时间:2018-12-25 作者:英语课 分类:一片通英语听力


英语课

Why-Talks-Weird Language

为什么-话题-怪誕的语言



Let's face it:English is a stupid language.

不要怀疑:英语是一种愚蠢的语言。



There is no egg in the eggplant,no ham in the hamburger,and neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.English muffins were not invented in England;and French fries had nothing to do with France.

茄子里没有鸡蛋,汉堡里也没有火腿,在凤梨即没有松木也没有苹果。英国松饼不是在英国发明的;而炸薯条与法国一点关联都没有。



We sometimes take English for granted,but if we examine its paradoxes 1 we find that quicksnad takes you down slowly,boxing rings are square,and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

我们有时候习惯的以为英语就是这样说的,但如果我们探讨它似是而非的地方,我们会发现流沙是让你慢慢陷下去的,拳击场是方型的,而天竹鼠既不是来自几内亚,更不是猪。



You have to marvel 2 at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down,in which you fill in a form by filling it out,and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

你不是不惊讶于这种独特的疯癫语言,比如说你的房子被烧毁时,它是烧起来的,当你填表之时,是要填写出的,而闹钟响起来(go off)是因为它自己启动了(go on)。



English was invented by people,not computers,and it reflects the creativity 3 of the human race(Which of course isn't a race at all).That is why when the stars are out they are visible,but when the lights are out they are invisible 4.And why is it that when I wind up my watch is starts but when I wind up this story it ends!

英语是由人而不是由电脑发明的,它反应的是人类的创造力(那当然根本就不是一种竞赛)。那就难怪当星星出来(out)时是看得见的,但是灯光减了(out)时是看不见的。为什么我给我的手表上紧发条时它就开始走了,而当我完结了这个故事时它结束了。



1 paradoxes
n.似非而是的隽语,看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 );用于语言文学中的上述隽语;有矛盾特点的人[事物,情况]
  • Contradictions and paradoxes arose in increasing numbers. 矛盾和悖论越来越多。 来自辞典例句
  • As far as these paradoxes are concerned, the garden definitely a heterotopia. 就这些吊诡性而言,花园无疑地是个异质空间。 来自互联网
2 marvel
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事
  • The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
  • The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。
3 creativity
n.创造力,创造
  • There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
  • She got an unusually low score for creativity.在创造力方面,她得了异乎寻常的低分。
4 invisible
adj.看不见的,无形的
  • The air is full of millions of invisible germs.空气中充满了许多看不见的细菌。
  • Many stars are invisible without a telescope.许多星辰不用望远镜便看不见。
学英语单词
affiliatory
alphatic mercuration
angiocardiograms
antineutropenic
Apneumony
Arapiles
argentocyanide
Aufkirch
biathlon
bigamously
blown someone off
cactoids
carandente
catalytic amount
clean-up operation
coil dissipation
colloidal mud
colter drill
computer assisted personal interviewing
Constantine-Silvanus
cottonwoods
current indicator lamp
daryaganj
DB list
delay-line helix
discrete maximum principle
dussert
electro-thermal equivalent
electronic millsecondmeter
Epilast
equivalent articulation loss
Eritrichium spathulatum
exactly right
extended port
false impression
fine-mapping
flabellinids
gamma radiometer in borehole
genetic differences
Hammond postulate
high-temperature-oxidation resistant coating
hollow stalk
HWL (hot water line)
indicator plankton
Kalkchabasit
Knoop hardness
lag wood screw
lambdoid suture
limp standard
Manganoandalusite
Meyer atomic volume curve
minimum wall thickness
mnemonic instruction code
multiplatinum
Neumann method
nicalex
occidentalol
ochterus marginatus
optimal Bayes control
oscillator stage
outgoing current
peachwort
photoelectric tristimulus colorimetry
plastic mortar
plastic-faced plywood
polyether ester thermoplastic elastomer
pootas
prices guard wire
print line length
production force
progress variable
pseudoinclusion
quality ranges
repetitive transportation
ring-shaped placenta
Roan Mountain
roll-tech
Rubik's cubist
saline contamination
Sc. D. Med.
scotist
section column
sexadecimal number
split pin for set piston rod
spring free end
staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome
Strunian Stage
subflare kernel
superantigenicity
telepherage
temperature vibration
the deceased
three-step
to go out
tombolas
travel bag
two-periods
vermiculture
wave shaping electronics
woman power
yeast autolysate