胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯029：夜晚一擊 A Bump in the Night
I don’t care to live in a burgeoning city. When a city burgeons too rapidly, it creates two unfortunately by-products, crime and pollution.
我不喜歡生活在一個日益發(fā)展的城市。如果一個城市發(fā)展過快，就將帶來兩大不幸的后果：犯罪與污染。
That’s why I live in a cabin in the woods. It’s miles away from the nearest bypass. It’s the perfect place for a retired cabinetmaker. It’s relatively quiet except for the buzz of the bees and the occasional cadence of horses galloping in the distance. Nobody comes to visit me, although a mouse did burrow into my cabin once. You can’t even get a cab here. The isolation has left me with plenty of time for hobbies. I’ve ever had time to sculpt a bust of my father and to burnish it.
所以我選擇住在樹林里的小木屋，這里距離最近的旁道有數里之遙，這里還是退休細木工人的最佳選擇。除了蜜蜂的嗡嗡聲和遠處偶然疾馳而來的有節(jié)奏的馬蹄聲，樹林里相對安靜。沒有人來拜訪我，不過確實有一只耗子曾挖洞來過我的小木屋。這里甚至叫不到出租車。遠離塵囂的我有充足的時間搞些業(yè)余愛好。我甚至花時間雕了一尊我父親的半身像，并把它擦得锃亮。
I don’t need to travel very far. The furthest I need to go is through the trees and bushes to collect a bundle of firewood and a bunch of fruit. I do wish I had some animals. Perhaps a cow for milk and some chickens for eggs. It would be interesting to make butter with the milk.
我不用走很遠，我最遠只需穿過樹林和灌木叢，去找一堆柴火、摘一串水果。我真希望我能擁有一些動物，也許是一頭能擠奶的母牛和幾只能下蛋的雞。用牛奶做奶油應該很有趣。
The woods are a relative safe place, so calamities are rare. The closest misfortune I came to was the time a burglar broke into my cabin and tried to steal some food. It was late at night. Fortunately, the buzzer of my homemade burglar alarm woke me up. I bumped him on the head with my broom and he went running out the door.
樹林里相對安全，極少有災難發(fā)生。我遇上的最能稱之為不幸的事就是一個試圖偷食物的夜賊闖進我的小木屋。那是深夜，幸好我自制的警報器把我吵醒了。我用掃把猛抽了他腦袋一下，然后他奪門而出，逃之夭夭。
I didn’t get a clear look at his face because of his black mask. Although I was angry, I didn’t call the police. You don’t bother the police with these kinds of things in the woods, especially if your burglar is just a raccoon.
我沒有看清他的臉，因為他蒙著黑色的面罩。我盡管很生氣，但還是沒有叫警察。你不會為樹林里發(fā)生的這點小事麻煩警察的，尤其當你遇到的夜賊不過是只浣熊。
Words:
bump n. 腫塊;突起;v. 碰(傷)，撞(破);猛擊;沖撞
bunch n. 串，束;群;vi. 捆成一束;聚焦
bundle n. 捆，束，包;vt. 捆
burgeon vi. 迅速成長，發(fā)展
burgeoning adj. 迅速成長的，發(fā)展的
burglar n. 夜盜，竊賊
burnish v. 磨光，使光滑，擦亮
burrow n. 洞穴;vi. 挖地洞
bush n. 矮樹叢
bust n. 半身(雕)像
butter n. 奶油
buzz n. 嗡嗡聲
buzzer n. 蜂鳴器
bypass vt. 繞過，迂回;n. 旁道，旁路
by-product n. 副產品;附帶產生的結果
cab n. 出租馬車，出租汽車
cabin n. 小屋，船艙
cabinetmaker n. 家具師，細工木匠
cadence n. (音樂、舞蹈動作步伐等的)節(jié)律，節(jié)拍，節(jié)奏;(說話時語調的)抑揚頓挫
calamity n. 災難，不幸事件
