胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇077

Lesson 77 A Dog Named Spot 小狗点点

Words:

 

doleful adj. 悲哀的，忧愁的

 

doll n. 洋娃娃，玩偶

 

dolorous¹ adj. 忧伤的，悲痛的

 

domain² n. 领域，范围

 

domestic adj. 家里的，家养的；本国的，国内的

 

domesticate³ vt. 驯养，驯化

 

domicile n. 住所，家（指法律上的永久性）

 

dominant⁴ adj. 支配的，占优势的

 

dominate vt. 统治，支配，控制；vi. 盛行

 

domineer v. 压制

 

domineering adj. 盛气凌人的，专权的

 

dominion⁵ n. 领土，统治权，支配

 

donate vt. 捐赠

 

donor⁶ n. 捐赠者

 

doomed⁷ adj. 命定的，注定失败的

 

dormant⁸ adj. 静止的，休眠的

 

dormitory n. 宿舍

 

dot adj. 背部的，脊背的

 

dotage⁹ n. 老年糊涂

 

“Why the doleful expression?” Tony asked the little girl. The little girl continued to walk aimlessly down the street towards our university dormitory. “Sally, did you lose your doll?”

 

Sally stopped. Then she uttered a dolorous phrase that we could all understand. “My dog is dead,” she said, as tears filled her eyes.

 

Animal abuse was not my domain, but I could guess what happened to Spot. Spot was born in the wild at the base of a dormant volcano. A family rescued him from starvation and domesticated¹⁰ him. He was a very friendly and loyal dog. His first owner named him Spot because of his large black dorsal¹¹ dot. When Sally’s family adopted him five years ago, someone at the veterinary clinic told me, “Spot is a doomed dog.” I didn’t know what that meant.

 

What I did know was that Sally’s grandfather was a domineering man. He especially liked to dominate defenseless animals. He acted like a despot with dominion over everyone and everything within his domicile. He domineered poor Spot, often abusing him just to prove that he was in a dominant position. Neighbors called the police several times to complain. However, each time, the police told the neighbors that it was a domestic problem and that they would not intervene. Sally’s grandfather became more and more abusive as the years passed. His dotage simply made him more sadistic¹².

 

After Spot died, Sally’s family put Sally’s grandfather into a care home. Tony and I donated some money to help the community buy a new puppy for Sally. Fortunately, there were many donors¹³ and in the end. there was enough money to buy Sally a puppy that looked exactly like Spot.

 

“为什么一脸的忧伤呀？”汤姆问小女孩。小女孩不理他，继续沿街朝着大学宿舍方向目无目的地走着。“莎莉，是不是你的洋娃娃丢了？”

 

小莎莉停下脚步，悲伤地说：“我的狗死了。”这时，她眼里含满了泪水。她的话我们都能理解。

 

谴责虐待动物并不属于我的职责范围，但我能猜出小狗点点到底怎么了。点点出生在一座静火山山脚下的荒野里。有一户人家救了他，才没有被饿死。后来把他驯化养大。他既友好又忠诚。因他背部长有一个大黑点，他的第一任主人给他起了个名字——点点。当五年前莎莉家收养点点时，一个宠物诊所的人就告诉我说点点注定要早死。那时我不明白他到底是什么意思。

 

但我十分明白的是莎莉有个专断的祖父。他尤其喜欢控制无助的动物。他像个暴君控制着住宅里的每个人、每件事。他压制可怜的点点，常常虐待他只是想证明自己的至高无上。邻居们好几次报警鸣不平，但每次警方都说这是人家家里的事，外人不得干涉。随着年龄的增长，莎莉的祖父变得越发爱虐待动物了。再加上年老糊涂，他就更是个虐待狂了。

 

点点死后，莎莉的家人把她祖父送进了疗养院。汤姆和我捐钱帮助社区为莎莉买一只小狗。幸运的是，后来来了许多捐助者。这样我们终于有足够的钱为莎拉买一只与点点一模一样的小狗了。

1 dolorous   

adj.悲伤的；忧愁的

参考例句：

• With a broken-hearted smile,he lifted a pair of dolorous eyes.带著伤心的微笑，他抬起了一双痛苦的眼睛。
• Perhaps love is a dolorous fairy tale.也许爱情是一部忧伤的童话。

2 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

3 domesticate   

vt.驯养；使归化，使专注于家务

参考例句：

• Many thousand years ago people learned how to domesticate animals.数千年以前人们就学会了饲养动物。
• If you domesticate this raccoon,it will have trouble living in the wild.如果你驯养这只浣熊，它生活在野外将会有困难。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

8 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

9 dotage   

n.年老体衰；年老昏聩

参考例句：

• Even in his dotage,the Professor still sits on the committee.即便上了年纪，教授仍然是委员会的一员。
• Sarah moved back in with her father so that she could look after him in his dotage.萨拉搬回来与父亲同住，好在他年老时照顾他。

10 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 dorsal   

adj.背部的，背脊的

参考例句：

• His dorsal fin was down and his huge pectorals were spread wide.它的脊鳍朝下耷拉着，巨大的胸鳍大张着。
• The shark's dorsal fin was cut off by the fisherman.鲨鱼的背鳍被渔夫割了下来。

12 sadistic   

adj.虐待狂的

参考例句：

• There was a sadistic streak in him.他有虐待狂的倾向。
• The prisoners rioted against mistreatment by sadistic guards.囚犯因不堪忍受狱警施虐而发动了暴乱。

13 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》