英语短文精读【22】吸血鬼，引起世界恐慌的幻想 Vampire Scare

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【开篇小问】

下面那一项表示“吸血鬼”的意思？
a. vamper
b. vampire
c. blondie
d. blonde

答案：b.

吸血鬼，引起世界恐慌的幻想

自从十九世纪末，英国作家Bram Stoker创作出他的经典小说《德古拉伯爵》之后，吸血鬼的形象就在流行文化中占据了举足轻重的地位，一夜之间以次为主题的恐怖片、小说和漫画书都出现了，全世界至今仍有数不清的“鬼迷”对这个幻想出来的形象痴迷不已。

We tend to imagine vampires（吸血鬼） as bat-like creatures（生物） dressed in black capes （斗篷）with high collars（领子）. Tales of vampires exist in abundant（大量的） variety all over the world, but the richest folklore（民间传说） is probably found among the peoples of eastern Europe.

人们都倾向于把吸血鬼想象成蝙蝠似的动物，穿着高领的黑斗蓬。许许多多形形色色的吸血鬼故事流传于世界各地，但最生动的民间故事来源于东欧。

Vlad Dracul, or”Vlad Impaler”, ruled Wallachia between 1456 and 1476. He had a reputation（名声） for the most barbaric（野蛮的） acts of cruelty. Dracul, whose name means “son of the dragon”, allegedly had thousands of people killed by impaling them on wooden stakes（木桩）.

瓦拉•德古又名“刺穿人瓦拉”，1456-1476年间统治Wallachia，他的残酷和野蛮尽人皆知。德古是“龙之子”的意思。传说中他曾经将几千人定死在木桩上。

Vampires were identified by handing out garlic in church and observing who did not eat it. Unfortunate people thought to be vampires were certain to meet with a very unpleasant end.

人们在教堂内分发大蒜，谁没吃蒜，就认为谁是吸血鬼。被视为吸血鬼的倒霉跪下场凄惨。

One major scare in the 1700s only died out when Austria’s Empress Marie Theresa declared（公开宣布） that vampires did not exist, and banned（禁止） the opening of graves（墓穴）.

十七世纪的大恐慌终于在奥地利女王马丽•德瑞莎宣告吸血鬼不存在，而且禁止开棺之后结束。

【世博读书笔记】

1．keen是形容词，意思是“热衷的；渴望的”，如：
Mrs. Miller is very keen on art.
米勒太太对艺术很感兴趣。
She is very keen to visit Canada.
她渴望访问加拿大。

短语be keen on sth./sb.意思是“热爱、渴望某种事物；对某人感兴趣”，如：
Jessie is keen on sports, especially cricket and rugby.
Jessie热爱运动，尤其是板球和橄榄球。

2．have有“使,让;招致”的意思，所以许多被动语态的句子，都可以用sb. have sth. done的句子来表达，如：
Pa's had his hands burned.
爸的手给烫伤了。
I've had the stove lighted.
我已经让人把炉子点着了。

【世博句型留言板】

have a reputation for sth.
某人因某事而闻名，人尽皆知

The store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.
该店买卖公平,声誉极佳。

Michael has a reputation for being difficult to work with, but I think he is fairly easy-going.
人们都说与麦克共事很难，可我却觉得他相当平易近人。

练习：
1．这间网上店铺在这个社区（community）内已建立（establish）了名声。
2．她是有名的冷冰冰。

练习答案：
1．This online-shop has established a good reputation in the community.
2．She has a reputation for being cool.