英语听力文摘 English Digest 28、甜蜜的复仇

　　Yael: You must be a having a good day. The smile on your face is a mile wide.
Don: I'm finally going to get revenge on my neighbor.
Y: For what?
D: He has the loudest lawnmower you've ever heard. And as if that isn't enough, he mows¹ his lawn every Saturday at seven a.m., like clockwork, and wakes me up on the one day I can really sleep in!
Y: So what are you going to do?
D: It cost me three-hundred bucks², but now my lawnmower is even louder than his. And starting this Saturday, I'm going to set my alarm for six a.m. every weekend so I can beat him to the punch and wake him up with my lawnmower before he can wake me up with his!
Y: It sounds like your revenge is costing you a heck of a lot of money, what remains³ of your hearing, and a good deal of sleep to boot.
D: And it's worth the price!
Y: It costs you more money and sleep for your revenge than it did just to listen to his lawnmower. As irrational⁴ as this is, however, it's also normal human behavior. A study confirms that thoughts of revenge can be so pleasurable that many of us are willing to pay extra for it. PET scans of the brains of people contemplating⁵ revenge showed a positive correlation⁶ between the amount of activity in reward-related areas of the brain and how much a person was willing to pay for the revenge. It just goes to show how our passions can interfere⁷ with rational behavior.
D: Man, thinking about revenge is seriously sweet. Did I say six o'clock? On second thought, how about four?

1 mows   

v.刈，割( mow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I saw him make mops and mows at Mary. 我看见他冲着玛丽做鬼脸。 来自互联网
• My mother mows the grass on the street once a week. （我妈妈每星期都在街上修一次草坪。） 来自互联网

2 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

5 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

6 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

7 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。