36_A_Chance_in_a_Million
36 A Chance in a Million¶
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 solutions totally unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences (which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible).
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 stopped 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. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs. Bussman 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. 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. 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.
我们不再像以往那样轻易相信别人了。在19世纪，小说家常在小说结尾处给读者准备一系列的巧合——大部分是牵强附会，极不可能的。当时的读者却愉快地接受这样一些事实，一个低贱的女佣实际上是主人公的母亲；主人公一位长期失散的兄弟，大家都以为死了，实际上一直活着，并且正在策划暗算主人公；如此等等，现代读者会觉得这种天真的结局完全无法接受。不过，在现实生活中，有时确实会出现一些巧合，这些巧合除了19世纪小说家外谁也不会相信。
当我是个孩子时，我祖父给我讲了一位德国出租汽车司机弗兰兹·巴斯曼如何找到了据信已在20年前被杀害的兄弟的事。一次，他与妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下来与一个工人交谈，接着他们继续往前走去。巴斯曼夫人说那工人与她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜测他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗兰兹对此不屑一顾，指出他兄弟已经在战争中阵亡了。尽管巴斯曼夫人熟知这个情况，但她仍然认为自己的想法仍有百万分之一的可能性。几天后，她派了一个男孩去问那人是否叫汉斯·巴斯曼。不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是汉斯·巴斯曼，他确实是弗兰兹失散多年的兄弟。兄弟俩团聚之时，汉斯说明了他活下来的经过，战争即将结束时，他负伤了，被送进医院，并与部队失去联系。医院遭到轰炸，汉斯步行回到了西德。与此同时，他所在部队被消灭，所有有关他的记录全部焚毁。汉斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毁，左邻右舍谁也不知原住户的下落，汉斯以为全家人都在空袭中遇难，于是便在距此50英里外的一座村子里定居下来，直至当日。
Words¶
- credulous /ˈkrɛdʒələs/ 轻信地
- coincidences /koˈɪnsədənsɪz/ 巧合
- improbable /ˌɪmˈprɑbəbəl/ 不大可能地
- obscure /əbsˈkjʊr/ 不起眼的
- maidservant /ˈmedˌsɝvənt/ 女佣
- presumed /prəˈzumd/ 假定
- wickedly /ˈwɪkɪdli/ 居心叵测地
- plotting /ˈplɑtɪŋ/ 密谋
- naive /ˌnaɪˈiv/ 天真地
- circumstances /ˈsɝkəmˌstænsəz/ 情况
- resemblance /rɪˈzɛmbləns/ 相似
- suggested /səˈdʒɛstɪd/ 暗示
- scorn /skɔrn/ 挖苦
- acquainted /əˈkwentɪd/ 使了解
- reunited /ˌriuˈnaɪtɪd/ 团聚
- wounded /ˈwundɪd/ 受伤
- lost /lɔst/ 牺牲
- inhabitants /ɪnˈhæbətənts/ 居民
- raid /red/ 空袭
Expressions¶
- It seems (highly/wildly) improbable that ... ……似乎极不可能
- be presumed dead/innocent/guilty 被推定为死亡/无罪/有罪
- presume that+句子 假定……
- plot to do sth. 暗中谋划做某事
- plot against sb. 密谋对付某人
- lead to sb’s downfall 导致某人垮台
- bring about sb’s downfall 致使某人垮台
- it be naive to believe/think … 相信/认为……很天真
- sb. be naive enough to believe/think... 某人天真到相信/认为……
- it be unacceptable to do 做……是不可接受的
- conspire to 共同促成
- it is incredible (to sb.) that… （对某人来说）……令人难以置信
- it is incredible how… ……令人难以置信
- it is incredible to do sth. 做某事令人难以置信
- bear...a close/strong/striking resemblance to sb./sth. 与某人/某物极为相似
- bear little/no resemblance to sb./sth. 与某人/某物几乎不相像
- resemblance to … 与……相似
- pour scorn on 对……嗤之以鼻
- pour scorn on idea/suggestion/plan/advice acquaint 对想法/建议/计划/忠告嗤之以鼻
- sb. with sth. 使某人了解某事
- sb. be acquainted. with… 某人熟悉……
- be reunited with sb. 与某人重逢
- assuming that… 假定……
- it seems/is reasonable to assume that... 有理由认为……
- a chance in a million 百万分之一的机会
- bring... to a conclusion 使……结束
- sb. accept the fact that bring about 接受……的事实
- and so on 等等
- anyone but 除了……之外的任何人
- be thought to 被认为
- stop to do 停下来去做
- comment on 评论
- suggest that 暗示
- there is/was a chance that+句子 有可能……
- needless to say 不用说
- towards the end of 接近结束时
- be separated from 与……分离
- make one’s way back = return to 返回
- What become of = What happen to 发生了什么事
to do 非谓语¶
| 主动 | 被动 | |
|---|---|---|
| 一般 | to do | to be done |
| 进行 | to be doing | |
| 完成 | to have done | to have been done |
| 完成进行 | to have been doing |