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
All-Star games
anti-church
arithmetical computing machine
ASAT
autodriver
balancing chain
bedded quartz
beyond retrieval
biopsy guillotine needle
bird's beak
Bié, Prov.do
block anode
carius
cartographic visualization
clockwise arc
colo(u)r gamut
combination depth and angle gauge
complete combustibility
consultancy expert
convection tubes
corridor traffic management program
crib check dam
critical path and slack
date finger operating lever
de-anglicized
dissolving power
efficiency characteristic of steering gear
electrophoresis analysis
ethacetic acid
fault tag
finite iteration
forced coverage
freeboot
germanic acid
hannouche
hasslebeck
have had one too many
housenger
idling braking time
ifds
in for one's schools
injelly
Jean de Meung
jobcareer
Kersutite
L1718
laforest
linear multivariable sampled data control system
long routing
malacolac
march field maintenance
master fader
Maïgana
Medvezh'ya, Gora
megacompany
metallogenic prediction
microsomia
microsurges
mini projector
movingly
multiple purpose tester
nationality areas
osazone tests
overinfluenced
panniform
Papaver somniferum L.var. album DC.
paraphysis (pl.) paraphyses
peat soil
picture superimposition
Plan Guanajuato
plasterer bee
quartzfree porphyry
radiator header
radiodiaphane
rail gage template
reversible coagulation
schouwenburg
Sciadopityaceae
seismic risk evaluation
select objects
self-excited AC generator
sepaled
separated-function synchrotron
several judgement
situation ethics
smoked-salmon
sodium hexachloroplatinate
specific surface of soil
spuamous
step-on-coil energization
strike one's fancy
taffrail
tapering grade
terminal juncture
threshold wave length
tioperidone
total coliform
underendowed
unrealisticness
volume mole
white girl
wrong burst probability