胡敏读故事记托福词汇064：有关盐的故事 A Salty Story
“I hereby depute you to handle my affairs during my absence,” announced my boss, as he handed me the keys. “I know that with you at the helm, I won’t need to worry about returning to a derelict business. Whatever you do, don’t let the stress derange your mind.”
“我特派你代理我出门期间的一切事物。”我的老板一边递给我钥匙，一边宣布。“我确信由你在这里掌舵，我就不用担心在此期间业务被荒废。但无乱如何，不能让压力使得你精神错乱。”
“I’m already deranged, are you sure you want to designate me as your deputy?” I asked, deriding myself.
“我已经精神错乱了。你真的想任命我为你的代理人吗?”我带着自嘲的口气问。
“Your attempt at derision will not deter me,” he replied with a laugh. “You deserve the promotion.” He gave me a par on the back and descended he stairs.
“尽管你企图自嘲自谦，但这也阻挡不了我做出以上决定。”他回答时大笑起来，“你应该得到提升。”说完拍拍我的背，下楼梯去了。
“Wow, ”I said to myself. “I can’t believe he left me in control of this desalination plant.”
“哇!”我自言自语，“真难以相信他让我掌管这个脱盐厂。”
We use a special process in this plant to derive fresh water from salt water. The derivative is good enough to drink, although I have heard some derogatory comments about the taste.
我们厂利用特殊工艺从盐水中提取淡水。尽管我听到有人对提纯水的味道颇有微词，但它喝起来还相当不错。
I have been told that I am a descendant of the person who came up with the idea for this process. He was of British descent. The story is that he ran out of water just after crossing a desert. At the edge of the desert, he came across a deserted church. There was no fresh water to be found, only a small well of salty desert water. Desperate for drinking water, he used holy objects to make a simple desalination device. The device was able to desiccate the salty water and to condense the moisture into drinkable water.
有人告诉我，我就是那个发明这个提取工艺的人的后裔，他有英国血统，故事是这样的：一次他在快要穿过沙漠的时候发现自己没水了。在沙漠的边缘地带，他碰巧发现了一个被遗弃的教堂。那里没有淡水，只有一口小井，还是含盐的沙漠之水。他拼命地想喝到水，情急之下，就用供神用的东西做了一个简易的脱盐装置。这个装置能先把盐水蒸干，再让水蒸气冷凝成可饮用的水。
People say that God must have forgiven him for desecrating the holy objects. I think so too.
他亵渎了圣物，但人们说上帝想必一定已经原谅他了。我也这样认为。
Words:
depute v. 派……为代表或代理
deputy n. 代理人，代表;副手
derange vt. 扰乱，使精神错乱
deranged adj. 精神错乱的
derelict adj. 荒废的，被弃置的
deride v. 讥讽，嘲笑
derision n. 嘲笑
derivative n. 派生的事物，派生词
derive vt. 得到，获取;源于
derogatory adj. 不敬的，诽谤的
desalination n. 脱盐，去盐作用
descend v. 传下，遗传;下降
descendant n. 子孙，后裔
descent n. 下降;血统，世袭
desecrate v. 污染，亵渎
desert n. 沙漠; vt. 遗弃
deserted adj. 荒芜的，荒废的
deserve vt. 应得
desiccate v. (使)干涸，脱水
designate vt. 指定，任命
