130. Wedding or Not

　　Uncle Frank, at 79, was a healthy and wealthy man, a lifelong bachelor. He courted a lot, he said, but "never boiled over-just simmered." On a whim¹, he decided² to take a trip around the country to look up nearly a dozen old girlfriends.

　　Upon his return he exclaimed, "Whew! Thank goodness I never married any of those women - They're all widows now!

Notes:

　　(1) bachelor n.单身汉

　　(2) court v.向求爱；追求

　　(3) boil over 沸腾而溢出（本文指全身心地投入付出）

　　(4) simmer v.（做菜时）煨（本文指见好就收）

　　(5) whim n.一时的兴致；奇想

　　(6) look up探访

Exercises:

根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：

　　① Uncle Frank was very wealthy but poor in health.

　　② Uncle Frank never married in his life.

　　③ He had chased many girls, but had not married any of them.

　　④ He suddenly had an idea of visiting his old girlfriends.

　　⑤ He thought if he had married any of those girls, he wouldn't have lived so long.

130.要否结婚

　　弗兰克叔叔七十八岁了，富有而健康。他是个终生单身汉。他曾追求过很多女孩，但“从不过热----见好就收”。一天他突发奇想，决定四处走走，去看看他那些接近一打的旧时女友。

　　他回来即叹道：“嘘！谢天谢地幸亏我没娶那些女人中的任何一个。如今她们都成寡妇了！”

练习参考答案：

①F②T③T④T⑤T

1 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

2 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。