时间:2018-11-29 作者:英语课 分类:四级晨读英语美文


英语课

Student Rags


Student rags is a ‵well established practice|associated ‵particularly with older Universities of students|mounting some sort of pageant|and collecting money for charity. From the students’ point of view|it is a ‵festive occasion. They ‵think up themes|and ‵decorate a float|(a truck with a flat loading area)|to represent their concept — perhaps a pirate ship, an operating theatre, a coal mine|or something topical and humorous. Then the group of students| associated with that float|‵dresses up to sustain the impression. The Rag Day is ‵often held in February|when it is ‵still decidedly cold, but this does ‵not seem to deter 1 the girls|from dressing 2 in the flimsiest of garments as mermaids 3 or grass-skirted Nawacan maidens 4, or the lads from turning out as cave men|and the like. There is usually a ‵magazine for the occasion; its contents being ‵mainly humorous|and vulgar, for students feel|that they are given license|for some mild misbehavior.


In this connection|they indulge in ‵certain stunts 5, for example the ‵kidnapping of local personalities|or people of the entertainment world — who ‵rather like the publicity 6 anyway, or climbing public buildings, for example to put a ‵chamber pot on top|of a steeple. The authorities can be vexed 7 with|the ‵more outrageous 8 of the capers 9, for example|painting statues, for it is ‵expensive to clean off the paint, but ‵lesser liberties|such as throwing bags of flour|at policemen are tolerated — ‵only just. So, students ‵let off steam|and ‵enjoy a sense of camaraderie 10, the public is entertained|and contributes by buying magazines|or putting money in collecting boxes. And ‵eventually the cash collected finds its way|into local charitable organizations. The students ‵usually have a Grand Ball|which is often fancy dress ‵too, and this finishes off a strenuous 11 day.


There was a time|when student life was ‵more privileged and leisurely 12, and perhaps the pressures today|give ‵less scope for participation 13. Also many students ‵lack the will|to accept social burdens, so there is ‵always something of a struggle these days|to find volunteers for the work involved. Nevertheless ‵each year sees effort coalescing|so that in the end the ‵familiar procession|winds its way through the streets, the public lines the route, ‵weirdly dressed students thrust collecting boxes|under citizens’ noses|and ‵cajole them to part with some money.

学生破衣节


学生破衣节这种做法早已固定下来,与一些老牌大学特别有关系,学生们准备游行和筹集慈善款。从学生的观点看,这是节日场面。他们构思出各种主题,装饰彩车(一般是平板卡车)来表现自己的想法——也许是海盗船、手术台、煤矿,或是某种反映现实而幽默的东西。然后与那辆彩车有关的一组学生,打扮化装起来,加强效果。破衣节往往在2月间举行,那个时候天气仍十分寒冷,但这似乎阻挡不住姑娘们穿上极薄的衣服,打扮成鱼美人,或身披草裙的纳瓦肯少女,小伙子们也冒着天寒装扮成穴居人之类。节日期间通常会编有一本专门的杂志,内容大都幽默庸俗,学生们感到得到了做些许小出格行为的许可。


在这一点上,他们热衷于某种噱头,例如绑架当地名流,或娱乐界人士——这些人本来就颇喜欢抛头露面嘛,或者攀登公共建筑物,如把夜壶放在教堂尖塔上。当局对那些过分的恶作剧(例如涂抹塑像,清除油漆花费很大)可能大为恼火,但小一点的冒犯(如向警察扔面粉袋)还是能够被忍受的——仅此为止。就这样,学生们拼命地发泄,尽情享受着友情,公众得到了娱乐,通过买杂志或捐款来捧场。筹得的现款最终归于当地的慈善机构。学生们常举行盛大舞会,通常是化妆舞会,以此结束这令人兴奋的一天。


学生生活曾经一度享有特权,颇为悠闲。然而也许是因为如今过大的压力使得学生没有机会过多的参与其中,而且许多学生缺乏接受社会重担的意志,所以近年来寻找有关工作的志愿者总是很费事。然而每年都有人齐心协力,最后那条熟悉的游行队伍总会绕过大街小巷,公众总是夹道欢迎。身穿奇装异服的学生们把募捐箱塞到公民的鼻子底下,哄骗他们慷慨解囊。



1 deter
vt.阻止,使不敢,吓住
  • Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
  • Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。
2 dressing
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
3 mermaids
n.(传说中的)美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )
  • The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
  • This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白
4 maidens
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功,少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
5 stunts
n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 );(广告中)引人注目的花招;愚蠢行为;危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长],抑制,妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )
  • He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
  • The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 publicity
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
7 vexed
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论
  • The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
  • He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 outrageous
adj.无理的,令人不能容忍的
  • Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
  • Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。
9 capers
n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 );刺山柑v.跳跃,雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 )
  • I like to fly about and cut capers. 我喜欢跳跳蹦蹦闹着玩儿。 来自辞典例句
  • He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句
10 camaraderie
n.同志之爱,友情
  • The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
  • Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板,偶尔才和下属互动一下;有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。
11 strenuous
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的
  • He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
  • You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。
12 leisurely
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
13 participation
n.参与,参加,分享
  • Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
  • The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。
学英语单词
3-Sulfoalanine
absolute and relative of contradiction
adenosin (A,Ado)
air-bag
allis shad
amblyproct
anterior-posterior points combination
average forecast
awake from
Ballygarrett
beam scale
Boltzmann's equation
booked stop
brand-marketing
brick condenser
Cayenne pepper grains
chaffee
Charpentier, Gustave
chromoleucites
classica
coal petrography
coleby
comparative adjectives
consumable electro arc furnace
Contrasto, Colle del
coral master (spain)
denitrated collodion
dosage compensation (muller 1932)
dried floral
drinkwaters
Egyptian furniture
enfoldings
evections
financial management initiative (fmi)
forward linkage
fourcher
general theory of relativities
genus proboscideas
gone through the mill
graphicomassa hanleyi
greenfinger
gyrosynchrotron radiation
hand den
have one's gruel
hearsease
heat-checking
hebecarpus
Hexamethyleneimine
hold paint
horsetrade
hypotensions
ink box
intragemmal nerve plexus
knock-out
lepay
levopropylhexedrine
liquid bitumen
lower light
manual catching
maximum recording thermometer
memoize
Mithren
mobard
model uncertainty
molecule-sized
morchellas
multi-ports
nonaccepting
nuclear-electric propulsion
Obila
paper-disk chromatography
parallel play
paraspecific anti-venom
parent involvement
polishing wheel
priesthood
private-viewing
Puddle slut
put A into B
rationing system
re serve
re-entry profile
Received Pronunciation
round-up function
safety winding
Salmonella georgia
shifted diagonal
shopless
sinter rim
sluttifying
small-scale integration
space communication network
spacing container
split straw
sport esthetics
symbols of money
the-ch
tike
to grease
trial range
wave-number spectrum
zelenka