77. Think Before You Speak p. 18

 

 

. 　　Sometimes we say things without thinking. Very often a thoughtless remark may hurt others' feelings orcause a misunderstanding or an embarrassment¹. We must, therefore, always think before we speak.
Once I told an old friend how beautiful his girlfriend looked when I saw them together at a movie theaterthe other day. Unfortunately, I made a mistake. It happened that she wasn't with my friend. She was withsomeone else. I had let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. I'd never been so embarrassed in my life. Icertainly learned my lesson, but at a very high price. His girlfriend never spoke² to me again! And to makematters worse, it is rumored³ that they eventually broke up

halfway⁴  adv.在中途   Do not give up halfway.       persistent⁵ 持久的
look before you leap 三思而后行
Anyone likes Sam, because he is so thoughtful of others.
make a remark     make a statement (正式)
the other day  最近几天前的一天    cinema (文诌)
error = mistake n.      mistake A for B 误将A当B
It happened that... = It turns out that .... 原来是
let the cat out of bag = reveal the secret  泄露秘密
Bruce is a scholar, so to speak. 可以这么说
learn one's lesson 学了教训
cheat on sb 对...不忠  
 

1 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。