基礎(chǔ)英語(yǔ)輕松學(xué)【31】愚人節(jié)特別提示:見(jiàn)到鈔票也不能撿

字號(hào):

本課您將學(xué)到:pick up一詞多意,turn into變化多,among和between比較講解
    If it is the morning of April 1 and you see some money on the ground, perhaps you should think twice before you pick it up. It might have been glued(粘) there by someone keen(熱心的,熱衷的) to turn you into an “April fool”.
    一年三百六十五天,為什么偏偏選這一天來(lái)騙人呢?故事還得從十六世紀(jì)的羅馬說(shuō)起:
    The Roman Catholic Church decided that the calendar year in Europe would begin on January 1, instead of the original(初的) date of April 1. Some people were slow to accept(接受) the new rule, and others called them ignorant(無(wú)知的) or stubborn(頑固的). They became the first April fools.
    而在這一天捉弄人的傳統(tǒng)可能起源于法國(guó),在那里,“受害者”被稱(chēng)作April fish,也許跟春天剛出生的小魚(yú)容易被捕捉有關(guān)吧!
    Nowadays, it is still a custom among French children to tie paper fish to each other's backs(后背) on April 1.
    「讀書(shū)筆記」
    如果四月一日的早晨你看到地上有鈔票,(If it is the morning of April 1 and you see some money on the ground)撿之前一定要三思。(perhaps you should think twice before you pick it up)否則你可能就成了一個(gè)“April fool”,因?yàn)槟强赡苁鞘裁慈速N在那兒,然后躲在一邊急切的期待著你的行動(dòng)。
    pick up在這里指“拾起”,而在這句話中You should pick up the tools after work.它的意思可不是叫你撿起地上的工具,而是“工作結(jié)束后應(yīng)該把工具收拾好”,也就是說(shuō)pick up還可以表示“收拾”的意思。在口語(yǔ)中,pick up可就變成一個(gè)很曖昧的詞,試體會(huì)下面這句話:
    We picked up a couple of girls at the pub last Friday.
    上星期五我們?cè)诰瓢山Y(jié)識(shí)了幾個(gè)女孩。
    pick up的意思是“與……偶然結(jié)識(shí) (常指與異性調(diào)情)”
    turn into是“使變成”的意思,可以指事物真的起了變化,如:They are turning waste land into paddy fields.他們正在使荒地變?yōu)榈咎?。也可以指比喻意,如一則新聞的標(biāo)題這樣寫(xiě)道States Turn Into Super Tax Sleuths, Seeking Cheats in Heaps of Records(國(guó)務(wù)院化身偵探,在堆積如山的文件中尋找漏洞)
    Roman Catholic Church(羅馬天主教會(huì))是中世紀(jì)歐洲具權(quán)威的機(jī)構(gòu),他們的決定就相當(dāng)于中國(guó)古代皇帝的圣旨,在他們的主持下,1月1日代替了原來(lái)的4月1日(instead of the original date of April 1)成為了一年的開(kāi)始。一些人一時(shí)無(wú)法適應(yīng)這個(gè)新規(guī)定,還在4月1日過(guò)節(jié),就被人稱(chēng)為無(wú)知或固執(zhí)。他們就是第一批“四月愚人”。
    現(xiàn)在,每到4月1日,互相在背后貼紙魚(yú)依然是法國(guó)孩子們慶祝愚人節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)目。
    「語(yǔ)法小教室」
    among和between
    這兩個(gè)詞都表示“在……之間”的意思,區(qū)別在于among用于三個(gè)或更多對(duì)象之間,而between用于兩個(gè)對(duì)象之間。
    如:Tom has always been popular among his classmates.湯姆在同學(xué)中一直很受歡迎。
    They planted a lot of trees between the two buildings.他們?cè)趦勺ㄖ镏g栽了許多樹(shù)。
    可是,當(dāng)我們的閱讀兩逐漸積累,會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣的句子也是很常見(jiàn)的:The U.S. Senate will vote on ratification of the treaty between the eight countries.(參議院將會(huì)投票批準(zhǔn)八國(guó)條約。)為什么這里要用between,而不是among呢?
    原來(lái),between不僅可以用于指的是兩者之間關(guān)系,還可以指多個(gè)個(gè)體之間的一種直接的關(guān)系,也就是說(shuō),在這次投票中,每個(gè)國(guó)家都要為其他7個(gè)國(guó)家投票 ,盡管他們的總數(shù)是8個(gè),但實(shí)際上他們的關(guān)系是一對(duì)一的。
    再看一個(gè)例句:
    Nancy is a real butterfly; look at her behavior between the five guys.
    Nancy真是個(gè)花蝴蝶,看看他在5個(gè)男人之間周旋的樣子吧。
    需要注意的是雖然between可以不僅限于兩者之間使用,among卻只能用于指兩者以上的事物。