胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇139

139 A lasting¹ Legacy²？

Senator Timothy Rogerson was obsessed³ with the keen desire of leaving behind a lasting legacy in the United States legislature. He was the sponsor of more legislation than any other senator in the entire history of the United States of America. Exerting almost limitless effort to ensure the Senate would legislate⁴ on this or that pet project of his, his zeal⁵ was legendary⁶. No wonder, people used to joke about him, like:” Old Tim wants to become a legend in his own lifetime.” Indeed, Senator Rogerson knew little about leisure, his only leisure activity being to grow tiny crops of various types of legumes on the ledge⁷ of his office window (a weird⁸ pastime, if ever there was one). Thus it went for more than a quarter of a century. Then one day a bombshell dropped. In his zeal to lengthen⁹ his tenure¹⁰ as a senator, Old Tim had used any means, fair or foul¹¹. He had, for example, at one time written lengthy¹² testimony¹³ against his strongest potential opponent, accusing him of having an amorous¹⁴ liaison¹⁵ with a pretty young intern¹⁶. Regrettably, for Senator Richardson, many of these statements turned out to be nothing but libel. Sure enough, the time came when enough was enough, and a sufficient number of his political enemies in his own party were shaken out of their lethargy and began to speak out. “He’s been fooling the electorate¹⁷ for a long time now, and he’s nothing but a liability for our party. Let’s start impeachment¹⁸ proceedings¹⁹, because the leopard²⁰ won’t change his spots!” This was too much for Old Tim. He grew lethargic²¹. His speech became slurred²². His handwriting was no longer legible. In the end, all that criticism proved lethal²³, and he took an overdose.
一份永久的遗产？

蒂莫西罗杰森参议员要给美国的立法机关留下一份永久的遗产，他被这个热切的愿望所困扰。他是美利坚合众国有史以来的参议员中提出立法议案最多的人。为了保证参议院给他重视的项目立法，他几乎付出了无限的努力，他的热情是传奇性的。难怪人们经常这样开他的玩笑：“老蒂姆想成为他那个时代的传奇人物。”

的确，罗杰森参议员对闲暇知之甚少，他惟一的闲暇活动是在他办公室的窗台上种植各种微型豆类作物（如果曾经有过这样的消遣方式，那也是很怪异的一种）。

这样过去了四分之一世纪多的时间。然后，有一天，突然发生了惊人的事情。老蒂姆热切期望延长他的参议员任期，用尽了各种办法，无论正当与否。例如，他曾经写了冗长的证词，控告他最强大的潜在竞争对手与年轻漂亮的实习生有暧昧的私通关系。遗憾的是，对于理查森参议员来说，诸如此类的声明只不过是诽谤而已。

不出所料，到了适可而止的时候，他自己党派中足够数量的政敌从昏睡中醒来，开始发表自己的意见。“长期以来，他一直在愚弄选民，他只不过是我们当的累赘。让我们启动弹劾程序，因为豹改变不了他的斑点。

这些让老蒂姆受不了。他变得萎靡不振，说话变得含糊不清，字迹不再清楚。最后，那些批评证明是致命的，他服用了过量药物。

1 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。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

4 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

5 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

6 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

7 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

9 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

10 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

11 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

12 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

13 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

14 amorous   

adj.多情的；有关爱情的

参考例句：

• They exchanged amorous glances and clearly made known their passions.二人眉来眼去，以目传情。
• She gave him an amorous look.她脉脉含情的看他一眼。

15 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

16 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

17 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

18 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

19 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

20 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

21 lethargic   

adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的

参考例句：

• He felt too miserable and lethargic to get dressed.他心情低落无精打采，完全没有心思穿衣整装。
• The hot weather made me feel lethargic.炎热的天气使我昏昏欲睡。

22 slurred   

含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱

参考例句：

• She had drunk too much and her speech was slurred. 她喝得太多了，话都说不利索了。
• You could tell from his slurred speech that he was drunk. 从他那含糊不清的话语中你就知道他喝醉了。

23 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。