英文短篇故事（纽约）47 A Hard History Test

 　　"I will never pass this U.S. history test," he said. "Why not?" his wife asked. "You passed the last test." He said, "This one is different. On the last test, there were paragraphs¹ to read. Then there were questions to answer. But the answers to the questions were in the paragraphs. You could find or figure² out the answers by rereading the paragraphs. This test has only questions—no paragraphs. For example: What year was the Constitution³ signed? I will get four choices. I must know that the answer is 1787." She asked, "So how will you learn all the answers?" "I have to study books on U.S. history," he said. "I have to remember the important facts in two or three different books." "Ha!" she said. "You can't even remember the author's name after you read one book." "I know," he said. "That's why I'll never pass this test."

1 paragraphs   

n.段落( paragraph的名词复数 )；短篇报道

参考例句：

• He transcribed two paragraphs from the book into his notebook. 他把书中的两段抄在笔记本上。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The text falls into three paragraphs. 这篇课文共分3段。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 figure   

n.数字，算术，图解；轮廓；vi.计算，出现，扮演角色；vt.计算在内，估计，推测，认为

参考例句：

• I will check up the figure.我来核对一下这个数字。
• I'm watching my figure.我一直注意保持身材。

3 constitution   

n.宪法；体格，体质；构成，构造，组成

参考例句：

• He was responsible for the constitution of a new committee.他负责组成一个新的委员会。
• The constitution guards the liberty of people.宪法保障人民的自由。