新概念英语第三册的课文 (36).docx

新概念英语第三册的课文 (36) 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 solution 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 stooped 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. Busssman 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.New words and expressions 生词和短语credulousadj. 轻信的improbableadj. 不大可能的obscureadj. 不起眼的maidservantn. 女仆，女佣presumev. 假定wickedlyadv. 心眼坏地，居心叵测地plotv. 密谋downfalln. 倒台，垮台naiveadj. 天真的unacceptableadj. 不能接受的conspirev. （事件）巧合促成incredibleadj. 难以置信的scornn. 嘲弄，挖苦acquaintv. 使了解reunitev. 使团聚assumev. 假定，认为参考译文我们不再像以往那样轻易相信别人了。

在19世纪，小说家常在小说结尾处给读者准备一系列的巧合——大部分是牵强附会，极不可能的当时的读者却愉快地接受这样一些 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 solution 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 stooped 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. Busssman 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.New words and expressions 生词和短语credulousadj. 轻信的improbableadj. 不大可能的obscureadj. 不起眼的maidservantn. 女仆，女佣presumev. 假定wickedlyadv. 心眼坏地，居心叵测地plotv. 密谋downfalln. 倒台，垮台naiveadj. 天真的unacceptableadj. 不能接受的conspirev. （事件）巧合促成incredibleadj. 难以置信的scornn. 嘲弄，挖苦acquaintv. 使了解reunitev. 使团聚assumev. 假定，认为参考译文我们不再像以往那样轻易相信别人了。

在19世纪，小说家常在小说结尾处给读者准备一系列的巧合——大部分是。