原版英文小故事 02 The Big Wedding

Ann and Bob were in love. They were going to get married next year. They had known each other since they were in the third grade. They were both 20 years old. True love was something that Ann and Bob knew everything about. There was hardly anything they disagreed about. Even when they disagreed, they settled the disagreement in such a way that both were totally happy. This was truly a match made in heaven.

They had already made plans for the wedding. It was going to be a big wedding. Every relative from both families had already been notified¹ about the date. All their friends knew about the big day. The invitations were already printed. The priest², the church, the reception hall, and the limousine³ service were ready to go.

Nothing was being left to chance. This was going to be the happiest day of their lives. Ann had gone to several wedding web sites for ideas and help. Of course, she had also consulted her mother, grandmothers, aunts, and married friends about how to plan the perfect wedding.

Each one of them tried to tell her that there was no such thing as a perfect wedding. There was always at least one thing, or more usually one person, that made the wedding a seeming disaster at the time. But of course, like the disaster that happens on your vacation, that incident or person would be what makes the wedding more memorable⁴.

“Oh, you should have been at my wedding,” said Aunt Mabel to Ann. “My brother James was in charge of the rings that Kyle and I were going to exchange. On the wedding day, James presented the ring to Kyle, who put it on my finger. An hour later at the reception, I took the ring off to admire it and read the inscription⁵. I gasped⁶. The jeweler had spelled my name ‘Mable’ as in table. My name, as you know, dear, is spelled Mabel as in label. So I went to the ladies’ room and cried for almost half an hour. No one could console⁷ me.”

“So, the moral of the story, my dear,” chimed in Aunt Prudence⁸, “is to make sure that Uncle James isn’t in charge of getting your rings engraved⁹. Not that you would have a problem. How could anyone misspell your name—it only has three letters, and two of them are the same.”

“Aunt Prudence, you know that isn’t true,” said Ann. “Half the people I know spell my name with an ‘e.’ But, Uncle James is not in charge of our rings, so I’m not worried.”

 

1 notified   

通知，告知，报告( notify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Competition winners will be notified by post. 将发信通知竞赛的优胜者。
• I notified the post office that my address had changed. 我把变更的地址通知了邮局。

2 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

3 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

4 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

5 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

6 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 console   

n.控制台，仪表板，落地柜；vt.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• We tried to console her when her dog died.她的狗死后，我们尽力安慰她。
• The console is just like a typewriter.控制台就像一台打字机。

8 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

9 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》