胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇218

　　218. The secret agent特工人员 temperance-terrace
Jeremy waited at the terminal, tense and nervous, awaiting orders to terminate a fellow tenant¹ whom he had once known as a temporary acquaintance. He had gone to the temple that morning, tempting⁴ God to justify⁵ his actions. He had a tendency to be tentative about such things, and as he thought about it, it was tempting to just leave the scene altogether. The Secret Intelligence Bureau would not have hired him had they known about his tender heart. But now that he was in their service, he couldn’t escape. Their tentacles⁷ stretched far and wide. Though temperate⁸ by nature, at times he could be the opposite. He would go through bouts⁹ of temporarily cursing this temporal world. This would drive him to drink, an odd habit for a grandson of one of the founders¹⁰ of the Women’s Temperance Union. He would take a bottle of tequila back to his termite¹¹-infested tenement¹², head out to the terrace, and drink all night. This was rare, however, as his discipline in such matters was not so tensile.
As he heard the tempo² of the movement of the approaching train, the tension increased. He thought of the tenuous¹³ basis upon which the Bureau was ordering the fellow tenant’s assassination¹⁴, and of the dry terminology¹⁵ they used to describe the act of murder. The train approached the terminus. The passengers began to exit. Jeremy spotted¹⁶ his target. In a flash, he surreptitiously performed the deed. That night, he drank.
temperance n.节制,自制,戒酒,禁酒
temperate adj.(气候等)温和的,(欲望,饮食等)适度的,有节制的
temple n.寺庙,教堂
tempo n.(音乐)速度,拍子,节奏
temporal adj.一时的,暂时的,世俗的
temporarily adv.暂时地,临时地
temporary adj.短暂的,暂时的
tempt³ vt.诱使
tempting adj.诱惑人的
tenant n.承租人,房客
tendency n.趋势,倾向
tender adj.嫩的,柔软的
tenement n.(穷人)公寓
tense adj.紧张的
tensile adj.可拉长的,可伸长的
tension n.紧张(状态),压力
tentacle⁶ n.触角,触须,触手
tentative adj.暂时的,试验性质的
tenuous adj.纤细的,脆弱的
terminal n.终点,末端,总站,终站,(电脑)终端,接线端
terminate vt.停止,结束,暗杀
terminology n.用辞,术语
terminus n.(火车,汽车)终点站
termite n.白蚁
terrace n. 梯田,露台vt.使成梯田

1 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

2 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

3 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

4 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

5 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

6 tentacle   

n.触角，触须，触手

参考例句：

• Each tentacle is about two millimeters long.每一个触手大约两毫米长。
• It looked like a big eyeball with a long tentacle thing.它看上去像一个有着长触角的巨大眼球。

7 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

9 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 termite   

n.白蚁

参考例句：

• The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。
• Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

12 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。

13 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

14 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

15 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

16 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。