83. The Target

　　My cooking has always been the target of family jokes. One evening, as I prepared dinner a bit too quickly, the kitchen filled with smoke and the smoke detector¹ went off. Although both of my children had received fire-safety training at school, they did not respond to the alarm. Annoyed, I stormed through the house in search of them.

　　I found them in the bathroom, washing their hands. Over the loud buzzing² of the smoke alarm, I asked them to identify the sound.

　　"It's the smoke detector," they replied in unison³.

　　"Do you know what that sound means?" I demanded.

　　"Sure," my oldest replied. "Dinner's ready."

Notes:

　　(1) target n.靶子；目标

　　(2) detector n.探查器

　　(3) go off发射；响

　　(4) storm through冲入；闯入

　　(5) in search of搜寻；寻找

　　(6) buzzing n.嗡嗡声

　　(7) unison n.一致

Exercises:

根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：

　　① The mother's cooking was once the target of family jokes.

　　② One evening the mother prepared dinner a bit too slowly.

　　③ When the kitchen filled with smoke, the smoke detector went off.

　　④ Neither of the two children had received fire-safety training at school, so they did not respond to the alarm.

　　⑤ The children knew what the alarm meant, so they did not respond to it.

83.靶子

　　我的烧饭手艺向来是家庭笑话的攻击目标。一天晚上，晚餐我准备得有点儿太快了，厨房里充满了烟，结果烟雾探查器报起警来。尽管我的两个孩子都在学校里接受过防火安全训练，可是他们并没有对报警声作出反应。我感到很恼火，满幢房子乱冲寻找他们。

　　我在洗澡间找到他们，发现他们正在洗手。我的声音盖过了烟雾警报的嗡嗡声，我叫他们辨别那声音。

　　“是烟雾探查器，”他们异口同声地说。

　　“你们知道那声音意味着什么吗？”我责问道。

　　“当然，”我的大孩子回答道，“晚饭准备好了。”

练习参考答案：

①F②F③T④F⑤T

1 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

2 buzzing   

adj.嗡嗡响的v.发出嗡嗡声( buzz的现在分词 )；（发出）充满兴奋的谈话声[闲话，谣言]；忙乱，急行；用蜂鸣器（发信号）

参考例句：

• The computer made a buzzing noise that she found off-putting. 计算机发出的嗡嗡声让她心烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Bees are humming [buzzing] around from flower to flower. 蜜蜂在花丛中嗡嗡地飞来飞去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 unison   

n.步调一致，行动一致

参考例句：

• The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
• My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。