【英语时差8,16】格特鲁德杰基尔

Gertrude Jekyll January, when gardeners in cold climates are forced to remain indoors, is a month to enjoy reading books about flowers. Most books about gardening include references to Gertrude Jekyll. She was an expert on herbaceous borders. Her training as a painter shaped her skill in combining colors and shapes and she was also good at placing plants to beautify awkward locations. She was born in London in 1843 and when she died in 1932, she had consulted on the design of about 350 gardens. She showed how to use old fashioned and native perennial¹ plants and how effectively these could be combined. She advocated that all areas of a garden should be unified², the shapes of the plantings must harmonize with the architecture of the home and other garden elements: unity³ was a Jekyll principle. She paid careful attention to every detail — her long borders flowed from massed flowers of cool colors to waves of warm and then hot colors. She believed three plants together were always preferable to only one, and she used silvery gray foliage⁴ to soften⁵ the overall effect of her sumptuous⁶ flower beds. Miss Jekyll, as she was affectionately called by everyone, was a prolific⁷ garden writer, and she has influenced flower gardeners for generations, on both sides of the Atlantic.

1 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

5 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

6 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

7 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。