胡敏读故事记托福词汇082：选举 The Election

“Do you think an election is an exciting event?” Jane asked. She was wearing an elegant dress with an elliptical pattern. We both entered the elevator at the same time.

我和简同时进了电梯，她穿着椭圆式样的裙装，看上去很雅致。“你以为选举是件令人兴奋的事吗?”简问我。

“In some ways it is,” I replied. “We’re witnessing a vital element of democracy. Unfortunately, the voting process is not as elementary as it once was.”

“在某些方面是必须的。”我回答。“我们正目睹着民主制度最重要的组成部分——民主选举。可惜啊，选举过程不像过去那样单纯初级了。”

“If only we could elevate the quality of the candidates,” Jane said. “Have you noticed how hard it is to elicit a straight answer from them? Some of them sound pretty dizzy, like they’ve spent too much time at a high elevation.”

“要是我们能提高候选人的素质就好了。”简说，“你是否注意到要从他们的嘴里得到一个直接的回答有多难?其中一些人的话听起来天花乱坠，玄之又玄，似乎要炫耀他们身居高位已有多时。”

“Oh, that’s funny!” I said. “But not everyone can be as eloquent as you are if you were eligible to run for an elected office, would you do it?”

“噢，多滑稽啊!”我说，“但并非每个人都像你这样能言善辩。如果有资格来竞选一个政府公职，你会参加竞选吗?”

“I don’t know,” Jane replied. “Would you vote for me if I told you that I could eliminate crime? What if I said I could capture that elusive terrorist, Bin Laden?”

“不知道，”简回答说，“如果我说我能消除犯罪，你会选我吗?如果我说我能抓住难以捉到的恐怖分子本拉登，又会怎么样?”

“You may as well claim that you can emancipate the slaves,” I said. “If I was that gullible, I’d probably be willing to buy a bottle of elixir from you.”

“你不妨声称你能解放奴隶，”我说，“如果我那么容易上当，我真可能要买你一瓶长生不老药了。”

“I think you should stop talking before I elongate your neck,” Jane joked. “The emancipation you’re referring to was a serious and significant issue back then. These days, we still have very serious issues, both worldwide and domestic like how to elucidate the federal budget and how to aid the emaciated children in undeveloped countries.”

“别再说了，否则我会把你的脖子拽长的，”简开玩笑说，“你所说的解放奴隶在当时是个严肃重要的问题。目前，不论国际，还是国内，我们都面临着一些很严肃的问题，比如，如何解释联邦的预算和怎样救助欠发达国家的贫弱儿童等问题。”

“Figuratively speaking, my 24-27 schedule during this election has emaciated me,” I said. “Would you mind if we continued this discussion over lunch?”

“说得形象些，我选举期间的24-27日的日程安排已经使我衣带渐宽，身心憔悴。”我说，“如果我们边吃午饭边继续讨论，你不介意吧?”

“Not at all,” replied Jane. “It’s hard to think with a empty stomach.”

“当然不，”简回答，“肚子空空，脑子懵懂。此之谓也。”

Words:

election n. 选举;当选

elegant adj. 雅致的

element n. 成分，要素

elementary adj. 基本的，初级的

elevate vt. 举起;抬高;使上升

elevation n. 高度，海拨

elevator n. 起重机;电梯;谷仓

elicit vt. 得出，引出

eligible adj. 合格的，有资格的

eliminate vt. 排除，剔除

elixir n. 长生不老药，仙丹妙药

elliptical adj. 椭圆的，省略的

elongate vt. 延长，伸长

elucidate vt. 阐述，说明

elusive adj. 难以捕捉的;难懂的，难捉摸的

emaciate vt. 使憔悴，使消瘦

emaciated adj. 瘦弱的，憔悴的

emancipate vt. 解放，释放

emancipation n. 释放，解放