胡敏读故事记托福词汇068：新来的学生 The New Student
“She’s very stylish and she can speak several Latin dialects,” Jane commented. “Did you see her wearing that elegant diaphanous jacket today? The sheer material diffuses the light like a diamond. I heard that she is major in dietetics.”
“她很时髦，还能说几种拉丁方言。”简评论道。“今天你看见她穿的夹克衫了吗?雅致又透明，那透明的料子散发出光来，像钻石一样亮。我听说她是学营养学的。”
“She’s as pretty as a dictator’s wife,” replied Mary. “However, I’m more impressed with her dialectic method of thinking in philosophy class. She’s very clever. Yesterday, she explained the dichotomy between the active principle of yang and the passive principle of yin. I have no doubt she would make a good dietitian. She’s so slim. She must be on a special low-fat diet.”
“她和独裁者的妻子一样漂亮。”玛丽回答，“但给我留下更深印象的是哲学课上她辩证的思维方式。她很聪明。昨天她解释了‘阳’的主动原则与‘阴’的被动原则之间的本质对立。毫无疑问她会成为优秀的营养学家。她很苗条，一定在吃一种特别的低脂肪食物。”
“I think she’s as ugly as a frog,” said Sally. “Maybe she can speak several dialects but she probably has very poor diction. If I had the dictatorial power in a dictatorship, I would dictate that she be kept in detention for appearing too pretentious. Besides, I’ve seen her eat a lot of junk food that is bad for digestion. My guess is that she doesn’t digest it. She probably does a lot of vomiting. Her digestive system must be in terrible shape.”
“我看她丑得像只青蛙。”莎莉说，“也许她能讲几种方言，但可能用词不当。我如果拥有独裁政治的专断权，我会命令把她关起来，罪名是外表炫耀做作。此外，我还见她吃很多不利于消化的垃圾食品。我想她消化不了，可能会大量呕吐。她的消化系统肯定出于紊乱状态。”
“Sally, that was an unwarranted diatribe against her!” Jane said with a laugh. “You’re just jealous because the diameter of your stomach is probably twice that of her stomach. Remember the dictum our professor taught us, ‘diffidence leads to envy which gives rise to spite.’”
“莎莉，你讽刺她是无正当理由的。”简大笑着说，“你只是嫉妒罢了，因为你肚子的直径可能是她肚子的两倍。记住教授告诉我们的名言：‘缺乏自信会导致嫉妒，进而产生怨恨。’”
Sally rolled her eyes. “I hate her because all the men I like are attracted to her. I’d be less diffident if the men wouldn’t differentiate between us all the time.”
莎莉眼珠子一转，说：“我讨厌她是因为所有我喜欢的男人都被她吸引去了。如果男人们一向区分不出我们两，我就不会那么缺乏自信了。”
Words:
dialect n. 方言，土话
dialectic n. 辩证法;adj. 辩证的
diameter n. 直径
diaphanous adj. 透明的，精致的
diatribe n. (口头或书面猛烈的)谴责，讽刺
dichotomy n. 一分为二，本质对立
dictate vt. 命令，规定;决定，确定
dictator n. 独裁者
dictatorial adj. 独裁的，专断的
dictatorship n. 独裁政治，专政
diction n. 措辞，用语
dictum n. 声明，名言
diet n. 饮食，食物;保健菜单;vi. 节食，忌食
dietitian n. 营养学家
dietetics n. 营养学
differentiate v. 区分，区别
diffidence n. 缺乏自信
diffident adj. 羞怯的，缺乏自信的
diffuse v. 扩散;散播; adj. 散开的，弥漫的
digest vt. 消化
digestion n. 消化
digestive adj. 消化的;助消化的
