常春藤解析英語 70 It's Good to Be a Finn波羅的海

It's Good to Be a Finn　波羅的海的女兒

by Kevin Lustig

From language to light shows, Finland has many features to explore.

從語言到北極光，芬蘭有許多特點值得大家探索。

When visiting Helsinki, the capital of Finland, for the first time, it is a good idea to enter by way of the sea. Helsinki is said to make a dazzling appearance on the horizon as you sail towards it, which is why it has been poetically called "The Daughter of the Baltic Sea." It is not only the spectacular sight of Helsinki that makes Finland distinct from its neighbors, Norway and Sweden. While the latter countries are in many ways quite similar, Finland has an altogether different language, culture, and history.

The people of Finland, or Finns, are descended from nomads who traveled north from Eastern Europe thousands of years ago. Avoiding the fate of other nomadic groups around Europe, the Finn's ancient traditions survived and evolved over time. For this reason, the Finnish language sounds very different from other European languages. For example, the Finnish word for Finland is actually "Suomi."

The most famous product that has its roots in the ancient Finnish culture is probably the sauna. Saunas are rooms in which water is thrown on heated stones, making the air hot and humid. Visiting a sauna is a great way to relax and escape the cold, but it has also been an important social activity for Finns for centuries. In saunas, Finns celebrate a sense of community; controversial topics of conversation are avoided and formal titles are dispensed with.

For ages, Finnish culture has kept traditions alive that have disappeared almost everywhere else. Luckily for us, modern Finns aren't going to let their unique culture disappear any time soon.

單字小鋪

1. dazzling a. 炫目的，燦爛的

2. sail vi. 航行

3. poetically adv. 詩意地

4. Baltic Sea n. 波羅的海

5. spectacular a. 壯觀的

6. altogether adv. 完全，全然

7. nomad n. 游牧民族

8. nomadic a. 游牧的

9. sauna n.(芬蘭的)蒸汽浴(室)，三溫暖(室)

10. humid a. 潮濕的

11. escape vt. 避免;逃脫

12. community n. 小區(qū)

a sense of community　　小區(qū)意識

13. controversial a. 受爭議的

controversy n. 爭議

文法一點靈

While the latter countries are in many ways quite similar, ...

= While Norway and Sweden are in many ways quite similar, ...

注意:

原句的 the latter countries 指的就是前一句句尾的 Norway(挪威)和 Sweden(瑞典)這兩個國家。the latter 亦可作代名詞，表兩者中的『后者』，而『前者』則用 the former 來代替。

the former...the latter...　　前者……后者……

例: Bill and Jeff are brothers. The former is a college student, and the latter is a lawyer.

(比爾和杰夫是兄弟;前者是大學(xué)生，而后者是律師。)

精解字詞詞組

1. on the horizon　　在地∕水平線上

be on the horizon　　即將到來

= be near at hand

= be around the corner

= be fast approaching

例: The sailors were excited when they saw an island on the horizon.

(水手們在水平線上看到一座島嶼時非常興奮。)

例: John never studies except when exams are on the horizon.

(除非考試即將到來，否則約翰從不念書。)

2. distinct a. 與其它不同的

be distinct from...　　和……截然不同

例: Our magazine is distinct from other English-teaching magazines.

(我們雜志和其它英語教學(xué)雜志迥然不同。)

3. be descended from...　　是……的后代∕后裔

descend vt. 系出(用被動式)

例: My professor is descended from one of China's emperors.

(我的教授是中國某位皇帝的后裔。)

4. evolve vi. 發(fā)展;進(jìn)化

evolve into...　　演變成……;進(jìn)化成……

例: Though the company started very small, it evolved into a worldwide enterprise.

(該公司雖然一開始規(guī)模很小，后來卻發(fā)展成跨國企業(yè)。)

5. have one's roots in...　　根源于∕來自于……

例: Rock has its roots in blues.

(搖滾樂源自于藍(lán)調(diào)音樂。)

6. dispense with...　　免除……

dispense vi. 免除

例: Let's dispense with the business talk and have lunch.

(我們不談公事，好好享用午餐吧。)

7. keep sth alive　　使某物繼續(xù)存在∕持續(xù)下去

例: Sean keeps his dream of owning a coffee shop alive.

(史恩開咖啡店的夢想從沒間斷過。)

中文翻譯

第一次去拜訪芬蘭的首都赫爾辛基時，經(jīng)由海路進(jìn)入這個城市是個不錯的點子。據(jù)說當(dāng)你航向這座城市時，地平在線的赫爾辛基會呈現(xiàn)出燦爛的景象，難怪她有個詩意的名字：『波羅的海的女兒』。使芬蘭與其鄰國挪威和瑞典大不同的，不僅僅是赫爾辛基的壯麗景觀而已。后兩者在各方面都很相近，但芬蘭在語言、文化和歷史上卻與它們大相徑庭。

芬蘭人是游牧民族的后裔，他們的祖先幾千年前從東歐往北遷移。但芬蘭并沒有步上其它歐洲游牧民族的后塵，他們的古老傳統(tǒng)得以保存，并隨著時代演變?；谶@個原因，芬蘭語聽起來和其它的歐洲語言很不一樣。例如，F(xiàn)inland 這個字在芬蘭語中是 Suomi。

源自古芬蘭文化最有名的產(chǎn)物大概就是蒸汽浴了。蒸汽浴室就是把水潑在加熱的石頭上，因而產(chǎn)生熱氣和濕氣的隔間。去洗蒸汽浴不僅是放松和避寒的好方式，更是數(shù)百年來芬蘭人重要的社交活動。在蒸汽浴室里，芬蘭人有個不成文的習(xí)慣，就是不可以討論爭議性的話題，也不用正式頭銜稱呼對方。

長久以來，芬蘭保存了傳統(tǒng)文化，相對的，其它地方的傳統(tǒng)卻幾乎消失殆盡。我們何其有幸，現(xiàn)代的芬蘭人并不打算讓自己獨特的文化隨著時間消逝。