新概念第四册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson23

新概念第四册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson23

【课文】

First listen and then answer the following question.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

What are the two main types of bird flight described by the

author?

No two sorts of birds practise quite the same sort of flight; the

varieties are infinite; but two classes may be roughly seen. Any ship

that crosses the Pacific is accompanied for many days by the smaller

albatross, Which may keep company with the vessel for an hour without

visible or more than occasional movement of wing. The currents of air

that the walls of the ship direct upwards, as well as in the line of

its course, are enough to give the great bird with its immense wings

sufficient sustenance and progress. The albatross is the king of the

gliders, the class of fliers which harness the air to their purpose,

but must yield to its opposition. In the contrary school, the duck is

supreme. It comes nearer to the engines with which man has

'conquered' the air, as he boasts. Duck, and like them the pigeons,

are endowed with such-like muscles, that are a good part of the

weight of the bird, and these will ply the short wings with such

irresistible power that they can bore for long distances through an

opposing gale before exhaustion follows. Their humbler followers,

such as partridges, have a like power of strong propulsion, but soon

tire. You may pick them up in utter exhaustion, if wind over the sea

has driven them to a long journey. The swallow shares the virtues of

both schools in highest measure. It tires not, nor does it boast of

its power; but belongs to the air,travelling it may be six thousand

miles to and from its northern nesting home, feeding its flown young

as it flies, and slipping through a medium that seems to help its

passage even when the wind is adverse. Such birds do us good, though

we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that; and

even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats

to the magpie and wish it good-morning.

WILLIAM BEACH THOMAS A Countryman's Creed

【New words and expressions 生词和短语】

albatross n. 信天翁

sustenance n. 支撑力

glider n. 滑翔者 harness v. 利用

endow v. 赋有

ply v. 不断地供给

gale n. 大风

partridge n. 鹧鸪

like adj. 类似的

propulsion n. 推进力

utter adj. 完全的

slip v. 滑行

adverse adj. 逆的，相反的

omen n. 预兆

【课文注释】

1. keep company with

①陪伴着……

例句：She stayed at home to keep company with her younger sister.

她留在家里陪伴她妹妹。

②交往

例句：Never keep company with dishonest persons.

不要与不诚实的人打交道。

2. course与coarse, 两个单词虽然很像，但是意义却大不相同。

①course n. 路线、航线、航向

例句：The ship had been blown off course in the storm.

这艘船在暴风雨中被刮得偏离了航向。

②coarse adj. 粗的，粗糙的

例句：Homespun is a cloth of coarse weave.

土布是一种织得粗糙的布。

3. harness v.

①给……上挽具;套(马)[(+to)]

例句：The farmer harnessed the horse to the cart.

农夫把马套到马车上。

②治理,利用;控制,驾驭

例句：They will harness the sun's energy to heat homes.

他们将利用太阳能为住宅供暖。

It will take a couple of years to harness that river.

治理那条河流要花两三年时间。

4. be endowed with 天生具有

例句：He is endowed with literary talent.

他有文学天分。

5. steel-like musles, that are a good part of the weight of the

bird

句中以that引导的从句是一个非限制性定语从句，修饰muscles。that引导的非限制性是很罕见的，但并非没有。(绝对长知识了呀!)

例句：She is devilish like Miss Cutter, that I used to meet at

Dumdum. 她像坎特小姐一样恶毒，我在达姆城曾领教过坎特小姐。

Age，that lessens the enjoyment of life, increases our desire of

living.

年龄，消磨着人生的欢乐，也增加了人们求生的欲望。

6.ply v. 不断供应

例句：And don't ply foreigners with lots and lots of disparate

questions.

不要没完没了地向老外提出大量的互不相关的问题。

7. ①in highest measure / to the highest degree 程度地， measure在这里是“程度”的意思。

例句：He resembles his mother in highest measure.

他长得像极了他的妈妈。

②in some measure / to some degree 在某种程度上

例句：I agree with him in some measure.

我有几分同意他的意见。

We must admit that your unwearied effort is in some measure

successful.

我们必须承认你们不屈不挠的的努力多少是成功的。

8. travelling it may be six thousand miles to and from its

northern nesting home

travelling it may be是倒装语序，这是为了强调travelling的生动逼真，自然语序是it may be travelling。

9. slip v.

①滑，滑倒

例句：I was unlucky to slip on a banana skin and fall over.

我真倒霉，踩在香蕉皮上滑倒了。

②溜;悄悄走;(时间)不知不觉地过去

例句：The student slipped out of the classroom.

那学生溜出了教室。

10. adverse adj. 不利的, 逆向的, 有害的

例句：The development was adverse to our interests.

这种发展与我们的利益背道而驰。

opposite, contrary, adverse, reverse, converse

这些形容词均含“相反的、对立的”之意。

opposite: 指位置、方向、行动或想法等完全相反。

contrary: 一般指与某种主张、看法或行为等正好相反，隐含否定一方并不意味着肯定另一方的意味。

adverse: 通常指违害利益的、无生命的势力或条件等，侧重分歧。

reverse: 指朝相反方向的或反面(背面)的。

converse: 指在方向、行动或意见上相反的。

【参考译文】

没有任何两种鸟的飞行方式是相同的。鸟的飞行方式千差万别，但大体上可分为两类。任何一艘横度太平洋的轮船都会有一种小信天翁伴随飞行许多天。它们随船飞行一小时也难得见其扇动一下翅膀。沿船体的上升的气流和沿