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新概念第四冊Lesson1課文翻譯及學習筆記
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
Why are legends handed down by storytellers useful?
We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write. But there are some parts of the world where even now people cannot write. 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. 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. Anthropologists wondered where the remote ancestors of the Polynesian peoples now living in the Pacific Islands came from. The sagas of these people explain that some of them came from Indonesia about 2,000 years ago.
But the first people who were like ourselves lived so long ago that even their sagas, if they had any, are forgotten. So archaeologists have neither history nor legends to help them to find out where the first 'modern men' came from.
Fortunately, however, ancient men made tools of stone, especially flint, because this is easier to shape than other kinds. They may also have used wood and skins, but these have rotted away. 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.
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語】
[w]fossil[/w] man adj. 化石人
recount v. 敘述
saga n. 英雄故事
legend n. 傳說，傳奇
migration n. 遷移，移居
anthropologist n. 人類學家
archaeologist n. 考古學家
ancestor n. 祖先
Polynesian adj.波利尼西亞(中太平洋之一群島)的
Indonesia n. 印度尼西亞
flint n. 燧石
rot n. 爛掉
【課文注釋】
1.hand down 把...傳下去
例句：Many old legends were handed down from generation by mouth.
許多古老的傳說都是一代一代口傳下來了。
2.read of，讀到，和read about是相同的意思。
談到：speak of，talk of
了解到：know of
聽到：hear of
3.the first people，原始人
people+s 表示民族
4.if they had any: 即便是有，表假設
例句：His relatives, if he had any, never went to visit him when he was hospitalized.
他的親戚，即便他還有的話，在他住院時也從來不去看他。
5.when even the bones of the men who made them have disappeared without trace，這個以when引導的狀語從句表示讓步的意思，而when可以譯成“雖然”，“盡管”。
【參考譯文】
我們從書籍中可讀到5,000 年前近東發(fā)生的事情，那里的人早學會了寫字。但直到現(xiàn)在,世界上有些地方，人們還不會書寫。 他們保存歷史的辦法是將歷史當作傳說講述，由講述人一代接一代地將史實描述為傳奇故事口傳下來。人類學家過去不清楚如今生活在太平洋諸島上的波利尼西亞人的祖先來自何方，當?shù)厝说膫髡f卻告訴人們：其中一部分是約在2,000年前從印度尼西亞遷來的。
但是，和我們相似的原始人生活的年代太久遠了，因此，有關他們的傳說既使有如今也失傳了。于是，考古學家們既缺乏歷史記載，又無口頭傳說來幫助他們弄清早的“現(xiàn)代人”是從哪里來的。
然而， 幸運的是，遠古人用石頭制作了工具，特別是用燧石，因為燧石較之其他石頭更容易成形。他們也可能用過木頭和獸皮，但這類東西早已腐爛殆盡。石頭是不會腐爛的。因此，盡管制造這些工具的人的骨頭早已蕩然無存，但遠古時代的石頭工具卻保存了下來。
新概念第四冊Lesson2課文翻譯及學習筆記
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
How much of each year do spiders spend killing insects?
Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends? Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race. 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. 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. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the harm to us or our belongings.
Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them. One can tell the difference almost at a glance, for a spider always has eight legs and an insect never more than six.
How many spiders are engaged in this work on our behalf? 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. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. 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. 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.
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語】
insect n. 昆蟲
devour v. 吞食
flock n. 羊群
herd n. 牧群
beast n. 野獸
fraction n. 小部分
census n. 統(tǒng)計數(shù)字
acre n. 英畝
content adj. 滿足的
【課文注釋】
1. you may wonder 是這個疑問句的插入語。
常見的插入語還有：as you know, to be frank, in fact, generally speaking等等。
2. flock 既可作名詞，也可作動詞。
①作名詞，表示羊群或牛群，或者人群
例句：They kept a small flock of sheep.
他們養(yǎng)了一小群羊。
例句：There are many flocks of tourists in the palace.
宮殿里有好幾群游客。
②作動詞，表示聚集，群集
例句：In the summer, tourists flock to the museums and art galleries.
夏季游人成群結隊到博物館和藝術館參觀。
③拓展：Birds of a feather flock together.物以類聚，人以群分。
3. if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals，這是一個非真實條件狀語從句，were表示虛擬語氣。
表示對過去的虛擬：If+過去完成時(had done sth), would/could have done...
表示對現(xiàn)在的虛擬：If+簡單過去時(did sth), would/could do...
4. owe a lot to 歸功于，感激
①owe money to sb欠某人錢
例句：The company owes money to more than 60 banks.
這家公司欠了60多家銀行錢。
②owe sth to sb把某事歸功于某人，感謝某人
例句：He owes his success more to luck than to ability.
他認為他的成功是靠運氣而不是因為自己有能力.
5. almost at a glance，幾乎一眼(就能看出)。
6. on our behalf 代表我們
on behalf of sb/on sb's behalf 代表某人
例句：On behalf of my colleagues and myself I thank you.
我代表我的同事以及我自己向你表示謝意.
【參考譯文】
你可能會覺得奇怪， 蜘蛛怎么會是我們的朋友呢?因為它們能消滅那么多的昆蟲，其中包括一些人類的大敵，要不是人類受一些食蟲動物的保護，昆蟲就會使我們無法在地球上生活下去，昆蟲會吞食我們的全部莊稼，殺死我們的成群的牛羊。我們要十分感謝那些吃昆蟲的鳥和獸，然而把它們所殺死的昆蟲全部加在一起也只相當于蜘蛛所消滅的一小部分。此外，蜘蛛不同于其他食蟲動物，它們絲毫不危害我們和我們的財物。
許多人認為蜘蛛是昆蟲，但它們不是昆蟲，甚至與昆蟲毫無關系。人們幾乎一眼就能看出二者的差異，因為蜘蛛都是8條腿，而昆蟲的腿從不超過6條。
有多少蜘蛛在為我們效力呢?一位研究蜘蛛的權威對英國南部一塊草坪上的蜘蛛作了調查。他估計每英畝草坪里有225萬多只蜘蛛。這就是說，在一個足球場上約有600萬只不同種類的蜘蛛。蜘蛛至少有半年在忙于吃昆蟲。它們一年中消滅了多少昆蟲，我們簡直無法猜測，它們是吃不飽的動物，不滿意一日三餐。據(jù)估計，在英國蜘蛛一年里所消滅昆蟲的重量超過這個國家人口的總重量。
新概念第四冊Lesson3課文翻譯及學習筆記
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
What was the main objective of early mountain climbers?
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. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all. The early climbers were looking for the easiest way to the top, because the summit was the prize they sought, especially if it and never been attained before. 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,[/b] but they did not go out of their way[/b] to court such excitement. They had a single aim, a solitary goal -- the top!
It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers. 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. Such inns as there were generally dirty and flea-ridden; the food simply local cheese accompanied by bread often twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine. 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. Invariably the background was the same: dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable. For men accustomed to eating seven-course dinners and sleeping between fine linen sheets at home, the change to the Alps must have been very hard indeed.
WALTER UNSWORTH Matterhorn Man
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語】
Matterhorn n. 馬特霍恩峰(阿爾卑斯山之一，在意大利和瑞士邊境)
Alpinist n. 登山運動員
pioneer v. 開辟，倡導;n. 先鋒，開辟者
summit n. 頂峰
attain v. 到達
perilous adj. 危險的
shudder v. 不寒而栗
court v. 追求
solitary adj. 的
impoverish v. 使貧困
Alpine adj. 阿爾卑斯山的
flea-ridden adj. 布滿跳蚤的
coarse adj. 粗劣的
boast v. 自恃有
parishioner n. 教區(qū)居民
shepherd n. 牧羊人
linen n. 亞麻布床單
the Alps n. 阿爾卑斯山脈
【課文注釋】
1. the more...the more...越……就越……
連用兩個比較級，表示前后兩者之間(程度等)共同增長的趨勢;弱為簡單形容詞，則用其簡單比較級形式。
例句：The older I grow, the more I know about our culture.
我年紀越大，對文化了解的就越深。
例句：The more the better.
多多益善。
2. attain獲得，達到，實現(xiàn)。
常與goal/power/objective/target等詞搭配，近義詞achieve。
例句：I'm determined to attain my purpose at any cost.
我決心不惜任何代價達到目的。
形容詞形式attainable，表示可達到的，可實現(xiàn)的。
例句：These objectives are certainly attainable.
這些目標一定可以達到。
3. in the pioneering days，在初創(chuàng)時期，這里指登山運動的初創(chuàng)時期。
①pioneer作名詞，表示開拓者、開辟者：少先隊員young pioneer。
②pioneer作動詞，表示當開拓者。
例句：They pioneered a new route to the coast.
他們開辟了通往海岸的新路線。
4. equipped in a manner with would make a modern climber shudder at the thought，他們的裝備如此簡陋，足以使現(xiàn)代登山者一想起來就膽戰(zhàn)心驚。at the thought，一想到(他們的裝備)，英文中省略了of the manner。
5. go out of one's way，特地，不怕麻煩。
all the way，一路上;by the way，順便;give way to，放棄，讓出。
6. cut off...from...，把……與……隔絕。
例句：One of the goals of the campaign is to cut off the elite Republican Guard from its supplies.
這次競選的目標之一就是讓共和黨人領導沒有支持者。
7. such inns as there were，那里有的小客棧，as there were用來修飾inns，作定語。
8. the food simply local cheese，在food后面省略了was。
9. acccustomed to 習慣……
accustom oneself to sth：讓自己習慣某物
例句：He quickly accustomed himself to this new way of life.
他很快就習慣了這種新的生活方式。
【參考譯文】
現(xiàn)代登山運動員總想找一條能夠給他們帶來運動樂趣的路線來攀登山峰。他們認為， 道路愈艱險愈帶勁兒。然而，在登山運動的初期，全然不是這種情況。早期登山者所尋找的是通往山頂?shù)姆奖愕耐緩?，因為頂峰特別是前人未曾到過的頂峰 -- 才是他們尋求的目標。確實，在探險中他們經(jīng)常遇到驚心動魄的困難和危險，而他們裝備之簡陋足以使現(xiàn)代登山者一想起來就膽戰(zhàn)心驚。但是，他們并非故意尋求這 種刺激，他們只有一個目標，的目標 -- 頂峰!
我們今天很難想像昔日的登山先驅們是多么艱苦。除了澤曼特和夏蒙尼等一兩個很快出了 名的地方外，阿爾卑斯山山區(qū)的小村幾乎全是高山環(huán)抱、與世隔絕的窮鄉(xiāng)僻壤。那里的小客棧一般都很骯臟，而且跳蚤猖獗。 食物是當?shù)氐母衫液屯ǔ４娣帕艘荒曛玫拿姘?，人們就著劣酒吞下這種食物。山谷里常常沒有小客棧，登山者只好隨遇而安。有時同當?shù)啬翈?(他通常和他的教民一樣窮)住在一起，有時同牧羊人或制乳酪的人住在一起。無論住在哪兒，情況都一樣：骯臟、貧窮，極其不舒適。對于過慣了一頓飯吃7道 菜、睡亞麻細布床單的人來說，變換一下生活環(huán)境來到阿爾卑斯山山區(qū)，那一定是很艱難的。