美文串记考研词汇 两条路

The Two Roads

两条路

It was Christmas Eve, an aged¹ man was standing² on the balcony, with uneasy, alarmed and pessimistic expression; He sighed for his miserable³ fate, and raised his sad eyes, gazed at the innumerable twinkling stars in the deep blue sky. A falling star depicted⁴ a curve in the sky and disappeared, which seemed like the symbol of his life.

圣诞节前夜，一位老人伫立在阳台上，面带不安、忧虑和悲伤的表情。他哀叹着自己悲惨的命运，抬起黯然失神的双眼凝视着深蓝色的天空中闪烁的星星。一颗陨落的星星划出一道弧线后消失了，那似乎是他生命的象征。

Then he cast them below his floor, where a few more desperate people than him were moving towards their inevitable⁵ destination, the grave. He had already expended⁶ sixty years on the way leading to it, and he had acquired nothing but agony and regret. Now his health was poor, his mind was vacant, his heart was sorrowful, and his life was short of comforts.

他将目光投向地面，几个比他更加绝望的人正在走向人生必然的终点—坟墓。在通往人生终点的道路上，他已经过了60多个年头，除了痛苦和悔恨，他一无所获。现在，他身体虚弱，精神空虚，心情忧郁，缺少晚年应有的舒适。

The days of his youth appeared like dreams floating in his brain, and he recalled the strategic moment when he stood at the access to two roads—At the end of the first road, it was a peaceful and sunny place. It was covered with delicate flowers, bunches of attractive grapes, fascinating bamboo forest and cherry orchard⁷. There lived cute deer, tame lambs, and flying butterflies and echoed with the merry, sweet laughter. There were also winding⁸ tracks and honey peach trees dotted the graceful⁹ landscape.

青春的岁月如梦幻般浮现在他的脑海里，他回想起当他站在人生岔口上的关键时刻。当时，他面前有两条路—第一条路的尽头，是一个和平、阳光普照的地方。那里有娇嫩的鲜花、迷人的竹林、一串串诱人的葡萄、可爱的小鹿、温顺的羊羔、翩飞的蝴蝶，到处回荡着愉快甜美的笑声，还有弯弯曲曲的小路和小蜜桃树点缀着那里优美的风景。

At the end of the second road, it was a damp and dull cave, which was an absolute hell of great bulk. It was covered with moist ponds and marshes¹⁰, nasty ditches and jungles, chilling and thrilling jails, all around was emitting the stale acid flavor. There lived evil devils, giant monsters, poisonous snakes, and echoed with the horrible barking of wolves. It was full of spiders, bats, frogs, damn rats, offensive bugs¹¹ and other crawling insects.

第二条路的尽头，是一个犹如地狱般潮湿阴暗的巨大山洞。那里遍布着潮湿的池塘和沼泽、肮脏的水沟和丛林、阴冷而恐怖的牢狱，四周散发着陈腐的酸味，那里有恶魔、巨兽和毒蛇，回荡着令人毛骨悚然的狼嚎声。随处可见的是蜘蛛、蝙蝠、青蛙、老鼠、令人讨厌的臭虫和其他昆虫。

He looked up to the sky and shouted aloud, "O youth, return! Return!" And his youth did return, for all this was only a nightmare which he had on Christmas Eve. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the damp and dull cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which led to the peaceful and sunny land.

他仰望天空，大声地哭喊：“哦，青春，你回来吧！回来吧！” 他的青春真的回来了，因为以上所发生的一切只是他在平安夜做的一场噩梦。他仍旧年轻，虽然的确犯过一些错误，但还未坠入深渊；他仍然可以自由地走上通往和平与光明的道路。

Those youngsters, who are still wandering at the entrance of life and hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years have passed and your feet are limping in the dark cave, you will cry bitterly, but in vain; "O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!"

在人生的十字路口徘徊，不知该不该选择光明大道的年轻人啊，你们千万要记住：当你青春已逝，双足在黑暗的山洞举步维艰，跌跌撞撞之时，你才痛疾首地呼唤：“哦，回来吧，青春！哦，把我的美好年华还给我！”这将毫无意义。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

5 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

6 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

8 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

9 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

10 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》