胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇089

Lesson 89 Excavating¹ for Answers 挖掘答案

 

Words:

 

evaporate v. （使）蒸发，消失

 

evasion² n. 逃避

 

evasive adj. 逃避的，推脱的

 

eventful adj. 发生许多事情的，充满大事的；重大的，重要的

 

eventual³ adj. 最终的

 

eventually adv. 终于

 

evergreen⁴ n. 常绿的；adj.常绿树，常绿植物

 

eviscerate⁵ vt. 取出内脏；除去主要部分

 

evoke⁶ vt. 引起，激起，唤起

 

evolution n. 发展，演变

 

evolutionary⁷ adj. 发展的，变化的

 

evolve v. 进化，发展

 

exacerbate⁸ vt. 使加重，恶化

 

exact adj. 精确的，准确的

 

exacting⁹ adj. 苛求的，要求严格的

 

exaggerate v. 夸大，夸张

 

exalted¹⁰ adj. 崇高的，高贵的

 

excavate¹¹ vt. 挖掘，挖出

 

excel vi. 胜过，杰出

 

exception n. 例外

 

exceptional adj. 异常的，杰出的

 

“We should wait until the water evaporates before we continue,” said Terry. Terry was very exacting in his work. Terry and Matt were excavating the area for fossils. Terry was studying human evolution at the university. He excelled in his studies. However, it wasn’t the same as seeing things with his own eyes. He was keenly interested in finding anything that would establish the existence of an evolutionary chain.

 

“Don’t you believe in evolution?” Matt asked. Matt was also an exceptional student but he had less patience. He came from a small town where they grow evergreen trees and nobody thinks about going to college. Matt was the exception. However, today had not been eventful and Matt was a bit bored with the whole digging project.

 

“Don’t you?” replied Terry. Terry had his doubts about whether humans evolved from single cell organisms, but he didn’t want to admit it.

 

“That was an evasive answer,” Matt said. Matt understood the reason for Terry’s evasion because Matt didn’t have an exact answer, either. He had learned many theories in school, but some were hard to believe. Last week, one of his professors talked about the eventual collapse¹² of the universe. Matt still wasn’t sire whether his professor was exaggerating or being truthful¹³.

“Imagine being a caveman and having to eviscerate a dinosaur¹⁴ with your bare hands,” Terry said.

 

“That evokes¹⁵ memories of our last meal,” Matt said. Matt was referring to the roasted rabbits they had been eating for the last two days. From Matt’s point of view, it was not a proper meal for the most exalted organisms in the evolutionary chain. In fact, it had exacerbated¹⁶ his stomach ulcer¹⁷. He couldn’t wait to return to civilization. “Can’t we just go home?” Matt pleaded.

“Sure we can,” replied Terry. “Eventually.”

 

“我们应该等水都蒸发了在继续干。”特里说。特里对自己的工作要求很严。他和马特正在这一带挖掘化石。特里再大学里学人类进化学，而且成绩突出。但这和用自己的眼睛去发现食物不是一回事。他醉心于发现一种能证明进化链存在的东西。

 

“难道你不相信进化论吗？还要找化石来证明？”马特问。他也是个成绩杰出的学生，但他缺乏耐心。他来自以一个小城，那里树木常青，但没人想上大学。马特是个例外。但是，今天并不是什么重要日子，所以马特对整个挖掘工作有些厌烦了。

 

“你不相信吗？”特里反问道。特里是有些怀疑人是否从简单细胞生物体演变而来，但他不想承认自己在怀疑。

 

“这是推托之辞。”马特说。马特知道特里为什么逃避回答，因为马特自己也不知道确切的答案。马特在学校里学过很多理论，但有一些实在难以相信。上周，一个教授讲起宇宙的最终毁灭。马特现在仍搞不清楚教授是在夸大其辞还是在实话实说。

 

“想想我们是穴居野人，不用任何器械，必须用双手掏出一只恐龙的内脏，怎么样？”马特说。

 

“这使我们想起我们上一顿饭。”马特说。他指的是过去的两天中一直在吃的烤野兔。在马特看来，进化链中最高级的

生物体吃这个不合适。事实上，它已经加重了他的胃溃疡。他迫不及待得要回到文明社会中去。于是请求特里：“我们就不能回家吗？”

 

“当然能，”马特回答，“最终我们会回去的。”

 

1 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

2 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

3 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

4 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

5 eviscerate   

vt.取出…的内脏；抽出…的精华

参考例句：

• We agreed to eviscerate the proposed bill.我们同意去除所提议案的本质部分。
• Eviscerate demolition meat,cut into the meat section.拆肉剔骨，将肉切成条。

6 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

9 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

10 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

11 excavate   

vt.挖掘，挖出

参考例句：

• They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

14 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

15 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

16 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 ulcer   

n.溃疡，腐坏物

参考例句：

• She had an ulcer in her mouth.她口腔出现溃疡。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。