最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit3-Part2

 

00:00.00]William loved the ranch 

[00:02.62]where he spent his summer vacations 

[00:04.59]as a youngster and a youth, 

[00:06.77]playing in the rugged¹ canyons, 

[00:08.85]descending the cliffs and camping 

[00:11.15]in colorful Arabstyle tents 

[00:13.67]in the mountains with his family.

[00:16.84]Phoebe was delighted in exposing 

[00:20.12]her darling child to 

[00:22.09]the beauties and wonders of 

[00:23.95]the world and spared no expense doing so. 

[00:27.56]During one of their adventures, 

[00:30.19]an 18month tour of

[00:32.38]the historic palaces 

[00:34.67]and castles of Europe, 

[00:36.42]William began a lifelong 

[00:38.28]love of collecting.  

[00:39.70]With his first acquisitions, 

[00:42.00]German picture books, he  

[00:44.62]embarked on a 78year session 

[00:47.14]of excessive spending.  

[00:50.21]He confessed to a love 

[00:53.05]of the finer things in life and, 

[00:55.13]as he had a bottomless purse, 

[00:57.87]would never deny himself 

[00:59.51]anything he wanted.

[01:01.48]In 1887, while William 

[01:05.85]was at Harvard University,

[01:07.38] he decided² to take over 

[01:09.14]the small newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner,

[01:13.18] which his father had accepted 

[01:15.15]as payment for a gambling³ debt 

[01:16.46]several years earlier. 

[01:18.98]George would have preferred that 

[01:21.16]his son be involved in the mining 

[01:23.35]and ranching⁴ interests, but 

[01:25.11]William declined this offer 

[01:26.86]and was given ownership 

[01:28.39]of the Examiner in March 1887. 

[01:30.68]He was determined⁵ to

[01:34.52]increase the popularity of the paper

[01:36.92] and acquire the best equipment

[01:38.67] and writers available.

[01:40.64]William’s resolve to succeed 

[01:43.27]inspired him to publish juicy tales 

[01:46.88]of vice⁶ and stories full of drama 

[01:49.61]and motivation. In 1895, 

[01:53.01]he purchased the New York Morning Journal,

[01:57.49] putting him in direct competition 

[01:59.46]with the distinguished⁷ Joseph Pulitzer 

[02:02.41]and a circulation war began.

1 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

4 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。