Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What was the chance in a million?

    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
   
     credulous
adj. 轻信的

     improbable
adj. 不大可能的

     obscure
adj. 不起眼的

     maidservant
n.   女仆，女佣

     presume
v.   假定

     wickedly
adv. 心眼坏地，居心叵测地

     plot
v.   密谋

     downfall
n.   倒台，垮台

     naive
adj. 天真的

     unacceptable
adj. 不能接受的

     conspire
v.   （事件）巧合促成

     incredible
adj. 难以置信的

     scorn
n.   嘲弄，挖苦

     acquaint
v.   使了解

     reunite
v.   使团聚

     assume
v.   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事实，一个低贱的女佣实际上是主人公的母亲；主人公一位长期失散的兄弟，大家都以为死了，实际上一直活着，并且正在策划暗算主人公；如此等等，现代读者会觉得这种天真的结局完全无法接受。不过，在现实生活中，有时确实会出现一些巧合，这些巧合除了19世纪小说家外谁也不会相信。
    当我是个孩子的时候，我祖父给我讲了一位德国出租汽车司机弗朗兹。巴斯曼如何找到了据信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。一次，他与妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下来与一个工人交谈，接着他们继续往前走去。巴斯曼夫人说那工人与她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜测他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗朗兹对此不屑一顾，指出他兄弟已经在战争中阵亡了。尽管巴斯曼夫人熟知这个情况，但她仍然认为自己的想法仍有百万分之一的可能性。几天后，她派了一个男孩去问那人是否叫汉斯.巴斯曼。不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是汉斯.巴斯曼，他确实是弗朗兹失散多年的兄弟。兄弟俩团聚之时，汉斯说明了他活下来的经过，战争即将结束时，他负伤被送进医院，并与部队失去联系。医院遭到轰炸，汉斯步行回到了西德。与此同时，他所在部队被击溃，他的所有档案材料全部毁于战火。汉斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毁，左邻右舍谁也不知原住户的下落，汉斯以为全家人都在空袭中遇难，于是便在距此50英里外的一座村子里定居下来，直至当日。

New words and expression 生词和短语

学习词汇时仅知道汉语语义是不够的，要把单词放在语句中体会其应用

学习关键句结构是则要把它放在段落结构或文章里

credulous      adj.轻信的

improbable    adj.不大可能的

obscure  adj.不起眼的

maidservant  n.女仆，女佣

presume v.假定

wickedly adv.心眼坏地，居心叵测地

plot v.密谋

downfall n.倒台，垮台

naïve  adj.天真的

unacceptable adj.不能接受的

conspire v.(事件)巧合促成

incredible  adj.难以置信的

resemblance  n.相似

scorn      n.嘲弄，挖苦

acquaint v.使了解

reunite   v.使团聚

assume   v.假定，认为

 

credulous adj.轻信的        (多修饰人)

区分  credible:可信的,可靠的,多修饰事物 eg. The story he told us is credible.  

incredulous / incredible 

反义词believable以已知事实为根据 eg. He demanded for believable explanation.

(反)unbelievable

 

improbable adj.不大可能的  

 

obscure     adj.

1)不起眼的，不出名的 eg. The bus stopped at an obscure little town.

2)令人费解的 not clearly An obscure figure can be seen through the fog. 模糊不清的

通过大雾我们可以看到模糊不清的身影.

vague:多用于比喻意,指不明确说明而造成的模糊不清  eg. what he said is vague.

 

maidservant n.妇女仆,女佣

 

presume v.假定 take sth. as true   经常用的表达方式presume that

根据过去的经验或感觉作出推断

assume 与事实不相符合 eg. Let us assume that your words are fact.

suppose 最普通的用词猜想\陈述自己的看法 I suppose that it was my fault.

 

wickedly adv.心眼坏地,居心叵测地

 

plot v.密谋 一人或多人秘密谋划伤害他人.  eg. The criminals were plotting to rob the bank.

conspire 众多人合谋做重大的犯法勾当 犹指反叛

scheme 某人暗中设计狡诈的手段来谋求自己的私利  eg. The man is scheming for power.图谋夺权.

本文中conspire指事件巧合促成  eg. The weather and car trouble conspire to spoil our vacation.

 

downfall n.倒台,垮台

 

naive adj.天真的

unacceptable adj.不能接受的

conspire

incredible

 

resemblance n.相似的

like ness   bear a strong resemblance to sb. or sth.   have a close resemblance to sb. or sth.

eg. The girl bears a strong resemblance to her sister.

such a resemblance

resemble

likeness最普通的用语,比resemblance意味要强

resemblance 特别是指外观或外在性质的相似

similarity 性质\物色\程度的相似

similar to sth. sb.

 

scorn n.嘲弄,挖苦 

短语  pour scorn on   pour contempt on    pour ridicule on

pour heap   eg. He poured scorn on his wife's suggestion.

look down upon 瞧不起，蔑视

辨析： think scorn of

contempt:蔑视,强烈谴责某人或某事低贱\卑鄙,语气强于scorn

despite 语气较弱,表示嘲弄 His suggestion was dismissed with scorn.

His face showed the scorn/despite he felt.

 

acquaint v.使了解 be acquainted with sth.

eg. I have been acquainted with the secret.

acquaint sb. with sth.   acquaint sb. of sth.

make a person acquainted with sb :介绍某人同另一个人认识

Let me make... acquainted with you.

acquaintance 熟人

 

reunite n使团聚

assume v.假定,认为

 

Text 课文

a chance in a million   one chance in a thousand可能性小

eg. It is a chance in a million to meet you here.在这儿见到你可真是不容易呀

----He let out a scream that must can be heard in Peru.

典型的夸张,目的是加强语气

 

We are less credulous than we used to be.

这是明显现在与过去的对比

eg. We are less credulous than we used to be. 我们不再像以前那样轻信于人了。

are 表示现在的情况 / used to be 过去的情况

eg. We are not so honest as we used to be.我们不像过去那么诚实了.

谓语动词是be动词的时候用used to be,而不用used to

谓语动词是使役动词的时候用used to

eg. He works less hard than he used to.

 

In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion be presenting his readers with a series of coincidences – most of them wildly improbable.

19世纪的小说家通过给读者们提供一系的巧合事件结束…..

破折号后面的语句是对前作者的一个观点。

Them 指一系列的巧合 而其中大部分的巧合事件发生的机率是极小的

bring sth. to a conclusion 结束  eg. They decided to bring the meeting to a conclusion.

bring sth. to a close (比较正式的)  eg. It was ...who brought meeting to a close.

present sb. with sth. 给某人提供…

present sth. to sb.  

 

Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maid-servant was really the hero’s mother. Along-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero’s downfall.

wickedly plotting to… ------居心叵测的密谋把这个英雄搞下台来……

bring about:产生,引起  eg. Modern science has brought about great changes in life.

And so on. Modern readers would find such naïve solutions totally unacceptable.

现在的读者已经不愿意接受这样的结尾

find such naive solutions totally unacceptable 觉得这种解决办法很天真不能够被接受

find sth. interesting    觉得什么有意思

find sb. beautiful      觉得某人漂亮

 

Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible. *牢记此句

do—加强语气,really

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