Taking a Holiday

　　读故事

　　Over the past decade I've noticed a decline in my hearing.I decided this decrease was due to being a dairy farmer and thought I would decrease the danger of becoming completely deaf.So I planned to dash off from the farm, and take a damn good holiday on the deck of a ship for a decent period of time.My darling wife made a declaration that she would not go with me because she wanted to decorate the barn.She was concerned that the paint on the barn was in such a bad state of decay, that the neighbors might damn our farm as an eyesore.I disagreed, of course, saying that it could decay a little longer, and that I was taking a holiday even though I thought I should dam up a hole in the dam before the water rose, otherwise the water would replace the daylight in the hole.She seemed to turn a deaf ear to what I said, but dashed to the barn in a damn hurry.So I made a dash to the barn to continue our debate.I didn't want to be in her debt, since she was going to be looking after the farm while I was away.I knew we were in debt, but my doctor had suggested I take a break from the farm and the noisy cows.He set a deadline of two weeks before my hearing might fail.When I caught up with my darling at the barn, she was telling her pet cow that she didn't want to deceive me, and she wanted to go too, but we had too much debt and the sales of dairy products were declining too, according to recent data.To this, I couldn't debate.

　　记单词

　　dairy 牛奶场，乳品店a 乳制品的

　　dam 坝，提vt 筑堤(坝)挡住

　　damn 该死的，可恶的

　　ad 极，非常int [表示愤怒、厌烦、轻蔑等]该死，讨厌n 丝毫，一点点vt 1. [用于诅咒]该死; 2. 严厉批评

　　darling 1. [用作称呼]亲爱的; 2. 心爱的人，可爱的人a 可爱的，心爱的

　　dash 猛冲，飞奔vt 猛掷，使猛撞n 1. 猛冲，飞奔; 2. 破折号

　　dash off 1. 迅速离去; 2. 迅速写(或画)

　　data 数据，资料

　　daylight 日光，白昼

　　deadline 期限

　　deaf 1. 聋的; 2. 不愿听的，装聋的

　　turn a deaf ear不愿听，充耳不闻

　　debate 辩论，争论

　　debt 欠款，债务，负债

　　in debt欠债，负债

　　in sb’s debt欠某人的人情

　　decade 十年，十年期

　　decay 1. 腐烂，腐朽; 2. 衰败，衰退，衰落n 1. 腐烂，腐朽; 2. 衰败(或衰退)状态

　　deceive 欺骗，蒙蔽

　　decent 1. 像样的，过得去的，体面的; 2. 宽厚的，大方的; 3. 正派的，合乎礼仪的，得体的

　　deck 甲板，层面

　　declaration 1. 宣布，宣告; 2. 宣言，声明(书); 3. 申报

　　decline 下降，减少，衰退vi 1. 下降，减少; 2. 衰退，衰落; 3. 谢绝，拒绝vt 谢绝，拒绝

　　decorate 装饰，装潢

　　decrease 减小，减少

　　在过去的十年里，我发现自己的听力在下降。我认为听力的下降是因为在牛奶场干农活引起的，我想我得减少完全变聋的危险。于是我计划迅速离开农场，度一个非常惬意的假期，在船甲板上过上一段极其像样的日子。可我亲爱的妻子却宣布她不会与我同去，因为她要把牲口棚装修一下。她担心的是牲口棚的油漆已严重脱落，邻居们会批评我们的农场太难看。我当然不同意，并说让它再脱落一阵子也没有什么大碍，我说即使我得在水涨上来之前筑堤挡住坝上的洞，否则到时洞里透的就不是日光而是洪水了，可我还是要去度假。她对我的话好像充耳不闻，只顾朝牲口棚飞奔而去。我也非常快地跑过去，想继续我们的争论。我可不想欠她的人情，因为如果我一走她就得照看农场。我知道我们欠了债，可大夫建议我离开农场和闹哄哄的牛群，休息一阵子。他为我定了两个星期的期限，到时我就会完全听不见声音了。当我追到牲口棚时，我心爱的人正在跟她的宠牛说她不想欺骗我，她也想去，可我们债务缠身，而最近的资料表明乳制品的销售量又一直在下降。听到这里，我再也无法与她争论了。