时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:趣谈英语


英语课
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
 
the turn of the century: the end of one century and the beginning of a new one
social status: a person’s importance in society (often linked to wealth)
plume 1: a long feather
the Everglades: a swampy 2 grassland 3 area in southern Florida
socialite: a person who is popular in society and often hosts or attends social events
destructive 4: damaging
exclusive 5: only available to certain people
 

Feathers Were More Valuable Than Gold
At the turn of the 20th century, hats with feathers were very fashionable for women. These hats reflected a woman’s social status. The more feathers you had on your hat the better. These hats were even popular for the middle class. In fact, feathered hats were so fashionable that plume hunters killed about 5 million birds per year in Florida’s Everglades. Feathers were more valuable per weight than gold. A socialite from Boston realized how destructive the fashion was to bird populations and decided 6 to do something about it. She took note of all the women who had the most feathers in their hats and invited them to tea parties. As she won their trust, she encouraged them to remove their hats and join an exclusive organization for people interested in the protection of birds.


1 plume
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰
  • Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
  • He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。
2 swampy
adj.沼泽的,湿地的
  • Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
  • An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。
3 grassland
n.牧场,草地,草原
  • There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
  • The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。
4 destructive
adj.破坏(性)的,毁灭(性)的
  • In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
  • It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。
5 exclusive
adj.不包括的,不算在内的,独有的,独享的
  • The hotel charges 6 pounds a day,exclusive of meals.这家旅馆一天收六英镑,不包括饭钱。
  • This bathroom is for the President's exclusive use.这间浴室是总统专用的。
6 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
学英语单词
abscess-formation
acieral
address relocation memory
adenosine triphosphate synthetase
after-draft
aid to foreign countries
anyway
army rifle
aspiration-arthrography
asteroidical
Aswa R.
Aulemba
bank pier
beatrizs
biological science
blepharicerinae taiwanica
bromo-geramine
built-in appliance
cleaning-woman
collegiality
composite video mixing
coordinate setting drilling machine
digital nerve block anesthesia
dispersed movement pattern
dive to chest
donelans
dry mash
eccentricity of earth
edge-of-the-seat
excess demand curve
exposed stem correction
exterminations
fan-back
fastness to fume fading
field modulation
fixed belt conveyor
foamability
gamma-ray spectrometry in borehole
gauthe
german-american
haematocinite
haremlik
Hillebrandia
IMSplex
indef.
independent wholesaler
interactive user-computer communication
isoobtusol
kareems
Khobda
length of heat
letdown tank
long-range data
machine tray
main file
moneyfied
monzie
nebula adrenalinae
ngarara
nitrous
nonloaded line
Notsuke-suidō
Npower
nuclear liability
paleophrenia
pelletized cargo
photodiscs
plaunotols
pomp and circumstance
poste restantes
pre-plodder
pulsed Doppler fuze
put someone under
quadrivia
reflection factor meter
roadbuildings
rolled steel products
rubber baby buggy bumpers
saganaki
saw-dust
shenyangs
shop-welded connection
storymercial
Strathdon
subungual keratosis
super noise
sweepy
system eigenvalue
technical areas
tentacular cartilage
theaism
third-world-debts
tit bits
Tolerant-tree
top slicing
transfering enzyme
turbo-charged engine
unvigorous
very high frequency tuner
vila nova da barquinha
washout
Zorana