胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇057

Lesson 57 The Curious Custodian¹ 好奇的看守人

Words:

 

curator n. (博物馆等)馆长

 

curiosity n 好奇心

 

curious adj. (令人)好奇的

 

currency n. 通货，货币

 

current n. （液体，气体的）流，趋势；adj. 现今的

 

curriculum n. 学校的全部课程

 

cursory² adj. 仓促的，粗略的，草率的

 

curt³ adj. （言辞，行为）简略的，唐突草率的

 

curtail⁴ v. 缩短，删减

 

cushion n. 垫层

 

custodian n. 看守人，保管人

 

cynical⁵ adj. 愤世嫉俗的；挑剔挖苦的

 

dab⁶ vt. 轻拍

 

dagger⁷ n. 短剑

 

dally⁸ v. 闲荡，嬉戏；蹉跎，磨蹭

 

damp adj. 潮湿的，有时期的

 

dampen vt. 使潮湿

 

dangle⁹ vt. 悬摆

 

daring adj. 大胆的，勇敢的

 

dart¹⁰ vi. 飞奔，飞快的动作

 

daunting¹¹ adj. 使人畏缩的

 

dauntless adj. 勇敢的，无谓的

 

It was midnight in the old Public Records Depository. “Curiosity kills the cat,” muttered the custodian as he nervously¹² descended¹³ the stairs. The curious custodian felt drawn¹⁴ to the dark basement. Moisture from an underground river had dampened the walls. “There’s a secret down here, and it’s got to be worth some currency,” he said to himself. “I’ll just make a cursory search.”

 

“What is that?” he screamed as his flashlight lit the darkest and dampest corner of the basement. It appeared to be an ancient dagger, angling in the air. The situation was rather daunting. “What should I do?” he asked himself as he dabbed¹⁵ the sweat from his brow. He was not a daring man. He grabbed a small seat cushion from an old chair and threw it at the dagger. It triggered a howling sound and a concurrent¹⁶ gust¹⁷ of wind, both of which sent him scurrying¹⁸ up the stairs.

 

The following night, he returned to the basement with the curator of a local museum. The curator was a dauntless man.

 

“Don’t dally, go get it,” said the custodian.

 

“Don’t be curt.” replied the curator. “The study of ancient daggers¹⁹ was not part of my college curriculum. You’ve just lucky that the museum has a current need for artifacts. I know you’re only interested in the reward money.”

 

“That’s a cynical remark,” the custodian snapped back.

 

The curator entered the darkest part of the basement to search for the dagger. The custodian could see him darting²⁰ back and forth²¹ in the darkness. He finally emerged.

 

“There’s nothing here,” the curator said, staggering out of the darkness. “Perhaps you should curtail your alcohol consumption.”

 

“Okay, I will,” the custodian replied, as his jaw²² began to drop, “but what’s that stuck in your back?”

 

故事发生在午夜时分的公共档案储存处。“不要太好奇。”看守人一边紧张地沿着楼梯往下走，一边嘟囔着。好奇的看守人感到自己被什么东西吸引着来到黑暗的地下室。地下河的湿气使周围墙壁也很潮湿。“这下边有秘密宝库，它肯定能值不少钱币。”他自言自语道，“我先大致地搜查一下。”

 

“什么东西？”当他的手电筒照到地下室最黑暗、最潮湿的角落时，他尖叫起来。看上去是把古代短剑，它悬在空中。眼前的一切使他畏缩胆怯。“怎么办？”他边问自己，边轻轻擦去额头上的冷汗。他并不勇敢。他抓起一把旧椅子的小坐垫朝短剑投过去，这一下引起一阵吼叫声和随之而来的一阵狂风，吓得他抱头鼠窜奔上楼梯。

 

第二天晚上，他和当地博物馆的馆长又来到地下室。馆长很胆大。

 

“别磨磨蹭蹭的，快去拿短剑。”看守人说。

 

“不能鲁莽。”馆长回答道，“我读大学时全部课程中并不包括古代短剑的研究。你很幸运，因为我们博物馆正需要一些人工制品。我知道你对酬金感兴趣。”

 

“别挖苦我了。”看守人反驳道。

 

馆长开始走进地下室最黑暗的地方去寻找短剑。看守人看见他在黑暗中奔来跑去。最后他终于出来了。

 

“这什么都没有。”馆长跌跌撞撞地从黑暗中跑来说，“也许你该削减酒的消费量了。”

 

“好吧，”看守人回答道，同时他惊讶得张口结舌，“可你背上插的是什么？”

1 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。

2 cursory   

adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的

参考例句：

• He signed with only a cursory glance at the report.他只草草看了一眼报告就签了名。
• The only industry mentioned is agriculture and it is discussed in a cursory sentence.实业方面只谈到农业,而且只是匆匆带了一句。

3 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

4 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

5 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

6 dab   

v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂

参考例句：

• She returned wearing a dab of rouge on each cheekbone.她回来时，两边面颊上涂有一点淡淡的胭脂。
• She gave me a dab of potatoes with my supper.她给我晚饭时，还给了一点土豆。

7 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

8 dally   

v.荒废(时日)，调情

参考例句：

• You should not dally away your time.你不应该浪费时间。
• One shouldn't dally with a girl's affection.一个人不该玩弄女孩子的感情。

9 dangle   

v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂

参考例句：

• At Christmas,we dangle colored lights around the room.圣诞节时，我们在房间里挂上彩灯。
• He sits on the edge of the table and dangles his legs.他坐在桌子边上，摆动著双腿。

10 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

11 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

12 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

13 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 dabbed   

（用某物）轻触( dab的过去式和过去分词 )； 轻而快地擦掉（或抹掉）； 快速擦拭； （用某物）轻而快地涂上（或点上）…

参考例句：

• She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. 她轻轻擦了几下眼睛，擤了擤鼻涕。
• He dabbed at the spot on his tie with a napkin. 他用餐巾快速擦去领带上的污点。

16 concurrent   

adj.同时发生的，一致的

参考例句：

• You can't attend two concurrent events!你不能同时参加两项活动！
• The twins had concurrent birthday. 双胞胎生日在同一天。

17 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

18 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

19 daggers   

匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I will speak daggers to her, but use none. 我要用利剑一样的话刺痛她的心，但绝不是真用利剑。
• The world lives at daggers drawn in a cold war. 世界在冷战中剑拨弩张。

20 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

21 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

22 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。