加载中…Unit 45
1) Do you get wistful when you recall the romantic tales which begin with an innocent maiden traveling through the rustic countryside.
Wistful=sad because they want something and know that they cannot have it. (‘伤感’，因为回想起得不到的东西，所以才伤感)
e.g. wistful eyes, a wistful mood, singing wistfully
2)…in the most perfunctory and callous fashion….
3) What he can do is rail against the catastrophe.
Rail against=criticize loudly and angrily
4) There, a sullen crew of cutthroats is gathered.
Sullen=bad-tempered and doesn’t speak much. 闷闷不乐，窝着火
e.g. The offenders lapsed into a sullen silence.
e.g. Many of them remain sullen and resentful.
5) 经典句子：Their cupidity knows no bounds.
6) There is a rift among the criminals.
Rift.[1]裂缝，裂口 【2】A rift between people or countries is a serious quarrel or disagreement that stops them having good relationship.
e.g. The interview reflects growing rift between the President and the government.
e.g. He has warned that serious rifts within the country could lead to civil war.
e.g. They hope to heal the rift with their father.
7) The wan maiden, her spirits at their nadir, has time to ruminate about her lugubrious fate.
8) The situation is taut with emotion.
[1] something that is taut is stretched very tight.
[2]If a person or their body is taut, they are very lean with firm muscles.
[3]（表情或精神）紧张的
9) The fair maiden’s mother is livid with fear and anxiety.
Livid [1]铁青色的，铅色的; e.g. a livid bruise 淤青；[2]狂怒的
10）He has a secret yen for the young lady.
Yen=yearning，热望；
11）Avoiding rhetoric, he pledges his all to castigate those responsible for this ignominious deed.
Pledge
【1】名词
【2】动词
[1] someone pledges to do something=promise in a serious way to do it
[2] pledge yourself to something=you commit yourself to following a particular course of action or to supporting a particular group, person or idea. =commit (用中文很难解释，投身于？)
[3] 典当某物
[4] 向某人祝酒
Plea＝Plead的名词
Plead 【1】再三恳求 plead with someone for something 【2】提出借口 【3】律师为客户申诉，辩护或答辩 【4】向法庭陈述案情 【5】极力主张，力主进行…
12) 经典句子:He holds his life as a mere bagatelle against the duty he owes his beloved mistress.
Bagatelle =trifle=trinket
13) In spite of his callow appearance, he is reputed to disdain danger and to be a prodigious horseman.
14) 经典描写：The kidnappers lose their equanimity at his approach.
Unit 46
1) We do not feel it incumbent upon us to ascertain anything about the civilizations in our own hemisphere.
COLLINS: If you ascertain the truth of something, you find out what it is, especially by making a deliberate effort to do so.
中文或可解释为‘查明真相’‘弄清事实’=find out=discover=figure out
e.g. Once they had ascertained that he was not a spy, they agreed to release him.
e.g. The police are trying to ascertain what really happened.
2) We deprecate the history of this part of the world as if progress lay dormant…
3) As the empire conquered new lands, it would disseminate its language, religion and social customs.
COLLINS: To disseminate information or knowledge means to distribute is so that it reaches many people or organization. (主要是传播思想，信仰等)=spread
区别：Dissemble=hide their real intentions or emotions.
4) There was no dearth of idols and ornaments hammered from this gleaming metal.
双重否定
5）two sons began an internecine struggle for control.
形容词，描述war, conflict, or quarrel.
6) 多个重点词：Overwhelmed with cupidity, but still a tyro when it came to wresting power and wealth from hapless people, he joined with an inveterate adventurer.
Tyro=beginner=novice
7) Whether by sophistry or cajolery, he was given the requisite aid.
COLLINS: Sophistry is the practice of using clever arguments that sound convincing bur are in fact false. 中文‘诡辩’的经典对应；
e.g. Political selection is more dependent on sophistry and less on economic literacy.
8) The Incas welcomed Pizarro who, in a factitious display of friendship, heaped encomiums upon Atahualpa.
Factitious一个COLLINS里面没有的词！
OALD: factitious = deliberately created or developed, unnatural, artificial ‘矫揉造作的’
9) The obloquy of his next act, ambushing the Incas and taking Atahualpa prisoner, will live in the history books which are replete with tales of conquest.
Obloquy＝public shame or disgrace, abuse, discredit，觉得最好的中文就是‘遗臭万年’的行为；
10）This was thought of as an hyperbole at first, but Pizarro knew the gullible Incas would be munificent when it came to rescuing their sacred ruler.
Munificent=very generous;
顶