A Chance in a million 百萬分之一的幾率
We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences—most of them wildly improbable. Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother. A long-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero's downfall. And so on. Modern readers would find such naive solutions totally unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible. When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before. While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs Bussman was fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right. A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman, Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family home, but the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become of the inhabitants. Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.
7.Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible.
不過，在現(xiàn)實生活中，有時確實會出現(xiàn)一些巧合，這些巧合除了19世紀小說家外誰也不會相信。
語言點1:句子結構分析:which引導定語從句，修飾先行詞coincidences,說明巧合是什么。
語言點2:do sometimes conspire中的do為助動詞，對謂語conspire起強調作用。
語言點3:but不表示“但是”，而是作“除…之外”來理解。
8.When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.
當我是個孩子的時候，我祖父給我講了一位德國出租汽車司機弗朗茲。巴斯曼如何找到了據(jù)信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。
語言點:句子結構分析:when引導時間狀語從句。主句中的Franz Bussman是a German taxi driver的同位語。Who引導定語從句，修飾brother。
9.While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman.
一次， 他與妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下來與一個工人交談。
語言點:While on a walking tour with his wife放在句首，是一個省略式的時間狀語從句，可還原為:while he was on a walking tour with his wife。
We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences—most of them wildly improbable. Readers happily accepted the fact that an obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother. A long-lost brother, who was presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the hero's downfall. And so on. Modern readers would find such naive solutions totally unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible. When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before. While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on, Mrs Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs Bussman was fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right. A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if his name was Hans Bussman, Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family home, but the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become of the inhabitants. Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.
7.Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible.
不過，在現(xiàn)實生活中，有時確實會出現(xiàn)一些巧合，這些巧合除了19世紀小說家外誰也不會相信。
語言點1:句子結構分析:which引導定語從句，修飾先行詞coincidences,說明巧合是什么。
語言點2:do sometimes conspire中的do為助動詞，對謂語conspire起強調作用。
語言點3:but不表示“但是”，而是作“除…之外”來理解。
8.When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman, found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.
當我是個孩子的時候，我祖父給我講了一位德國出租汽車司機弗朗茲。巴斯曼如何找到了據(jù)信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。
語言點:句子結構分析:when引導時間狀語從句。主句中的Franz Bussman是a German taxi driver的同位語。Who引導定語從句，修飾brother。
9.While on a walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman.
一次， 他與妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下來與一個工人交談。
語言點:While on a walking tour with his wife放在句首，是一個省略式的時間狀語從句，可還原為:while he was on a walking tour with his wife。