新视野大学英语视听说教程 3 Unit 9-15

 

Task3: St.Valentine’s Story
Script¹
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. He wanted to have a big army, and he expected men to volunteer to join. Seeing many men did not want to leave their wives and families, Claudius had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So he passed a law to forbid any more marriages. I thought it was preposterous²! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
I was a priest³, and one of my favorite activities was to marry couples. I kept on performing marriage ceremonies, secretly. One night, we heard footsteps⁴ and shouts of soldiers outside. It was scary⁵! The couple I was marrying escaped in time, but I was caught. I was thrown in jail⁶ and told that my punishment was death.
Then wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty⁷. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."                          
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day.

1 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

2 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

3 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

4 footsteps   

n.脚步（声），一步的距离，足迹；脚步（声）( footstep的名词复数 )；一步的距离；足迹

参考例句：

• the sound of footsteps on the stairs 楼梯上的脚步声
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。

5 scary   

a.引起惊慌的；害怕的

参考例句：

• What animal do you think is the most scary?你认为什么动物最可怕？
• Are you afraid of scary movies?你害怕恐怖电影吗？

6 jail   

n.监狱，看守所；vt.监禁，拘留

参考例句：

• The castle had been used as a jail.这城堡曾用作监狱。
• If she carries on shoplifting,she'll end up in jail.她如果还在店铺里偷东西，最终会被抓进监狱的。

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。