胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯10：搜尋歷史 A Search Back in Time
Lesson 10 A Search Back in Time 搜尋歷史
I often wondered my ancestry. I knew that my angular face and large eyes came from my father's Spanish ancerstors. But what did they do for a living?
我時常對我的祖先們很好奇。我知道自己棱角分明的臉和一雙大眼睛來著父親的西班牙祖先。但他們到底是做什么工作來維持生活的呢?
My father, who is very animated, would try to satisfy my curiosity by telling me funny anecdotes about his father and grandfather. His stories were often intriguing, but the information I wanted had to be more than anecdotal. So one day, I went to the library and searched through the annals of Spanish history.
我那天性活潑的父親常常說些關于他父親和祖父的趣聞軼事來滿足我的好奇心。他講的故事大多很有意思，但我需要的不僅僅是軼事風格的信息。于是有一天，我去了家圖書館，搜尋關于西班牙歷史的記載。
I found a good book that thoroughtly analyzed the relevant time period and amplified its analysis with charts and illustrations. In it, I discovered several interesting historical figures who shared my surname, Sierra.
我找到一本透徹分析相關年代的好書，書中附有多種圖表，從而對其所作的分析做了更為詳盡的闡述。在這本書里，我發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾位有趣的歷史人物，他們與我同姓，都叫席埃拉。
One was an anarchist. He worte books in which he expressed his belief and society in the rural areas should be allowed to exist without a government. He believed that the government was purposely creating a fear of anarchy merely to justify its first taxes on rural area farmars.
有一位席埃拉是名無政府主義者。在他的著作中，農村社會可以以無政府狀態(tài)存在的觀念。他認為政府故意引起人們對無政府主義的恐懼，不過是為了證明政府向農民征收重稅有理。
Another Sierra is a Doctor of anatomy. He was credited fot inventing the first anesthetic. The anesthesia allowed him to operate on his patients without causing pain.
另一位席埃拉是名解剖學博士。他被譽為發(fā)明麻醉藥的第一人。在麻醉作用下，他可以為病無痛做手術。
The most interesting Sierra was a former high-ranking official who worked in an ancillary department of the central Spanish government. He spent most of his life protecting the Spanish military's efforts to annihilate and annex samller and weaker countries overseas. From the government's point of view, his protests were analogous to treason, and they sentenced him to a life of auguish in prison.
最轟轟烈烈的席埃拉是一位曾在西班牙中央政府輔助部門工作的高層官員。他一生中大半時間都在抗議西班牙滅亡和吞并海外弱小國家的軍事行徑。從政府角度看，他的抗議罪等同叛國，于是他被判入獄，過著生不如死的痛苦生活。
From this research, I was able to see many analogies between the characteristics of my ancestors and my own personality. It made me feel very proud to be a Sierra!
從這次研究中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我得性格同我的祖先有許多相似之處。我很驕傲我是個席埃拉!
英語單詞注釋
amplify vt. 放大;擴大;增強;詳述
analogous adj 類似的
analogy n. 類比，類推;類似物
analysis n. 分析;分析報告
analyze vt. 分析，分解
anarchist n. 無政府主義者
anarchy n. 無政府，混亂
anatomy n. 解剖;解剖學
ancerstor n. 祖先，祖宗
ancerstry n. (總稱)祖先，列祖列宗;家族，血統(tǒng)
ancillary adj. 輔助的
anecdotal adj. 趣聞的，多軼事趣聞的;具有軼事形式(風格)的
anecdote n. 短故事，軼事
anesthesia n. 麻醉
anesthetic n. 麻醉劑，麻藥
anguish n. 極度的痛苦，苦悶
angular adj. 有角的，尖角的
animated adj. 活潑的，有生氣的
annals n. 編年史;歷史記載，歷史
annex vt. 兼并，附加
annihilate vt. 消滅，消減
