August 26th, 2009 
ghostlei } 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.
} Conclusion:
结论；动词是 conclude
That concludes my presentation.
这是我加拿大的同学在做presentation 的时候说的最后一句话
} Alive:
Thanks for being alive.
感谢活着
Thanks giving with no turkey is like the fourth of July with no apple pie.
这是感恩节时，老师问Thanks giving 为什幺要吃 turkey；我说了这样一句话；老师说“ well said ,well said”
} And so on: etc.
等等……
} Naïve：
天真的，幼稚的，反义词是——
Sophisticated
干练的，老练的，复杂的
} In real life:
in reality (with only these theories ,you just can’t fly in reality)
在现实生活中。有一回一位商人到我们教室讲话，说了这句话: with only these theories ,you just can’t fly in reality 这些理论在现实生活中不见得能飞起来，就是说不见得能成功。
} Circumstances:
Noting Hill
在Noting Hill 这部电影里边最后的时候，男主人翁问了女主人翁这样的问题——
are there any circumstances in which the two of you might be more than just good friends?
有没有一种可能，你们俩会成为超过好朋友的关系？
} Conspire:
911 conspiracy
这是一种理论；即是说911不是一种恐怖活动，是合谋策划的东西
} Incredible:
两个意思，第一个是字面的意思，那么下面的：
not credible
不能相信的，没有信誉度，不值得相信
great – too good to be true
另外一个是就是这个意思，即是太好了，好得不能相信
} 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 stoped 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.
} Taxi:
Can you send a taxi?
Where to?
在国外很多地方，你要叫taxi 是需要打电话的。那么人家会问你，where to? 去哪里？
I need a ride to L.A. international Airport.
我要去LA国际机场
When and where shall we pick you up?
什么时候，在什么地点接你？
In front the Hilton Hotel at 2 o’ clock sharp.
这里的sharp 是指两点整
Are we there yet?
我们要到了吗？如果你觉得快到了，可以这样问司机；那么司机可能会说，we’re nearly there 快到了。
Keep the change.
你下车给钱的时候，如果收费是8块，你给了10块，然后说不用找了，就可以说 keep the change 不用找了
} Commented:
No comment!
没有什么可以评论的，无可奉告
} Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs. Busssman 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.
} pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war:分词伴随
这是Franz 在反驳那个人的idea的时候说他的兄弟在战争中早已经牺牲了
} There was a chance in a million that:
这句话是指机会非常渺茫；很像托福听力里的一个组合：
W: We are supposed to meet John here at the train station.
M: That‘s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
W: 我们应该在这里遇到John。
M: 那就像是大海捞针。
} So if you haven’t already had it, chances are you’re gonna get it.
这句话是说，比如说这个病你从来都没有得过，那么很有可能会得这样的意思。
chances are 后面跟一个句子在口语里边经常用，就是说很可能有。
} 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.
} Reunited:
family reunion
reunion 再次团聚
} It…that he was still alive:
Don’t drink and drive, arrive alive
No drunken driving ×
A big drunken mistake
有一次在北京的高速公路，好象是京珠高速公路，我看到这样的一个牌子No drunken driving它其实要表达的意思是不要酒后驾驶。但是我在国外看到的是 Don’t drink and drive, arrive alive。像这样的东西，你不能那样直接去翻译；drunken的确是可以这样用，但是在这句话是不能这样用的。比如说A big drunken mistake 就是说一个喝醉酒所犯的错误。但是没有 drunken mistake 这样的说法。
} 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.
} in the neighborhood:
in the vicinity
附近
} Become of:
happened to
become of 在这里就等于happened to
} Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid (分词伴随)
这里又是分词表伴随。说的是他的家人在空袭中死去了，他找了个地方安静下来。没有必要去区分到底是什么条件啊，状语什么的表伴随，没有意义。
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