A Chance in a million 百萬分之一的幾率
We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences—most of them wildly improbable. Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother. A long-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero's downfall. And so on. Modern readers would find such naive solutions totally unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible. When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before. While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs Bussman was fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right. A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman, Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family home, but the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become of the inhabitants. Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.
13.A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman.
幾天后，她派了一個男孩去問那人是否叫漢斯.巴斯曼。
語言點1:句子結構分析:動詞不定式短語to ask…作目的狀語，即“派男孩去目的地是為了讓他去問…”
語言點2:if his name was Hans Bussman為賓語從句，作ask的直接賓語，him是間接賓語。
14.Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother.
不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是漢斯.巴斯曼，他確實是弗朗茲失散多年的兄弟。
語言點:句子結構分析:nedless to say是一個非常重要的表達。
15. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive.
兄弟倆團聚之時，漢斯說明了他活下來的經過。
語言點1:句子結構分析:when引導時間狀語從句。how it was that he was still alive為賓語從句，說明explained的內容，其中it是形式主語，that引導的從句是真正的主語，這句話改寫成正常語序應該是he was still alive was how。
語言點2:注意were reunited不可譯為“被團圓”，而應譯為主動語態(tài)。
We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences—most of them wildly improbable. Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother. A long-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero's downfall. And so on. Modern readers would find such naive solutions totally unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible. When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before. While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs Bussman was fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right. A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman, Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family home, but the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become of the inhabitants. Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.
13.A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman.
幾天后，她派了一個男孩去問那人是否叫漢斯.巴斯曼。
語言點1:句子結構分析:動詞不定式短語to ask…作目的狀語，即“派男孩去目的地是為了讓他去問…”
語言點2:if his name was Hans Bussman為賓語從句，作ask的直接賓語，him是間接賓語。
14.Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother.
不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是漢斯.巴斯曼，他確實是弗朗茲失散多年的兄弟。
語言點:句子結構分析:nedless to say是一個非常重要的表達。
15. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive.
兄弟倆團聚之時，漢斯說明了他活下來的經過。
語言點1:句子結構分析:when引導時間狀語從句。how it was that he was still alive為賓語從句，說明explained的內容，其中it是形式主語，that引導的從句是真正的主語，這句話改寫成正常語序應該是he was still alive was how。
語言點2:注意were reunited不可譯為“被團圓”，而應譯為主動語態(tài)。