VOA标准英语2008年-Are You Irritated? Angry? Insulted?

It's amazing and sometimes amusing to watch opinions fly back and forth¹ across the Worldwide Web. These postings are quick and passionate², and not always well researched or reasoned. To get that, one can still turn to an enduring and delightful³ institution — the classic letter to the editor in the newspaper.
　
Not only are letters to the editor interesting to research and write, good ones are also fascinating to read. Many bring out points overlooked by journalists

In such carefully crafted missives, sharp-eyed readers flag errors and oversights⁴ by journalists and other letter writers, and deliver stinging retorts, often laced with outrage⁵.

In a recent edition of the Washington Post, for instance, one reader from Vermont huffed and puffed⁶ about a story in which the Post identified one John Mercer Langston of Ohio as the first black American elevated to public office by popular vote.

Nay⁷, nay, the Vermonter begged to differ. The nation's first black elected official was a fellow who won a seat in the Vermont legislature in 1836, 19 years before Langston took office in Ohio.
　
Passions can get heated in letters to the editor as people vehemently⁸ agree or disagree with what they read. And these letters often prompt equally spirited replies

Another letter writer that day haughtily⁹ corrected the newspaper's misuse¹⁰ of the term radio transmitter, grumping that an obviously incompetent¹¹ Post reporter had confused transmitters with receivers. Someone else took the paper to task for a cute story about driving a car while barefoot. Foolish and dangerous, don't you know?!
　
If you're a reporter who made a mistake in a story, this is how you view people who sit by their keyboards, just waiting to send in corrections to the newspaper

Weeds on the National Mall. The survival of ancient Sanskrit. The difference between deaf interpreters and interpreters for the deaf.All prompted people to take fingers to keyboard and vent¹² to the Washington Post. And those are just the letters that the paper printed. Very often the unpublished letters to the editor also find their way to reporters whose stories the readers are complaining about.

So pay no mind to the common complaint that Americans don't write letters much any more. We certainly do — just not as often to each other!

　

 

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

3 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

4 oversights   

n.疏忽( oversight的名词复数 )；忽略；失察；负责

参考例句：

• He saw shocking oversights and inefficiencies that made the Separatist invasion possible. 他看出在首都遭到分裂势力入侵的背后是惊人的疏漏与低效。 来自互联网
• Instead it means that the submitted code has no glaringly obvious oversights. 相反，它意味着所提交的代码没有突出的显而易见的疏忽或错漏。 来自互联网

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

8 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

9 haughtily   

adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地

参考例句：

• She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
• Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯，走到二楼，我刚好站在那儿。

10 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

11 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

12 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。