胡敏读故事记托福词汇077：小狗点点 A Dog Named Spot
“Why the doleful expression?” Tony asked the little girl. The little girl continued to walk aimlessly down the street towards our university dormitory. “Sally, did you lose your doll?”
“为什么一脸的忧伤呀?”汤姆问小女孩。小女孩不理他，继续沿街朝着大学宿舍方向目无目的地走着。“莎莉，是不是你的洋娃娃丢了?”
Sally stopped. Then she uttered a dolorous phrase that we could all understand. “My dog is dead,” she said, as tears filled her eyes.
小莎莉停下脚步，悲伤地说：“我的狗死了。”这时，她眼里含满了泪水。她的话我们都能理解。
Animal abuse was not my domain, but I could guess what happened to Spot. Spot was born in the wild at the base of a dormant volcano. A family rescued him from starvation and domesticated him. He was a very friendly and loyal dog. His first owner named him Spot because of his large black dorsal dot. When Sally’s family adopted him five years ago, someone at the veterinary clinic told me, “Spot is a doomed dog.” I didn’t know what that meant.
谴责虐待动物并不属于我的职责范围，但我能猜出小狗点点到底怎么了。点点出生在一座静火山山脚下的荒野里。有一户人家救了他，才没有被饿死。后来把他驯化养大。他既友好又忠诚。因他背部长有一个大黑点，他的第一任主人给他起了个名字——点点。当五年前莎莉家收养点点时，一个宠物诊所的人就告诉我说点点注定要早死。那时我不明白他到底是什么意思。
What I did know was that Sally’s grandfather was a domineering man. He especially liked to dominate defenseless animals. He acted like a despot with dominion over everyone and everything within his domicile. He domineered poor Spot, often abusing him just to prove that he was in a dominant position. Neighbors called the police several times to complain. However, each time, the police told the neighbors that it was a domestic problem and that they would not intervene. Sally’s grandfather became more and more abusive as the years passed. His dotage simply made him more sadistic.
但我十分明白的是莎莉有个专断的祖父。他尤其喜欢控制无助的动物。他像个暴君控制着住宅里的每个人、每件事。他压制可怜的点点，常常虐待他只是想证明自己的至高无上。邻居们好几次报警鸣不平，但每次警方都说这是人家家里的事，外人不得干涉。随着年龄的增长，莎莉的祖父变得越发爱虐待动物了。再加上年老糊涂，他就更是个虐待狂了。
After Spot died, Sally’s family put Sally’s grandfather into a care home. Tony and I donated some money to help the community buy a new puppy for Sally. Fortunately, there were many donors and in the end. there was enough money to buy Sally a puppy that looked exactly like Spot.
点点死后，莎莉的家人把她祖父送进了疗养院。汤姆和我捐钱帮助社区为莎莉买一只小狗。幸运的是，后来来了许多捐助者。这样我们终于有足够的钱为莎拉买一只与点点一模一样的小狗了。
Words:
doleful adj. 悲哀的，忧愁的
doll n. 洋娃娃，玩偶
dolorous adj. 忧伤的，悲痛的
domain n. 领域，范围
domestic adj. 家里的，家养的;本国的，国内的
domesticate vt. 驯养，驯化
domicile n. 住所，家(指法律上的永久性)
dominant adj. 支配的，占优势的
dominate vt. 统治，支配，控制;vi. 盛行
domineer v. 压制
domineering adj. 盛气凌人的，专权的
dominion n. 领土，统治权，支配
donate vt. 捐赠
donor n. 捐赠者
doomed adj. 命定的，注定失败的
dormant adj. 静止的，休眠的
dormitory n. 宿舍
dot adj. 背部的，脊背的
dotage n. 老年糊涂
