Lesson 1 Finding fossil man
第一课发现化石人
by ROBIN PLACE
from Finding fossil man
1-1. We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write.
【译文】我们能读到五千年前近东发生之事，那里的人最先学会了书写。
【单词和短语】
read：此处为不及物动词，意为“读到，获悉”（to find out information from books，newspapers etc.），后接of或about，例如：
He reads about the war. 他读到关于战争的消息。
Did you read of their accident in the newspapers?
你在报上看到他们遭遇意外事故的消息了么？
5,000 years：五千年。另学习millennium，意为“一千年”，复数为millennia。5,000 years即为5 millennia。
the Near East：近东，指地中海东部沿岸地区，包括亚洲西南部和非洲东北部，有时还包括巴尔干半岛。
1-2. But there are some parts of the world where even now people cannot write. 【译文】但时至今日世上某些地方的人还不会书写。
【单词和短语】
even now：此处意为“甚至到现在”，例如：
Even now he won’t believe me. 他甚至到现在还不相信我。
even now另有两解，一为“就在此刻”，例如：
Perhaps even now the time has arrived.也许正是此刻时机来到了。
另一为“尽管这样，虽然情况如此”（in spite of what has happened），例如：
I have explained everything，but even now she doesn’t understand.
我什么都解释了，但是尽管如此她还是不明白。
1-3. The only way that they can preserve their history is to recount it as sagas－legends handed down from one generation of story-tellers to another. 【译文】他们能够保存历史的唯一方法是将历史当传说讲述，由讲述人一代接一代地口授传奇故事。
【讲解】to recount it as…another是动词不定式短语，作表语，说明主语way的内容，it指history。句中破折号引出同位语。handed down … another是过去分词短语，作legends的定语。another后省略了generation of story-tellers。
【单词和短语】
preserve：保存，保留（to make sth. continue without changing）。例如：preserve an old house as a museum 保存一幢老房子用作陈列馆
preserve sb.’s right to do sth. 保留某人对某事物的权利
Few of his early poems are preserved. 他早期的诗没有几首留存下来。recount：详细叙述，描述，说明（to tell someone a story or describe a series
of events），例如：
recount a story with real wit 妙趣横生地讲故事
The explorer recounted his adventures in a number of books.
探险家在好几本书中描述自己的冒险经历。
saga：英雄传奇（a long story about events that happened over the years）hand down：把……传下去（to give or leave sth. to people who will live after you），例如：
This custom is handed down from the past. 这个习惯是过去传下来的。
The gold watch has been handed down in his family. 那块金表是他家祖传的。1-4. These legends are useful because they can tell us something about migrations of people who lived long ago, but none could write down what they did.
【译文】这些传说有用，因为它们能告诉我们一些人迁徙之事。这些人生活在远古，但没人能记录他们的所作所为。
【讲解】none可指可数名词，亦可指不可数名词。指前者时动词用单数或复数，指后者时动词用单数。
【单词和短语】
migration：迁徙，移居（when large numbers of people go to live in another area or country，especially in order to find work），动词形式为migrate，例如：
migrate to another country 移居他国
1-5. Anthropologists wondered where the remote ancestors of the Polynesian peoples now living in the Pacific Islands came from.
【译文】人类学家过去不清楚如今生活在太平洋诸岛的波利尼西亚各民族的远祖来自何方。
【讲解】now living in the Pacific Islands是现在分词短语，作peoples的定语。【单词和短语】
anthropologist：人类学家。anthropology意为“人类学”（the scientific study of people，their societies ，cultures，etc.）。相关词汇有sociology（社会学）和ethnology（人种学，民族学）。
remote ancestor：远祖（someone related to you，who lived a long time ago）。形容词remote的常用意为“遥远的，久远的”（far from towns or other places where people live），例如：
the remotest corners of the earth 天涯海角
a custom of remote antiquity 远古遗风
remote亦可作名词，常用意为“遥控器”（remote controller）。
people：people作“一国人民，民族”（the people who belong to a particular country，race，or area）解时为可数名词单数，复数为peoples或people。参照上下文，文中people译为“民族”。另举例如下：
the peoples of the world 世界各国人民
a hardworking people 勤劳的民族
the Jewish people 犹太民族
Each people builds a culture adapted to its particular needs. 各民族都建立起一种适应其独特需要的文化。
1-6. The sagas of these people explain that some of them came from Indonesia about 2,000 years ago.
【译文】当地人的种种传说向世人解释了其中一些民族约在两千年前迁自印度尼西亚。
【单词和短语】
saga:传说（a long story about events that happen over many year）。
1-7. But the first people who were like ourselves lived so long ago that even their sagas, if they had any, are forgotten.
【译文】但是，和我们相似的原始人生活的年代太久远了，因此有关他们的传说，即使存在，如今也失传了。
1-8. So archaeologists have neither history nor legends to help them to find out where the first 'modern men' came from.
【译文】于是，考古学家既无历史记载，亦无口头传说来帮助他们弄清首批“现代人”来自何方。
【单词和短语】
legend:传说（an old，well-known story，often about brave people, adventures, or magical events）。形容词为legendary。
1-9. Fortunately, however, ancient men made tools of stone, especially flint, because this is easier to shape than other kinds.
【译文】然而，幸运的是，远古人用制作石器，特别是燧石器，因为燧石比其他石头更易成形。
【讲解】other kinds后面省略了of stones。
【单词和短语】
flint：燧石（a type of smooth hard stone that makes a small flame when you hit it with steel）。
1-10. They may also have used wood and skins, but these have rotted away. 【译文】他们也可能用过木头和兽皮，但这两类东西早已腐烂殆尽。
【讲解】may also have used意为“可能使用过”，may＋完成时结构表示对过去情况的推测。these指wood and skins。
【单词和短语】
rot: 腐败，腐烂（to decay by a gradual natural process, or to make something to do this）。
1-11. Stone does not decay, and so the tools of long ago have remained when even the bones of the men who made them have disappeared without trace. 【译文】石头不会腐烂。因此，虽然制造这些工具的人的骨头早已荡然无存，但远古时代的石器却保存至今。
【讲解】when even the bones … trace相当于让步从句，when意即“虽然，尽管”，又如：
We sometimes expect gratitude when we are not entitled to it.
有时虽然我们不值得感激，我们却期望别人感激。
While he has a house of his own, his brother lives in a flat.
尽管他有自己的房子，他弟弟却住在公寓里。
Lesson 2 Spare that spider
第二课不要伤害蜘蛛
by T. H. GILLESPLE
from The Listener
2-1. Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends?
【译文】你可能会奇怪，蜘蛛怎是吾友？
【讲解】you may wonder为插入语。
2-2. Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race.
【译文】因为它们消灭了那么多昆虫，包括一些属于人类最大敌人的昆虫。
2-3. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.
【译文】昆虫可以使我们无法在地球上生存。如果不是食虫动物的保护，则这些昆虫会吞噬我们所有的庄稼，杀死我们成群的牛羊。
【讲解】make it impossible for us to live in the world中it是形式宾语，真正的宾语是for us to live in the world。insects would和they would中的would 均表示与事实不符的虚拟结构。if it were not for the protection…作前面两个分句的非真实条件状语从句，意即“要不是我们从食虫那里得到保护的话……”。这里的were是虚拟语气结构。we get…animals作protection的定语。
2-4. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders. 【译文】我们受惠于食虫的飞禽鸟兽，但把它们都算在一起，也只是捕杀了蜘蛛消灭的昆虫数的一个零头。
【讲解】all of them指birds and beasts，put together kill相当于…them who are put together kill。意即“它们全加在一起消灭……”。the number指“被消灭的昆虫数”。
【单词和短语】
owe:应感激（to know that someone’s help has been important to you in achieving something），例如：
We owe our parents a lot. 我们得大大感激我们的父母。
2-5. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings.
【译文】此外，不同于其他一些食虫动物，蜘蛛对人类及其财物丝毫无损。
【单词和短语】
belongings：所有物，财物，动产；行李，例如：
He left all his belongings to his brother.
他把他的全部财物留给了他兄弟。
It didn’t take me long to arrange my belongings；for I had brought little. 因为行装带得不多，我没花多少时间就把东西整理好了。
2-6. Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them.
【译文】蜘蛛不像许多人认为的那样属于昆虫，它们甚至与昆虫毫无关系。
【讲解】as many people think是插入语，意即“蜘蛛不是像许多人认为的那样是昆虫”。翻译这一插入语时，必须注意它在句中的位置。不论把它移至句首，译为“正如许多人认为的那样，蜘蛛不是昆虫”，还是将它留在句末，译为“蜘蛛不是昆虫，如同许多人认为的那样”，两种译文都和原意相违。原句是说“许多人认为蜘蛛是昆虫，而其实不是，他们的看法有误”，而前两种译文的意思则变为“许多人的看法是正确的，他们认为蜘蛛不是昆虫”。正确的译法应将as many people think置于not （不像）之后、are（属于）之前，译为“蜘蛛不像许多人认为的那样属于昆虫”。这句原文中的…as many people think相当于as many people think spiders are insects。nor even nearly承前省略了are spiders，完整的句子应是：nor are the spiders even nearly related to them。
2-7. One can tell the difference almost at a glance, for a spider always has eight legs and insect never more than six.
【译文】人们几乎一眼就能看出二者的差异，因为蜘蛛总是8条腿，而昆虫至多有6条腿。
【单词和短语】
at a glance：
2-8. How many spiders are engaged in this work on our behalf?
【译文】有多少蜘蛛正在为我们做这项工作呢？
【单词和短语】
engaged:忙的；从事……的（busy）；例如：
Engaged in conversation，they did not see me.
他们谈得正来劲，没看见我。
He is engaged on that book.
他正忙于写那部书。
on sb’s behalf:为了某人的利益；为了某人（because of or for someone）。例如：
Don’t be uneasy on my behalf. 不要为我担心。
该词组的另一含义是“代表某人（instead of someone，or as their representative）”。例如：
You may sign cheques on our behalf.
你可以代表我们在支票上签字。
2-9. One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in grass field
in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre; that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch.
【译文】某蜘蛛权威对英国南部某块草坪上的蜘蛛数目统计了一次。他估计每英亩草坪里有超过225万只蜘蛛，即相当于一个足球场上约有6百万只种类各异的蜘蛛。【单词和短语】
authority：学术权威，专家，泰斗（someone who knows a lot about a subject and whose knowledge and opinions are greatly respected）。某方面的authority 需用介词on，例如：
an authority on preventive medicine 预防医学的权威
something like：接近，大约（close to but not exactly a large amount），例如：
He is to sell the house for something like $150,000.
他将以大约15万美元的价钱出售这幢房子。
census：统计数量（a process of counting something）。
2-10. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. 【译文】蜘蛛至少有半年在忙于吃虫。
【讲解】half（形容词）the year是half（名词）of the year的省略形式。
2-11. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day. 【译文】它们消灭了多少昆虫，我们简直无法猜测，它们是吃不饱的动物，不满足于一日三餐。
【讲解】it是形式主语，真正的主语是to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill。It is impossible to…是重点句型，需熟练掌握。not前省略了and they are。
【单词和短语】
content：adj. 满意，满足（happy and satisfied）。
2-12. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
【译文】据估计，在英国一年里被蜘蛛消灭的昆虫的总重量超过该国人口的总重量。【讲解】it是形式主语，真正的主语是the weight of all the insects destroyed…in the country。It has been estimated that…是重点句型，需熟练掌握。
Lesson 3 Matterhorn man
第三课马特霍恩山区人
by WALTER UNSWORTH
from Matterhorn Man
3-1. Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them
good sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded. 【译文】现代登山运动员力图沿着一条能从中得到锻炼乐趣的路线登山。他们认为路线愈艰难则愈为人们所重视。
【讲解】try后接动词不定式，作make an attempt解，译为“力图”。by a route中by意为“沿，经”。it指a route。
【单词和短语】
regard:看待，把……看作（to think about someone or something in a particular way）。
3-2. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all.
【译文】然而在登山运动初创期全然并非如此。
【讲解】in the pioneering days指在初创时期，指登山运动的初创期。
【单词和短语】
pioneering：创新的，先驱的（introducing new and better methods or ideas for the first time）。例如：
the pioneering work of NASA scientists
（美国）国家航空和航天局科学家们所作的开创性工作
3-3. The early climbers were looking for the easiest way to the top, because the summit was the prize they sought, especially if it had never been attained before.
【译文】早期登山者所寻找的是通往山顶的最方便的途径，因为顶峰，尤其是仍未被人征服过的顶峰，才是他们寻求的目标。
【讲解】to the top是介词短语，作way的定语，指“到达顶峰的路”。they sought 是定语从句，作prize的定语，指“他们追求的目标”。if it had never been attained before中的it指the summit。
【单词和短语】
summit：山顶（the top of a mountain）。summit另一常见含义为峰会（an important meeting or set of meetings between the leaders of several governments），例如：
The two presidents agreed to hold a summit in the April.
两位总统同意在四月举行峰会。
3-4. It is true that during their explorations they often faced difficulties and dangers of the most perilous nature, equipped in a manner with would make a modern climber shudder at the thought, but they did not go out of their way to court such excitement.
【译文】的确，探险中他们经常遇到性质最为危险的艰难险阻，他们装备之简陋使现代登山者一想起来就胆战心惊。但他们并非故意寻求这种刺激。
【讲解】equipped in a manner…thought是过去分词短语，作原因状语，修饰faced。at the thought后省略了of the manner。
【单词和短语】
perilous：充满危险的；濒临毁灭的（very dangerous），例如：
a perilous rate of inflation 危机四伏的通货膨胀率
perilous的名词形式为peril。
shudder at：对……感到惊恐（to think that something is very bad or unpleasant），例如：
He shudders at the sight of a snake.
他一见到蛇就胆颤心惊。
go out of their way to do something：特地；不怕麻烦地（to do something with more effort than is usual or expected），例如：
She went out of her way to help me.
她不怕麻烦地来帮我。
3-5. They had a single aim, a solitary goal—the top!
【译文】他们只有一个目的，唯一的目标——顶峰！
【讲解】从语法角度分析，a solitary goal和the top均是a single aim的同位语。从修辞角度看，作者以改变说法的方式达到加强语意的目的。这叫修正法（epanorthosis）。破折号引出被强调部分。
【单词和短语】
solitary：独一无二的（used to emphasize that there is only one of something），例如：
a solitary exception 唯一的例外
3-6. It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers.
【译文】如今我们很难理解登山先驱者昔日是多么艰苦。
【讲解】it是形式主语，to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers是真正的主语。请掌握It is hard for sb. to do something.这个句型。【单词和短语】
pioneer:先驱（someone who is important in the early development of something, and whose work or ideas are later developed by other people），例如：
a pioneer of photography 摄影术创始人
a pioneer in the development of radar 雷达研制的先驱
3-7. Except for one or two places such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had rapidly become popular, Alpine village tended to be impoverished settlements cut off from civilization by the high mountains.
【译文】除了泽曼特和夏蒙尼等一两个迅速出名的地方外，阿尔卑斯山山区的小村由于高山隔绝了文明日渐成为贫穷的村落。
【讲解】such as可以分开，如such places as…，这时as作关系代词，as引出的从句是省略句。such as不分开时其作用相当于like，表示举例。因此可以把such…Chamonix视为修饰places的定语。cut off from civilization by the high mountains是过去分词短语作定语，修饰settlements。
【单词和短语】
except for：除了……之外，例如：
I know nothing about him except for the fact that he lives next door.
我除了知道他住在隔壁外，对他的其他情况一无所知。
impoverish：使穷困，使赤贫（to make some one very poor），形容词为impoverished，名词形式为impoverishment。
3-8. Such inns as there were were generally dirty and flea-ridden; the food simply local cheese accompanied by bread often twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine.
【译文】当地的那些小旅馆一般都肮脏且跳蚤猖獗。单调的食物是当地乳酪配以常常已放了一年之久的面包，人们就着劣酒吞下这种食物。
【讲解】as there were作定语从句修饰inns，as乃关系代词。the food simply…中food和simply中间，all与washed中间都省略了was。请注意，在几个并列分句中，第一个分句中用了be，后面分句中的be可以省略，例如：
There are two requisites in interpretation：one is accuracy and the other （is）expressiveness.
口译要求有二：准确和明晰。
accompanied by bread often twelve months old是过去分词短语，作cheese的定语。often twelve months old作定语，修饰bread。
【单词和短语】
accompany：伴随，和……一起发生（to happen or exist at the same time as something else），例如:
fever accompanied with delirium伴有昏迷的发烧
3-9. Often a valley boasted no inn at all, and climbers found shelter wherever they could—sometimes with the local priest (who was usually as poor as his parishioners), sometimes with shepherds or cheese-makers.
【译文】山谷里常没有小旅馆，登山者只好随遇而安——或与当地牧师（他们通常
和其教区居民一样穷）住在一起，或与牧羊人或制乳酪者住在一起。
【讲解】wherever they could作地点状语，修饰found。could后省略了find shelter。sometimes with两词之间省略了they found shelter。found shelter with…与……住在一起，这里的破折号引出被强调的部分。
【单词和短语】
boast：以拥有……而自豪（if a place, object, or organization boasts something, it has something that is very good），例如：
A fishing village 30 years ago, it now boasts 150 major hotels.
那地方30年前还是个渔村，现已为拥有150家大宾馆而自豪。
3-10. Invariably the background was the same: dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable.
【译文】这些山村的基调总是一样的：肮且穷，极不舒适。
【讲解】same后的冒号引出同位语。dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable 作the same的同位语。
【单词和短语】
invariable: 始终如一的，恒定不变的（always happening in the same way, at the same time etc.），例如：
It’s my invariable habit to take a nap.
睡午觉是我的老习惯。
invariably是invariable的副词形式。
3-11. For men accustomed to eating seven-course dinners and sleeping between fine linen sheets at home, the change to the Alps must have very hard indeed. 【译文】对过惯了在家里一餐吃七道菜、睡亚麻细布床单的的人来说，到阿尔卑斯山所带来的变化想来一定太难熬了。
【讲解】accustomed to…at home作定语修饰men。
【单词和短语】
be accustomed to（doing/do）something：习惯于做某事（to be familiar with something and accept it as normal），例如：
We are accustomed to working/work hard.
我们习惯于努力工作。
My eyes soon grew accustomed to the darkness.
我的双眼很快适应了黑暗。
course：（一）道（菜）（one of the separate parts of a meal），例如：The first course was soup.
第一道是汤。
Lesson 4 Seeing hands
第四课能看东西的手
by ERIC DE MAUNY
from The Listener
4-1. Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can read and detect colours with their fingers, and even see through solid doors and walls.
【译文】俄罗斯最近报导了几个事例，说有人能用手指看书和辨认颜色，甚至双眼能透过厚实的门和墙看到东西。
【讲解】of people who can…walls作定语修饰cases，这部分较长，所以被移到谓语部分后，这样句子就不会头重脚轻。句中的of意为“关于”。
【单词和短语】
detect：察觉，发觉（to notice or discover something, especially something that is not easy to see, hear etc.）。
4-2. One case concerns an eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova, who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls.
【译文】有一例涉及11岁学生维拉·彼托洛娃，她视力正常，但她还能用皮肤的不同部位辨认东西，甚至看穿坚实的墙壁。
【讲解】and through solid walls与with different parts of her skin并列作状语，修饰perceive。
【单词和短语】
normal的反义词为abnormal。
perceive：感觉，感知（to notice, see, or recognize something）。
4-3. This ability was first noticed by her father.
【译文】她父亲首先发现她具备这一能力。
【讲解】this ability指上句中perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls。
4-4. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe.
【译文】一天，维拉进入父亲的办公室，碰巧把双手放在一个锁着的保险柜的门上。【单词和短语】
happened to do something：碰巧做某事（if you happen to do something, you do it by chance），例如：
I happened to look in that direction and caught him in the act of doing it. 我碰巧朝那个方向看，正好目睹他在做那事。
safe:保险柜（a strong metal box or cupboard with special locks where you keep money and valuable things）。
4-5. Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in bundles. 【译文】她突然问父亲为什么把这么多的旧报纸锁在柜子里，她甚至还描述了捆扎报纸的方式。
【讲解】locked away there作kept的宾语补足语。lock sth. away意为“把某物锁起来”。there指locked safe。they were done up in bundles作定语修饰way，意为“报纸是怎样捆着的”。they指newspaper。
【单词和短语】
do up：捆，包（to fasten something，or to be fastened in a particular way）。4-6. Vera's curious talent was brought to the notice of a scientific research institute in the town of Ulyanovsk, near where she lives, and in April she was given a series of tests by a special commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federal Republic.
【译文】维拉的特异功能引起了她家附近乌里扬诺夫斯克城某科研机构的注意。4月，俄罗斯联邦共和国卫生部的一个特别委员会对她进行了一系列测试。
【单词和短语】
bring something to the notice of someone 使某人注意某事
institute：机构，组织（an organization that has a particular purpose such as scientific or educational work）。
4-7. During these tests she was able to read a newspaper through an opaque screen and, stranger still, by moving her elbow over a child's game of Lotto she was able to describe the figures and colours printed on it; and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her foot the outlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet.
【译文】在这些测试中，她能隔着不透明的屏幕读报。更奇怪的是，她把肘部在儿童玩的“乐透”纸牌上移动便能说出印在纸牌的数字和颜色。还有一次，她穿着长筒袜子和拖鞋，能用脚识别出藏在地毯下面的一幅画的轮廓和颜色。
【讲解】by moving…Lotto作方式状语，修饰was able to describe。printed on it 是过去分词短语，修饰figures and colours，it指Lotto。wearing stockings and slippers作时间状语，修饰to make out。wearing前省略了When she was。to make out…to前省略了she was able。the outlines and colours…carpet作make out 的宾语。hidden under a carpet作pictures的定语。
【单词和短语】
opaque：不透明的（be difficult to see through and often thick），反义词为transparent。
make out：看出；辨认出；听出（to be just able to see or hear something），例如：
make out a figure in the darkness
在黑暗中辨认出一个人影
4-8. Other experiments showed that her knees and shoulders had a similar sensitivity.
【译文】其他实验表明她的双膝和双肩均有类似的感觉能力。
【单词和短语】sensitivity的形容词形式为sensitive。
4-9. During all these tests Vera was blindfold; and, indeed, except when blindfold she lacked the ability to perceive things with her skin.
【译文】在所有这些实验中，维拉的双眼都是蒙着的。事实上，如果不蒙上双眼，她的皮肤就不再具有识别物体的能力。
【讲解】except when blindfold中when blindfold前省略了she was。某些时间状语从句中，如果谓语动词是be，主语又与主句的主语一致或是it，就常常可以把从句中的主语及be省略。又如：
Michael Jackson was fond of singing when（he was）yet a child.
迈克·杰克逊从小就喜欢唱歌。
I got acquainted with him while I was on a visit to New York.
我在访问纽约期间与他结识。
4-10. It was also found that although she could perceive things with her fingers this ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.
【译文】人们同时还发现，尽管她能用手指识别东西，但她的双手一弄湿这种功能即刻消失。
【讲解】the moment her hands were wet是时间状语从句，意为“她的双手一湿”。【单词和短语】
ceased：停止（to stop doing something or stop happening），例如：
The music ceased suddenly. 音乐戛然而止。
ceasing talking 停止谈话
the moment（that）：一……就……（as soon as），例如：
She called her mother the moment（that）she reached the hotel.
她一到旅馆就给她母亲打了电话。
Lesson 5 Youth
第五课青年
by FIELDEN HUGHES
from Out of the Air, The Listener
5-1. People are always talking about 'the problem of youth'.
【译文】人们总是在谈论“青年问题”。
5-2. If there is one—which I take leave to doubt—then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves.
【译文】假如确有这个问题的话——我冒昧对此表示怀疑——那么这个问题是由老年人而非青年人臆造的。
【讲解】 if there is one中的one指a problem of youth。which I take leave to doubt系插入语。the young意为“年轻人”。the＋形容词表示具有某种性质的一类人。【单词和短语】
take leave to do sth.:冒昧做某事，擅自做某事。
5-3. Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings—people just like their elders.
【译文】让我们来认真研究一些基本事实：承认青年和他们的长辈一样终究也是人。【讲解】people just like their elders作the young的同位语，对其进一步解说。【单词和短语】
fundamentals：基本原则（或原理），根本法则（或规律）；基础。例如：
master the fundamentals of a trade 掌握某行业的基本规律
5-4. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him: and maybe that is where the rub is.
【译文】老年人和年轻人只有一个区别：青年人有光辉灿烂的前景，而老年人的辉煌已成为过去。问题的症结恐怕就在于此。
【讲解】a young one中one替代man以避免重复。关于句中的两个冒号，前一个介绍difference的同位语，后一个引出说明性内容。
【单词和短语】
the rub：困难，障碍。例如：
There’s the rub. 难就难在这儿。
We’d like to travel, but the rub is that we have no money.
我们喜欢旅行，问题是没有钱。
5-5. When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain—that I was a new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem.
【译文】我十几岁时，总觉得自己年轻，懵懵懂懂——我感到我就像一所大学校里的新生，假如我当时真的极为有趣地被人看作是个问题，我真会感到非常得意。
【讲解】that I was a new…problem作felt的宾语，破折号表示引出被强调的部分。请注意句中的暗喻（metaphor）修辞手法，作者把社会比作a huge school，把自己比作a new boy。I would have been very pleased是表示与过于事实不符的虚拟结构。to be regarded as…a problem相当于if anyone regarded me as…a problem，表示条件，作原因状语，修饰pleased。汉语的条件句一般位于主句之前，所以这里的to be regarded as…a problem译成汉语时应前移。so interesting as a problem 作something的定语。
【单词和短语】
uncertain的名词形式是uncertainty。
5-6. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.
【译文】因为这至少使我具有某种个性，这正是年轻人孜孜以求的事情之一。
【讲解】that指being a problem gives you a certain identity。
【单词和短语】
identity：个性，特性（the qualities and attitudes that a person or group of people have, that make them different from other people），例如：
The planners decided to enlarge the four villages and preserve their distinct identities.
设计者们决定扩大这4个村庄并保留它们各自的特色。
The struggle of people in that area to maintain their own identities is continuing.
那地区人民维护自身独特性的斗争仍在继续。
5-7. I find young people exciting.
【译文】我觉得年轻人令人振奋。
5-8. They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort.
【译文】他们无拘无束，不枯燥地沉湎于卑鄙的名利和物质享受。
【单词和短语】
dreary：枯燥无味的；单调的；令人生厌的（dull and making you feel sad or bored），例如:
a dreary meeting 枯燥的会议
mean：卑鄙的（cruel and not kind），例如：
a mean motive 卑鄙的动机
It is mean to spread gossip about others.
散布有关他人的流言蜚语是卑鄙的。
5-9. They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to material things.
【译文】他们不是社会上那些急切向上爬的人，也不一味追求物质享受。
【单词和短语】
devotion：专心，热心，专心（the loyalty that you show towards a person, job etc, especially by working hard），例如：
sb.’s devotion of time and money to the project
某人对这一项目所花费的时间和金钱
Two devotions have filled her life.
她的生活被两样他所专注的事情占据了。
5-10. All this seems to me to link them with life, and the origins of things. 【译文】在我看来，所有这些使他们与生命以及万物的起源联系在了一起。
【讲解】all this seems to me to link…中to me乃插入语。link…with…意为“把……同……联系起来”。them指年轻人。
【单词和短语】
origin：起源；来源；由来，起因（the place or situation in which something begins to exist），例如：
the origin of the universe 宇宙的起源
a word of Latin origin 源自拉丁语的词语
5-11. It's as if they were, in some sense, cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures.
【译文】从某种意义上讲，他们似乎是超凡脱俗之人，同我们这些见识短浅的俗物形成鲜明而有趣的对照。
【讲解】as if they were…suburban creatures是表语从句，were是虚拟语气结构。in violent and lovely contrast with作定语修饰cosmic beings。suburban creatures作us的同位语，注意这里作者用creatures（生物）指人，即“以种代类”，属提喻（synecdoche）修辞手法。
【单词和短语】
suburban：有郊区（人）特点的；<贬>平淡乏味的；古板的（boring and typical of people who live in the suburbs），例如：
a suburban lifestyle 郊区生活方式
5-12. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person.
【译文】每逢遇到年轻人，我就想到这些。
【讲解】all that is in my mind中all that指上文提到的事。a young person中的a表示类别，意即“年轻人”，不是指某个年轻人。
5-13. He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous, but I do not turn for protection to dreary clichés about respect of elders—as if mere age were a reason for respect.
【译文】年轻人也许狂妄自负，举止无理，傲慢放肆，愚昧无知，但我决不求助于要尊重长者云云的陈词滥调来为维护自己的尊严，似乎唯有年长才是受人尊敬的理由。
【讲解】he乃承a young person而选用。to turn to…for …为……求助于……。for protection作turn的目的状语，位置提前是为了使句子更加紧凑。dreary clich és about respect of elders作to的宾语。about respect of elders作clichés的定语。for elders作respect的定语。句中的破折号引出被强调的部分。
【单词和短语】
conceited：自负的，自高自大的，骄傲自满的（someone who is conceited thinks
they are very clever, skillful, beautiful etc），名词形式为conceit。presumptuous：专横的，自行其是的，傲慢的，冒昧的，放肆的（doing sth. that you have no right to do and that seems rude），例如：
It would be presumptuous for anybody to offer such a view.
任何人提出这种观点都是放肆的。
fatuous：愚笨的，昏庸的，蠢的（very silly or stupid），名词形式为fatuity，例如：
fatuous talk 昏话
Television commercials seem more fatuous than ever.
电视广告节目似乎比以往任何时候更没意思了。
5-14. I accept that we are equals, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong.
【译文】我笃信我们是平等的。如果我认为他们错了，我就以平等的身份和他们争个明白。
【单词和短语】
equal:同等的人（someone who is as important, intelligent etc as you are, or who has the same rights and opportunities as you do），例如：
Mix with your equals or betters. 与同你相仿或更好的人交往。
Lesson 6 The sporting spirit
第六课体育精神
by GEORGE ORWELL
from The sporting spirit
6-1. I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the would could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield.
【译文】当人们说体育可创造两国的友谊，还说各国民众若在足球场或板球场上交锋就不愿在战场上残杀的时候，我总是惊愕不已。
【讲解】that if only…cricket作saying的宾语从句。其中的if从句是非真实条件从句。could meet和would have是表示与现实事实不符的虚拟结构。if only意为“只要”，引导非真实或真实条件句。
【单词和短语】
amazed：十分惊奇的，吃惊的；显示出惊奇的（very surprised），动词形式为amaze，名词形式为amazement，例如：
I was amazed at the news. 我听到这消息大为惊诧。
I am amazed that he has never read The Lord of the Rings.
他从未读过《指环王》，我对此大为惊奇。
goodwill：善意，友善；友好，亲善（kind feelings towards or between people and a willingness to be helpful），例如，
Princess Diana’s heart is full of goodwill to all men. 戴安娜王妃的心里对所有人都充满善意。
inclination：（性格上的）倾向；意向；爱好，癖好（a feeling that makes you want to do sth.），动词形式为incline，形容词形式为inclined，例如，
My inclination is to agree. 我倾向于同意。
have an inclination for sports爱好体育
follow one’s own inclinations随心所欲
6-2. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce if from general principles.
【译文】人们即使不能从具体的事例（如1936年奥运会）了解到国际运动比赛会导致极度仇恨，也能从常理中推出结论。
【讲解】that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred作know 的宾语。one泛指人，可译为“人们”。it指international… hatred。
【单词和短语】
concrete：具体的；确实的（definite and specific），例如，
a concrete proposal/example 具体的建议/例子
Money is concrete and wealth is abstract.
钱是具体的，财富是抽象的。
concrete的反义词是abstract。
concrete 亦可做名词，常见意为“大理石”。
orgy：无节制行为（an orgy of sth. used emphasize that people suddenly do a lot of a particular activity），例如：
an all-night orgy of reading 彻夜的尽情阅读
an orgy of looting and burning 大肆抢劫并纵火的暴行
hatred：仇恨；敌意；憎恶（an angry feeling of extreme dislike for sb. or sth.），例如：
have /nurse a ferocious hatred of/for sb. 对某人怀有深仇大恨
utter one’s hatred against the enemy 说出对敌人的憎恨
deduce：演绎；推论；推断（to use the knowledge and information you have in order to understand sth or form an opinion about it），例如：
From his conversation, she deduced that he had a large family.
她从他的谈话中推断出他家里人口多。
deduce联想到deduction（演绎法）、induce（归纳）和induction（归纳法）。
6-3. Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.
【译文】现在开展的各种体育项目几乎都具竞争性。
【讲解】practised nowadays是过去分词短语，作定语，修饰sports。
【单词和短语】competitive的动词形式为compete，名词形式为competition。
6-4. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.
【译文】参加比赛就是为了取胜。如果不拼命争取胜利，比赛就没有什么意义了。
【讲解】you泛指人，可译为“人们”。to win作目的状语。
【单词和短语】
do one’s utmost：竭力（tried as hard as one could），例如：
The coach did his utmost to make us into a winning game.
教练竭尽全力使我队成了常胜队。
与do one’s utmost同义的短语有spare no efforts，stint no efforts，do sth. to the best of one’s ability等。
6-5. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as a the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused.
【译文】在乡间的草坪上，当你随意为双方鼓劲，并且不涉及任何地方情绪时，那才可能是单纯的为了娱乐和锻炼而进行比赛。可是一量涉及到荣誉问题，一旦你想到你和某一团体会因为你输而丢脸时，那么最野蛮的争斗天性便会被激发。
【讲解】the fun and exercise中fun和exercise被视为整体看待，所以才共用一个定冠词the。
【单词和短语】
patriotism：爱国主义，另掌握patriot（爱国者）和patriotic（爱国的）两词。6-6. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this. 【译文】即使是仅参加过学校足球赛的人也有这种体会。
【讲解】who has played even in a school football match系定语从句，修饰anyone。6-7. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.
【译文】在国际比赛中，体育简直是模拟战争。
【讲解】at the international level作状语，直译为“在国际水平上”。
【单词和短语】
frankly：坦白地，直率地；不加掩饰地（used to show that you are really think about sth.），例如：
He frankly admitted his error. 他坦率地承认了自己的错误。
mimic：模拟的（to behave or operate in exactly the same way as sth. or sb. else）。
6-8. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe—at any rate for short periods—that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.
【译文】但是，令人感到意味深长的不是运动员的表现，而是观众的态度，以及观众身后各个国家的态度。面对着这些荒唐的比赛，参赛的各个国家会如痴如狂，甚至煞有介事地相信——至少在短期内如此——跑跑、跳跳、踢踢球都是对一个国家
品德素质的检验。
【讲解】and, behind the spectators, of the nations…are tests of national
virtue是对But the significant thing…the attitude of the spectators的引申。当句子后有表示说明，解释、引申的内容时用冒号。behind spectators作定语，修饰nations，前置是为了强调。of the nations前省略了the attitude。work和believe 是定语从句中的并列谓语。at any rate for short periods作插入语，句中的两个破折号隔开被强调的插入语。that running, jumping…national virtue作believe 的宾语。句首的but作“但是”解，但句中的not…but…则作“不是……而是……”解。not…but…连接两个并列名词behaviour和attitude，but后面可以说省略了it（the significant thing）is。
【单词和短语】
absurd：荒谬的，荒唐的；滑稽可笑的（completely stupid or unreasonable），名词形式为absurdity，例如：
The idea that the number 8 brings good luck is absurd.
认为数字8能带来好运的想法愚蠢可笑。
Lesson 7 Bats
第七课蝙蝠
by MAURICE BURTON
from Curiosities of animal life
7-1. Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
【译文】动物发出的声音并不都起语言作用。我们只需举发现蝙蝠的回声定位这个不同寻常的例子，就能知道声音起着极其实用的作用。
【讲解】Not all sounds…这里否定的是其中一部分，叫部分否定句。all，every，both，always等用于否定结构时不是全部被否定，而是表示其中的一部分被否定。而且英语多半将not置于谓语中。例如：
All is not a gold that glitters.（即Not all that glitters is gold.）
闪闪发光物，未必尽黄金。
Every one cannot write novels.（即Not every one can write novels.）
不是所有的人都能写小说。
I don’t like both of the novels.（即I like only one of the two novels.）这两本小说我不是都喜欢。
plays a strictly utilitarian role直译为“扮演绝对实用的角色”，可译为“发挥绝对实用的作用”。
【单词和短语】
turn to：求助于；求教于；查阅（to try to get help, advice, or sympathy from sb.），例如：
You can always turn to me for help. 你随时可以来找我帮忙。
utilitarian：实用的（intended to be useful and practical rather than attractive or comfortable），例如：
A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.
一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。
另掌握utilitarianism（功利主义）一词。
7-2. To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions.
【译文】要透彻理解这句话的含义，我们应先回顾人类最近的几项发明。
【讲解】to get a full appreciation of what this means作目的状语，修饰turn。不定式作状语放在句首，比放在后边更要正式，语气较重。what this means是名词性从句，作of的宾语。this指上句we have only to turn…plays a strictly utilitarian role。
【单词和短语】
appreciation：估价；评价；鉴别（an understanding of the importance or meaning of sth），例如：
They are mistaken in their appreciation of the country’s economic conditions. 他们对国家经济形势的判断是错误的。
have a keen appreciation of a joke 能深刻领会一句笑话的妙处
appreciation的动词形式为appreciate，形容词形式为appreciative。
7-3. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity of a wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back.
【译文】大家都知道，如果有人在墙壁或半山腰附近发出喊声，他就会听到回声。【单词和短语】
in the vicinity (of sth.)：（在……）附近；（与……）接近（in the area around a particular place），例如：
a mansion in the vicinity of the lake 湖滨大厦
His income is in the vicinity of $50,000 他每年的收入将近五万美元
7-4. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo.
【译文】固体障碍物越远，回声返回所用时间就越长。
【讲解】obstruction后省略了is。for the return of the echo作time的定语。【单词和短语】
obstruction：阻塞物；障碍（物）（when sth blocks a road, passage, tube etc, or the thing that blocks it），obstruction的动词形式为obstruct。
elapse：（时间）消逝，过去（if a particular period of time elapses, it passes），例如：
Five years elapsed before he returned. 过了5年他才回来。
7-5. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated. 【译文】敲打船体所发出的声音会从海底反射回来，测出回声与原声间隔的时间就可算出该处海洋的深度。
【单词和短语】