Three Philosophers

    A bear，a fox，and an opossum were attacked by an inundation¹．“Death loves a coward，”said the bear，and he went forward to fight the flood．“What a fool！”said the fox．“I know a trick worth two of that．”And he slipped into a hollow stump²．“There are malevolent³ forces，”said the opossum，“which the wise will neither confront nor avoid．The key is to know the nature of your antagonist⁴．”
    So saying the opossum lay down and pretended to be dead．Exercises：
    判断对（T）、错（F）：
    ① The fox said that Death loved a coward．② Among the three，the bear was the bravest one．

1 inundation   

n.the act or fact of overflowing

参考例句：

• Otherwise, inundation would ensue to our dismay. 若不疏导，只能眼巴巴看着它泛滥。
• Therefore this psychology preceded the inundation of Caudillo politics after independence. 在独立后，这一心态助长了考迪罗主义的泛滥。

2 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

3 malevolent   

adj.有恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Why are they so malevolent to me?他们为什么对我如此恶毒？
• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。

4 antagonist   

n.敌人，对抗者，对手

参考例句：

• His antagonist in the debate was quicker than he.在辩论中他的对手比他反应快。
• The thing is to know the nature of your antagonist.要紧的是要了解你的对手的特性。