口語(yǔ)大師脫口成章成就篇Courage by Mark Twain-勇氣 馬克•吐溫
- 聽(tīng)力原文
- 參考譯文
In the matter of courage we all have our limits. There never was a hero who did not have his [1] bounds. I suppose it may be said of Nelson and all the others whose courage has been advertised that there came times in their lives when their bravery knew it had come to its limit.
I have found mine a good many times. Sometimes this was expected often it was unexpected. I know a man who is not afraid to sleep with a [2] rattlesnake, but you could not get him to sleep with a [3] safety razor.
I never had the courage to talk across a long, narrow room. I should be at the end of the room facing all the audience. If I attempt to talk across a room I find myself turning this way and that, and thus at [4] alternate periods I have part of the audience behind me. You ought never to have any part of the audience behind you; you can never tell what they are going to do.
advertise // v. 做廣告
rattlesnake // n. 響尾蛇
razor // n. 剃刀
audience // n. 觀眾
attempt // n. v. 嘗試
alternate // adj. 輪流的，交替的
在勇氣問(wèn)題上，人人都有極限。從來(lái)就沒(méi)有無(wú)所不畏的英雄好漢。我想，可以說(shuō)，納爾遜和所有那些被大量宣傳的勇士，一生中也有勇氣達(dá)到極限的時(shí)候。
我就多次發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的勇氣到了極限。有時(shí)是意料之中的--經(jīng)常是出乎意料的。我認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人。此君不怕與響尾蛇共寢，可你無(wú)法讓他與安全剃刀同眠。
我從來(lái)沒(méi)有勇氣站在狹長(zhǎng)的房子中間講話。我得站在房間的一頭，面對(duì)全體聽(tīng)眾。如果我試圖站在房間中間講話，我就會(huì)不斷地轉(zhuǎn)身，這樣，就不斷有部分聽(tīng)眾在我背后。你永遠(yuǎn)不能讓自己背后有聽(tīng)眾；你永遠(yuǎn)鬧不清他們要干什么。
增值英語(yǔ)
1. bounds：“界限、范圍、止境”等意思，“there is no bounds to his foolishness”，（他的愚蠢無(wú)止境）。“out of bounds to”表示“禁止入內(nèi)”?？磥?lái)，英雄們的勇氣也是有止境的。
2. rattlesnake：在美語(yǔ)里也寫(xiě)作rattler，是“響尾蛇”的意思。rattlesnake原產(chǎn)于美洲，因發(fā)怒時(shí)尾部會(huì)有響聲而得名。
3. safety razor：“安全剃刀、保險(xiǎn)剃刀”。這個(gè)人敢睡在響尾蛇旁邊，卻不敢睡在剃須刀旁邊，可見(jiàn)，“勇氣”是個(gè)很奇怪的東西，它沒(méi)有絕對(duì)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。
4. Alternate：“輪流的、交替的”等意思，由此，大家肯定可以猜出alternating current表示“交流電 ”。
