「《紐約客》精讀 」選取The New Yorker雜志的片段,介紹文章背景好渠、精講單詞、詞組和句式节视。這是一個(gè)固定欄目拳锚,更新頻率為每周兩次。
第一期這個(gè)段落選自一篇書評(píng)寻行。點(diǎn)評(píng)書目為Barry Gewen的The Inevitability of Tragedy霍掺,一本基辛格的傳記。
“The young Kissinger was drawn less to the classic exponents of Realpoli-tik, such as Clausewitz and Bismarck, than to “philosophers of history” like Kant and anatomists of civilizational decay such as Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler. From these think-ers, Kissinger cobbled together his own view of how history operated. It was not a story of liberal progress, or of class consciousness, or of cycles of birth, maturity, and decline; rather, it was “a series of meaningless incidents,” fleet-ingly given shape by the application of human will. As a young in-fantryman, Kissinger had learned that victors ran-sacked history for analo-gies to gild their triumphs, while the vanquished sought?out the historical causes of their misfortune.”
Words
1.?classic exponents of Realpolitik
· exponent n. 支持者(某種思想拌蜘、理論)
a person who supports an idea or theory and?tries to persuade people of its truth or benefits?
· Realpolitik n. 現(xiàn)實(shí)政治
來(lái)源德語(yǔ)杆烁,在內(nèi)政外交中,把國(guó)家利益作為最高考量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的政治思想
2. Kissinger?cobbled?together his own view of how history operated.
· cobble v. 組裝简卧、拼湊
roughly assemble or produce something from?available parts or elements?
3.?victors ransacked?history for analogies to gild their triumphs
· ransack v.
ransack 廣為人知的意思是:打劫(to plunder), 但在這里是另外一個(gè)意思:徹底????地搜尋兔魂,search (a place or receptacle) thoroughly, 常出現(xiàn)在ransack...for...中。
ransack history for analogies, 搜尋歷史举娩,找到類比
· gild v. 鍍金
cover thinly with gold
Phrases
1.?anatomists?of civilizational decay
? ??文明衰落的剖析者
????anatomist 解剖學(xué)家
2.?not a story of liberal progress, or of class consciousness, or of cycles of birth, maturity, and decline?
? ??這個(gè)故事無(wú)關(guān)自由的進(jìn)步析校,或階級(jí)意識(shí),亦或誕生铜涉、成熟和衰敗的循環(huán)往復(fù)
3.?“a series of meaningless incidents,” fleet-ingly given shape by the application of human will
? ??一系列毫無(wú)意義的事件, 迅速地被人類意志所塑造智玻。
????fleetingly, for a very short time, 快速地、迅速地
????given shape: 被賦予形狀
????human will: 人類意志
Sentences
1.?As a young in-fantryman, Kissinger had learned that victors ran-sacked history for analo-gies to gild their triumphs, while the vanquished sought?out the historical causes of their misfortune.
譯文:作為一名年輕的步兵芙代,基辛格已經(jīng)領(lǐng)悟到吊奢,勝利者會(huì)搜尋歷史,找到類比纹烹,來(lái)為自己的勝利鍍金事甜,而失敗者會(huì)尋找出自己不幸的歷史原因。
這句話工整煉達(dá)滔韵,可以學(xué)習(xí)近反義詞逻谦。前一半講述勝利者的做法,后一半用連詞while轉(zhuǎn)折陪蜻,說(shuō)明失敗者的境遇邦马。
victors對(duì)應(yīng)the vanquished
the victors and the vanquished 剛好是一組反義詞, 形式和意思都能對(duì)應(yīng)工整。vanquish v. 打敗,vanquished 被打敗的滋将,the vanquished 被打敗的
ransacked對(duì)應(yīng)sought out
triumphs對(duì)應(yīng)misfortune