胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯084：一條令人興奮的法令
“Why did you emit that scream?” Alice asked. Alice wasn’t the emotional type. She always placed emphasis on being cool.
“你為什么發(fā)出那種尖叫聲?”愛麗絲問。她不是那種易動感情的人。她總是強(qiáng)調(diào)保持冷靜沉著。
“Sorry, I can’t control my emotions.” Rosie said. Rosie came from a rich family and she loved animals. She was particularly enchanted with the idea of protecting animals from those who endanger them. Her father had endowed the local veterinary hospital on her behalf. It was a very large endowment. However, today’s news of a recent enactment gave her a bigger reason to scream. “Finally, they passed a law that penalizes private landowners who encroach on protected wildlife areas. This new law will defend animals in an endless number of ways.”
“對不起，我控制不了我的情感，”羅西說。羅西出生于富貴家庭。她很喜歡動物，尤其熱心于保護(hù)動物免遭人類危害的倡議。她父親代表她像當(dāng)?shù)貏游镝t(yī)院捐款，那是一筆數(shù)目可觀的捐款。然而，今天聽到最近已通過一條保護(hù)動物的法令，她更有理由抒發(fā)自己的情感，于是就出現(xiàn)了故事開頭的尖叫。“最后，他們終于通過了法令，處罰那些侵占動物保護(hù)區(qū)的私人土地所有者。這條新法令將利用一切手段來保護(hù)動物。”
“You couldn’t have emphasized that point more clearly,” Alice said. Alice knew very little about wildlife conservation except for what she read in her outdated encyclopedia. “If I was the President, I would build a special enclosure to house endangered animals. That way, they wouldn’t have to worry about encountering poachers and other dangerous humans. I would also enclose all of the wildlife areas.”
“這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)你已經(jīng)強(qiáng)調(diào)得再清楚不過了。”愛麗絲說。除了從過時(shí)的百科全書里了解的知識外，愛麗絲對野生動物保護(hù)幾乎一無所知。“如果我是總統(tǒng)，我會專門建起一道圍墻來安置瀕危動物。這樣就不必?fù)?dān)心他們遭遇偷獵者和其他危險(xiǎn)分子了。我還會圈起所有的野生動物保護(hù)區(qū)。”
“Why not just encase them in plastic?” Rosie said with a giggle. “You don’t really know much about wildlife conservation, do you? I think your entire knowledge of animals is encompassed within that ancient set of encyclopedias. You shouldn’t let those heavy books encumber you. This weekend, why don’t you come with me to see a wildlife area with your own eyes?”
“為什么不干脆用塑料把他們包起來?”羅西咯咯的笑著說，“事實(shí)上你對野生動物保護(hù)了解得不是很多，對不對?你關(guān)于動物的全部知識都局限在那本古老的百科全書中。你不該讓這些沉重的書阻礙你學(xué)習(xí)。這個(gè)周末，為什么不跟我一起用自己的眼睛來觀察野生動物保護(hù)區(qū)呢?”
“Okay,” Alice said. “I know my knowledge of animal life is limited, but why should I endeavor to learn more? I’ll never be the President anyway.”
“好的。”愛麗絲說，“我知道關(guān)于動物生活習(xí)性的知識我知之甚少，但干嘛我還要努力再去學(xué)習(xí)呢?反正我永遠(yuǎn)也當(dāng)不上總統(tǒng)。”
Words:
emit vt. 發(fā)出，發(fā)射
emotion n. 情緒，強(qiáng)烈的情感
emotional adj. 情緒的，情感的
emphasis n. 強(qiáng)調(diào)，重點(diǎn)
emphasize vt. 強(qiáng)調(diào)，著重
enactment n. 設(shè)定，定制
encase vt. 裝入，包住
enchant vt. 對…施魔法，使著迷
enclose vt. 裝入，裝入封套;圍繞
enclosure n. 圍繞，圍墻
encompass vt. 包括，包含
encounter vt. 遭遇，遭到
encroach vi. 侵占，蠶食
encumber v. 阻礙，妨礙
encyclopedia n. 百科全書
endanger vt. 危及，危害
endeavor vi. 嘗試，努力;n. 努力，盡力
endless adj. 無止境的
endow vt. 捐贈，賦予
endowment n. 稟賦;捐款
