胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯146：一座奇跡般的磚石建筑 a marvelous bit of masonry
My maid Matthew has always been a bit of maverick. His No.1 macsome appears to be “look out for No.1”, by that expression, he means himself. He does whatever he thinks is right, and he offers his comments on whatever comes into his mind. He even wrote to the Los Angeles zoo not so long ago to offer his suggestions on getting their reluctant giant pandas to mate.
我的丈夫馬修一直是個有點不遵守傳統(tǒng)的人。他的人生格言好像是“努力爭取拿第一”(這句話是他對自己說的)。他會做任何一件自己認為是對的事情，他對自己想到的任何一件事情發(fā)表看法。前不久他甚至為了大熊貓不愿交配的問題還寫信給洛杉磯動物園，對此提出了他的建議。
Matthew can afford to do his own thing. He came into a large inheritance when he was still quite young. One of his prime pieces of real estate is a villa outside of town above the marsh by the sea. It is a marvelous and matchless masterpiece, a marvel of late 19th century Neel Gothic architecture. One can only stand and marvel at the mind of the mason who brought this artistry into being.
馬修能夠做自己想做的事情。他很年輕的時候就得到一大筆遺產(chǎn)。他的財產(chǎn)中最主要的一宗是小鎮(zhèn)外海邊濕地以上的一棟別墅。那是一件不可思議并且無可比擬的杰作，一個19世紀末期新哥特式建筑的罕見的例子。面對這一奇跡，你只能為石匠師傅的創(chuàng)意所折服，是他把這一藝術(shù)珍品奉獻于世的。
A masker of Matthew’s grandfather graces the main entrance, and the matching drawing is found in the villa’s cavernous library. Sadly the villa stands empty much of the time, as Matthew does not seem to be able to find the time to care for its upkeep. Every once in a while therefore a piece of masonry will drop off its massive facade.
大門口馬修爺爺?shù)拿婢邽殚T廳增光添色，與之相配的圖畫掛在別墅寬敞深遂的圖書館里。可惜的是，別墅里沒有什么擺設(shè)，因為馬修好像沒有時間來保養(yǎng)它。因此，偶爾會有一塊石片從龐大的建筑物外表脫落下來。
The marsh expands below was the scene of March marshal activity during the war of independence. Soldiers would march off to marine engagements with Britain, that great marry time nation. Newly-weds, many of them, marital bless was abruptly cut short by marshal endeavor.
下面大片的沼澤地是獨立戰(zhàn)爭時進行很多軍事活動的場所。士兵們會從此出發(fā)去和海上強國——強大的英國進行海戰(zhàn)。他們中很多人是剛結(jié)婚的，婚姻的幸福突然由于軍事行動中止了。
Words
marine adj. 海報的，航海的，海產(chǎn)的
marital adj. (有關(guān))婚姻的
maritime adj. 海上的，海事
marsh n. 濕地，沼澤
marshy adj. 沼澤的
martial n. 軍事的
marvel n. 奇異的事物，罕見的例子 v. 驚奇，驚異
marvelous adj. 不可思議，了不起
mask n. 面具 v. 掩蓋，掩飾
mason n. 石匠
masonry n. 石工術(shù)，石匠職業(yè)，泥瓦磚石結(jié)構(gòu)
massive adj. 大而重的，龐大的，可觀的
masterpiece n. 杰作，名著
matching adj. (尤指顏色或外表)相配的，一致的
matchless adj. 無敵的，無比的
mate v. 交配 n. 配偶，丈夫妻子
maverick adj. 獨行的，不遵守傳統(tǒng)的
maxim n. 格言，普通真理
