胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇137

A labyrinth¹ of emotions

“My larynx is killing² me!” Robin³ exclaimed. “Someone must have laced my cigars with strychnine.” “You are forever lamenting⁴. Spare us your platitudes,” replied Laura, his long-suffering wife, wearing her grandmother’s favorite lace bonnet⁶, as she always did at Easter. “You do like to launch into some utter nonsense, especially at holiday times. It’s your latent masochism, I suppose.” “Quick!” Robin gasped⁷. “The pain is lasting⁸. Ring the hospital to organize some laser treatment, or do you wish me to continue to languish⁹ like this?

I feel as though I am trapped in a labyrinth in this mansion¹⁰ of ours, unable even to get out of this drawing room to the telephone out on the landing.”

Slowly, Robin’s mind began to wander back to the time, well back in the last century, when he had been one of the first astronauts. Although America had lagged behind the Soviet¹¹ Union in space exploration in the early years, NASA was later able to lash¹² out at its critics and be the first to launch rockets that would send men to the Moon. Taking off from Cape¹³ Canaveral, which is located at a highly favorable degree of latitude⁵, the mighty¹⁴ Saturn¹⁵ rocket blasted off, with Robin as one of a crew of five. The rocket then took a lateral¹⁶ course straight for the Moon. Stepping out, Robin and his fellow astronauts marveled at the bleak¹⁷ beauty of the lunar landscape, all the while beholding¹⁸ the outline of the American landmass back on Earth.

“Ah, that was all so long ago,” Robin sighed, unaware¹⁹ of the fact that his mansion----and he and his larynx with it------were about to be buried in a huge landslide²⁰, caused by recent torrential rains.
情感的迷宫

“我的喉咙痛死了！”罗宾大叫道。“肯定有人在我的雪茄中加了少量的土的宁。”

“你总是在抱怨。少来你这一套陈词滥调。”他那长期受苦的妻子劳拉回答道，她带着外婆最喜欢的花边帽，复活节时她总是这么做。“你确实喜欢进入角色去胡说八道，特别是放假的时候，我想这是你潜在的受虐狂在作怪。”

“快！”罗宾气喘吁吁地说。“这痛是持久的。打电话给医院组织激光治疗，难懂你希望我继续这样受煎熬吗？我感觉自己好像被困在这公寓的迷宫里，甚至不能从这个客厅出去，走到外面楼梯平台那边的电话机那儿。”

慢慢地，罗宾的思绪开始回到上个世纪，那时他是最早的一批宇航员之一。尽管美国早年在太空探索方面落后与苏联，但是美国国家航空航天局后来能够猛烈抨击针对自己的批评家，成为第一个能发射火箭把人带到月球的国家。

从位于极其有利的纬度的堪那佛拉海角起飞，强大的土星火箭升空了，一共五位成员，罗宾是其中之一。然后，火箭从侧面的路线直飞到月球。罗宾和他的宇航员同伴走出座舱，惊叹于月球景色的凄凉之美，同时看到了地球上美国大片陆地的轮廓。

“啊，那是很久以前的事了。”罗宾叹气道，没有意识到他的公寓、他自己及他的喉咙，将被由最近的暴雨引起的大山崩所埋葬。

1 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

5 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

6 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

7 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 languish   

vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎

参考例句：

• Without the founder's drive and direction,the company gradually languished.没有了创始人的斗志与指引，公司逐渐走向没落。
• New products languish on the drawing board.新产品在计划阶段即告失败。

10 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

13 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

14 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

15 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

16 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

17 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

18 beholding   

v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• Beholding, besides love, the end of love,/Hearing oblivion beyond memory! 我看见了爱，还看到了爱的结局，／听到了记忆外层的哪一片寂寥！ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Hence people who began by beholding him ended by perusing him. 所以人们从随便看一看他开始的，都要以仔细捉摸他而终结。 来自辞典例句

19 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

20 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。