210. The stocky stonemason肥胖的石匠 sting-string
The government passed a stipulation that stocky stonemasons would no longer be receiving their stipends. The edict stipulated that in six months, if they had not made great strides in losing weight, they would face a lot of strife. Even though he found his work rather stodgy and strenuous, Ed Branson always managed to stitch together some pride in his work. Besides, he still needed his salary. While he was a stout man, he was not lazy. He was in fact looking forward to the exercise program that awaited him.
Ed lived near a strait. Everyday he began walking along the strand, straying far away from the pizza parlors that people from his social stratum usually frequented. At first, he was failing to stretch before each workout. Then he strained his lower back muscle and learned his lesson. While he was recovering from his ailment, he couldn’t exercise and began to eat heavily. To offset the effects of the heavy eating, he began taking stimulants. This caused a sharp sting in his chest one day, so he soon quit taking them. He soon ceased to exercise at all.
“What I need are some outside stimuli, a few things that will get me interested in exercising again,” he thought to himself. He recalled that along the strand, there were many women of striking beauty from all social strata. In addition, strings of birds would fly by and sing. These memories strengthened his resolve to lose weight and retain his income. Still, sometimes it was difficult to stay motivated, so he had to resort to his imagination. Whenever he caught himself slowing down while jogging, he imagined his old football coach chasing behind him with a strap in one hand, eager to slap idle legs.
Ed kept up the exercise regimen, lost the required weight, and saved his job. A stocky stonemason he was no longer.
sting n.刺,刺痛
stipend n.薪贴,奖学金,养老金
stipulate vt.约定,规定
stipulation n.规定,条款
stitch v.缝
stocky adj.(人或动物)矮而结实的,粗壮的
stodgy adj.乏味的,油腻的,不易消化的
stonemason n.石工,石匠
stout adj. 强壮的,结实的,肥胖的
strain n.过度的疲劳,紧张,血统,物种vt.拉紧,收紧,过滤,拉伤
strait n.海峡,危难
strand n.绳索之一股,海滨
strap v. 用皮带装饰,用皮绳捆住n.皮带
strata n.地层,阶层
stratum n.地层(单数),阶层
stray v.迷路,走失,离题,远离
strengthen vt.加强,巩固
strenuous adj.费力的,须作出努力的
stretch v.伸展,伸长
stride n.大步,一跨步
strife n.斗争,冲突
striking adj.醒目的,惊人的
string n.(乐器的)弦,细绳,带子 |