胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇024

Lesson24 The Assignment 任务

Words:

bidding n. 投标；命令，要求

bigoted¹ adj. 固执己见的，偏执的，顽固的

bilateral² adj. 两边的，双边的

bill n. 账单，发票；（细长或扁平的）鸟嘴；议案，法案；钞票，钱币

billion n./adj. 10亿（的）

biography n. 传记

biological diversity 生物多样性

biologist n. 生物学家

bison n. 美洲或欧洲的野牛

bitter adj. 令人痛苦的；尖酸、刻薄的

bizarre adj. 指（态度、容貌、款式等）奇异的，古怪的

blackmail³ vt. 勒索，讹诈

blame vt. 谴责，责备；n. 过失，责备

bland⁴ adj. 淡味的，无味的

blanket n. 毯子；厚的覆盖物

blasphemous⁵ adj. 亵渎神灵的，不敬神的

blast furnace 鼓风炉

blast off (火箭、航天飞机等)发火起飞，发射上天

blaze vi. 燃烧，照耀

blazing adj. 炽烧的，闪耀的

His eyes blazed with excitement. “I’ve got an important assignment for you,” he said, as he glanced back down at a newspaper. “The leaders of our nation have just signed a bilateral travel treaty with the isolated⁶ country of Bandu on the African continent, and I want you to go down there right away to do research for a biography.”

The research my boss wanted was for a biography about Bob Boon⁷. Boon was a brilliant biologist who was somewhat bigoted when it came to discussing politics or religion. He was known for making blasphemous statements. He spent most of his adult years studying animals in the country of Bandu. He was one of the first scientists to successfully track the migratory⁸ patterns of the bison. Boon was also a strong advocate for maintaining biological diversity.

My boss pays me quite well to do his bidding. He owns a billion-dollar publishing company, and when he sets his mind on doing a story, he doesn’t care about the bill.

So here I am in Bandu, surrounded by bizarre animals and bitter food. Frankly⁹, I’d rather eat bland food. It’s freezing here at night and my blanket doesn’t keeping me warm. During the day, it is as hot as a blast furnace. Last week, the blazing sun caused a fire that blazed out of control for several days.

I hate these assignments to remote areas. But I always end up accepting the job. It’s not as though I was blackmailed¹⁰ into coming here. I have no one to blame but myself. I just hope that my next assignment doesn’t require that I blast off to the moon!

他的双眼兴奋地闪耀着。“我有个重大任务让你干。”他说道，一面低头瞟了眼报纸。“我国领导人刚刚同非洲到过班杜签署了一项双边旅游条约，我要你立刻去班杜，给一本传记做研究。”

老板制定的研究对象是关于鲍勃布恩的传记。布恩是一名出色的生物学家，但谈起政治和宗教，他却有些顽固不化。他以放些亵渎神灵的狂词著称。他壮年时大多时候都在班杜研究动物。他是最早追踪野牛迁徙习性的科学家之一，还是维持生物多样性的坚决拥护者。

老板命令的任务酬金丰厚。老板拥有一家资产10亿的出版社，而且当他决意要搞到一个故事时，毫不在乎账单上的开资多寡。

于是我来到班杜，置身于奇珍异兽和苦涩的食物的包围中。说实话，我宁可吃淡而无味的食物。这里晚上冷得要死。我的毯子一点也不暖和。白天，这里又热得想鼓风炉。上周，炽热的太阳导致了一场大火，火苗失控的烧了好几天。

我讨厌去偏远地带执行任务，但到头来我还是会接下这些任务。我好像并不是被讹诈而来这里的，要怪只能怪我自己。我只希望我的下一个任务不会要我飞上月球！

1 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

4 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。

5 blasphemous   

adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的

参考例句：

• The book was declared blasphemous and all copies ordered to be burnt.这本书被断定为亵渎神明之作，命令全数焚毀。
• The people in the room were shocked by his blasphemous language.满屋的人都对他那侮慢的语言感到愤慨。

6 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

7 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

8 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 blackmailed   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He was blackmailed by an enemy agent (into passing on state secrets). 敌特威胁他（要他交出国家机密）。
• The strikers refused to be blackmailed into returning to work. 罢工者拒绝了要挟复工的条件。