51_Reward_for_Virtue

51 Reward for Virtue¶

My friend, Hugh, has always been fat, but things got so bad recently that he decided to go on a diet. He began his diet a week ago. First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which were forbidden. The list included most of the things (that) Hugh loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Hugh was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room and hurriedly hid(hide) a large parcel under his desk. It was obvious that he was very embarrassed. When I asked him what he was doing, he smiled guiltily and then put the parcel on the desk. He explained that his diet was so strict that he had to reward himself occasionally. Then he showed me the contents of the parcel. It contained five large bars of chocolate and three bags of sweets!

Words¶

go /ɡo/ on /ɑn/ a /ə/ diet /ˈdaɪət/ 节食
led /lɛd/ lead, 引领
hurriedly /ˈhɝidli/ 迅速地
parcel /ˈpɑrsəl/ 包裹
embarrassed /ɪmˈbɛrəst/ 尴尬
guiltily /ˈɡɪltɪlɪ/ 内疚
strict /strɪkt/ 严格的
reward /rɪˈwɔrd/ 奖励
occasionally /əˈkeʒənəli/ 偶尔

Expressions¶

go on a diet = be on a diet 节食
forbid sb. to do sth. 禁止某人做某事
a be strict with b a对b严格
First of all,... 首先……
write out a long list of ... 列出一长串……
pay sb. a visit ring the bell 拜访某人；按门铃
was not surprised to see that... 看到……并不惊讶
It was obvious that ... 很明显……