胡敏读故事记托福词汇103：烟熏壁画 The Fumigated Fresco
Michael frowned as he looked at the unusual piece of artwork. A freighter had brought it in yesterday along with other works of art. There had been a mad frenzy over the other art pieces but nobody seemed to like this unusual piece. Michael wondered how they were able to cut the painting from the wall and keep the picture in one piece. He turned to Teddy and asked, “What do you think of this old fresco?”
迈克尔看着那副不同寻常的美术作品，皱起了眉。昨天，一架运输机把它和其他一些艺术品一起带来了。对其他艺术品，大家表现极为激动，但似乎没有人喜欢这幅与众不同的画。迈克尔想知道他们如何能把画从墙上切下来，并且保持画面完整无缺。他转向泰迪，问道：“你觉得这幅古老的壁画怎么样?”
“The people portrayed in the painting look interesting,” Teddy replied. “The woman looks frigid and the man looks like he has been frustrated one too many times. I think you can identify with the man’s frustration. I also think it will match your frowzy room. What’s all this frost on the sides?”
“画上的人看起来很有意思，”泰迪回答，“女人看上去很冷淡，男人看来因频频受挫而沮丧不已。如果我把它挂在我的房间里，我觉得我活泼的小猫会受到惊吓而死。然而，我认为你能认同男人受到的挫折。我还觉得它和你乱七八糟的房间正好相配。那画面周边上的霜都是什么?”
“Don’t fret over it,” said Michael. “It just looks like frost. It’s white powder. The fringe of the painting was accidentally damaged by friction. They powdered it to prevent further harm. Because of the damage, they won’t charge me anything for the freight. If I buy it today, will you accuse me of frivolity.”
“别担心，”迈克尔说。“它只是看起来像霜，是白色的粉。画的边缘由于摩擦意外地损坏了。他们给它抹上粉，防止进一步破坏。因为损坏了画，他们不会让我付运费。如果我今天买它，你会不会谴责我轻浮?”
“Not at all,” said Teddy. “You’ve always been frugal. I think frugality runs in your family. You should buy it before another frenetic art lover snatcher it up.”
“一点也不会，”泰迪说。“你想来是节俭的。我觉得节俭是你家的传统。你应该在别的狂热的艺术爱好者抢到手之前把它买下。”
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. A compressed bottle of gas fulminated in front of the painting. The fumes covered it and filled the air. Michael asked. “Should I still buy it?”
突然，有一声巨大的爆炸声。一瓶压缩的气体在画面前爆炸了。浓烟罩住了画，弥漫在空气中。迈克尔问：“我还应该买它吗?”
“Absolutely,” said Teddy. “It was already cheap, and now it’s fumigated.”
“当然，”泰迪答道。“本来它就便宜，何况他又被烟熏过了。”
Words:
freight n. 船贷，货运;vt. 装货，运送
freighter n. 贷船;运输飞机
frenetic adj. 狂乱的，发狂的
frenzy n. 狂暴，狂怒极为激动的状态
fret v. (使)磨损;烦恼，焦虑
fresco n. 壁画; vt 做壁画于
friction n. 摩擦;冲突，不和
fright n. 惊骇，吃惊
frigid adj. 严寒的，冷淡的
fringe n. 边缘，边界;adj. 边缘的
frisky adj. 活泼的，精力充沛的
frivolity n. 轻浮
frost n. 霜，霜冻;vi. 结晶
frown vi. 皱眉;不赞成，反对
frowzy adj. 不整洁的，污秽的
frugal adj. 节约的，节俭的
frugality n. 节俭，俭省
frustrate vt. 挫败，破坏;使沮丧
frustration n. 挫败，挫折
fulminate v. 猛烈抨击，严厉谴责;爆炸
fume n. (浓烈或难闻的)烟，气体
fumigate vt. 烟熏，用香薰
