胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯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.
“我們應該等水都蒸發(fā)了在繼續(xù)干。”特里說。特里對自己的工作要求很嚴。他和馬特正在這一帶挖掘化石。特里再大學里學人類進化學，而且成績突出。但這和用自己的眼睛去發(fā)現(xiàn)食物不是一回事。他醉心于發(fā)現(xiàn)一種能證明進化鏈存在的東西。
“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.
“難道你不相信進化論嗎?還要找化石來證明?”馬特問。他也是個成績杰出的學生，但他缺乏耐心。他來自以一個小城，那里樹木常青，但沒人想上大學。馬特是個例外。但是，今天并不是什么重要日子，所以馬特對整個挖掘工作有些厭煩了。
“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.
“你不相信嗎?”特里反問道。特里是有些懷疑人是否從簡單細胞生物體演變而來，但他不想承認自己在懷疑。
“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.
“這是推托之辭。”馬特說。馬特知道特里為什么逃避回答，因為馬特自己也不知道確切的答案。馬特在學校里學過很多理論，但有一些實在難以相信。上周，一個教授講起宇宙的最終毀滅。馬特現(xiàn)在仍搞不清楚教授是在夸大其辭還是在實話實說。
“Imagine being a caveman and having to eviscerate a dinosaur with your bare hands,” Terry said.
“想想我們是穴居野人，不用任何器械，必須用雙手掏出一只恐龍的內臟，怎么樣?”馬特說。
“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.
“這使我們想起我們上一頓飯。”馬特說。他指的是過去的兩天中一直在吃的烤野兔。在馬特看來，進化鏈中最高級的生物體吃這個不合適。事實上，它已經加重了他的胃潰瘍。他迫不及待得要回到文明社會中去。于是請求特里：“我們就不能回家嗎?”
“Sure we can,” replied Terry. “Eventually.”
“當然能，”馬特回答，“最終我們會回去的。”
Words:
evaporate v. (使)蒸發(fā)，消失
evasion n. 逃避
evasive adj. 逃避的，推脫的
eventful adj. 發(fā)生許多事情的，充滿大事的;重大的，重要的
eventual adj. 最終的
eventually adv. 終于
evergreen n. 常綠的;adj.常綠樹，常綠植物
eviscerate vt. 取出內臟;除去主要部分
evoke vt. 引起，激起，喚起
evolution n. 發(fā)展，演變
evolutionary adj. 發(fā)展的，變化的
evolve v. 進化，發(fā)展
exacerbate vt. 使加重，惡化
exact adj. 精確的，準確的
exacting adj. 苛求的，要求嚴格的
exaggerate v. 夸大，夸張
exalted adj. 崇高的，高貴的
excavate vt. 挖掘，挖出
excel vi. 勝過，杰出
exception n. 例外
exceptional adj. 異常的，杰出的
