胡敏读故事记托福词汇089：挖掘答案 Excavating for Answers
“We should wait until the water evaporates before we continue,” said Terry. Terry was very exacting in his work. Terry and Matt were excavating the area for fossils. Terry was studying human evolution at the university. He excelled in his studies. However, it wasn’t the same as seeing things with his own eyes. He was keenly interested in finding anything that would establish the existence of an evolutionary chain.
“我们应该等水都蒸发了在继续干。”特里说。特里对自己的工作要求很严。他和马特正在这一带挖掘化石。特里再大学里学人类进化学，而且成绩突出。但这和用自己的眼睛去发现食物不是一回事。他醉心于发现一种能证明进化链存在的东西。
“Don’t you believe in evolution?” Matt asked. Matt was also an exceptional student but he had less patience. He came from a small town where they grow evergreen trees and nobody thinks about going to college. Matt was the exception. However, today had not been eventful and Matt was a bit bored with the whole digging project.
“难道你不相信进化论吗?还要找化石来证明?”马特问。他也是个成绩杰出的学生，但他缺乏耐心。他来自以一个小城，那里树木常青，但没人想上大学。马特是个例外。但是，今天并不是什么重要日子，所以马特对整个挖掘工作有些厌烦了。
“Don’t you?” replied Terry. Terry had his doubts about whether humans evolved from single cell organisms, but he didn’t want to admit it.
“你不相信吗?”特里反问道。特里是有些怀疑人是否从简单细胞生物体演变而来，但他不想承认自己在怀疑。
“That was an evasive answer,” Matt said. Matt understood the reason for Terry’s evasion because Matt didn’t have an exact answer, either. He had learned many theories in school, but some were hard to believe. Last week, one of his professors talked about the eventual collapse of the universe. Matt still wasn’t sire whether his professor was exaggerating or being truthful.
“这是推托之辞。”马特说。马特知道特里为什么逃避回答，因为马特自己也不知道确切的答案。马特在学校里学过很多理论，但有一些实在难以相信。上周，一个教授讲起宇宙的最终毁灭。马特现在仍搞不清楚教授是在夸大其辞还是在实话实说。
“Imagine being a caveman and having to eviscerate a dinosaur with your bare hands,” Terry said.
“想想我们是穴居野人，不用任何器械，必须用双手掏出一只恐龙的内脏，怎么样?”马特说。
“That evokes memories of our last meal,” Matt said. Matt was referring to the roasted rabbits they had been eating for the last two days. From Matt’s point of view, it was not a proper meal for the most exalted organisms in the evolutionary chain. In fact, it had exacerbated his stomach ulcer. He couldn’t wait to return to civilization. “Can’t we just go home?” Matt pleaded.
“这使我们想起我们上一顿饭。”马特说。他指的是过去的两天中一直在吃的烤野兔。在马特看来，进化链中最高级的生物体吃这个不合适。事实上，它已经加重了他的胃溃疡。他迫不及待得要回到文明社会中去。于是请求特里：“我们就不能回家吗?”
“Sure we can,” replied Terry. “Eventually.”
“当然能，”马特回答，“最终我们会回去的。”
Words:
evaporate v. (使)蒸发，消失
evasion n. 逃避
evasive adj. 逃避的，推脱的
eventful adj. 发生许多事情的，充满大事的;重大的，重要的
eventual adj. 最终的
eventually adv. 终于
evergreen n. 常绿的;adj.常绿树，常绿植物
eviscerate vt. 取出内脏;除去主要部分
evoke vt. 引起，激起，唤起
evolution n. 发展，演变
evolutionary adj. 发展的，变化的
evolve v. 进化，发展
exacerbate vt. 使加重，恶化
exact adj. 精确的，准确的
exacting adj. 苛求的，要求严格的
exaggerate v. 夸大，夸张
exalted adj. 崇高的，高贵的
excavate vt. 挖掘，挖出
excel vi. 胜过，杰出
exception n. 例外
exceptional adj. 异常的，杰出的
