胡敏读故事记托福词汇23：人类比较好的朋友 Man’s Best Friend
Lesson 23 Man’s Best Friend 人类最好的朋友
Mr. Rich was a wealthy man and a great benefactor to the community. During his lifetime, he bestowed many gifts upon the poor and disabled. His sudden death bereaved us all of his unique wisdom and benign sense of humor. He would always be remembered for being a kind and benevolent man. Besides that, he would also be remembered for trying to keep peace among his relatives.
瑞奇先生是个有钱人，也是这个社区的一大行善者。他一生中为穷人和残疾人捐赠了许多礼物。他的猝死让我们所有人再也无法拥有他那独特的智慧和亲切的幽默。我们将永远铭记他的善良和慷慨。除此之外，我们还将记住他为维持亲属间和睦关系所作出的努力。
However, it wasn’t long before Mr. Rich relatives began to bicker over who should inherit his money. The fighting was not beneficial to anyone. They berated each other for being selfish and beseeched the court to grant a reading of the will. The bicameral court assigned the reading of the will to its superior branch and scheduled the reading for Monday. On Monday morning, the horde of people besieged the superior courthouse. The relatives who believed they would be beneficiaries gathered in front of the judge’s bench. They were anxious to hear what benefits of bequest they would receive. Beverages were served to keep everyone cool and comfortable.
然而，瑞奇先生死后不久，他的诸多亲属就开始为分财产而争吵不休。争吵对任何人都没有好处。他们责骂彼此的自私，并恳求法院准许他们阅读一次遗嘱。两院制法院将这一事宜交给了两院中的最高级法院处理，并定于周一读遗嘱。周一上午，一大堆人将高级法院挤了个水泄不通。那些自认为会是遗产受益人的亲友们聚集在法官席前，他们急着想知道自己将得到的好处或者说遗产。法庭上还端来了饮料，让他们凉爽些、舒服些。
Finally, the judge entered the room and sat down. The will, which had been sealed, lay beneath him. Reaching down, he picked up the will and unsealed it. The he read it along.
最后，法官终于走出法院，坐下身来，那份密封了的遗嘱就躺在他眼皮子底下。他伸出手，拿起遗嘱，将它拆开。然后，大声念道：
“Greeting to everyone. I know that all of you are probably arguing over how much money you should receive from me. Please don’t feel betrayed when I say, among you, there isn’t a single selfless person without a bias. For this reason, I have decided to bequeath my entire fortune to the only loyal friend that I have, Ralph. Ralph, you’re the finest friend and pet dog a man could ever have!”
“大家好。我知道你们大家可能会正在为分我的遗产吵得不可开交。请不要感觉受到背叛，如果我说你们中间没有一个既无偏见又无私心的人。正因为这样，我已决定将我的所有财产留给我唯一拥有的忠实朋友——拉尔夫。拉尔夫，你是一个人有生以来可能拥有的最好的朋友和最好的爱犬。”
Words:
beneath prep./adv. 在……之下
benefactor n. 行善者，捐助者
beneficial adj. 有益的，有利的
beneficiary n. (礼物、馈赠等的)受益者，(遗产的)受益人
benefit n. 利益，好处;vt. 得意，得到好处
benevolent adj. 慈善的，仁义的
benign adj. (人)亲切和蔼的;(病)良性的
bequeath n. 遗赠，遗留
bequest n. 遗产，遗物
berate v. 猛烈责骂
bereave v. 剥夺，夺去
beseech v. 恳求，祈求
besides adv. 除了…..还有
besiege vt. 围攻;拥在…周围;围住;困扰
bestow vt. 给予，赐赠(祝福、奖励、荣誉等)
betray vt. 背叛;(非故意地)暴露，显露
beverage n. (除水之外的)饮料
bias n. 偏见，偏好
bicameral adj. 两院制的，有两个议院的
bicker vi. 口角，斗嘴
