胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯08：趣事環(huán)生Funny Things Happen
Lesson 8 Funny Things Happen 趣事環(huán)生
Yesterday, I decided to get my pants altered. I had $200 in my wallet, which was more than enough for the alteration. Foolishly however, I got lost taking an alternate route to the tailor shop. Fortunately, I had aspirin to alleviate my headache.
昨天，我決定去裁縫店改褲子。我錢包里有200美金，改條褲子是綽綽有余了。但我在另選路線去裁縫鋪時竟傻巴拉嘰的迷路了。幸好我?guī)е⑺酒チ?，頭痛才得以減輕。
Walking further, I noticed a red balloon aloft, rising to the higher altitude. It distracted me, causing me to bump into two young brothers. They look alike but seemed opposite in personality. One was clearly aloof but the other appeared to be an altruistic individual. He could sense I was lost and happily gave me directions. Such altruism is so rare there days. What an ally he can be to a lost person! The contrast in their personalities reminded me of the biblical allegory of Cain and Abel. But it would be too hasty to allege such a contrast given that I didn't really know them.
往前走不遠(yuǎn)，我注意到一只紅氣球飄在空中，它越飛越高。我盯著氣球出神，不小心跟兩個小兄弟撞了個滿懷。他們長的很像，但性格迥異：一位是明顯的不關(guān)心，另一位看起來則是個利他主義者。他能感到我迷路了，便欣然為我指路。這種利他主義現(xiàn)在實(shí)屬罕見。對一位迷途者而言，他可謂盟友了!二人性格的反差讓我想起來《圣經(jīng)》里該隱和亞伯的寓言。不過，我并不真正了解他們，所以當(dāng)下斷言二人性格如該隱和亞伯那般迥異未免過于草率。
I continued on my way but was allured into a bike shop by a windown photo of a lovely girl on a mountain bike. Below the photo, it said, "ride rough, ride real," a clever alliteration. I felt there was no alternative but to enter the shop.
我繼續(xù)往前走，不一會兒，我在一家自行車商店的櫥窗里看見一張騎山地車的美女照片。在照片的誘惑下，我走進(jìn)了這家商店。照片下有一行字：“騎山地才是真我體驗(yàn)。”很聰明的押頭韻嘛。我覺得除了走進(jìn)商店外無別的選擇。
The ower was an alumnus from my university. He alluded that the best bike for me would be the $200 bike that was displayed in the window photo. It was made out of a special lightweight alloy. He also offered to adjust my tire alignment for free.
店主是我所在大學(xué)的校友。他暗示到，最適合我的自行車就是櫥窗照片上價值200美元的那輛。它用一種特殊的輕型合金制成。他還提出為我免費(fèi)調(diào)整輪胎，使之成直線排列。
Well, I didn't make it to the tailor that day. But I did ride home on a new bike. As for my pants? Well, the bike shop owner cut the pant legs off for free. Now I have a cool pair of shorts for riding.
這樣一來，那天我就沒能去成裁縫店。不過，我確實(shí)騎著一輛嶄新的自行車回家。至于我得褲子嘛，自行車店的店主免費(fèi)幫我剪短了?，F(xiàn)在我就有了一條騎車時的酷酷短褲啦!
英語單詞注釋
alignment n. 成一條直線;直線排列;隊(duì)列;聯(lián)合，聯(lián)盟
alike adj. 相同的，相似的
allege v. 宣稱，主張，斷言
allegory n. 寓言
alleviate v. 緩和，減輕
alliteration n. 頭韻
alloy n. 合金;vt. 使成合金
allude v. 間接提到，暗指
allure v. 引誘 n. 誘惑，吸引
ally n. 聯(lián)盟，同盟者
aloft adv. 在高處;在空中
aloof adj. 遠(yuǎn)離的，冷淡的，漠不關(guān)心的
alter vt. 改變，修改
alteration n. 變更，改造
alternate adj. 交替的，輪流的;替代的，另選的;vi. 輪流，交替
alternative adj. (兩種或以上的東西中)另一可選的，另外的;n. 可選事物，另一選擇
altitude n. (海拔)高度
altruism n. 利他主義
altruistic adj. 利他的，無私的
alumnus n. 男校友
