【英语时差8,16】花园清洁

Tips:

heroically--英勇

frost--霜冻

vibrant¹--充满活力

petunias²--矮牵牛

exuberantly³--绿叶成荫

marigold--万寿菊

gaillardia--天人菊

aster--翠菊

dilapidated--破旧

Russian sage⁴--俄罗斯鼠尾草

skeletal--骨骼

 

Garden Clean-up

 

    As gardeners put their gardens to bed at the end of the growing season, it is a time to think about the flowering plants that performed so heroically in the summer past. As we pull out the annuals, now so sad and defeated by frosts, we remember their earlier vibrant colors.

 

    Weren’t the petunias wonderful - especially the “wave” petunias that bloom so exuberantly without needing to be dead headed? And the dwarf⁵ single marigolds that have become so popular in recent years - starry⁶, innocent flowers on bushy plants. We should thank the hybridizers for those. As we cut down the perennials⁷, we give thanks for the gaillardias, often called blanket flowers because they remind us of Indian blankets - they bloomed so well this year.

 

    The cone⁸ flowers still have their seed heads, so we won’t cut those down yet - let the birds enjoy them awhile longer. We are eager to cut down the asters though. They look so dilapidated - but what a mass of pink and purple they were earlier.

 

    The Russian sage is still standing⁹ and its skeletal branches are graceful¹⁰ enough to be spared awhile longer. But the mums look sad, full of brown deadheads - they really must be neatened up. And so we snip¹¹ away with our shears¹² - cutting off what is now brown and dreary¹³ - but musing¹⁴ about the flowers of summer.

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 petunias   

n.矮牵牛（花）( petunia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The petunias were already wilting in the hot sun. 在烈日下矮牵牛花已经开始枯萎了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. 那里有我的前廊我的枕头，我漂亮的紫色矮牵牛。 来自互联网

3 exuberantly   

adv.兴高采烈地，活跃地，愉快地

参考例句：

• Pooch was clumsy as an ox and exuberantly affectionate. 普茨笨拙如一头公牛，可又极富于感情。 来自百科语句
• They exuberantly reclaimed a national indentity. 他们坚持不懈地要求恢复民族尊严。 来自辞典例句

4 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

5 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

6 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

7 perennials   

n.多年生植物( perennial的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Name six perennials and six annuals suitable for indoor flower arrangement. 列出多年生及一年生花朵各六种，它们必须是适合插花的。 来自互联网
• Herbage can be divided into three categories: annuals, biennials, and perennials. 草本植物可分成一年生、二年生和多年生。 来自互联网

8 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

11 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

12 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

13 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

14 musing   

n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• "At Tellson's banking-house at nine," he said, with a musing face. “九点在台尔森银行大厦见面，”他想道。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She put the jacket away, and stood by musing a minute. 她把那件上衣放到一边，站着沉思了一会儿。