Lesson 6 The sporting spirit

第六课体育精神

by GEORGE ORWELL

from The sporting spirit

6-1. I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield.

【译文】当人们说体育可创造两国的友谊，还说各国民众若在足球场或板球场上交锋就不愿在战场上残杀的时候，我总是惊愕不已。

【讲解】that if only…cricket作saying的宾语从句。其中的if从句是非真实条件从句。could meet和would have是表示与现实事实不符的虚拟结构。if only意为“只要”，引导非真实或真实条件句。

【单词和短语】

amazed：十分惊奇的，吃惊的；显示出惊奇的（very surprised），动词形式为amaze，名词形式为amazement，例如：

I was amazed at the news. 我听到这消息大为惊诧。

I am amazed that he has never read The Lord of the Rings.

他从未读过《指环王》，我对此大为惊奇。

goodwill：善意，友善；友好，亲善（kind feelings towards or between people and a willingness to be helpful），例如，

Princess Diana’s heart is full of goodwill to all men. 戴安娜王妃的心里对所有人都充满善意。

inclination：（性格上的）倾向；意向；爱好，癖好（a feeling that makes you want to do sth.），动词形式为incline，形容词形式为inclined，例如，

My inclination is to agree. 我倾向于同意。

have an inclination for sports爱好体育

follow one’s own inclinations随心所欲

6-2. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles.

【译文】人们即使不能从具体的事例（如1936年奥运会）了解到国际运动比赛会导致极度仇恨，也能从常理中推出结论。

【讲解】that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred作know的宾语。one泛指人，可译为“人们”。it指international… hatred。

【单词和短语】

concrete：具体的；确实的（definite and specific），例如，

a concrete proposal/example 具体的建议/例子

Money is concrete and wealth is abstract.

钱是具体的，财富是抽象的。

concrete的反义词是abstract。

concrete 亦可做名词，常见意为“大理石”。

orgy：无节制行为（an orgy of sth. used emphasize that people suddenly do a lot of a particular activity），例如：

an all-night orgy of reading 彻夜的尽情阅读

an orgy of looting and burning 大肆抢劫并纵火的暴行

hatred：仇恨；敌意；憎恶（an angry feeling of extreme dislike for sb. or sth.），例如：

have /nurse a ferocious hatred of/for sb. 对某人怀有深仇大恨

utter one’s hatred against the enemy 说出对敌人的憎恨

deduce：演绎；推论；推断（to use the knowledge and information you have in order to understand sth or form an opinion about it），例如：

From his conversation, she deduced that he had a large family.

她从他的谈话中推断出他家里人口多。

deduce联想到deduction（演绎法）、induce（归纳）和induction（归纳法）。

6-3. Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.

【译文】现在开展的各种体育项目几乎都具竞争性。

【讲解】practised nowadays是过去分词短语，作定语，修饰sports。

【单词和短语】competitive的动词形式为compete，名词形式为competition。

6-4. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.

【译文】参加比赛就是为了取胜。如果不拼命争取胜利，比赛就没有什么意义了。

【讲解】you泛指人，可译为“人们”。to win作目的状语。

【单词和短语】

do one’s utmost：竭力（tried as hard as one could），例如：

The coach did his utmost to make us into a winning game.

教练竭尽全力使我队成了常胜队。

与do one’s utmost同义的短语有spare no efforts，stint no efforts，do sth. to the best of one’s ability等。

6-5. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as  the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused.

【译文】在乡间草坪上，你随意组成两个队，不夹杂地方主义的情绪，只有这时方可能纯粹为了娱乐和锻炼而比赛。可是一量涉及到荣誉问题，一旦你想到你和某一团体会因为你输而丢脸时，那么最野蛮的争斗天性便会被激发。

【讲解】the fun and exercise中fun和exercise被视为整体看待，所以才共用一个定冠词the。

【单词和短语】

patriotism：爱国主义，另掌握patriot（爱国者）和patriotic（爱国的）两词。

6-6. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this.

【译文】即使是仅参加过学校足球赛的人也有这种体会。

【讲解】who has played even in a school football match系定语从句，修饰anyone。

6-7. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.

【译文】在国际比赛中，体育简直是模拟战争。

【讲解】at the international level作状语，直译为“在国际水平上”。

【单词和短语】

frankly：坦白地，直率地；不加掩饰地（used to show that you are really think about sth.），例如：

He frankly admitted his error. 他坦率地承认了自己的错误。

mimic：模拟的（to behave or operate in exactly the same way as sth. or sb. else）。

6-8. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe—at any rate for short periods—that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.

【译文】但是，令人感到意味深长的不是运动员的表现，而是观众的态度，以及观众身后各个国家的态度。面对着这些荒唐的比赛，参赛的各个国家会如痴如狂，甚至煞有介事地相信——至少在短期内如此——跑跑、跳跳、踢踢球都是对一个国家品德素质的检验。

【讲解】and, behind the spectators, of the nations…are tests of national virtue是对But the significant thing…the attitude of the spectators的引申。当句子后有表示说明，解释、引申的内容时用冒号。behind spectators作定语，修饰nations，前置是为了强调。of the nations前省略了the attitude。work和believe是定语从句中的并列谓语。at any rate for short periods作插入语，句中的两个破折号隔开被强调的插入语。that running, jumping…national virtue作believe的宾语。句首的but作“但是”解，但句中的not…but…则作“不是……而是……”解。not…but…连接两个并列名词behaviour和attitude，but后面可以说省略了it（the significant thing）is。

【单词和短语】

absurd：荒谬的，荒唐的；滑稽可笑的（completely stupid or unreasonable），名词形式为absurdity，例如：

The idea that the number 8 brings good luck is absurd.

认为数字8能带来好运的想法愚蠢可笑。

posted on 2008-02-09 13:41 李鹏 阅读(816) 评论(6)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: 精讲新四 网摘收藏