常春藤解析英語 29 Body-Made Music　人體交響曲

Body-Made Music　人體交響曲

by Jason Alloy

When we think of historical days that sum up the concept of freedom, many dates come to mind. One in _(1)_ was when Roman Emperor Claudius officially stated that all Roman citizens would be allowed to pass gas whenever it was necessary. Back then, _(2)_ one's gas was seen as a serious health risk.

To find out _(3)_ causes the fart, you have to start in the stomach. The stomach is _(4)_ your food is broken down into nutrients and then moved into the small intestine. However, some foods that are _(5)_ pass into the large intestine. Here, bacteria break down the material and create either odorless gases or the infamous _(6)_ gas.

As gases exit the rectum, the vibration of the anal opening produces a sound. The volume of the sound _(7)_ the exit speed of the gas and content of the gas bubble. The fewer bacteria, the larger the bubble and thus the louder the fart is. However, the volume is inversely _(8)_ odor, so a loud fart is not likely to smell, while the silent ones can be "deadly."

Eating foods high in carbohydrates or complex sugars like beans increases the _(9)_ of farting. Most people fart 10 times per day and _(10)_ about 1.12 liters of gas. The longest fart reported was two minutes and 42 seconds. Monitoring the diet or swallowing excess air can treat excessive gas.

Freedom of passing gas didn't last long in ancient Rome. In 315 BC, Emperor Constantine overturned Claudius's law, and we've been cautious about our body-made music ever since.

(A) release (B) smelly (C) frequency (D) where (E) what

(F) related to (G) indigestible (H) particular (I) depends on (J) holding in

原來如此

1. One in particular was when Roman Emperor Claudius officially stated that...

理由:

a. 空格前是介詞 in，因此空格內(nèi)應置入名詞。

b. (A) release(釋放)、(C) frequency(頻率)和 (H) particular(特別)均可作名詞，其中僅 (H) 填入后符合語意、用法，故選之。

c. in particular　　尤其，特別是

注意:

in particular 通常置于名詞之后，作后位修飾。

例: This cut of meat in particular is best for making beef noodle soup.

(這種肉片特別適合用來煮牛肉面。)

2. Back then, holding in one's gas was seen as...

理由:

a. 本句中有名詞 one's gas 和 be 動詞 was，可知空格應該填入及物動詞的不定詞或動名詞形態(tài)，以形成名詞詞組作主詞用。

b. 符合上述條件的選項只有 (J) holding in(忍住)，填入后語意連貫，意指在當時，忍住放屁被視為有害健康，故 (J) 為正選。

c. hold in...　　忍住……;壓抑……

例: If you hold in your anger and don't talk about your feelings, you'll only end up more upset.

(如果你壓抑憤怒，不將自己的感覺說出來，到頭來只會更不開心。)

3. To find out what causes the fart, you have to...

理由:

a. 空格前是詞組動詞 find out(找出)，空格后是第三人稱單數(shù)動詞 causes(造成)，因此空格內(nèi)的字必須可以作為 find out 的受詞，同時也作為 causes 的主詞。

b. 選項中僅有復合關(guān)系代名詞 what 具有此功能，填入后語意和文法皆正確，故選 (E)。

4. The stomach is where your food is broken down into...

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 動詞 is，空格后是完整句，因此推測空格必須置入關(guān)系副詞，引導形容詞子句作 be 動詞后的主詞補語。

b. 選項中只有 (D) where 符合上述條件。同時，根據(jù)語意，本句說明的是食物分解成養(yǎng)分的地點在胃部，而關(guān)系副詞 where 引導的形容詞子句正是用來形容表地方的名詞(此處 where 之前省略了 the place)，故 (D) 為正選。

5. However, some foods that are indigestible pass into the large intestine.

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 動詞 are，因此推測空格內(nèi)應該填入名詞、形容詞、現(xiàn)在分詞或過去分詞。

b. 符合上述條件的選項有 (A) release(釋放)、(B) smelly(臭的)、(C) frequency(頻率)、(F) related to(和……有關(guān))和 (G) indigestible(無法消化的)，然根據(jù)語意，僅有 (G) 填入后上下文連貫，故為正選。

c. indigestible a. 不能消化的

6. Here, bacteria...create either odorless gases or the infamous smelly gas.

理由:

a. 空格前有形容詞 infamous(惡名昭彰的)，空格后是名詞 gas(氣體)，推測空格內(nèi)應該填入另一個形容詞，以修飾空格后的名詞。

b. 符合上述條件的僅有 (B) smelly(臭的)，填入后亦符合語意，故選之。

c. smelly a. 臭的

7. The volume of the sound depends on the exit speed of the gas...

理由:

a. 本句缺乏動詞，而空格前的主詞為 The volume of the sound，故應置入第三人稱單數(shù)動詞。

b. 符合上述條件的只有 (I) depends on(視……而定)，填入后語意正確，故選之。

c. depend on...　　視……而定

例: My schedule next week depends on whether or not my boss comes back from China.

(我下周的行程全看我老板是否從中國大陸回來。)

8. However, the volume is inversely related to odor, so...

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 動詞 is 和副詞 inversely(成反比地)，空格后有名詞 odor(臭味)，推測空格內(nèi)應該填入現(xiàn)在分詞或過去分詞。

b. 選項中符合條件的唯有 (F) related to，且填入后形成下列固定用法：

be related to...　　和……有關(guān)

例: The two problems aren't related to one another and they shouldn't even be brought up at the same time.

(這兩個問題彼此并不相干，甚至不應該一起提出來。)

c. 根據(jù)上述，故選 (F)。

9. Eating foods high in carbohydrates or complex sugars like beans increases the frequency of farting.

理由:

a. 空格前有定冠詞 the，因此空格應該填入名詞。

b. 選項中可作名詞的有 (A) release(釋放)和 (C) frequency(頻率)，但根據(jù)語意，吃某些食物會增加放屁的頻率，故應選 (C)。

c. frequency n. 頻率

10. Most people fart 10 times per day and release about 1.12 liters of gas.

理由:

a. 空格前是對等連接詞 and，用來連接對等的單字、詞組或子句，因此基于對等原則，空格內(nèi)應填入復數(shù)動詞，以與其前的 fart(放屁)對等。

b. 選項中僅剩下 (A) release(釋放)為動詞，填入后符合用法及語意，故選之。

c. release n. & vt. 釋放

例: Five hostages were released last night.

(昨晚有五名人質(zhì)獲釋。)

難句分析

* The fewer bacteria, the larger the bubble and thus the louder the fart is.

= The fewer bacteria there are, the larger the bubble is and thus the louder the fart is.

(細菌越少，氣泡越大，放屁聲也就越響。)

精解字詞詞組

1. sum up...　　總結(jié)……

例: At the end of the speech, I'll sum up my main points and then take questions from the audience.

(演講完之后，我會總結(jié)重點，然后讓觀眾提問。)

2. ...come to mind　　想到……

例: When you mentioned Sara, our fun time at the beach came to mind.

(提到莎拉時，我就會想到我們在海灘共渡的快樂時光。)

3. be broken down into...　　被分解成……

break down...into...　　將……分解成……

例: You'll have to break down the boxes into smaller pieces to fit them in the recycling container.

(你得將箱子拆成更小的單位才放得進回收箱。)

4. monitor vt. 監(jiān)督，監(jiān)控

例: For the next two weeks, I'd like for you to monitor what you eat.

(接下來的兩周，我要你監(jiān)控自己的飲食。)

5. overturn vt. 推翻

例: The politician is hoping to overturn the law that was passed just last week.

(那名政客希望能推翻上周才通過的法案。)

6. be cautious about...　　對……很小心

例: You should be cautious about what you say to him. He's related to the boss.

(你跟他說話應該要小心。他和老板是親戚。)

單字小鋪

1. historical a. 歷史上的

2. officially adv. 正式地

3. fart n. 屁 & vi. 放屁

4. nutrient n. 營養(yǎng)物

5. intestine n. 腸

6. odor n. 惡臭

odorless a. 沒有氣味的

7. infamous a. 惡名昭彰的

8. exit vt. 離開 & n. 離去;出口

9. rectum n. 直腸

10. vibration n. 震動

11. anal opening n. 肛門口

12. volume n. 音量

13. inversely adv. 相反地，成反比地

14. carbohydrate n. 碳水化合物;醣類

15. complex sugar n. 復糖(淀粉質(zhì)，如全麥類、全谷類面包或米飯)

16. excess a. 額外的

17. excessive a. 過多的

詞組小鋪

1. pass gas　　放屁

= break wind

2. be seen/viewed/regarded as...　　被視為……

3. be (not) likely to V　　(不)可能會……

4. be high in...　　……的含量很高

中文翻譯&標準答案

當我們想到歷史上總結(jié)自由概念的時刻時，會想到很多日子。其中一個特別的日子是當羅馬皇帝克勞地正式宣布在必要時，所有羅馬公民都可以自由放屁。在當時，忍著屁不放被視為有嚴重的健康風險。

要了解身體放屁的原因，你得先從肚子探究起。胃部是食物分解成營養(yǎng)物然后送往小腸的所在。然而，有些無法消化的食物則排到大腸。細菌在大腸分解這些物質(zhì)，產(chǎn)生了無臭無味或臭死人的氣體。

這些氣體排出直腸時，肛門口的震動會造成聲響。放屁的音量取決于氣體排出的速度和氣泡的成分。細菌越少，氣泡越大，放屁聲也就越響。不過，放屁聲和氣味恰好成反比，因此響屁不臭，臭屁不響。

吃了碳水化合物含量高或豆子之類含復糖的食物會增加放屁的頻率。大多數(shù)人每天放十次屁，總共約 1.12 公升。紀錄上最長的屁長達兩分四十二秒。監(jiān)控飲食或吞下多余的空氣可以解決不斷放屁的問題。

古羅馬放屁的自由并沒有維持太久，在公元 315 年，康士坦汀皇帝推翻了克勞地的法律。從那時開始，我們就很小心這人體自發(fā)的樂章。

標準答案: 1. (H) 2. (J) 3. (E) 4. (D) 5. (G)　6. (B) 7. (I) 8. (F) 9. (C) 10. (A)