胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇210

　　210. The stocky stonemason肥胖的石匠 sting-string
The government passed a stipulation¹ that stocky stonemasons would no longer be receiving their stipends³. The edict stipulated⁵ that in six months, if they had not made great strides in losing weight, they would face a lot of strife⁶. Even though he found his work rather stodgy⁷ and strenuous⁸, Ed Branson always managed to stitch together some pride in his work. Besides, he still needed his salary. While he was a stout⁹ man, he was not lazy. He was in fact looking forward to the exercise program that awaited him.
Ed lived near a strait. Everyday he began walking along the strand¹⁰, straying far away from the pizza parlors¹¹ that people from his social stratum¹² usually frequented. At first, he was failing to stretch before each workout. Then he strained his lower back muscle and learned his lesson. While he was recovering from his ailment¹³, he couldn’t exercise and began to eat heavily. To offset¹⁴ the effects of the heavy eating, he began taking stimulants¹⁵. This caused a sharp sting in his chest one day, so he soon quit taking them. He soon ceased to exercise at all.
“What I need are some outside stimuli¹⁶, a few things that will get me interested in exercising again,” he thought to himself. He recalled that along the strand, there were many women of striking beauty from all social strata¹⁷. In addition, strings¹⁸ of birds would fly by and sing. These memories strengthened his resolve to lose weight and retain his income. Still, sometimes it was difficult to stay motivated, so he had to resort to his imagination. Whenever he caught himself slowing down while jogging, he imagined his old football coach chasing behind him with a strap¹⁹ in one hand, eager to slap idle legs.
Ed kept up the exercise regimen, lost the required weight, and saved his job. A stocky stonemason he was no longer.
sting n.刺,刺痛
stipend² n.薪贴,奖学金,养老金
stipulate⁴ vt.约定,规定
stipulation n.规定,条款
stitch v.缝
stocky adj.(人或动物)矮而结实的,粗壮的
stodgy adj.乏味的,油腻的,不易消化的
stonemason n.石工,石匠
stout adj. 强壮的,结实的,肥胖的
strain n.过度的疲劳,紧张,血统,物种vt.拉紧,收紧,过滤,拉伤
strait n.海峡,危难
strand n.绳索之一股,海滨
strap v. 用皮带装饰,用皮绳捆住n.皮带
strata n.地层,阶层
stratum n.地层(单数),阶层
stray v.迷路,走失,离题,远离
strengthen vt.加强,巩固
strenuous adj.费力的,须作出努力的
stretch v.伸展,伸长
stride n.大步,一跨步
strife n.斗争,冲突
striking adj.醒目的,惊人的
string n.(乐器的)弦,细绳,带子

1 stipulation   

n.契约，规定，条文；条款说明

参考例句：

• There's no stipulation as to the amount you can invest. 没有关于投资额的规定。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The only stipulation the building society makes is that house must be insured. 建屋互助会作出的唯一规定是房屋必须保险。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

3 stipends   

n.（尤指牧师的）薪俸( stipend的名词复数 )

参考例句：

4 stipulate   

vt.规定，（作为条件）讲定，保证

参考例句：

• International rules stipulate the number of foreign entrants.国际规则规定了外国参赛者的人数。
• Some manufacturers stipulate the price at which their goods are to be sold.有些制造商规定出售他们生产的商品的价格。

5 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 stodgy   

adj.易饱的；笨重的；滞涩的；古板的

参考例句：

• It wasn't easy to lose puppy fat when Mum fed her on stodgy home cooking.母亲给她吃易饱的家常菜，她想减掉婴儿肥可是很难。
• The gateman was a stodgy fellow of 60.看门人是个六十岁的矮胖子。

8 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

9 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

10 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

11 parlors   

客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店

参考例句：

• It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
• I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着，眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。

12 stratum   

n.地层，社会阶层

参考例句：

• The coal is a coal resource that reserves in old stratum.石煤是贮藏在古老地层中的一种煤炭资源。
• How does Chinese society define the class and stratum?中国社会如何界定阶级与阶层？

13 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

14 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

15 stimulants   

n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物

参考例句：

• Coffee and tea are mild stimulants. 咖啡和茶是轻度兴奋剂。
• At lower concentrations they may even be stimulants of cell division. 在浓度较低时，它们甚至能促进细胞分裂。 来自辞典例句

16 stimuli   

n.刺激（物）

参考例句：

• It is necessary to curtail or alter normally coexisting stimuli.必需消除或改变正常时并存的刺激。
• My sweat glands also respond to emotional stimuli.我的汗腺对情绪刺激也能产生反应。

17 strata   

n.地层（复数）；社会阶层

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

18 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

19 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。