Our neighbour, the river

河流,我们的邻居

新概念英语第3册第56课

新概念英语-课文

The river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives. Without it we could not make a living. There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the house, so we have to pump from the river for farm use. We tell the river all our secrets. We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees, that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it.

Of course, the great thing is not to allow any dogmatic to creep in, not to become narrow and intolerant. And it is the same with political opinions. We all know people who are so addicted to their particular variety of snobbery that they limit their intercourse to people of their own kind, and are very surprised and even hurt if one day they find that their teenage son or daughter has married outside their own class or group. But on the whole, we all have a very wide common ground of agreement on which we can talk without any feeling of restraint or self - consciousness. We all know that if we overfish, the fish in the river will soon be exhausted, and so we have an agreement not to fish in the river for more than a certain number of fish each season. We also know that if we do not take good care of the river, the fish will die, and so we have an agreement to keep the river clean.

There is also the question of security. We all know that if we are not on our guard, some day we will be invaded by our neighbours on the other side of the river. So we keep a watchful eye on them, and at the same time we make sure that they know that we are watching them. But on the whole, we live in peace with them. We are all neighbours, after all.

Our relationship with the river is like that of the ancient Greeks with their gods. We have sacrificed a lot to it, and we have also received a lot from it. It is a very important part of our lives.

新概念英语-单词和短语

  • boundary n.边界
  • pump v.抽水
  • instinctively adv.本能地
  • beekeeper n.养蜂人
  • misfortune n.不幸
  • overtake v.突然降临
  • dogmatic adj.教条的
  • creep v.潜入
  • intolerant adj.不容异己的
  • addicted adj.沉溺于
  • snobbery n.势利观念
  • intercourse n.交往
  • teenage adj.十几岁的
  • restraint n.拘束
  • self - consciousness n.难为情
  • overfish v.过度捕捞
  • exhaust v.枯竭
  • security n.安全
  • invade v.入侵
  • sacrifice v.牺牲

新概念英语-翻译

形成我们农场东部边界的一条河流一直在我们生活中发挥着重要作用。要是没有这条河,我们就无法生存下去。泉水只能满足家庭生活用水,因此我们必须从河里抽水以用于农业生产。我们向那条河倾诉我们的所有秘密。我们本能地懂得,就像养蜂人和他的蜜蜂那样,如果我们不把生活中的重大事件告诉那条河,就可能大祸临头。

当然,重要的是不要让任何教条主义的东西潜入我们的思想,不要变得狭隘和不容异己。政治观点也是如此。我们都认识一些人,他们太沉溺于自己独特的那种势利观念,以至于他们只与自己同类的人交往,如果有一天他们发现自己十几岁的儿子或女儿与自己阶层或群体之外的人结了婚,他们就会非常惊讶,甚至会感到受了伤害。但总的来说,我们有一个非常广泛的共识基础,在这个基础上我们可以毫无拘束或难为情地进行交谈。我们都知道,如果我们过度捕捞,河里的鱼很快就会枯竭,所以我们达成协议,每个季节在河里捕捞的鱼不得超过一定数量。我们也知道,如果我们不好好保护这条河,鱼就会死去,所以我们达成协议要保持河水清洁。

还有安全问题。我们都知道,如果我们不保持警惕,总有一天我们会遭到河对岸邻居的入侵。所以我们密切注视着他们,同时确保他们知道我们在监视他们。但总的来说,我们与他们和平相处。毕竟,我们都是邻居。

我们与这条河的关系就像古希腊人与他们的神的关系一样。我们为它作出了很多牺牲,也从它那里得到了很多。它是我们生活中非常重要的一部分。

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