NPR边听边练37:寻找心灵里的那一片净土

 　　【NPR边听边练】致力于提供新鲜有趣、饶有意味的时讯资料，致力于通过精听的方式促进听力提高，致力于不断开阔眼界和深入了解美国观点。

　　精听建议：

　　先完整地把一条新闻听一到三遍，争取掌握大意。然后，一句一句精听，力争每句话都听明白。遇到实在不懂的地方，再听写。

　　下面的文本材料中空缺部分里面要填的词都很简单，不过是一些值得注意的连读或者典型的美式发音哦，有些语速比较快。试试看，你能不能全部写对？

　　（参考文本，欢迎指出错误^^）

　　I believe in cultivating hidden talents, buried and unrelated to what we do for a living.In ordinary life, I'm a civil engineer. I make a satisfying, comfortable living working quietly in my cubicle¹. But in my other life, I am a pianist, bringing to life with my own hands the genius of Bach, Mozart and Chopin.While __1__my engineering degree, I worked as a waitress in the dining hall of a retirement² community. One day during a break, I discovered a piano in a meeting room. I sat down to play a few Bach Two-Part Inventions. Those crisp, driving rhythms and harmonics __2__into the hallways. Residents, numb³ from ceaseless easy-listening radio, tentatively peeked⁴ in, __3__ sat to listen.Disbelieving, they saw plain, old, invisible Mel, the lunch waitress."She plays the piano!" "Where did you study?" "How long have you played?" "Can you play Rachmaninoff?"They no longer wanted me to quickly and quietly disappear from their dining tables. "Mel, wait a minute. Who do you think was better, Gould or Horowitz?" I answered "Gould," and __4__.

　　参考答案：

　　1 earning

　　2 flew out

　　3 then

　　4 a raging debate ensued

1 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

4 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句