读故事

　　It was only when he was on the brink of a breakdown in front of his fellow cellmates that he realized he was here because of the bragging and the brawling. But that was just half of the story. No, he was here because of a bribe and a half brewed scam that required the theft of a research breakthrough and the passing of his partner's briefcase brim proprietary formulas to some shady characters.

　　Bracketed between the loss of his wife and the subsequent discovery by his peers of his breach of their confidence,it didn't take long before he fell to brandy to bury his sorrows. And it was the brandy that pushed his judgment over the brim to brag about his deceptions. The brawl with the local brigade leader came next.

　　Now it was at least three more days with no brandy before he would get past the bars of his temporary holding cell. He was brimming over with anger, sure, but he knew it was entirely his own fault for getting into this mess in the first place. And it was all because of a bribe.

　　记单词

　　bracket n.1.括号2.(年龄、收入等的)等级段，档次3.壁架，托架 vt.1.把…置于括号内2.把…归入同一类

　　brag v.自夸，吹嘘

　　brandy n.白兰地酒

　　brawl n./vi.争吵，打架

　　breach n.1.破坏，违反2.(关系的)破裂，不和3.缺口，裂口

　　vt.1.攻破，在…造成缺口2.破坏，违反

　　breakdown n.1.垮台，破裂

　　2.(健康、精神等)衰竭，衰弱3.(机器等的)损坏，故障4.分类

　　breakthrough n.突破，突破性进展，重要的新发现

　　brew vt.1.酿造(啤酒)2.冲泡(茶、咖啡等)vi.1.(茶、咖啡等)冲泡2.酝酿，行将发生n.冲泡(或酿造)的饮料

　　bribe vt.向…行贿，买通n.贿赂，行贿物

　　briefcase n.公文包，公事包

　　brigade n.1.旅(陆军编制单位)2.队，组

　　brim n.1.帽檐2.(容器的)边，边缘vi.注满，充溢

　　brim over(with)充满，洋溢

　　brink n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

　　on the brink of濒临，处于…边缘

　　只有当他在牢友们面前处于崩溃边缘时他才意识到他是因为自夸和打架来到了这里。但这只是故事的一半。不，他来这里是因为贿赂和一次策划了一半的阴谋。这次阴谋不仅要求他盗取突破性的研究成果，而且还要将同伴装满专利药品处方的公文包交给一些可疑的人。

　　妻子的死以及同事们后来发现他有破坏信用行为使他四面楚歌，很快他就开始借酒消愁。正是白兰地使他的判断力超出了边，结果使他大肆吹嘘他的欺骗行为。接着就发生了他与当地队长打架的事情。

　　现在在他走出临时牢房之前，他至少还有三天不能再喝白兰地。很显然，他充满了愤怒，但他知道搞出这么一大堆麻烦根本就是他自己的错。而所有这些都是因为贿赂。