胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯088：葬禮 The Funeral
“Do you want me to escort you to the funeral?” Laura asked.
“你要我陪你參加史密斯先生的葬禮嗎?” 勞拉問。
“It might violate the rules of etiquette,” replied Kathy. “Perhaps I had better err on the side of caution. Why don’t we meet later at the new ethnic restaurant downstairs? Say, about 6 p.m.?”
“那可能不合禮儀規(guī)定，”凱西說，“我還是多多謹慎不出錯為好。我們晚一點，比如下午6點，在那家新開的民族飯店樓梯處見面好嗎?”
“Okay.’ Laura said.
“好吧。”勞拉說。
Kathy took the escalator down to the lobby where she found a taxi waiting. “Take me to the Smith estate,” she told the driver. Kathy eschewed funerals, but she had no choice. Attending this one was essential to her job as the family’s estate lawyer. The deceased, John Smith, was an estimable man in the community. He was a famous professor of ethics at the local university. His behavior was a bit erratic in the final years of his life but he as careful not to evade his responsibilities. Before he died, he hired Kathy to evaluate his estate holdings and to draft an indisputable will. He did not want any differences of opinion between his heirs to escalate into a family feud. The will required Kathy to estimate the value of Mr. Smith’s assets, to sell them for a reasonable price, and then to distribute the proceeds.
凱西乘自動扶梯來到中央大廳，一輛出租車正等在門外。“到史密斯莊園。”她對司機說。凱西向來回避葬禮，但她別無選擇。作為史密斯的財產(chǎn)律師，她必須參加這個葬禮。史密斯再當(dāng)?shù)厥莻€受人尊敬的人，他是當(dāng)?shù)卮髮W(xué)著名的倫理學(xué)教授。雖然他晚年行為有寫古怪，但他謹慎小心，從不逃避責(zé)任。去世前，他委托凱西對他的全部財產(chǎn)進行評估，而后草擬了一份無可爭議的遺囑。他不愿意財產(chǎn)繼承人之間的意見分歧擴大而升級為家庭不和。遺囑要求凱西對史密斯先生的資產(chǎn)進行評估，并以合理的價格出售，然后把所得收入分給繼承人。
The eulogy was the standard speech. The priest talked about eternal life as reward for living a good life. At the end of the speech, applause erupted from the audience. In Kathy’s opinion, the eruption was loud enough to wake to dead.
悼詞采用標(biāo)準的哀悼語言。牧師談?wù)撝艘簧e德，作為回報，死后才能永生。悼詞結(jié)束的時候，人群中突然爆發(fā)出一陣掌聲，在凱西聽起來，這掌聲爆發(fā)得足以可以把死去的人驚醒。
“Was it that bad?” Laura asked.
“葬禮就那么糟糕嗎?”勞拉問。
“The music wasn’t bad,” Kathy replied. “I thought the violin and the piano produced a euphonious combination.”
“音樂還不錯，”凱西回答，“我覺得小提琴和鋼琴演奏出了悅耳的合音。”
Words:
err vt. 做錯，出差錯
erratic adj. 古怪的，不穩(wěn)定的
erupt vi. 噴出，爆發(fā)
escalate vi. 升級，逐步增強
escalator n. 電動扶梯
eschew vi. 避開，危害
escort v. 護送，伴隨
essential adj. 絕對必要的，基礎(chǔ)的
estate n. 財產(chǎn)，莊園
estimable adj. 可估計的，值得尊敬的
estimate vt. 估計
eternal adj. 永恒的，永遠的
ethics n. 倫理學(xué)
etiquette n. 禮儀，禮節(jié)
eulogy n. 頌詞，頌文;悼文，悼詞
euphonious adj. 悅耳的
evade vt. 躲避，逃避
evaluate vt. 評價，估價
