最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit4-Part4

 

[00:00.00]Although William was closely 

[00:03.15]involved in all aspects 

[00:04.80]of the construction and decoration 

[00:06.66]of the mansion¹, he continued 

[00:08.96]his business and social interests. 

[00:11.90]No stranger to scandal, 

[00:13.99]in November 1924, he found 

[00:17.49]himself in the topic of headlines. 

[00:20.44]The most enduring rumor² was that, 

[00:23.39]during a party on his yacht, 

[00:25.91]he had found Marion 

[00:27.33]kissing Charlie Chaplin. 

[00:29.85]In a fit of jealousy 

[00:31.71]he took a shot at Chaplin, 

[00:34.00]missed, and accidentally hit 

[00:36.74]Thomas Ince, killing³ him. 

[00:40.24]However, even though the morning papers

[00:43.20] carried the story, the evening paper 

[00:45.39]and successive editions printed that 

[00:48.12]Ince had died of acute indigestion.

[00:51.73]In 1945, William initiated 

[00:55.89]the Hearst Foundation and created  

[00:58.52]the California Charities Foundation 

[01:01.14]in 1948 (the name was changed

[01:04.86]to the William Randolph Hearst Foundation

[01:07.27] soon after his death in 1951).

[01:10.44]The Great Depression took its toll 

[01:14.37]on even the wealthiest and 

[01:16.35]William Randolph Hearst was no exception.

[01:19.52] His fantastically decadent⁴ lifestyle 

[01:22.59]couldn’t last forever, and 

[01:24.67]gradually his finances began to suffer,

[01:27.94] beginning the next chapter

[01:30.46] in the saga⁵ of excesses.

[01:33.20] He came close to being bankrupt

[01:35.71] but Marion rescued him from debt, 

[01:38.45]unselfishly selling her jewels 

[01:41.07]and some other property 

[01:42.93]to raise over a million dollars.

1 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

2 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 decadent   

adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的

参考例句：

• Don't let decadent ideas eat into yourselves.别让颓废的思想侵蚀你们。
• This song was once banned, because it was regarded as decadent.这首歌曾经被认定为是靡靡之音而被禁止播放。

5 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。