出，引出

eligible adj. 合格的，有資格的

eliminate vt. 排除，剔除

elixir n. 長生不老藥，仙丹妙藥

elliptical adj. 橢圓的，省略的

elongate vt. 延長，伸長

elucidate vt. 闡述，說明

elusive adj. 難以捕捉的;難懂的，難捉摸的

emaciate vt. 使憔悴，使消瘦

emaciated adj. 瘦弱的，憔悴的

emancipate vt. 解放，釋放

emancipation n. 釋放，解放