節(jié)選自《時(shí)間簡(jiǎn)史》
Part One 詞匯筆記
一、詞匯層面
1.have a greater pull toward the earth ?受更大的力拉向地球
2.work out all the laws that govern the universe by pure thought
3.bother to do 費(fèi)心去做某事
4.let go of a ball?
release，as from one's grip
5.go along
6.the ball will be traveling down the slope?
roll down the slope
# The wind travels down the streets between tall buidlings in the center of the city.冷風(fēng)在市中心高樓建筑之間的街道呼嘯而過(guò)。
7.fall at the same rate
8.小詞
indeed?
in truth (often tends to intensify)
# they said the car would break down and indeed it did
比較
indeed 肯定或證實(shí)對(duì)方所說(shuō)的話(huà)，多承接前言；加強(qiáng)或肯定自己說(shuō)話(huà)的語(yǔ)氣
really 強(qiáng)調(diào)與事實(shí)或現(xiàn)實(shí)不相違背
truly 強(qiáng)調(diào)客觀存在的真實(shí)性，沒(méi)有任何虛假
actually 側(cè)重于實(shí)際的事，而不是憑空想象或推測(cè)的事
evenly
(1) in a level and regular way? 平滑地；有規(guī)律地；均勻地；相等地 ?# She was fast asleep, breathing evenly.她睡熟了，呼吸很平穩(wěn)。
(2) in equal amounts or shares; in a balanced or impartial way 平均地；均等地 ?# evenly distributed/ divided?平均分配╱分開(kāi)
9.be acted on by the same force （力）作用于
act on 對(duì)···起作用，按···行動(dòng) # We sometimes act on instinct.
10.as was previously thought
11.It also meant that···
12.A familiar exmaple is provided by a car. 由···提供，具有
13.And if,say,··· ?表示舉例
to suggest or give sth as an example or a possibility 比方說(shuō)；假設(shè)
# Let's take any writer, say (= for example) Dickens...我們隨便舉一個(gè)作家為例，比如說(shuō)狄更斯…
# Say you lose your job: what would you do then?假設(shè)你把工作丟了：那你怎么辦呢？
14.the gravitational attraction of a star is exactly one quarter that of a simialr star at half the distance? 寫(xiě)作里嘗試?that of?的用法 （that 指代the gravitational attraction）
同樣復(fù)數(shù)用those of，如 the big difference between the ideas of Aristotle and those of Galileo and Newton ( those 指代 the ideas）
15. One could equally well say that··· 人們可以說(shuō)
16.stub his toe on a large stone 腳尖踢到大石頭上
17.Although our apparently commonsense notions work well when dealing with things like···，they don't work at all for things··· 體會(huì)這種緊密的銜接表達(dá)
18. with respect to 關(guān)于，至于，談到
without respect to 不管，不顧
比較 with respect to VS regarding
with respect to比較正式，經(jīng)常用于商務(wù)文稿中。在英式英語(yǔ)中，還可以說(shuō)in respect of，后者更加正式。
相比而言，regarding的正式程度略微低些，口語(yǔ)中也經(jīng)常說(shuō)。當(dāng)然，同源的詞，更正式的用法還可以用with/in regard to，以及in this/that regard。
以上是基本理解。用法上還是觀察體會(huì)出一點(diǎn)細(xì)微區(qū)別。如下例句：
With respect to your inquiry, I enclose an explanatory leaflet.
He refused to divulge any information regarding the man's whereabouts.
實(shí)際上在使用中，前者多用于With respect to sth, + 主句這樣的結(jié)構(gòu)。因?yàn)檎降奈捏w中主句一般比較長(zhǎng)，將該短語(yǔ)前置可以使句子比較平衡。通?？勺g為：關(guān)于某事物/就某方面而言，+主句內(nèi)容。
而后者多用于中心詞 + regarding sth這樣的結(jié)構(gòu)。語(yǔ)義不會(huì)太復(fù)雜，一般可譯為關(guān)于...(sth)的...（中心詞）。
想起群里討論，整理如下：
to some degree/ to some extent ?在一定程度上
degree 程度水平 extent 應(yīng)用面積,范疇
to the extent ? ?在某種程度上 # To the extent they'd seen them, they'd seen them in the movies.即使見(jiàn)到，也是在電影里。
to the degree （較少用）到···程度 # He knows the place to the degree that he can find any landmark with his eyes closed.
19. light's speed relative to the ether would remain fixed?
be relative to ···相對(duì)于···
20. revolutionize our ideas of space and time 變革了我們對(duì)時(shí)空的概念
21. put an end to···
二、背景知識(shí)層面
1.the leaning tower of Pisa
2.air resistance
3.lead weight ?鉛錘
4."Newton's first law" ?Principia Mathematica,1687 ? ?“牛頓第一運(yùn)動(dòng)定律” 1687年出版的《數(shù)學(xué)原理》
"Newton's second law" ? "牛頓第二定律"
laws of motion ?運(yùn)動(dòng)定律 ?
law of gravity/ a law to describe the force of gravity 引力定律
accerlation 加速度 ? body 物體 ? mass 質(zhì)量
is?proportional to the mass of each body 與物體質(zhì)量成比例
6.elliptical 橢圓的
7.radio waves 無(wú)線(xiàn)電波 ? light waves 光波
microwaves 微波? infrared 紅外線(xiàn) ultraviolet 紫外線(xiàn) ?X rays ?gamma rays
wavelength ? ?波長(zhǎng)
8. ether 以太
9. the equivalence of mass and energy ?質(zhì)量能量等價(jià)
10.a light of pulse 光脈沖
11.velocity 位置
12.cooridinate 坐標(biāo)
13.Maxwell's equation 馬克斯韋方程
14.future light cone 未來(lái)光錐
15.geodesics 測(cè)地線(xiàn)
16.light deflection 光偏折
