minister牧師,illustrate闡述,pipe用嗓子尖聲說話
笑話原文】
What's His Number?
Each Sunday the minister called the children to the front of the church while he told them a story. Once he brought a telephone to better illustrate the idea of prayer.
"You talk to people on the telephone and don't see them on the other end of the line, right?' he began. The children nodded yes. "Well, talking to God is like talking on the telephone. He's on the other end, but you can't see him. He is listening, though."
Just then, a little boy piped up and asked, "What's his number?"
中文譯文】
他的號碼是多少?
每個星期日,牧師給孩子們講故事時,都會把他們叫到教堂前面。有一次,為了更好地闡述祈禱的含義,他帶來了一部電話。
”你們和別人在電話里交談,看不到電話另一端的人,對嗎?”他開口問道。孩子們點(diǎn)頭稱是。“嗯,和上帝交談,就像在電話里交談一樣。他在另一端,但你看不到他。不過,他在聽。”
就在這時,一個小男孩尖著嗓子問道:“他的號碼是多少?”
詞匯講解】
1.minister牧師。還可以指很多種職務(wù),比如部長、大臣、外交使節(jié)、執(zhí)行者等等:Angels are ministers of the divine will.天使是神的意志的執(zhí)行者。
也可以作動詞,有“給予援助”的意思:minister to the homeless對無家可歸的人們給予援助。
2.better更好地。作為good的比較級,better是個很實(shí)用的詞,不僅可以作形容詞表示“更好的”,也可以作副詞,正如文中的句子“Once he brought a telephone to better illustrate the idea of prayer.”作動詞有“改善”的意思:Living conditions have bettered a great deal.生活條件已大有改善。也有“超過”的意思:better a record刷新紀(jì)錄
3.illustrate闡述,表明。也有“給……作插圖說明”的意思:She has illustrated a number of books.她為好幾部書加了插圖。還有“舉例說明”的意思:The subject is difficult. Permit me to illustrate.這個題目很難,請容我舉例說明。
4.prayer禱告,祈禱。My one prayer is that I don’t live to be really old.我唯一的祈望就是不要活到真正老得不行了。還有“祝愿”的意思:Whatever you decide you have my prayers.無論你決定如何,我都祝愿你。
5.nod點(diǎn)頭表示。nod one’s agreement點(diǎn)頭表示同意; nod one’s understanding點(diǎn)頭表示領(lǐng)會。還有“點(diǎn)頭叫”的意思:He nodded me out of the door.他點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭叫我出去。
6.pipe尖聲喊叫:pipe a command尖著嗓子發(fā)出命令。pipe還有很多其他含義,比如“用管子輸送”:pipe water into a house用管子送水到屋里;“吹奏”:pipe the song吹奏一首曲子