胡敏读故事记托福词汇029：夜晚一击 A Bump in the Night
I don’t care to live in a burgeoning city. When a city burgeons too rapidly, it creates two unfortunately by-products, crime and pollution.
我不喜欢生活在一个日益发展的城市。如果一个城市发展过快，就将带来两大不幸的后果：犯罪与污染。
That’s why I live in a cabin in the woods. It’s miles away from the nearest bypass. It’s the perfect place for a retired cabinetmaker. It’s relatively quiet except for the buzz of the bees and the occasional cadence of horses galloping in the distance. Nobody comes to visit me, although a mouse did burrow into my cabin once. You can’t even get a cab here. The isolation has left me with plenty of time for hobbies. I’ve ever had time to sculpt a bust of my father and to burnish it.
所以我选择住在树林里的小木屋，这里距离最近的旁道有数里之遥，这里还是退休细木工人的最佳选择。除了蜜蜂的嗡嗡声和远处偶然疾驰而来的有节奏的马蹄声，树林里相对安静。没有人来拜访我，不过确实有一只耗子曾挖洞来过我的小木屋。这里甚至叫不到出租车。远离尘嚣的我有充足的时间搞些业余爱好。我甚至花时间雕了一尊我父亲的半身像，并把它擦得锃亮。
I don’t need to travel very far. The furthest I need to go is through the trees and bushes to collect a bundle of firewood and a bunch of fruit. I do wish I had some animals. Perhaps a cow for milk and some chickens for eggs. It would be interesting to make butter with the milk.
我不用走很远，我最远只需穿过树林和灌木丛，去找一堆柴火、摘一串水果。我真希望我能拥有一些动物，也许是一头能挤奶的母牛和几只能下蛋的鸡。用牛奶做奶油应该很有趣。
The woods are a relative safe place, so calamities are rare. The closest misfortune I came to was the time a burglar broke into my cabin and tried to steal some food. It was late at night. Fortunately, the buzzer of my homemade burglar alarm woke me up. I bumped him on the head with my broom and he went running out the door.
树林里相对安全，极少有灾难发生。我遇上的最能称之为不幸的事就是一个试图偷食物的夜贼闯进我的小木屋。那是深夜，幸好我自制的警报器把我吵醒了。我用扫把猛抽了他脑袋一下，然后他夺门而出，逃之夭夭。
I didn’t get a clear look at his face because of his black mask. Although I was angry, I didn’t call the police. You don’t bother the police with these kinds of things in the woods, especially if your burglar is just a raccoon.
我没有看清他的脸，因为他蒙着黑色的面罩。我尽管很生气，但还是没有叫警察。你不会为树林里发生的这点小事麻烦警察的，尤其当你遇到的夜贼不过是只浣熊。
Words:
bump n. 肿块;突起;v. 碰(伤)，撞(破);猛击;冲撞
bunch n. 串，束;群;vi. 捆成一束;聚焦
bundle n. 捆，束，包;vt. 捆
burgeon vi. 迅速成长，发展
burgeoning adj. 迅速成长的，发展的
burglar n. 夜盗，窃贼
burnish v. 磨光，使光滑，擦亮
burrow n. 洞穴;vi. 挖地洞
bush n. 矮树丛
bust n. 半身(雕)像
butter n. 奶油
buzz n. 嗡嗡声
buzzer n. 蜂鸣器
bypass vt. 绕过，迂回;n. 旁道，旁路
by-product n. 副产品;附带产生的结果
cab n. 出租马车，出租汽车
cabin n. 小屋，船舱
cabinetmaker n. 家具师，细工木匠
cadence n. (音乐、舞蹈动作步伐等的)节律，节拍，节奏;(说话时语调的)抑扬顿挫
calamity n. 灾难，不幸事件
