胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇023

Lesson 23 Man’s Best Friend 人类最好的朋友

Words:

beneath prep./adv. 在……之下

benefactor¹ n. 行善者，捐助者

beneficial adj. 有益的，有利的

beneficiary n. （礼物、馈赠等的）受益者，（遗产的）受益人

benefit n. 利益，好处；vt. 得意，得到好处

benevolent² adj. 慈善的，仁义的

benign³ adj. （人）亲切和蔼的；（病）良性的

bequeath n. 遗赠，遗留

bequest⁴ n. 遗产，遗物

berate⁵ v. 猛烈责骂

bereave⁶ v. 剥夺，夺去

beseech⁷ v. 恳求，祈求

besides adv. 除了…..还有

besiege⁸ vt. 围攻；拥在…周围；围住；困扰

bestow⁹ vt. 给予，赐赠（祝福、奖励、荣誉等）

betray vt. 背叛；（非故意地）暴露，显露

beverage¹⁰ n. (除水之外的)饮料

bias¹¹ n. 偏见，偏好

bicameral¹² adj. 两院制的，有两个议院的

bicker¹³ vi. 口角，斗嘴

Mr. Rich was a wealthy man and a great benefactor to the community. During his lifetime, he bestowed¹⁴ many gifts upon the poor and disabled. His sudden death bereaved¹⁵ us all of his unique wisdom and benign sense of humor. He would always be remembered for being a kind and benevolent man. Besides that, he would also be remembered for trying to keep peace among his relatives.

However, it wasn’t long before Mr. Rich relatives began to bicker over who should inherit his money. The fighting was not beneficial to anyone. They berated¹⁶ each other for being selfish and beseeched the court to grant a reading of the will. The bicameral court assigned the reading of the will to its superior branch and scheduled the reading for Monday. On Monday morning, the horde¹⁷ of people besieged¹⁸ the superior courthouse. The relatives who believed they would be beneficiaries gathered in front of the judge’s bench. They were anxious to hear what benefits of bequest they would receive. Beverages¹⁹ were served to keep everyone cool and comfortable.

Finally, the judge entered the room and sat down. The will, which had been sealed, lay beneath him. Reaching down, he picked up the will and unsealed it. The he read it along.

“Greeting to everyone. I know that all of you are probably arguing over how much money you should receive from me. Please don’t feel betrayed when I say, among you, there isn’t a single selfless person without a bias. For this reason, I have decided²⁰ to bequeath my entire fortune to the only loyal friend that I have, Ralph. Ralph, you’re the finest friend and pet dog a man could ever have!”

瑞奇先生是个有钱人，也是这个社区的一大行善者。他一生中为穷人和残疾人捐赠了许多礼物。他的猝死让我们所有人再也无法拥有他那独特的智慧和亲切的幽默。我们将永远铭记他的善良和慷慨。除此之外，我们还将记住他为维持亲属间和睦关系所作出的努力。

然而，瑞奇先生死后不久，他的诸多亲属就开始为分财产而争吵不休。争吵对任何人都没有好处。他们责骂彼此的自私，并恳求法院准许他们阅读一次遗嘱。两院制法院将这一事宜交给了两院中的最高级法院处理，并定于周一读遗嘱。周一上午，一大堆人将高级法院挤了个水泄不通。那些自认为会是遗产受益人的亲友们聚集在法官席前，他们急着想知道自己将得到的好处或者说遗产。法庭上还端来了饮料，让他们凉爽些、舒服些。

最后，法官终于走出法院，坐下身来，那份密封了的遗嘱就躺在他眼皮子底下。他伸出手，拿起遗嘱，将它拆开。然后，大声念道：

“大家好。我知道你们大家可能会正在为分我的遗产吵得不可开交。请不要感觉受到背叛，如果我说你们中间没有一个既无偏见又无私心的人。正因为这样，我已决定将我的所有财产留给我唯一拥有的忠实朋友——拉尔夫。拉尔夫，你是一个人有生以来可能拥有的最好的朋友和最好的爱犬。”

1 benefactor   

n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人

参考例句：

• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。
• The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain. 我所做的第一件事, 就是报答我那最初的恩人, 那位好心的老船长。

2 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

3 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

4 bequest   

n.遗赠；遗产，遗物

参考例句：

• In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
• The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。

5 berate   

v.训斥，猛烈责骂

参考例句：

• He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.他担心，由于健忘又要挨她的训斥了。
• She might have taken the opportunity to berate scientists for their closed minds.她也可能会去利用这个机会斥责那些抱成见的科学家。

6 bereave   

v.使痛失(亲人等)，剥夺，使丧失

参考例句：

• Nothing can bereave us of such sweet memories.没有什么东西可以夺去我们这样甜蜜的记忆。
• Though they bring up their children,yet will I bereave them,that there shall not be a man left:yea,woe also to them when I depart from them!纵然养大儿女，我却必使他们丧子，甚至不留一个。我离弃他们他们就有祸了。

7 beseech   

v.祈求，恳求

参考例句：

• I beseech you to do this before it is too late.我恳求你做做这件事吧，趁现在还来得及。
• I beseech your favor.我恳求您帮忙。

8 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

9 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

10 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

11 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

12 bicameral   

adj.两院制的

参考例句：

• The United States Congress is a bicameral body.美国国会由两个议院组成。
• The Upper House is usually the smaller branch of a bicameral legislature.上议院通常是两院制议会中较小的一个。

13 bicker   

vi.(为小事)吵嘴，争吵

参考例句：

• The two children used to bicker about who should do the washing-up.这两个小孩子过去常为该由谁洗餐具一事而争吵。
• They always bicker when they meet at school.在学校见面时他们总是争吵。

14 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

15 bereaved   

adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）

参考例句：

• The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
• an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织

16 berated   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marion berated Joe for the noise he made. 玛丽昂严厉斥责乔吵吵闹闹。 来自辞典例句
• It berated Mussolini for selling out to Berlin. 它严厉谴责了墨索里尼背叛、投靠柏林的行径。 来自辞典例句

17 horde   

n.群众，一大群

参考例句：

• A horde of children ran over the office building.一大群孩子在办公大楼里到处奔跑。
• Two women were quarrelling on the street,surrounded by horde of people.有两个妇人在街上争吵，被一大群人围住了。

18 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

19 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

20 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。