胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯139：一份永久的遺產(chǎn)?A lasting Legacy?
Senator Timothy Rogerson was obsessed with the keen desire of leaving behind a lasting legacy in the United States legislature. He was the sponsor of more legislation than any other senator in the entire history of the United States of America. Exerting almost limitless effort to ensure the Senate would legislate on this or that pet project of his, his zeal was legendary. No wonder, people used to joke about him, like:” Old Tim wants to become a legend in his own lifetime.”
蒂莫西羅杰森參議員要給美國的立法機關(guān)留下一份永久的遺產(chǎn)，他被這個熱切的愿望所困擾。他是美利堅合眾國有史以來的參議員中提出立法議案最多的人。為了保證參議院給他重視的項目立法，他幾乎付出了無限的努力，他的熱情是傳奇性的。難怪人們經(jīng)常這樣開他的玩笑：“老蒂姆想成為他那個時代的傳奇人物。”
Indeed, Senator Rogerson knew little about leisure, his only leisure activity being to grow tiny crops of various types of legumes on the ledge of his office window (a weird pastime, if ever there was one).
的確，羅杰森參議員對閑暇知之甚少，他惟一的閑暇活動是在他辦公室的窗臺上種植各種微型豆類作物(如果曾經(jīng)有過這樣的消遣方式，那也是很怪異的一種)。
Thus it went for more than a quarter of a century. Then one day a bombshell dropped. In his zeal to lengthen his tenure as a senator, Old Tim had used any means, fair or foul. He had, for example, at one time written lengthy testimony against his strongest potential opponent, accusing him of having an amorous liaison with a pretty young intern. Regrettably, for Senator Richardson, many of these statements turned out to be nothing but libel.
這樣過去了四分之一世紀多的時間。然后，有一天，突然發(fā)生了驚人的事情。老蒂姆熱切期望延長他的參議員任期，用盡了各種辦法，無論正當(dāng)與否。例如，他曾經(jīng)寫了冗長的證詞，控告他最強大的潛在競爭對手與年輕漂亮的實習(xí)生有曖昧的私通關(guān)系。遺憾的是，對于理查森參議員來說，諸如此類的聲明只不過是誹謗而已。
Sure enough, the time came when enough was enough, and a sufficient number of his political enemies in his own party were shaken out of their lethargy and began to speak out. “He’s been fooling the electorate for a long time now, and he’s nothing but a liability for our party. Let’s start impeachment proceedings, because the leopard won’t change his spots!”
不出所料，到了適可而止的時候，他自己黨派中足夠數(shù)量的政敵從昏睡中醒來，開始發(fā)表自己的意見。“長期以來，他一直在愚弄選民，他只不過是我們當(dāng)?shù)睦圪?。讓我們啟動彈劾程序，因為豹改變不了他的斑點。
This was too much for Old Tim. He grew lethargic. His speech became slurred. His handwriting was no longer legible. In the end, all that criticism proved lethal, and he took an overdose.
這些讓老蒂姆受不了。他變得萎靡不振，說話變得含糊不清，字跡不再清楚。最后，那些批評證明是致命的，他服用了過量藥物。
Words
ledge n. 建筑物或巖石的突出部分(窗)臺
legacy n. 遺產(chǎn)，遺物
legend n. 傳說，傳奇文學(xué)，傳奇事件或人物
legendary adj. 立法，法規(guī)
legislature n. 立法機關(guān)
legume n. 豆類，豆莢
leisure adj. 空閑的 n. 空閑，閑暇
lengthen vt. 延長，使變長
lengthy adj. (演說、文章等)冗長的，哆嗦的
leopard n. 豹，美洲豹
lethal adj. 致命的
lethargic adj. 昏睡的，懶洋洋的，萎靡不振的
lethargy n. 昏睡，倦怠
liability n. 責(zé)任，債務(wù)，妨礙，不利
liaison n. 聯(lián)絡(luò)，私通，通奸
libel n. 以文字損害名譽，誹謗
