大学英语精读2课文复习课程.docx

学英语精读2课文
A heated discussion about whether men are braver than women is settled in a rather unexpected way关于男人是否比女人更勇敢的一场激烈争论以一种颇为出人意
料的方式解决了。
Unit 1 The Dinner PartyMona Gardner 晚宴莫娜•加德纳
I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true — though any naturalist would know it couldn't be. Later someone told me that the story appeared in a magazine shortly before the First World War. That magazine story, and the person who wrote it, I have never been able to track down.
我最初听到这个故事是在印度，那儿的人们今天讲起它来仍好像确有其事似的
——尽管任何一位博物学家都知道这不可能是真的。后来有人告诉我，在第一
次世界大战之前不久，一家杂志曾刊登过这个故事。但登在杂志上的那篇故事
以及写那篇故事的人，我却一直未能找到。
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated with their guests- officers and their wives, and a visiting American naturalist — in their spacious dining room, which has a bare marble floor, open rafters and wide glass doors opening onto a veranda.
故事发生在印度。某殖民地官员和他的夫人正举行盛大的晚宴。筵席设在他们
家宽敞的餐室里，室内大理石地板上没有铺地毯；屋顶明椽裸露；宽大的玻璃
门外便是走廊。跟他们一起就坐的客人有军官和他们的夫人，另外还有一位来
访的美国博物学家。
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who says that women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a major who says that they haven't.
席问，一位年轻的女士同一位少校展开了热烈的讨论。年轻的女士认为，妇女
已经有所进步，不再像过去那样一见到老鼠就吓得跳到椅子上；少校则不以为
然。
"A woman's reaction in any crisis," the major says, "is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what really counts."
他说：“一遇到危急情况，女人的反应便是尖叫。而男人虽然也可能想叫，但比
起女人来，自制力却略胜一筹。这多出来的一点自制力正是真正起作用的东
0
The American does not join in the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly. She motions to the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers something to him. The boy's eyes widen: he quickly leaves the room.
那个美国人没有参加这场争论，他只是注视着在座的其他客人。在他这样观察
时，他发现女主人的脸上显出一种奇异的表情。她两眼盯着正前方，脸部肌