新概念英语第四册重点：On Telling the Truth

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　　On Telling the Truth 论讲真话

　　The Victorians, realizing that the greatest Happiness accorded to man is that provided by a happy marriage, endeavoured to pretend that all their marriages were happy. We, for our part, admitting the fact that no feat of intelligence and character is so exacting as that required of two people who desire to live permanently together on a basis of amity, are obsessed by the problem of how to render the basic facts of cohabitation simpler and more reasonable, in order that unhappy marriages may less frequently result. The Victorians would have considered it 'painful' or 'unpleasant' were one to point out that only four marriages out of every ten are anything but forced servitudes. We ourselves start from this very assumption and try to build from it a theory of more sensible relations between the sexes. Of all forms of arrant untruthfulness Victorian optimism

　　appears to me to have been the most cowardly and the most damaging.

　　Truth, therefore, is an attitude of the mind. lt is important, if one does not wish to inconvenience and to bore one's friends, not to tell lies. But it is more important not to think lies, or to slide into those mechanical and untruthful habits of thought which are so pleasant and so easy as descents to mental ineptitude. The victorian habit of mind (which I consider to have been a bad habit of mind) was unduly preoccupied by what was socially and morally convenient. Convenience is, however, in all affairs of life, an execrable test of value. One should have the courage to think uncomfortably, since it is only by rejecting the convenient that one can come to think the truth. Not, after all, that there is any such thing as truth. At best we can approach to some relative approximation. On the other hand, there is surely such a thing as untruth. One is generally aware when one has said something, or acted in some way which has left on other people an impression

　　not strictly in accordance with the facts. One is generally aware, also. when one has thrust aside an inconvenient thought and slid into its place another thought which is convenient. One's awareness in the former case is in general more acute than in the latter, since we are more on the look-out for the lies we utter than for those we merely think. In fact, however, it is the untruthful thought which is the more vicious of the two. Spoken lies are invariably tiresome and may actually be dishonest. But continuous lying in the mind, a disease to which the Anglo-Saxon is peculiarly exposed, spells the destruction of human thought and character.

　　New words and expressions 生词短语

　　(改正)Victoria (1837-1901)

　　前期是 unrest, alarm.

　　后期 growing prosperity

　　industrialism 工业革命 free trade 自由贸易

　　Britain was named workshop of the world.

　　cession of Hongkong to U.K.

　　cession 割让

　　opium war 鸦片战争

　　critical realism 批判现实主义

　　made big fortune=made good money

　　Charles Dickens

　　hard times 艰难时事

　　middle class 中产阶级

　　The Tale of Two Cities 双城记

　　Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿

　　Vanity Fair 名利场

　　status 地位

　　rank 头衔

　　乔治。艾里奥特

　　Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte

　　Jane Eyre 简爱

　　Wuthering Heights 呼啸山庄

　　Michelle

　　Gone with the wind 飘

　　submit to 屈服于

　　destined fate 注定的命运

　　turn against her fate 与她的命运对抗

　　self-portrait 自画像

　　tuberculosis 肺结核

　　sorrow 悲痛

　　simplified version 简写版

　　original 原著

　　accordvt.给予

　　grant同意，给予

　　grant sb. sth.

　　He was accorded the permission to enter the

　　library.

　　to accord the guest a warm welcome.

　　endowvt.(二十课)

　　for one’s part就某人而言

　　in terms of ourselves

　　on the part of us

　　For our part, we have no objection.

　　my objection 我的反对意见(24 课)

　　amityn.友善

　　harmony,

　　concordnational concord 民族团结

　　our family members are/ live in amity/

　　harmony/ concord.

　　obsessvt.使烦恼

　　I’m obsessed with too much assignment.

　　vexv.使烦恼

　　annoy vt.使苦恼

　　irrtatevt.激怒

　　I’m bored. 我烦了。

　　obsessvt.迷住

　　I’m obsessed with sb.

　　I’m obsessed with the idea of becoming a

　　millionaire.

　　rendervt.致使，给予

　　A serious illness rendered him rather weak.

　　(render: 致使)

　　render thanks to sb. 答谢(render: 给予)

　　render sb. a favor 给某人帮个忙

　　render sth. Inter Enghlish 翻译

　　render a role 扮演一个角色

　　he renders a role in the movie.

　　to interpret a role

　　to play a role

　　servituden.奴役

　　He is/ was in servitude. 他没自由

　　sex n.性别

　　male/ female

　　weaker, fair, gentle / strong, rougher, sterner

　　half the sky 半边天

　　sex appeal 性感

　　bad egg坏蛋

　　dirty dog

　　arranta.纯粹的(否定意义)

　　sheer

　　arrant nonsense 一派胡言，

　　out and out

　　he is out and out hooligan.

　　cowardlya.怯懦的

　　coward 胆小鬼，懦夫

　　chicken

　　craven

　　you two are fighting and finally you cry

　　craven.

　　Spare me 饶了我

　　spineless adj.

　　spine

　　shrinking

　　shrink 缩水

　　knee 膝盖

　　weak kneed

　　fainthearted 胆小的

　　slide into不知不觉得陷入

　　I slide into the bad habit of smoking.

　　I slide into the bad habit of rising late.

　　I’m a late riser.

　　early riser 早起的人

　　slip into

　　inconveniencevt.打扰

　　trouble 打搅

　　bore

　　bother

　　Probably I trouble you for a minute.

　　ineptituden. 笨拙的

　　servitude n. 奴隶状态

　　-tude 是名词后缀

　　ept 聪明灵活的

　　clumsy 笨拙的

　　competence n. 能力

　　competentadj.

　　incompetent无能的

　　bungling 笨拙的

　　unduly ad.过分地

　　excess

　　extreme 极度

　　moderate 不过量的

　　immoderate 过量的

　　modest

　　inmodest

　　overmuch

　　due 准时

　　The train is due at severn o’clock.

　　My book is out. 我的书到期了。

　　passport 护照

　　renew it 续借，续签

　　execrablea.恶劣的，令人讨厌的

　　contemptible 令人讨厌的

　　coarse 粗俗的

　　debased 下贱的，卑鄙的

　　ignoble 不光彩的

　　abject 卑鄙的

　　at best充其量

　　average student 中等生

　　at most

　　at least 至少

　　rejectvt.丢弃 后跟 habit or idea

　　discard 后跟 sth. concrete discard the old

　　clothes

　　toss toss up 硬币

　　abandon

　　I’m abandoned by the girl.

　　dump 抛弃

　　I’m dumped.

　　I’m rejected.

　　I’m abandoned.

　　The relation broke up 关系断了

　　approxiamationn.近似

　　approxiamate adj.

　　he is approxiamately an average student.

　　approciamately=about

　　acutea.敏锐的

　　he has acute eyes.他目光敏锐

　　eagle eye

　　bat eye 瞎眼

　　observant eye

　　decerning eyes

　　look-outn.警戒

　　on the look-out for the bad habit

　　look-outn.守望员

　　on the alert

　　alert 警报

　　on the guard 小心

　　vicious a.恶毒的

　　thrustvt.猛然推开

　　thrust my Enghlish aside

　　cast aside

　　thrust one’s way through the

　　crowd 挤出人群

　　elbow one’s way

　　thrust five yuan into my hand 塞给我五元钱

　　thrusting 盛气凌人

　　expose vt.暴露

　　Girls don’t want to expose themselves in the

　　sun.

　　suntanned 被太阳晒黑的

　　be expose to 暴露在

　　Students should be exposed to more

　　reading。学生应该多读书。

　　spellvt.导致，带来

　　lead to

　　result in

　　invite

　　incur

　　Pride spells failure.骄兵必败

　　Sloth spells failure.懒惰生出恶果。

　　Spell n. 咒语

　　I’m spellbound. 我被迷住了

　　Anglo-Saxonn. 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 人

　　(449-1066)

　　Roman Empire falls

　　retreat 撤退

　　Celtic 凯尔特人

　　Notes on the text 课文注释

　　第一句：The Victorians, realizing that the greatest Happiness accorded to man is that

　　provided by a happy marriage(后置定语), endeavoured to pretend that all their marriages

　　were happy.(主提)

　　Victorians:那个时代的人们

　　endeavour=try 尽力，尝试

　　make effects

　　accorded to man=given to man

　　save fighting 拳击

　　mental enjoyment 思想的幸福

　　第二句： for our part, admitting the fact that no featWe,(技巧)of intelligence and character

　　is so exacting as that required of two people who desire to live permanently together on a

　　basis of amity, are obsessed by the problem of how to render the basic facts of cohabitation

　　simpler and more reasonable, in order that unhappy marriages may less frequently result.

　　render=make

　　cohabitation 同住

　　live in sin(罪过)

　　abbot 方丈

　　feat 壮举，技巧

　　exacting 精确无误，毫厘不差

　　intelligence=mental work

　　shoulder the burden 肩负责任

　　in order that (表目的)以便于

　　result 产生

　　hand in hand beggars 手牵手的乞丐(沿街乞讨的乞丐)

　　改句型：we admitted that ……..so we were obsessed……

　　第三句：The Victorians would have considered it 'painful' or 'unpleasant' were one to point

　　out that only four marriages out of every ten are anything but forced servitudes.

　　虚拟语气，因为猜测。

　　if one were to point out……倒装句型

　　four marriages out of every ten 十分之四

　　anything but 除去

　　arranged marriage 包办婚姻 red veil 红纱

　　第四句：We ourselves start from this very assumption and try to build from it a theory of

　　more sensible relations between the sexes. (开始论述)

　　very 修饰名词，是强调词

　　on the very day, I met the girl. 就在这一天，我见了那个女孩。

　　On the very morning 就是那天早晨

　　from=based on

　　sensible=reasonable 合理的

　　第五句：Of all forms of arrant untruthfulness Victorian optimism appears to me to the most

　　cowardly and the most damaging.

　　optimism 乐观派，乐观主义(主语)

　　have been 过去完成式，

　　damaging 危害严重的

　　介词短语前置句

　　Victorian optimism appears to me to have been the most cowardly and the most damaging of

　　all forms of arrant untruthfulness.

　　truthful 真实的，说真话的 untruthful 爱说谎的，不真实的

　　to face reality 面对现实my family is well off/ honeyed.

　　第二段第一句：Truth, therefore, is an attitude of the mind.(观点更鲜明)

　　truth 说真话

　　an attitude of the mind 可替换为 a state of mind 精神状态

　　mental age 心理年龄 moral decay 道德败坏

　　第二句： is important, if one does not wish to inconvenience and to bore one's friends, not tolt

　　tell lies.(进一步说明)

　　第三句：But it is more important not to think lies, or to slide into those mechanical and

　　untruthful habits of thought which are so pleasant and so easy as descents to mental

　　ineptitude.

　　think=imagine

　　slide into 滑进去，陷进去 mechanical 机械的

　　conscious 有意识的unconscious 无意识的

　　descent 产物，后代mental ineptitude 不动脑筋bar 单杠

　　第四句：The victorian habit of mind (which I consider to have been a bad habit of mind) was

　　unduly preoccupied by what was socially and morally convenient.

　　the Victorian habit of mind 维多利亚时期人们的思维习惯

　　preoccupied 占领(满脑子都是)

　　unduly=improperly 不太恰当 convenient 有利的

　　socially and morally 对社会建设和道德建设 robbery n.抢夺，抢掠 stability 稳定

　　第五句：Convenience is, however, in all affairs of life, an execrable test of value. One should

　　have the courage to think uncomfortably, since it is only by rejecting the convenient that one

　　can come to think the truth.

　　in all affairs of life 在社会的各个方面test of value 对价值的衡量 execrable 恶劣的

　　第六句：One should have the courage to think uncomfortably, since it is only by rejecting the

　　convenient that one can come to think the truth.

　　rejecting 抛弃掉

　　第三段：Not, after all, that there is any such thing as truth.(倒装句型)At best we can approach to some relative approximation. On the other hand, there is surely such a thing as untruth.(开始论述)One is generally aware when one has said something, or acted in some way which has left on other people an impression not strictly in accordance with the facts.

　　(第二个论点)One is generally aware, also. when one has thrust aside an inconvenient thought and slid into its place another thought which is convenient. One's awareness in the former case is in general more acute than in the latter, since we are more on the look-out for the lies we utter than for those we merely think. In fact, however, it is the untruthful thought which is the more vicious of the two. Spoken lies are invariably tiresome and may actually be dishonest. But continuous lying

　　in the mind, a disease to which the Anglo-Saxon is peculiarly exposed, spells the destruction of human thought and character.

　　after all 毕竟，归根到底

　　at best 充其量approach=get close to 没有绝对，只有相对而言。

　　on the other hand 另一方面前面对应词组：on the one hand

　　aware=clearin some way 以某种方式

　　leave an impression on sb.给某人留下印象

　　left on other people an impression 介词短语提前，因为 impression 后有定语，避免歧义

　　in accordance with 与……一致

　　elegance n.高雅，典雅thrust aside=reject

　　slide into 滑到

　　acute 敏锐utter=tell

　　vicious 危害严重的 disease lying in the mind

　　be exposed to 暴露在……下spells=bring about 带来，招致

　　biographer 传记作者 diplomat 外交家

　　Henry Moore

　　Faulkner

　　Russell

　　Bacon

　　Hemingway

　　Gissing

　　O.Henry

　　Gilbert

　　Jack London

　　Maugham

　　stream of consciousness 意识流

　　loose in struture 结构松散

　　Faulkner

　　a film maker

　　Pulitzer prize

　　Quotations of Chairman Mao

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