双语有声阅读：汽车

My friend said cars are a pain. What he meant was that his car was a lot of trouble. I suppose he must have bought a “lemon”, that is, a car full of problems and not worth its keep.

 

Not everybody feels the same way about cars. To some, cars are just machines on wheels.These people hunt for the best value. They look for vehicles that are affordable¹ but reliable,gas efficient, comfortable enough, reasonably safe and not too expensive to repair.In contrast, you have also seen owners who lovingly polished their machines, dressing² them in fancy seat covers,and attaching cute little doodads to the windows.

 

To some, cars are not machines. They are the emotional extensions of their owners.Think about the adrenalin high when one looks at a BMW. The status, speed and wealth identified with the BMW are certainly tempting³. Think Jaguar⁴, and we picture the sleek⁵, dangerous, fast and powerful black cat with rippling⁶ muscles leaping after its prey⁷. What about the latest hot wheels - the mini-vans and jeeps? They spell outdoors, young, sporty, carefree, cool. Or cute little Smart cars - trendy, city, efficient, modern.

 

There is also a special class of car owners - the sentimental⁸.To them, modern day vehicles are artistic⁹ disasters - tasteless and boring. For them, the only real cars are vintage those really old-fashion vehiclesyou see in movies about the days of our great grandparents. These cars may be antique but not ugly. They are polished to a dazzling shine, with spotless chrome and bright clean tires.

 

As for me, I shudder¹⁰ at the cost of a new vehicle. So for now, just get me a sturdy used car that can bring me from here to there without breaking down. Besides, I do not have to fret¹¹ about someone running an initiation¹² scratch on the new paint job.

 

我的朋友视汽车为眼中钉，他的意思是他的车子为他添了许多麻烦。我猜想他必定是买了一件"蹩脚货"，也就是一辆问题多多、不值得保留的汽车。

 

每个人对汽车都有不同的看法。对某些人而言，汽车只不过是装有轮子的机器。这些人会寻找最有价值的汽车。他们所寻找的是购买得起而且也可靠、省油、足够舒适、相当安全，并且维修费用不太高的汽车。相比之下，你也会看到车主温柔的把他们的车子擦亮，并套上特制的椅套,还在车窗上挂上可爱的小饰物。

 

对有些人而言，汽车不是机器，而是车主情感上的延伸。想想看到一辆宝马车时的兴奋之感，它所带来的对地位、速度和财富的认同的确颇具诱惑。想到美洲虎，就可能想到一只皮毛光滑、危险、快速和肌肉强健有力的黑猫在抓捕猎物。而最近炙手可热的车子——小型车辆和吉普车——又代表什么？它们代表 户外、年轻、运动气质、自由自在、独具一格。另外，小巧可爱的Smart，代表时髦、都市、效率和现代。此外，还有另一族群的车主，就是怀旧感伤的车主。他们把 现代的汽车视为艺术的败类单调又乏味。对他们而言，古典精致的车辆才真正称得上汽车一就是那些我们可以从祖父辈时代的影片上看到的古董老爷车。这些车虽然古老但并不丑陋，它们已被擦得明亮眩目，并且具有无瑕的铬片和干净亮丽的轮胎。

 

至子我，想到一辆新汽车的价位就令我颤抖。所以到目前为止，只要给我一辆坚固耐用的、能将我从此地运至彼地而中途又不抛锚的车子即可。除此以外，我也用不着顾虑有人在新漆的车身上刮上划痕。

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 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。

4 jaguar   

n.美洲虎

参考例句：

• He was green with envy when he saw my new Jaguar car.看见我那辆美洲虎牌新车，他非常妒忌。
• Should you meet a jaguar in the jungle,just turn slowly,walk away.But slowly,never look back.你在丛林中若碰上美洲虎，就慢慢转身走开，可一定要慢，切莫回头看。

5 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

6 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

7 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

8 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

11 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

12 initiation   

n.开始

参考例句：

• her initiation into the world of marketing 她的初次涉足营销界
• It was my initiation into the world of high fashion. 这是我初次涉足高级时装界。