英文短篇故事（纽约）423 The Slide Rule Rules

 　　On Alternate Earth, all the news was about Hiram Humboldt, the world's premier¹ engineer. He had been caught cheating on his wife—again! Hiram said, "My marriage is already toast. I love my wife, but these young, beautiful women won't leave me alone. It comes with the territory, of course. You can't be a writer, a scientist, a mathematician², an intellectual, or even a part-time community college teacher without hordes³ of women throwing themselves at you. It's the media's fault. They hang outside our homes. They follow us everywhere. We're always under a spotlight⁴. It's crazy. There's nothing exciting about us. The media should focus on others—say, athletes. Maybe even actors and singers. That would take the heat off us. I'm sure they can find something interesting about athletes, actors, and singers if they dig deep enough. Maybe the women will start chasing them, and leave us intellectuals alone!"

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

3 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。