LECTURE 170 基本動詞TAKE 19

LECTURE 170 基本動詞TAKE 19

詞組講解

1. take the law into one's own hands ** （不依照法律）私自處理

解 〈口〉習語；詞義溯源：把［法律（law）］拿在自己手里，隨意使用

例 The heavy-metal, hard-rock band called Twisted Sister has hit the top ten chart for the first time with a tune titled Go For Street Justice. Street justice refers to citizens taking the law into their own hands and beating or killing a person when they feel the official justice system has failed to punish him appropriately.

2. take the liberty of doing sth. ** 擅自（冒昧地）做某事

解 習語；詞義溯源：行使做某事的［自由（liberty）］

例 How could you?! How could you dare to take the liberty of reading my letters just because I left them out on my desk? They're private and you knew it when you read them. You know I never would have agreed to let you read them. I have half a mind to kick you out of my apartment and find a new roommate.

3. take the lid off sth. ** 揭露…的真相

解 〈口〉習語；詞義溯源：?。巯拢╫ff）］［蓋子、限制、壓制（lid）］

例 With the Cold War over, an amazingly vast amount of once secret CIA and Pentagon files have been opened to public scrutiny. Taking the lid off secret documents is part of the government's efforts to take advantage of the so-called “peace dividend”—I. e. financial savings made possible by a smaller, less-vigilant, peacetime military. Fewer secrets equal smaller bureaucracy needed to guard them.

4. take the stand ** 出庭作證

解 習語；詞義溯源：坐在（站在）［證人席（stand）］上

例 Of course I'll take the stand. That goes without saying . And I hope everybody else will too. We've got to take a stand against these people who try to bribe public officials. Testifying in court is the best way we can do that.

5. take the trouble to do sth. / take the trouble ** 不辭勞苦，費力

解 習語；詞義溯源：在做某事時承擔［困難、難關（trouble）］

例 You really shouldn't have taken the trouble to fix up the old cabin just for me. I could have stayed in it the way it was. Besides, I'm only staying a week. You didn't need to go to the trouble and expense of repairing it.

鞏固練習

(A) take the law into my own hands

(B) took the liberty of

(C) take the lid off

(D) take the stand

(E) took the trouble to

1. A: I refuse to ______. I'll take the Fifth if I have to. B: You can only take the Fifth against self-incrimination—that doesn't apply here. If the judge issues a subpoena you will have to testify in court or go to jail. You can refuse, but you'll go to jail.

2. A: Although it requires a lot of my time and effort, I attend every teachers-parents meeting the school has and participate in the Parent-Teacher Association, or the PTA as they call it. B: I wish all parents ______ get involved as much as you do.

3. A: While you were in Dallas, I ______ having your desk repaired. B: What? I appreciate your concern, Ms. Bae, but I liked my desk just the way it was. Please, don't assume you can do something like that for me. If you don't ask me and just do it anyway, you're likely to be wrong.

4. A: Do you think Coca-Cola Company will ever remove the secrecy surrounding the formula they use to make Coke? B: Never. They'll never ______ their recipe or production methods.

5. A: Why didn't you call the police? Why did you break the law by taking action against him without using the legal system to punish his injustice? B: Because I knew the police wouldn't do anything to him. I had to ______ or he would have gone scot-free . A: But you broke the law! You personally administered justice according to your own idea of what justice is. Only the legal system has that authority. You acted outside the official methods of the law.

■ ANSWER

1. (D)

2. (E)

3. (B)

4. (C)

5. (A)

參考譯文

I. 1. 重金屬、硬搖滾樂隊“扭曲姐妹”憑借歌曲《爭取街頭正義》首次打入金曲排行榜前10名。街頭正義是指，當公民們覺得官方的司法系統(tǒng)不能恰當地懲罰一個人時，他們就自行處置、毆打或殺掉他。

2. 你怎么能這樣？！你怎么敢擅自讀我放在桌子上的信？這是私人信件，而且你讀的時候肯定知道。你知道我絕不會答應讓你讀我的信。我有點想把你趕出我的公寓，再重新找一個室友了。

3. 隨著冷戰(zhàn)的結束，一大批中央情報局和五角大樓的機密文件公開接受公眾審查。公開這些機密文件是政府利用所謂的“和平紅利”的一部分——也就是說，通過在和平時期縮減軍隊規(guī)模、對軍隊放松警戒以節(jié)約開支。秘密減少了，則意味著需要更少的官僚機構來保守這些秘密。

4. 當然，我將出庭作證，這是不言而喻的。我希望每個人也都能這么做。我們必須反對那些試圖賄賂政府官員的人。出庭作證是我們能采用的最好的方式。

5. 你真的不必費力為我修補那個破舊的小屋，我能繼續(xù)住。另外，我只住一周的時間，你不必特意花錢去修理它。

II. 1. A：我拒絕出庭作證。如果有必要的話，我將保持沉默。B：你只有在自證其罪的時候才能保持沉默——在這里不行。如果法官發(fā)出傳票，你就要出庭作證或進監(jiān)獄。你可以拒絕，但這樣你就要去坐牢。

2. A：雖然需要花費很多時間和精力，但是我仍然會參加學校組織的教師-家長會議、加入家長-教師聯(lián)合會，也就是他們所說的家教會。B：我希望所有家長都能不怕麻煩，像您一樣盡力參與。

3. A：你去達拉斯的時候，我私自找人修了你的桌子。B：什么？貝女士，謝謝你的關心，但是我喜歡我桌子原來的樣子。請別認為你可以為我做這樣的事。如果你沒有問我就這么做，你有可能就錯了。

4. A：你認為可口可樂公司會公布他們制造可樂的秘密配方嗎？B：絕對不可能，他們永遠不會公開他們的配方或生產方式。

5. A：你為什么不報警？你為什么不利用法律武器懲罰他，而是自己采取行動呢？這是違法的。B：因為我知道警方根本不會懲罰他。我不得不自行處理，否則他就會逍遙法外。A：但是你違法了！你根據自己對公正的理解，執(zhí)行審判。只有法律才有那個權力。你的行為超越了法律允許的范圍。