胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇119

An ignominious¹ end

可耻的下场

 

Professor randall, an illustrious volcanologist, pursued his discipline with a passion that went well beyond ordinary scientific enquiry. He even had to park his car out in the street, as his garage was stacked up to the rafters with a multitude of samples of igneous² rock.

The professor’s theories, while highly imaginative, were by no means universally accepted. In particular, he found himself rebutted³ on a wide range of issues by one of his colleagues, professor martin. This, of course, was just what might be expected in the world we live in . what was not to be expected was just how much professor randall’s fury would be ignited. He was fond of calling his detractor illiterate⁴, denouncing his scientific theories as illegitimate and illusive⁵. Making use of a kind of poetic⁷ imagery one would not ordinarily expect from a scientist, he wrote: “those ignorant comments do nothing to illustrate⁸, let alone illuminate⁹, the fundamental principles at stake, they convey an image of a reality that is akin⁶ to an illusion.”

Professor martin did his best to ignore this stream of invective¹⁰ but then , one day, he found his laboratory on fire, the flames illuminating¹¹ the evening sky, his lifetime’s work had been incinerated, professor randall, the perpetrator of this ignoble¹² act, at first pleaded ignorance, but soon confessed, confronted with the weight of the evidence.

He found himself indicted¹³ for arson¹⁴ and attemptedd murder, his career came to an abrupt¹⁵ and ignominious end. When he finally killed himself he was in a state of extreme distress¹⁶. His suicide note was all but illegible¹⁷.

This sad tale is by no means an imaginary example, it is a fitting illustration of the principle that it can be dangerous to allow fame to go to one’s head.

兰德尔教授是著名的火山学家，他从事这门学科的热情远远超过普通的科学调查。他甚至不得不把车停在大街上，因为他的车库里堆满了各种各样的火成岩的标本，一直堆到房椽上。

教授的理论虽然颇具想像力，但根本没达到被普遍接受的程度。特别是他发现同事马丁教授在很多问题上反驳他。当然，这是我们在自己生存的世界里意料之中的事情。意想不到的是兰德尔教授的怒火被点燃的程度。他喜欢把他的恶意批评者称作文盲，公然抨击他的科学理论是非法的，迷惑人的。他用人们一般认为科学家不会使用的如诗般形象的语言写道：“那些无知的评论无法说明，更不用说阐明所争论的基本原则。它们传达的是真实情况的映象，类似于幻觉。”

马丁教授尽量不理会这一连串的恶语谩骂，但是，有一天，他发现自己的实验室着火了，火焰照亮了夜空。他一生的工作成果都被烧成了灰烬。这起卑鄙事件的作恶者兰德尔教授起初借口说不知道，但很快就迫于证据的压力承认了。

他被指控犯有纵火罪和谋杀未遂。他的事业突然间落了个可耻的下场。他最后自杀的时候，已经处于极度痛苦的状态。他自杀前留的字条几乎无法辨认。

这个悲惨的故事决不是一个虚构的例子。它是一个合适的例证来证明这个道理：如果允许让名誉占据一个人的头脑，那是很危险的。

igneous adj. (地)火的,火成的(火山喷出的)

ignite v.点燃,使燃着

ignoble adj.卑鄙的,下流的

ignominious adj.可耻的,不名誉的

ignorance n.无知,不了解

ignore vt.忽视,不顾,不理会

illegible adj.难以辨认的.(字迹)模糊的

illegitimate adj.非法的,私生的

illiterate adj.文盲的,缺乏教育的

illuminate v.照明,照亮, 说明,阐明

illusion n.幻觉,错觉

illusive adj.迷惑人的,错觉的

illustrate vt.说明,阐明

illustration n.例证,插图

illustrious adj,辉煌的,著名的

image n.图像,肖像,形象

imagery n.肖像,形象,形象化的比喻

imaginary adj.想像中的,虚构的

imaginative adj.富于想像力的.

1 ignominious   

adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的

参考例句：

• The marriage was considered especially ignominious since she was of royal descent.由于她出身王族，这门婚事被认为是奇耻大辱。
• Many thought that he was doomed to ignominious failure.许多人认为他注定会极不光彩地失败。

2 igneous   

adj.火的，火绒的

参考例句：

• Igneous rocks do not contain fossils.火成岩不含化石。
• The rocks here are igneous and do not fracture along predictable lines.这儿的石头都是火成岩，石头的裂缝极不规则。

3 rebutted   

v.反驳，驳回( rebut的过去式和过去分词 )；击退

参考例句：

• Has Mr. Chiang or any member of his party ever rebutted this? 蒋先生及其党人曾经对这话提出过任何驳斥吗？ 来自互联网
• He rebutted the argument of the other team in a debate. 他在辩论会中反驳对方的论点。 来自互联网

4 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

5 illusive   

adj.迷惑人的，错觉的

参考例句：

• I don't wanna hear too much illusive words.我不想听太多虚假的承诺。
• We refuse to partake in the production of illusive advertisements.本公司拒绝承做虚假广告。

6 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

7 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

8 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

9 illuminate   

vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释

参考例句：

• Dreams kindle a flame to illuminate our dark roads.梦想点燃火炬照亮我们黑暗的道路。
• They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。

10 invective   

n.痛骂，恶意抨击

参考例句：

• He retorted the invective on her.他用恶言讽刺还击她。
• His command of irony and invective was said to be very classic and lethal.据说他嬉笑怒骂的本领是极其杰出的，令人无法招架的。

11 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

12 ignoble   

adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的

参考例句：

• There's something cowardly and ignoble about such an attitude.这种态度有点怯懦可鄙。
• Some very great men have come from ignoble families.有些伟人出身低微。

13 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

14 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

15 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

16 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

17 illegible   

adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的

参考例句：

• It is impossible to deliver this letter because the address is illegible.由于地址字迹不清，致使信件无法投递。
• Can you see what this note says—his writing is almost illegible!你能看出这个便条上写些什么吗？他的笔迹几乎无法辨认。