大学英语综合教程1课文详解重点句子分析
Possibility
Men can sit through the most pointless, boring movie if there’s even the slightest possibility that a woman will take her top off.
如果电影上女人有一点儿儿把上面脱光的可能性，男人就能耐着性子一直看完最无意义、最枯燥的电影。
bore
He is an old bore; even the grave yawns for him.
他是个老无聊，甚至坟墓都在替他大哈欠。
I wanted to be bored to death, as good a way to go as any.
我想无聊至死，是个不错的死法。
注：人有很多种死法，老死，病死，被车撞死，无聊死。
Dear World: I am leaving because I am bored.
亲爱的世界：我要走了因为我厌倦了。
注：有人在墓碑上这么写。
He has returned from Italy a greater bore than ever; now he’s boring on architecture, painting, statuary[雕塑], and music.
他从意大利回来后比以前更无聊了，他钻研建筑、绘画、雕塑和音乐。
注：Bore 无聊；钻研。
associate
An associate producer is the only guy in Hollywood who will associate with a producer.
助理导演是Hollywood唯一愿意和导演合作的人。
注：associate：助理；合作。
这么说就是为了好玩儿，实际上导演在Hollywood牛着呢，Hollywood人人都想当明星，人人都想和导演套近乎。
词义相近的词join
场景再现：政治家说话很圆滑，为自己留了后路。
All French politicians love each other, or so they say. They never know when they may want to join each other’s governments.
所有法国的政治家都爱对方，或者他们这么说。
他们从来都不知道什么时候可能加入对方的政府。
agony
I’ve never heard anything that so clearly suggests the agony of primitive man as your attempt to play the cello.
我从来没有听过什么声音能象你努力演奏大提琴时那么清晰地表达出来的原始人的痛苦。
注：原始人的痛苦是什么样的？
assign
An consultant is someone who is called in at the last moment and paid a lot of money to assign[分配] the blame.
咨询师在最后时刻被找来，付了很多钱分配责任的人。
注：讽刺咨询师根本解决不了问题。
If you are good, you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it.
如果你优秀，你将被分配做所有的工作，如果你非常优秀，你将不用做任何工作。
注：办公室标语。
非常优秀的人只管分配工作（实际上那是更需要智慧的工作）。
assignment
A young man hadn’t handed in one homework assignment since they started the class.
“Won’t you please do tonight’s assignment?”
“What? And ruin a perfect record?”
从开课以来，有个年轻人从没交过作业。
“你不做今晚的作业了吗？”
“什么？要毁掉一个完美的记录吗？”
Teacher: Suzie, why didn’t you do your history assignment?
Suzie: I’d rather let bygones be bygones.
老师：Susie, 你为什么没作历史作业？
Susie：过去的事就让让他过去吧。
tedious
The days just prior to marriage are like a snappy[爽快的] introduction to a tedious[沉闷的] book.
结婚前的日子就象一本无聊书的精彩介绍。
注：婚姻生活平平淡淡才是真，但有些人觉得无聊。
A tedious railway journey was made in a train that seemed to stop every few minutes to admire the scenery[I].
乏味的铁路旅行好象火车每隔几分就停下来欣赏风景一样。
注：换个角度看问题，慢车很乏味，但可以有更多的时间欣赏风景。
reputation
To enjoy a good reputation, give publicly, and steal privately.
要享有声誉，就要公开给予，私下偷盗。
注：这正是现在一些所谓的慈善家做的事情。
Confessions may be good for the soul but they are bad for the reputation.
忏悔可能对灵魂有好处，但对声誉是有害的。
题外话：人们通常对着上帝忏悔，但你做的那点儿事儿上帝早就知道，对你的灵魂会有多大好处呢？如果不对着同事朋友忏悔，对你的声誉也没有多大损害。
was so pletely misunderstood that it made my reputation as a playwright.
人们完全误解了《武器与人》，所以我才获得了剧作家的声誉。
注：这是著名作家海明威说的，可以有两种理解。
一种是他觉得自己很牛：人们都不理解，还给我那么多声誉，如果他们都理解了，那我就更不得了了。
还有一种理解是他觉得自己和社会格格不入，如果人们理解了他著作的内涵，就不会给他那么多荣誉了。
Many a man’s reputation would not know his own character if they met on the street.
如果在街上碰了面，很多人的声誉也认不出他的主人。
注：很多人沽名钓誉，他们不配得到那么多荣誉。
inspire
It is often a woman who inspires us by the great things that she will prevent us from aomplishing.
女人总是激励我们干大事，又是她们阻碍我们去实现。
注：女人希望丈夫干一翻事业，又希望丈夫经常陪着她，不要花那么多时间去工作。
When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire.
当你还有口气时你充满斗志，当你不呼吸时你到期了。
There is a man whose work pattern has inspired the Pay-roll Department to e up with a brand new classification: On-The-Job-Retirement.
他的工作模式激发劳资部门发明了一个新工种：工作时退休。
注：工作时吊儿郎当，和退休没什么区别。
Formal
In statesmanship, get the formalities right; never mind about the moralities.[道德]
政治家的才干是注意正确的礼节，决不介意道德。
注：说的有点儿过分，但有些政治家确实是放道德置于脑后。
场景再现：你在吃西餐时说：
I always get embarrassed at formal dinners because of etiquette. [礼节] Eating peas, in particular, gives me a problem. I never know which knife to use.
正式宴会上的礼节总让我很尴尬，特别是吃豆子时给我带来个难题，我不知道该用哪把刀。
Frankly, I never considered myself bald until I went to a formal dinner and bent over to pick up a napkin. The woman next to me looked down at my head, turned to the waiter and said, “No melon, thank you.”
坦白说，我从不认为我秃顶，直到有一次我去一家正规的餐厅，弯腰捡餐巾时，挨着我坐的女人低头看着我的脑袋，转向服务员说，“不要瓜，谢谢你。”
注：错把秃头当成了瓜。
It is a miracle that curiosity [好奇心] survives formal education
经过正规教育后好奇心依然存在真是个奇迹。
注：学校教育循规蹈矩，把很多学生的棱角磨平了，创造性磨没了。
tackle
场景再现：哈姆雷特没什么经验，处理家庭问题有些急噪。
is the tragedy of tackling a family problem soon after college
《哈姆雷特》是一个大学刚毕业就处理家庭问题的悲剧。
recall
Consumer: Hello, I’m calling about an auto that must be recalled!
A: What part of the car is defective?
Consumer: The nut behind the wheel!
顾客：喂，我打电话告诉你们有辆汽车必须被召回。
回答：汽车哪部分有缺陷呢？
顾客：方向盘后面那个傻瓜。
注：车是好车，开车的人应该被召回。
（车有潜在质量问题，厂家召回检修。
）
argue
Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.
决不要在饭桌上辩论，因为不饿的人总会占上风。
注：做事情前要先做好准备，如果你还饿着肚子在饭桌上就不要开始辩论，你嘴里塞满了红烧肉，怎么辩论？
It is a difficult matter, my fellow citizen, to argue with the belly[肚子] since it has no ears.
我的同胞们，同肚皮争论可是一件困难的事，肚子没有耳朵。
注：人首先要解决吃饭问题，如果饭都吃不饱，可能要做一些不体面的事情了。
场景再现：这也是一种幽默技巧，当有同学说你辩论没赢过时，你可以这么说：
I always get the better of it when I argue alone.
(or I always win when I argue alone.)
我独自一人辩论时，我总占上风。
argument
场景再现：有人辩论时嗓门越来越大，你说：
You raise your voice when you want to reinforce your argument.
当你应该加强你的论点时你却提高了声音。
Why is an argument like a pen?
It’s no good without a point.
为什么争论象钢笔？
没有论点（尖）就没有用。
August was the name of puppy who was always picking on large animals. One day he got into an argument with a lion. The next day was the first day of September. Why?
Because that was the last day of August.
August 是一个总爱作弄大动物的小狗的名字。
一天他和一个狮子发生了争吵，第二天是九月的第一天，为什么？
因为那是August的最后一天。
场景再现：你的同学辩论时没话说了，你可以这样劝他：
If you can’t answer a man’s argument, all is not lost ___ you can still call him names.
如果你不能回击一个人的辩论，你也没有完全失败——你仍然可以辱骂他。
注：你没话说了，但你可以骂他，这就是在损人了。
The argument became so heated that the woman next door sent for the fire brigade.[消防队]
”缏郾涞梅浅；鸨舯诘呐巳ソ邢蓝恿恕
I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always
vulgar[粗俗] and often convincing.
我不喜欢任何类型的辩论，这些辩论总是那么粗俗，并且常常令人信服。
注：他因为理亏，所以不喜欢辩论，还说对方粗俗，事实上他已经心服了。
Bob: "So, you say that you won the argument with your wife yesterday."
Joe: "Yes, she came crawling on her hands and knees."
Bob: "Really? What did she say?"
Joe: "Come out from under the bed, you coward
Bob：你说昨天你和你妻子的谈话你占了上风。
Joe：是的，她跪在地上向我爬过来。
Bob：真的？她说什么？
Joe：从床底下出来，你这个胆小鬼。
There is no such thing as a convincing argument, although every man thinks he has one.
根本就没有什么令人信服的论证，虽然每个人都认为自己可以。
注：每个人都觉得自己不会被别人说服，但自己可以说服别人。
Compose
Society is posed of two great classes: those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.
社会由两大阶级组成：一类人有很多食品但没什么食欲，一类人食欲旺盛但食品匮乏.
注：这种比喻象很多其它比喻一样好象在说明什么，其实这类比喻就象垃圾。
社会为什么分两大阶级呢？难道人不能既有食品又有食欲吗？
In order to pose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.
作曲就是要记”鹑嘶姑挥邢氲降那鳌
注：别人没想到的曲调你怎么记住呢？首先要自己先想出曲调，那就是作曲。
contempt
God shows his contempt for wealth by the kind of person he selects to receive it.
上帝通过选择接受财富的人来显示他对财富的蔑视。
注：意思是上帝选择很多人格很差的人让他们有钱，足见上帝对财富的蔑视。
Familiarity breeds contempt ---and children.
熟悉带来轻视——和孩子。
注：俗语说Familiarity breeds contempt熟悉一个人以后就会觉得他不过如此，产生轻视之心。
一般来说：男女熟悉以后才结婚生孩子。
avoid
In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.
为了避免别人说自己是个爱调情的人，她总是很容易就顺从了。
注：有男人一 ___她，她就顺从了。
场景再现：一个战士在战场上当了逃兵，他这么为自己辩解：
I don’t mean to avoid any responsibility. But, why did the Lord give us so much quickness of movement?
我不想逃避责任，可为什么上帝让我们移动得这么快呢？
Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.
决不要把你可以完全避免的事情推迟到明天。
注：有一些事情可以避免。
场景再现：批评一些人怕别人说三道四，缩手缩脚，一事无成：
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
为避免批评，什么也不做，什么也不说，什么也不是。