24篇魔术美文串记英语4级词汇 01.The Two Roads

It was Christmas Eve.An aged¹ man was standing² on the balcony,with uneasy,alarmed and pessimistic expression;he sighed for his miserable³ fate, and raised his sad eyes,gazed at the sparking stars in the deep blue sky. A falling star depicted⁴ a curve in the sky and disappeared,which seemed like the symbol of his life.

Then he cast them blow his floor,where a few more desperate people than him were moving towards their invitable destination--the grave.He had already expended⁵ sixty years on the way leading to it,and he had acquired nothing but agony and regret.Now his health was poor,his mind was vacant his heart was sorrowful,and his life was short of comforts.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams floating in his brain,and he recalled the strategic moment when he stood at the access to the roads--At the end of road,it was a peaseful and sunny place.It was covered with delicate flowers,fascinating bamboo forest,bunches of attractive grapes.There lived cute deer,tame lambs,and flying butterflies and echoed with the merry,sweet laughter.There were also winding⁶ tracks and hony peach trees dotted the gracefuk landscape.

At the end of the second road,it was a damp and dull cave,which was an absolute hell of great bulk.It was covered with moist ponds and marshes,nasty ditches and jungles,chilling ang thrilling jails,all aroud was emitting the stales acid flavor.There lived evil devils,giant monsters,poisonous snakes,and echoed with horrible barking of wolves.It was full of spiders, bats,frogs,damn rats,offensive bugs⁷ and other crawling insects.

He looked up to the sky and shouted aloud,"O youth,return!Return!"

And his youth did return,for all this was only a nightmare which he had on Christmas Eve.He was still youth though his faults were real;he had not yet entered the damp and dull cave,and he was still free to walk on the road which led to the peaceful and sunny land.

Those youngster,who are still wandering at the entrance of life and hesitating to choose the bright road,remenber that when years have passed and your feet are limping in the dark cave,you will cry bitterly,but in vain:"O youth,return!Oh give me back my early days!"

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

5 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

7 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》