2．拟物
如：Enrolling New Students （招生）
When a young man went to the countryside to enroll new students , a patriarch(男家长) asked : “ How much do you charge for a semester?""2400 yuan ."" So expensive, it costs a donkey !" The young man said:" If your son does not go to college, you will have two donkeys sometime."
有个年轻人去农村招生，学生的家长问：“一学期多少钱？”“两千四。”“这么贵，一头驴钱啦！” 招生的说：“要不上学，你家将有两头驴啦。”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
patriarch：男家长，族长。 词根patri-（父亲）+arch(统治者)→patriarch。
同根词汇：patriarchy：父系社会，家长统治；
又，paternalism：家长作风，家长式统治。Pater（父亲）+nal+ism→paternalism
Gene Heredity (基因遗传)
A reporter interviewed a group of couples from those who all wives are fat and all husbands are thin . Husbands explained:" We like to eat the spareribs(排骨), fresh kidney beans, bean sprouts(嫩芽), and noodles vermicelli（细面条）made from bean starches." Wives explained:" We like to eat the wax gourds(冬瓜), pumpkins, potatoes and bread."
一群夫妇都是夫瘦妻胖，记者来采访造成这种现象的原因。 丈夫们说：“我们喜欢吃、豆角、豆芽、粉丝、面条。”妻子们说：“我们喜欢吃、南瓜、土豆，面包。”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
heredity ：遗传，遗传特征。Heriditary disease.（遗传病）
heritage：文化遗产。world cultural heritage.（世界文化遗产）
inheritance：遗传，遗产，继承。Inheritance tax（遗产税）
legacy：遗赠的财物，先人留下的东西。 a legacy of history.（历史遗产）
Valuables (贵重物品)
5 years old daughter liked watching TV program Lotus Lantern . Perhaps being too tired, she fell asleep on the sofa after a while. When father tried taking her in arms to the bed, at this time, she mumbled (咕噜着说) indistinctly（隐隐约约）:" Valuables, take with care."
5岁的小宝贝喜欢看《宝莲灯》，也许太累了，看了一会儿，就在沙发上睡着了。爸爸准备把她搬到床上，这时，就听她隐隐约约地说：“贵重物品，轻拿轻放。”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
grunt ：咕哝着说，有厌烦色彩。
groan：牢骚（贬义），呻吟。
murmur：低低细雨，小声抱怨。
mumble：吐字不清，声音含混。
Who Is A Congressman to the Finish? (到底谁是议员?)
Franklin commented （评论） on the election law which stipulated(规定，约定) that only rich men those who possessed the fixed income could be elected the Congressman:
" To be a Congressman, I have to own 30 dollars. Suppose that I had a donkey which was worth 30 dollars, and I was chosen for the representative(代表，代理人). But that donkey died after a year, I couldn't be the Congressman. So, who a Congressman is after all, I or a donkey?”
富兰克林在谈到只有固定收入的富人才能选进议会的选举法时说：“为了当一名议员，我得拥有三十美元。假定我有一头驴值三十美元，我就被选为代表，过了一年，那驴死了，我就不能当议员了。请问，到底谁是议员－－－我，还是驴？！”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
stipulate：规定，约定。正式语。与Provide似
stimulate：激励，刺激。E.g.
stimulate her to further effort.
Sibelius Bickers with Critic （西贝柳斯与批评家）
Finnish musician Jean Sibelius, together with a critic, took a stroll in the park; in the meantime little birds were singing sweet at the branches and twigs(嫩枝).
the critic said obliquely（拐弯抹角地）:" They are just the most talented musician in the world."
Shortly afterwards, here flew a crow, Sibelius paid tit for tat(针锋相对):" It is just the most excellent critic."
芬兰音乐家西贝柳斯同一位批评家在公园散步，这时小鸟在枝头婉转歌唱，批评家拐弯抹角地说：
“它们才是这世上最有才能的音乐家。”不一会儿一只乌鸦飞来，西贝柳斯针锋相对地说：“它才是最优秀的批评家。”
迷你小贴士——叠声词（组），复合词或词组前后发音相近，读起来有音乐感。
Tit for tat：针锋相对
Tweedledum and tweedledee：半斤八两
hum and haw：表示犹豫或支吾的嗯嗯呃呃声
cling-clang：叮当作响，铿锵声。
rat-tat, rat-a-rat, rat-tat -tat：（敲门的）砰砰声。
Flip-flop：啪嗒啪嗒地响（动）
Zigzag：弯弯曲曲
Hotch-potch：大杂烩
Criss-cross：纵横交错
Helter-skelter：慌慌张张
Shilly-shally：犹犹豫豫
Chit-chat：拉呱
Dillydally：磨磨蹭蹭
Tittle-tattle：嚼舌头，搬弄是非
Higgledy-piggledy：乱七八糟
Walkie-talkie：步话机
Zhao- liao’s Realization to Truth ( 赵缭禅悟)
Zhao- liao compiled and came out (=published) Mathematics Dictionary in Shanghai, and earned a large amount of money . His immediately used the money to buy toys for his little daughter, saying paradoxically(耐人寻味地):" Many an affair of the human life just is a plaything(玩物) originally."
赵缭在上海编纂出版了《数学辞典》，挣了一笔钱稿费。他径直用这些钱为小儿女买成了玩具，耐人寻味地说：“人
世间的诸多事情，原本是玩玩而已。”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
paradoxical：似非而是的，看似矛盾特点。
plausible：似乎合理的，嘴巧的。
Sentimentally Attached To Each Other （难解难分）
Khrushchev attended an art exhibition of abstractionist school（抽象派）, rating it unreasonably low. The painter offered an excuse that he did not understand the art, and his words found their way to Khrushchev. Khrushchev was vexed (文雅词，使人恼怒或悲哀), saying:" I did not understand it when （无动词从句） still a student, and I did not understand it when a worker. I am the General Secretary of the Soviet Union now, so I understand everything!"
When he died in 1972, Khrushchev had lost support for many years in an unfrequented courtyard， just few relatives attending his funeral. It was the abstractionist school painter who （强调判断句） designed the postmortem(死后发生的) tombstone—— half white and half black.
赫鲁晓夫参加了一个抽象派画家的画展，言辞之间评价甚低，画家推说他不懂艺术。这话传到赫鲁晓夫的耳朵里，赫鲁晓夫大为光火，说：“我当学生时不懂，我当工人时不懂，现在我是苏联的总书记，我什么都懂！”
1972年赫鲁晓夫去世时，他已经失势多年，门庭冷落，参加葬礼的只是寥寥几位亲属。他的墓碑就是那个抽象派画家设计的 —— 一半是白的一半是黑的。
迷你小贴士——谐音记忆
sentimental（感情用事的）借助谐音“三屉馒头”记
The Wright Brothers （莱特兄弟）
The United States airplane inventor the Wright brothers were not expert in(擅长) social intercourse as well as lecture. Once at a grant feast（盛宴）, the host invited Wright major to deliver an address, but Wright major said:" My younger brother is responsible for speech." Then Wright junior stood up to say :" Thank everybody, my elder brother just have lectured." The people did not let slip（放过） the Wrights. Wright junior only said:" To my knowledge, only the parrots from the birds can speak, but they never fly high."
美国飞机发明家莱特兄弟，不善于交际和演讲。有一次在某个盛宴上，主持人便请大莱特发表演说。大莱特说，“演说由弟弟负责。”于是小莱特便站起来说：“谢谢诸位，哥哥才已经演讲过了。”人们还是不放过兄弟俩，小莱特只说了这样一句话：“据我所知，鸟类中会说话的只有鹦鹉，而鹦鹉是飞不高的。”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
Banquet，Festival和Feast相似，都是指为庆祝而设的盛宴，
Party指交际性的聚会、宴会。
"Mummy, bye-bye!" （“妈妈，再见！”）
Mother used to go to work by bus No.102 , and two-years Alinda was always bidding mother adieu (向某人告别，祝一路平安)at the bus stop. Mother took Alinda to stroll a store on Sunday. Seeing a bus No. 102 approaching near, Alinda brandished(挥动) her small hand murmuring: "Mummy, bye-bye!"
妈妈常乘102路车上班，两岁的艾琳达总是赶到站牌处和妈妈再见。星期天妈妈带艾琳达去逛商店，见102路车开过，艾琳达仍挥舞着小手呢喃着：“妈妈，再见！”
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
brandish：挥动，也指在众人面前显耀以示威。
wield：对武器工具的控制，有时同brandish。
flourish：挥舞，摇旗。因高兴、胜利而挥舞。
Bulgarian Poet （保加利亚诗人）
Someone asked Bulgarian poet Odor Trayanov:＂How can I compose a superb(=splendid) poem?＂He illustrated(举例解释): ＂Have you saw the female vultures(鹫)? They lay(下蛋。鱼类产卵用spawn) three eggs each time, discarding(=throwing away) one first. Then they hatch（孵蛋） the other two into babies, just feed only one of them in the end. Learn from them, you can write a good poem. ＂
有人向保加利亚大诗人奥多尔•特拉亚诺夫求教：＂怎样才能写出一首好诗呢？＂他举例说：＂你看到过母鹫没有？它们每次生三个蛋，先丢掉一只，另两只出世后，又只给其一只喂食，精心抚养．学学他们的方法，就可写出好诗来了．＂
迷你小贴士——词形辨析
作“躺，位于，展现”讲时，lie的pt, pp, presp 分别为： lay， lain， lying
作“撒谎，骗”讲时，lie的pt, pp, presp 分别为 lied， lied， lying
作“放，涂，下蛋”讲时，lay的pt, pp, presp 分别为： laid， laid，laying
作形容词时，lay的含义为： 外行的，世俗的
作名词时，lay的含义为： （短）抒情诗，叙事诗
Courtship Art of Sokrates （苏格拉底式求偶术）
Three of students queried(=asked) Sokrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, how could find the ideal companion. Without answering directly, Sokrates asked them to just walk forward along the low bank of the wheat field to select the biggest wheat ear（穗）, only one opportunity apiece(每人).
The first disciple (徒弟)saw a big ear of wheat after just several steps, taking it off triumphantly(成功地，胜利地). When walking on forward, again he regretfully found a number of bigger and better wheat ears, brushing past him（擦肩而过）.
The second disciple was always reminding himself there were a lot of bigger ones ahead each time he found the object. When he arrived at the terminal point , he learnt all of the opportunities had missed.
The third disciple had drawn lessons(吸取教训) from two fellow apprentices. When he walked one-third distance, he divided ears of wheat into three groups: big, medium and small . Then after the second one-third distance, he verified(验证) whether it was right or not. He could not take off the big and good wheat ear until he went into the third distance. Although it was not necessarily the biggest and most beautiful one , he walks over whole distance with satisfaction.
古希腊哲学家苏格拉底的三个弟子问他，怎样才能找到理想的伴侣。苏格拉底没有直接回答，却让他们走麦田埂，只许前进，且仅给一次机会选摘一支最大的麦穗。
第一个弟子刚走几步就看见一支大麦穗，高兴地摘下了。但是他继续前进时，发现前面有许多又大又好的，只得遗憾地擦肩而过。
第二个弟子发现目标时，总是提醒自己，后面还有更好的。当他快到终点时才发现，机会全错过了。
第三个弟子吸取了前两位教训．当他走到三分之一时，即分出大、中、小三类，再走三分之一时验证是否正确，等到最后三分之一时，他选择了属于大类中的一支美丽的麦穗。虽说，这不一定是最大最美的那一支，但他满意地走完了全程。
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
disciple：（宗教、政治、艺术等领袖人物或导师的）门徒，信徒，追随者。
apprentice ：徒弟，学徒，新手。
adherent：（一政党或主义的）支持者，拥护者。
follower：信徒，追随者，拥护者。常用词。
Dark Cloud Incurs Toad （乌云招来蛤蟆）
Krylov, an allegorist（寓言作家） of Russia, had a protuberant(凸出的) stomach and a predilection for wearing black garments(文雅：衣服). Once an aristocrat saw him in the stroll, shouting out to him impertinently（粗鲁，不敬地） way:" Lo, there comes a dark cloud!"
" No wonder that the toad starts shouting!" Krylov didn't stand on ceremony in the least.
俄国寓言作家克雷洛夫身材肥胖，爱穿黑衣服。一次，一位贵族看到他在散步，便冲着他怪叫：“瞧，来了一团乌云！”
“怪不得蛤蟆开始叫了！”克雷洛夫毫不客气。
迷你小贴士——词义辨析
allegory：寓言，讽喻。
fable：寓言，虚构的故事。
parable： 道德说教性的寓言、比喻。
anecdote：逸事，轶事。
legend：传奇文学，传说。
myth：神话。特指与原始文明或宗教有关的故事。
fiction：小说，泛指一切虚构的文学作品。
romance：冒险故事，传奇，爱情小说。
novel：长篇小说。
tale：童话，故事，侧重虚构。
story：短篇小说，故事。
Crow (鸡叫)
Mother: Darling, it's time you got up. The rooster has crowed several times.
Son: It has no bearing on me, and I’m not a hen at all.
母亲：好孩子，该起床了。公鸡都叫好几遍了。
儿子：它叫它的呗，我有不是母鸡。
迷你小贴士——过去时表现在或将来
It’s time she washed that dress.
I wish you would shut up.
I would rather you published my paper on this issue.
If I were you, I would go abroad. (编辑:赵露)
（本文作者艾临，英语副教授。出版《每天幽它一默》（译著）、《英语新大陆》两部，在《中国日报》《英语沙龙》《中国成人教育》、《英语周报》、《英语辅导报》等发表论文多篇。研究方向是词汇与幽默翻译； 喜欢诗歌、旅游、历史与国际关系，发表诗作、游记、国际观察等数百首/篇）