Lesson 1 Finding fossil man
写杏花的诗句
为情所困的诗句第一课发现化石人
生物质材料
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 prerve 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】
prerve：保存，保留（to make sth. continue without changing）.例如：
prerve an old hou as a muum 保存一幢老房子用作陈列馆
prerve sb.'s right to do sth. 保留某人对某事物的权利
Few of his early poems are prerved。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 ries 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。 The legends are uful becau 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.
污水管网【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
考研英语多长时间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 the 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 ourlves 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’ c ame 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， becau 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。羊和虎合不合
【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 ud wood and skins, but the 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 ud意为“可能使用过",may＋完成时结构表示对过去情况的推测。the 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 hou 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. Becau they destroy so many incts, and incts 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. Incts 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 inct—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.incts 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 incts 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 inct 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 incts， 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 incts。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 inct 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 e 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(becau of or for someone）。例如：
Don’t be uneasy on my be half。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 reprentative）”。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 who 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（clo to but not exactly a large amount），例如:
He is to ll the hou 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）。
鸟的部首2-10. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing incts.
【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 incts 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 incts 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 ca 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, becau 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。爆炸当量
【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 t of meetings between the leaders of veral 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：
