【課文】
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.
【課文翻譯】
我們不再像以往那樣輕易相信別人了。在19世紀，小說家常在小說結(jié)尾處給讀者準備一系列的巧合——大部分是牽強附會，極不可能的。當時的讀者卻愉快地接受這樣一些事實，一個低賤的女傭?qū)嶋H上是主人公的母親;主人公一位長期失散的兄弟，大家都以為死了，實際上一直活著，并且正在策劃暗算主人公;如此等等，現(xiàn)代讀者會覺得這種天真的結(jié)局完全無法接受。不過，在現(xiàn)實生活中，有時確實會出現(xiàn)一些巧合，這些巧合除了19世紀小說家外誰也不會相信。
當我是個孩子的時候，我祖父給我講了一位德國出租汽車司機弗朗茲。巴斯曼如何找到了據(jù)信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。，他與妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下來與一個工人交談，接著他們繼續(xù)往前走去。巴斯曼夫人說那工人與她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜測他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗朗茲對此不屑一顧，指出他兄弟已經(jīng)在戰(zhàn)爭中陣亡了。盡管巴斯曼夫人熟知這個情況，但她仍然認為自己的想法仍有百萬分之一的可能性。幾天后，她派了一個男孩去問那人是否叫漢斯.巴斯曼。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。兄弟倆團聚之時，漢斯說明了他活下來的經(jīng)過，戰(zhàn)爭即將結(jié)束時，他負傷被送進醫(yī)院，并與部隊失去聯(lián)系。醫(yī)院遭到轟炸，漢斯步行回到了西德。與此同時，他所在部隊被擊潰，他的所有檔案材料全部毀于戰(zhàn)火。漢斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毀，左鄰右舍誰也不知原住戶的下落，漢斯以為全家人都在空襲中遇難，于是便在距此50英里外的一座村子里定居下來，直至當日。
【詞匯】
credulous adj. 輕信的
improbable adj. 不大可能的
obscure adj. 不起眼的
maidservant n. 女仆，女傭
presume v. 假定
wickedly adv. 心眼壞地，居心叵測地
plot v. 密謀
downfall n. 倒臺，垮臺
naive adj. 天真的
unacceptable adj. 不能接受的
conspire v. (事件)巧合促成
incredible adj. 難以置信的
resemblance n. 相似
scorn n. 嘲弄，挖苦
acquaint v. 使了解
reunite v. 使團聚
assume v. 假定，認為
【重點詞匯講解】
【credulous】
例句：
1. Only the most credulous Apple fans will be holding their breaths.
只有那些盲目迷信的蘋果愛好者才會摒息期待。
2. The credulous investors believed in every word the analysts said.
輕信別人的投資者完全相信分析員所說的一切。
【obscure】
例句：
1. That is often the fate of champions of obscure and oppressed peoples.
這是那些地位卑微、受壓迫人民經(jīng)常遭受的命運。
2. Turning down an obscure street and entering an obscure lane, he went up to a smith's shop.
他拐進一個偏僻的街道，走進一條冷僻的小巷，向一家鐵匠鋪走去。
【presume】
英英：take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
例句：
1. This is your first visit to the Fair, I presume.
我猜想，這是您頭參觀這個交易會。
2. I presume you will approve of the plan.
我相信你會支持這個計劃。
3. We must not presume too mush on the reliability of such sources.
我們不應過分指望/相信這類消息來源的可靠性。
【wickedly】
例句：
1. The knife gleamed wickedly in the moonlight.
那把刀在月光下閃著兇光。
2. He that lives wickedly can hardly die honestly.
過著邪惡生活的人不會正直地死去。
【plot】
英英：plan secretly, usually something illegal
例句：
1. Senior White House advisers meet every Wednesday night to plot political strategy.
白宮高級顧問們每周三晚上開會密謀政治戰(zhàn)略。
2. When you are sad, I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.
你要是悲傷了，我會把你灌醉，幫你密謀一個復仇計劃，好好教訓一下那個讓你傷心的渾蛋。
3. The Dalai Lama simultaneously intensified his efforts to incite and plot riots in Tibet.
與此同時，達賴喇嘛進一步加緊煽動和策劃西藏地區(qū)的*活動。
【conspire】
英英：engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together
例句：
1. These two factors conspire to cause a loss of control.
這兩個因素合起來引起了失控。
2. Yet several things could conspire to spoil that cooperation.
但是一些其他問題可能破壞這項合作。
3. Earnest and sincere cooperation, conspire together the development, create the brilliancy together!
精誠合作，同謀發(fā)展，共創(chuàng)輝煌!
【incredible】
構(gòu)詞：credible→incredible
例句：
1. The eagles' large size gives them incredible strength.
鷹的巨大體形賦予它們驚人的力量。
2. It's hard work to gain incredible growth of Japanese industry.
真是這種努力的付出才換來了日本工業(yè)令人難以置信的發(fā)展。
【scorn】
例句：
1. Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
沉默是藐視完美的表達方式。
2. The big dog walked past the little dog with scorn.
大狗趾高氣昂地走過小狗身邊。
【acquaint】
英英：inform
例句：
1. Let me acquaint you with what has happened up until this point.
讓我通知你到這一刻為止已經(jīng)發(fā)生了什么事情。
2. Its purpose is to acquaint trainees with the work of department heads.
其目的是讓受訓人熟悉各部門主管的工作。
3. You should try to acquaint yourself with the facts, before you express an opinion.
在發(fā)表看法前，你應該先了解事實真相。
【assume】
英英：take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
例句：
1. Scientists assume there is no animal life on Mars.
科學家們假定火星上沒有生命存在。
2. You assume that he is innocent before hearing the evidence against him.
在未聽到對他不利的證言之前，你假定他是無罪的。
3. They have tended to assume increasing opportunity costs.
他們往往假定機會成本是遞增的。
【常用表達】
【a chance in a million】千載難逢
【bring to a conclusion】結(jié)束
【all the time】始終，一直
【bring about】引起，使得
【a walking tour】散步
【close resemblance】很相似
【pour scorn on】對...不屑
【point out】指出
【needless to say】毫無疑問
【become of】發(fā)生
【ever since】從此
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.
【課文翻譯】
我們不再像以往那樣輕易相信別人了。在19世紀，小說家常在小說結(jié)尾處給讀者準備一系列的巧合——大部分是牽強附會，極不可能的。當時的讀者卻愉快地接受這樣一些事實，一個低賤的女傭?qū)嶋H上是主人公的母親;主人公一位長期失散的兄弟，大家都以為死了，實際上一直活著，并且正在策劃暗算主人公;如此等等，現(xiàn)代讀者會覺得這種天真的結(jié)局完全無法接受。不過，在現(xiàn)實生活中，有時確實會出現(xiàn)一些巧合，這些巧合除了19世紀小說家外誰也不會相信。
當我是個孩子的時候，我祖父給我講了一位德國出租汽車司機弗朗茲。巴斯曼如何找到了據(jù)信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。，他與妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下來與一個工人交談，接著他們繼續(xù)往前走去。巴斯曼夫人說那工人與她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜測他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗朗茲對此不屑一顧，指出他兄弟已經(jīng)在戰(zhàn)爭中陣亡了。盡管巴斯曼夫人熟知這個情況，但她仍然認為自己的想法仍有百萬分之一的可能性。幾天后，她派了一個男孩去問那人是否叫漢斯.巴斯曼。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。兄弟倆團聚之時，漢斯說明了他活下來的經(jīng)過，戰(zhàn)爭即將結(jié)束時，他負傷被送進醫(yī)院，并與部隊失去聯(lián)系。醫(yī)院遭到轟炸，漢斯步行回到了西德。與此同時，他所在部隊被擊潰，他的所有檔案材料全部毀于戰(zhàn)火。漢斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毀，左鄰右舍誰也不知原住戶的下落，漢斯以為全家人都在空襲中遇難，于是便在距此50英里外的一座村子里定居下來，直至當日。
【詞匯】
credulous adj. 輕信的
improbable adj. 不大可能的
obscure adj. 不起眼的
maidservant n. 女仆，女傭
presume v. 假定
wickedly adv. 心眼壞地，居心叵測地
plot v. 密謀
downfall n. 倒臺，垮臺
naive adj. 天真的
unacceptable adj. 不能接受的
conspire v. (事件)巧合促成
incredible adj. 難以置信的
resemblance n. 相似
scorn n. 嘲弄，挖苦
acquaint v. 使了解
reunite v. 使團聚
assume v. 假定，認為
【重點詞匯講解】
【credulous】
例句：
1. Only the most credulous Apple fans will be holding their breaths.
只有那些盲目迷信的蘋果愛好者才會摒息期待。
2. The credulous investors believed in every word the analysts said.
輕信別人的投資者完全相信分析員所說的一切。
【obscure】
例句：
1. That is often the fate of champions of obscure and oppressed peoples.
這是那些地位卑微、受壓迫人民經(jīng)常遭受的命運。
2. Turning down an obscure street and entering an obscure lane, he went up to a smith's shop.
他拐進一個偏僻的街道，走進一條冷僻的小巷，向一家鐵匠鋪走去。
【presume】
英英：take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
例句：
1. This is your first visit to the Fair, I presume.
我猜想，這是您頭參觀這個交易會。
2. I presume you will approve of the plan.
我相信你會支持這個計劃。
3. We must not presume too mush on the reliability of such sources.
我們不應過分指望/相信這類消息來源的可靠性。
【wickedly】
例句：
1. The knife gleamed wickedly in the moonlight.
那把刀在月光下閃著兇光。
2. He that lives wickedly can hardly die honestly.
過著邪惡生活的人不會正直地死去。
【plot】
英英：plan secretly, usually something illegal
例句：
1. Senior White House advisers meet every Wednesday night to plot political strategy.
白宮高級顧問們每周三晚上開會密謀政治戰(zhàn)略。
2. When you are sad, I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.
你要是悲傷了，我會把你灌醉，幫你密謀一個復仇計劃，好好教訓一下那個讓你傷心的渾蛋。
3. The Dalai Lama simultaneously intensified his efforts to incite and plot riots in Tibet.
與此同時，達賴喇嘛進一步加緊煽動和策劃西藏地區(qū)的*活動。
【conspire】
英英：engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together
例句：
1. These two factors conspire to cause a loss of control.
這兩個因素合起來引起了失控。
2. Yet several things could conspire to spoil that cooperation.
但是一些其他問題可能破壞這項合作。
3. Earnest and sincere cooperation, conspire together the development, create the brilliancy together!
精誠合作，同謀發(fā)展，共創(chuàng)輝煌!
【incredible】
構(gòu)詞：credible→incredible
例句：
1. The eagles' large size gives them incredible strength.
鷹的巨大體形賦予它們驚人的力量。
2. It's hard work to gain incredible growth of Japanese industry.
真是這種努力的付出才換來了日本工業(yè)令人難以置信的發(fā)展。
【scorn】
例句：
1. Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
沉默是藐視完美的表達方式。
2. The big dog walked past the little dog with scorn.
大狗趾高氣昂地走過小狗身邊。
【acquaint】
英英：inform
例句：
1. Let me acquaint you with what has happened up until this point.
讓我通知你到這一刻為止已經(jīng)發(fā)生了什么事情。
2. Its purpose is to acquaint trainees with the work of department heads.
其目的是讓受訓人熟悉各部門主管的工作。
3. You should try to acquaint yourself with the facts, before you express an opinion.
在發(fā)表看法前，你應該先了解事實真相。
【assume】
英英：take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
例句：
1. Scientists assume there is no animal life on Mars.
科學家們假定火星上沒有生命存在。
2. You assume that he is innocent before hearing the evidence against him.
在未聽到對他不利的證言之前，你假定他是無罪的。
3. They have tended to assume increasing opportunity costs.
他們往往假定機會成本是遞增的。
【常用表達】
【a chance in a million】千載難逢
【bring to a conclusion】結(jié)束
【all the time】始終，一直
【bring about】引起，使得
【a walking tour】散步
【close resemblance】很相似
【pour scorn on】對...不屑
【point out】指出
【needless to say】毫無疑問
【become of】發(fā)生
【ever since】從此