365个英语简短小故事-222.Hit-and-Run Charge

The mayor of Sacrapinto, J.K. Choi, 35, was charged with hit-and-run driving last night by the town sheriff. A freshly killed calf¹ was discovered lying in the middle of Arlington Drive at about 10:00 p.m. A witness, 20-year-old Emily Parker, said she saw the car hit the calf and keep going. She didn’t see the driver but she did recognize the hood² ornament³ on the car—a pair of bull horns.

“Oh, yes,” Emily said, “I know that’s the mayor’s car. It’s the only car in town with bull horns on the hood.” Asked how she could see the bull horns at night, she replied, “Oh, didn’t you know? A couple of months ago the mayor got his horns neonized, so they have this soft purple glow at night. They’re really cool-looking.”

The sheriff drove over to the mayor’s house, which is about five miles from city hall, and found the mayor washing his 1972 Kadillac. He asked why the mayor was washing his car so late at night. “Because that’s when there’s no hot sun that causes the car to dry so fast that you have sun streaks⁴. Don’t you know anything, sheriff?”

The sheriff pointed⁵ out that one of the horns was broken at the tip. “When did that happen?” he asked. “When did what happen?” Choi asked. “Oh, good grief! I never even noticed that! Do you know how expensive these horns are? They don’t grow on trees, you know. I wonder if I can find the missing piece and superglue it back on.”

The sheriff then showed the mayor the tip of a bull horn. “Do you think this is the missing piece?” The mayor was astounded⁶. He looked at it, turned it over in his hands, and then placed it on the horn, where it fit perfectly⁷. “That’s fantastic, sheriff! Thank you so much! Where did you find it?”

“Where did I find it? It was next to Farmer Brown’s calf that you killed back there about an hour ago.” The mayor’s mouth dropped open. “Calf! What calf? What are you talking about? I had no idea. I thought I hit a speed bump. What was his calf doing out in the middle of the road in the middle of the night?

“We’ll settle this in court. I’m an innocent man. By the way, get that calf over to Lester’s butcher shop right now. We’ll have us a big barbecue tomorrow at city hall. And don’t forget to invite Farmer Brown. I know he’ll forgive me after he tastes Lester’s world-famous rib⁸ eye.”

 

1 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

4 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。