雅思课外读物-- The moments that made me love flying

To be honest, I usually don't either.

I recall another time when I was leaving on what was supposed to be a family vacation, and once again, my mind was on the office and unfinished projects left behind.

Moments after take-off from Chicago, I dove into work. But a passenger behind me wouldn't stop talking. “The clouds!” he kept saying, “Look at the clouds!”

I turned to glare, and saw two men, one who appeared to be in his 70s and the other much younger. I felt sorry for the travelling companion, whom I imagined was the unlucky son tasked to join his aging father on the trip. (我为这两个旅人感到遗憾，我想象，那一定是位不走运的儿子不得不带着他的老父亲在旅游。)The chatter continued for 20 minutes until, in frustration, I looked up from my glowing computer screen and opened the window shade.

The clouds!

He was right. We were floating through giant balls of cotton, soft and fluffy(毛茸茸的), each as different as a snowflake and seemingly close enough to touch. The afternoon sun provided a shifting palette(调色板)of colours: pink and salmon, red and raspberry, crimson and ivory, all set off against a royal blue sky. I closed my laptop and stared at them for the rest of the flight.

I don't remember the work I felt compelled(强迫)to complete that afternoon. But I've never forgotten those clouds.

Vocabulary

Hectic 忙乱的;发热的

Navigate 航行

Snarl 吼叫

Calculate 计算

Equation 方程式;等式

Covet 想要……，觊觎

Deplete 使枯竭，用完

Follow suit 紧随其后，效仿

Rivet 铆钉;使迷住

Invariably 一成不变地，总是

Symmetry 对称

Hypnotize 使催眠，着迷

Undulating 连绵起伏的

Topography 地形表面

Illuminate 照亮

Fluffy 毛茸茸的

Palette 调色板

Compel 强迫

读雅思真题，记基础词汇

1. Throughout the course of history, people have traveled for purposes of trade, religious conviction, economic gain, war, migration and other equally compelling motivations.(剑10T3P1)

纵观历史，人们爬山涉水，目的多样：贸易、宗教信仰、经济利益、战争、迁徙和其他种种同样紧迫的动机。

2. Shannon showed how to calculate this limit, opening the way to the design of compression methods that cram maximum information into the minimum space. (剑9T3P3)

Shannon说明了如何计算这一极限，为设计信息压缩方法从而将最大的信息量塞进最小的空间开辟了道路。

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