胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯119：可恥的下場 An ignominious end
Professor randall, an illustrious volcanologist, pursued his discipline with a passion that went well beyond ordinary scientific enquiry. He even had to park his car out in the street, as his garage was stacked up to the rafters with a multitude of samples of igneous rock.
蘭德爾教授是著名的火山學(xué)家，他從事這門學(xué)科的熱情遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過普通的科學(xué)調(diào)查。他甚至不得不把車停在大街上，因?yàn)樗能噹炖锒褲M了各種各樣的火成巖的標(biāo)本，一直堆到房椽上。
The professor’s theories, while highly imaginative, were by no means universally accepted. In particular, he found himself rebutted on a wide range of issues by one of his colleagues, professor martin. This, of course, was just what might be expected in the world we live in . what was not to be expected was just how much professor randall’s fury would be ignited. He was fond of calling his detractor illiterate, denouncing his scientific theories as illegitimate and illusive. Making use of a kind of poetic imagery one would not ordinarily expect from a scientist, he wrote: “those ignorant comments do nothing to illustrate, let alone illuminate, the fundamental principles at stake, they convey an image of a reality that is akin to an illusion.”
教授的理論雖然頗具想像力，但根本沒達(dá)到被普遍接受的程度。特別是他發(fā)現(xiàn)同事馬丁教授在很多問題上反駁他。當(dāng)然，這是我們?cè)谧约荷娴氖澜缋镆饬现械氖虑椤Ｒ庀氩坏降氖翘m德爾教授的怒火被點(diǎn)燃的程度。他喜歡把他的惡意批評(píng)者稱作文盲，公然抨擊他的科學(xué)理論是非法的，迷惑人的。他用人們一般認(rèn)為科學(xué)家不會(huì)使用的如詩般形象的語言寫道：“那些無知的評(píng)論無法說明，更不用說闡明所爭論的基本原則。它們傳達(dá)的是真實(shí)情況的映象，類似于幻覺。”
Professor martin did his best to ignore this stream of invective but then , one day, he found his laboratory on fire, the flames illuminating the evening sky, his lifetime’s work had been incinerated, professor randall, the perpetrator of this ignoble act, at first pleaded ignorance, but soon confessed, confronted with the weight of the evidence.
馬丁教授盡量不理會(huì)這一連串的惡語謾罵，但是，有一天，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的實(shí)驗(yàn)室著火了，火焰照亮了夜空。他一生的工作成果都被燒成了灰燼。這起卑鄙事件的作惡者蘭德爾教授起初借口說不知道，但很快就迫于證據(jù)的壓力承認(rèn)了。
He found himself indicted for arson and attemptedd murder, his career came to an abrupt and ignominious end. When he finally killed himself he was in a state of extreme distress. His suicide note was all but illegible.
他被指控犯有縱火罪和謀殺未遂。他的事業(yè)突然間落了個(gè)可恥的下場。他最后自殺的時(shí)候，已經(jīng)處于極度痛苦的狀態(tài)。他自殺前留的字條幾乎無法辨認(rèn)。
This sad tale is by no means an imaginary example, it is a fitting illustration of the principle that it can be dangerous to allow fame to go to one’s head.
這個(gè)悲慘的故事決不是一個(gè)虛構(gòu)的例子。它是一個(gè)合適的例證來證明這個(gè)道理：如果允許讓名譽(yù)占據(jù)一個(gè)人的頭腦，那是很危險(xiǎn)的。
Words:
igneous adj. (地)火的,火成的(火山噴出的)
ignite v.點(diǎn)燃,使燃著
ignoble adj.卑鄙的,下流的
ignominious adj.可恥的,不名譽(yù)的
ignorance n.無知,不了解
ignore vt.忽視,不顧,不理會(huì)
illegible adj.難以辨認(rèn)的.(字跡)模糊的
illegitimate adj.非法的,私生的
illiterate adj.文盲的,缺乏教育的
illuminate v.照明,照亮, 說明,闡明
illusion n.幻覺,錯(cuò)覺
illusive adj.迷惑人的,錯(cuò)覺的
illustrate vt.說明,闡明
illustration n.例證,插圖
illustrious adj,輝煌的,著名的
image n.圖像,肖像,形象
imagery n.肖像,形象,形象化的比喻
imaginary adj.想像中的,虛構(gòu)的
imaginative adj.富于想像力的.
