情景对话：

A: Has Mary passed the entrance examination to the university?

玛丽考上大学了吗？

B: No, her second failure in the exam rang the knell of her wish to be a college student.

她参考的第二次失败使她想成为大学生的愿望彻底破灭了。

A: What will she do then?

那她打算怎么办？

B: She wants to find a job first.

她想先找份工作。

1. 词海识贝

ring the knell of

exp. To foreshadow, signal, announce, or proclaim the end or ruin of something. （宣布……的毁灭，宣告…….的毁灭）

e.g. The arrival of large supermarkets rung the knell of the local shop.

大型超市的落成宣告了当地小店的末日。

e.g. An uproarious applause rang the knell of slavery in this country forever.

一阵喧嚣的喝彩声宣告这个国家的奴隶制度永远地结束了。

2. 语汇积累

1. failure in：……的失败

e.g. His failure in the exam has knocked all the stuffing out of him.

他考试未及格便一蹶不振。

e.g. His failure in this transaction was due to nothing else than his own carelessness.

他在这笔交易中的失利完全是由于他自己的粗心大意。

e.g. The boss tore his failure in negotiation apart continuously.

老板不停地因他谈判失败而批评地。

2. entrance examination to：……的入学考试

e.g. Li Ming, when he finished his entrance examination to the university, was so tired and sleepy that he fell into bed and slept the clock round.

李明参加完高考又疲劳又困，一下子倒在床上睡了一整天。

e.g. You know, we are busy preparing for the entrance examination to college.

你知道，我们现在正忙着准备高考。