外研版必修一册第二单元阅读讲解

Unit 2 Exploring English

第14页阅读讲解

Neither Pine nor Apple in Pineapple
菠萝≠松树+苹果

1 Have you ever asked yourself why people often have trouble learning English? I hadn't, until one day my five-year-old son asked me whether there was ham in a hamburger. There isn't. This made me realize that there's no egg in eggplant either. Neither is there pine nor apple in pineapple. This got me thinking how English can be a crazy language to learn.
你有没有问过自己，为什么人们常常在学习英语方面有困难？我从未想过这个问题，直到有一天，我五岁的儿子问我hamburger(汉堡包)里是否有ham(火腿)。答案是没有。这让我意识到eggplant(茄子)里也没有egg(鸡蛋)。pineapple(菠萝)里既没有pine(松树)，也没有apple(苹果)。这让我陷入思考：对于学习者而言，英语到底可以有多疯狂呢？

2 For example, in our free time we can sculpt a sculpture and paint a painting, but we take a photo. And when we are traveling we say that we are in the car or the taxi, but on the train or bus! While we're doing all this traveling, we can get seasick at sea, airsick in the air and carsick in a car, but we don't get homesick when we get back home. And speaking of home, why aren't homework and housework the same thing?
例如，我们可以在闲暇时雕刻一座雕像(sculpt a sculpture)、画一幅画(paint a painting)，但我们只能拍一张照片(take a photo)。旅行时，我们坐汽车或出租车时是说坐在里面(in)，但是坐火车或公共汽车时却要说坐在上面(on)！同样，我们会在海上晕船(seasick at sea)、在飞机晕机(airsick in the air)、在车里晕车(carsick in a car)，但回到家里我们却不会“晕家”(homesick，实际意为“想家的，思乡的”)。说到家，为什么homework(家庭作业)和housework(家务)(这两个英语单词看起来很像意思却)不是一回事呢？

3 If “hard” is the opposite of “soft”, why are “hardly” and “softly” not an opposing pair? If harmless actions are the opposite of harmful actions, why are shameless and shameful behaviors the same?
如果说hard(硬)是soft(软)的反义词，为什么hardly(几乎不)和softly(柔和地，轻柔地)却不是一对反义词呢？如果说harmless actions(无害的行为)与harmful actions(有害的行为)意思相反，为什么无耻的行为(shameless behaviors)和可耻的行为(shameful behaviors)反而是一回事？

4 When we look out of the window and see rain or snow, we can say “it's raining” or “it's snowing”. But when we see sunshine, we can't say “it's sunshining”.
当我们望向窗外，看到雨(rain)或雪(snow)时，我们可以说正在下雨(it's raining)或正在下雪(it's snowing)。但当我们看到阳光(sunshine)时，我们不能说“正在下阳光”(it's sunshining)。

5 Even the smallest words can be confusing. When you see the capitalized “WHO” in a medical report, do you read it as the “who” in “Who's that?” What about “IT” and “US”?
即使是最短小的单词都让人费解。当你在医学报告中看到大写的WHO时，你会把它读为Who's that?中的who吗？那么“IT”和“US”又该怎么读呢？

6 You also have to wonder at the unique madness of a language in which a house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm is only heard once it goes off!
你也会对英语这门语言独有的疯狂感到惊奇。在英语里，房子烧成灰烬时，可以说burn up(字面意思是“烧上去”)，也可以说burn down(字面意思是“烧下去”)；填表时，你可以说fill in a form(字面意思是“填入表里”)，也可以说fill out a form(字面意思是“填到表外”)；而且只有闹钟走了(go off字面意思是“离开”)以后你才能听到铃声！

7 English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race. That is why when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And that is why when I wind up my watch, it starts, but when I wind up this passage, it ends.
英语是人创造的，不是计算机发明的，它反映了人类的创造力。这就是为什么stars are out(星星出现了)时，我们能看到星星，而当lights are out(灯光熄灭)时，我们却看不到灯光。这也是当我wind up my watch(给手表上紧发条)以后表针开始走，而我wind up this passage(将本文收尾)后这篇文章结束的原因。

第20页阅读讲解

Misadventures in English
英语尴尬事

Last week, our forum asked if you had any funny or strange stories about using English. We didn't expect to get so many posts! Here are some of our favourites, to remind us that some of the English we learn in the classroom is rather different from the English in the outside world!
上周，我们在论坛里问大家在使用英语时是否遇到过什么有趣或者离奇的事情。我们没想到会收到这么多回帖。以下是我们最喜欢的几篇，它们让我们意识到，有些在课堂上学到的英语和在课堂之外使用的英语真是不太一样！

People say that the British always play safe with what they eat. Not true! I went to a summer school in Manchester and my English teacher was called Maggie. One day, a different teacher took our class. He told us that Maggie couldn't teach that day COZ she had a frog in her throat. Poor Maggie – but why did she try to eat such a big frog?
都说英国人吃东西很谨慎。才不是呢！我在曼彻斯特参加过一个暑期培训班，我的英语老师叫玛吉。有一天，另外一位老师来给我们代课。他说玛吉老师没法来上课，因为她的喉咙里卡了一只青蛙。可怜的玛吉老师——可是她为什么要吃这么大的青蛙呢？

When I first visited New York, I went to a downtown shopping centre to buy some winter boots. At the information desk at the entrance, I asked a lady where the shoe section was. She said that it was on the first floor. So I went up to the first floor, but couldn't find any shoes. I decided to leave. When I was looking for the exit, I saw that shoes were actually sold downstairs on the ground floor, not the first floor. Why did she give me the wrong information?
第一次去纽约时，我去市中心一家购物中心买冬靴。我在入口处问服务台的女士卖鞋的地方在哪里。她说在二楼，于是我上到二楼，但并没有找到鞋子，所以决定离开。就在我找出口的时候，我发现鞋区是在一楼，不在二楼。她为什么告诉我错误的信息？

I've got an English penfriend, who I finally got to meet in London this summer. He had told me that his grandfather was “really wicked”. But when I met his grandfather, I liked him a lot. I found it very odd. Why did my friend use a negative word about such a nice man?
我有个英国笔友，今年夏天我们终于在伦敦见面了。他以前跟我说他的爷爷“很邪恶”。可我一见到他的爷爷就很喜欢他。我觉得很奇怪。我的朋友为什么用一个贬义词来形容这么好的人呢？

The British must have really high standards. I was part of a student exchange programme between a university in England and my university in China. I spent days preparing and writing my first English paper. I knew I had done a good job and was looking forward to getting a positive comment. When I got the paper back, I found my teacher had written the comment “Not bad!” Not bad? But there weren't any errors in my paper.
英国人一定有很高很高的标准。我在中国上的大学和英国一所大学有一个交换项目，我作为交换生到英国学习。我的第一篇英语论文从准备到写作花了若干天时间。我知道自己写得很好，并期待得到着老师积极的评价。可是论文发下来后，我发现老师的评语竟然是“不算差！”不算差？可是我的论文里没有错误呀。