新概念英語第二冊Lesson 77 A successful operation

 First listen and then answer the question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
Did the doctors find out how the woman died?
    
The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation. The mummy is that of Shepenmut who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes. As there were strange marks on the X-ray plates taken of the mummy, doctors have been trying to find out whether the woman died of a rare disease. The only way to do this was to operate. The operation, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult because of the hard resin which covered the skin. The doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it to a laboratory. They also found something which the X-ray plates did not show: a small wax figure of the god Duamutef. This god which has the head of a cow was normally placed inside a mummy. The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation.

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

mummy n. 木乃伊
Egyptian adj. 埃及的
temple n. 廟
mark n. 斑點
plate n. （照相）底片
disease n. 疾病
last v. 持續(xù)
prove v. 顯示出
resin n. 樹脂
skin n. 皮膚
section n. 切片
figure n. （人的）體形；人像
normally adv. 通常地
survive v. 幸免于

參考譯文

死于公元前800年的一位埃及婦女的木乃伊剛剛接受了一次手術。這是曾在底比斯神殿里當過歌手的賽潘姆特的木乃伊。由于在給這個木乃伊拍攝的X光片子上有點奇怪的斑點，所以，醫(yī)生們一直試圖搞清這位婦女是否死于一種罕見的疾病。搞清的唯一辦法就是手術。手術持續(xù)了4個多小時，非常難做，因為皮膚上覆蓋著一層硬硬的樹脂。醫(yī)生們從木乃伊身上取下一個切片，送去化驗。他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了X光片所沒有顯示的東西：一個蠟制的杜瓦木特夫神小塑像。這種牛頭人身的神像通常被放在木乃伊體內。醫(yī)生們至今還未確定這位婦女的死因。他們曾擔心在把木乃伊切開后，它會散成碎片，但幸運得很，這種情況并未發(fā)生。這具木乃伊成功地經(jīng)受了這次手術。

　　自學導讀
　　1． The mummy is that of Shepenmut…這是……賽潘姆特的木乃伊。
　　that用以指代前面的 the mummy，以避免重復。在指代特指的事物時，尤其是在比較狀語從句中，常用that和those指代前面
　　提到的事物：
　　The cost of living here is lower than that in London.
　　這里的生活費用比倫敦的要低。
　　that of和those of一般用于較正式的文體中：
　　The area of the USA is larger than that of Britain.
　　美國的面積比英國的大。
　　Tom's pen is better than that of the other boys.
　　湯姆的筆比其他男孩的要好。
　　課文中使用that of結構的原因之一是 Shepenmut需要后面跟一個補充說明她身份的關系從句。
　　2．die of,死于……，因……而死（后面跟名詞）。
　　His grandfather died of a bad cold/died of hunger.
　　他爺爺死于重感冒／是餓死的。
　　3．The operation, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult…手術持續(xù)了4個多小時，非常難做……
　?。?）last表示“持續(xù)”、“延續(xù)”時為不及物動詞，后面通常跟一個表
　　示時間的名詞／短語，for可有可無：
　　The war between the two countries lasted (for) over three years/until 1453.
　　這兩個國家之間的戰(zhàn)爭持續(xù)了3年多／一直持續(xù)到1453年。
　?。?）prove表示“證明”、“證實”，后面可以跟從句、形容詞、名詞、不定式等：
　　We've been trying to sell our house, but it's proved to be very difficult.
　　我們一直試圖把房子賣掉，不過事實證明這很困難。
　　You should first prove that you bought these goods here.
　　你應該首先證明這些物品你是從這里買的。
　?。?）which引導的分句為非限定性關系從句，因為它前后都有逗
　　號。非限定性關系從句提供補充信息，往往可以略去。逗號的取舍有時對句子的意思有很大影響：
　　The government which promises to cut taxes will be popular.
　　承諾減稅的政府將贏得人心。（限定性）
　　The government, which promises to cut taxes, will be popular.
　　這個政府承諾減稅，它將會贏得人心。（非限定性）
　　在非限定性關系從句中，指人的關系代詞只能用who/whom, 不能用that（限定性從句則可以）；指物的關系代詞只能用which,不能用that;帶介詞的非限定性關系從句中也不能用that:
　　The astronauts, who are said to be very excited, are ex pected to land on the moon shortly.
　　那些宇航員們可望不久登上月球，據(jù)說他們很激動。
　　This garage, which my father built in his lifetime has lasted for a long time.
　　我父親生前建的這個車庫已經(jīng)有很長時間了。（which 不可省略）
　　在非限定性關系從句中，which有時可用來代替前面提到的整
　　個分句：
　　She married Joe, which(=and this/that) surprised everyone.
　　她嫁給了喬，這使大家都感到意外。
　　4．The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died.醫(yī)生們
　　至今還未確定這位婦女的死因。
　　decide在這里不是指“下決心／決定”，而是指“對……下判決”、
　　“解決（懸案）”等：
　　The police cannot decide yet which of the two men is guilty.
　　警方尚不能確定這兩人中哪一個有罪。
　　5. fall to pieces,散掉，成為碎片（也可以說go to pieces）。
　　During the storm, the old house fell to pieces.
　　在暴風雨中，那座老房子塌了。
　　After two years their marriage fell to pieces.
　　兩年以后，他們的婚姻破裂了。
　　6.The mummy successfully survived the operation. 這具木乃伊成功地經(jīng)受了這次手術。
　　survive表示“經(jīng)歷（災難等）之后還活著”：
　　Only a young woman and her two baby daughters survived the plane crash.
　　只有一位年輕的婦女和她的兩個女嬰在那次飛機失事中生還。

　　詞匯學習 Word study
　　1．B.C.與A.D.
　　B.C.為Before Christ（公元前）的縮寫，A.D.表示anno Domini (=in the year of the Lord或 since Christ was born),即“公元”。A.D.用來與B.C.形成對比，出現(xiàn)在正式的史書中，平時一般
　　不用。B.C.位于年代之后，A.D.在英國英語中位于年代之前：
　　The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation.
　　死于公元前800年的一位埃及婦女的木乃伊剛剛接受了
　　一次手術。
　　The Romans invaded England in 55 B.C.
　　公元前55年羅馬人入侵了英格蘭。
　　George I died in A.D. 1727.
　　喬治一世死于公元1727年。
　　2．skin,leather與complexion
　　skin可用于指人體的“皮膚”，也可以指某人是什么顏色的皮膚。用于表示后一種意義時它與complexion（膚色）可以互換：
　　Hard resin covered the skin.
　　皮膚上覆蓋著一層硬硬的樹脂。
　　We are wet to the skin.
　　我們全身濕透了。
　　He has a dark skin/complexion.
　　他皮膚黝黑。
　　leather指“皮革”：
　　Shoes made of real leather have become very expensive.
　　真皮做的鞋子現(xiàn)在非常貴。
　　This sofa is made from real leather.
　　這沙發(fā)是真皮的。
　　3．wax與candle
　　wax指各種“蠟”，為不可數(shù)名詞；candle指“蠟燭”，為可數(shù)名詞：
　　Inside every mummy there is a small wax figure.
　　每個木乃伊體內都有一個蠟制的小塑像。
　　All the figures in this shop are made of wax.
　　這個店里所有的塑像都是蠟制的。
　　I keep a candle by my bed in case the lights go out suddenly.
　　我床邊總放一枝蠟燭，以防突然停電。

　　練習答案 Key to written exercises
　　1．關鍵句型練習答案
　　A What happened: died(1.1); died(1.5); lasted(1.6); proved to be(1.7); covered(1.8); moved(1.8); sent (1.9); found(1.9); did not show(1.9); was normally placed (1.10); died (1.11); feared(1.11); cut(1.12); survived (1.12)
　　What has happened: has just had(11.1-2); have not yet decided(1.10)
　　What has been happening: have been trying(1.4)
　　C 1 for                  2 ago           3 since
　　4 since              5 for           6 ago…since
　　7 since              8 ago           9 since
　　10 for
　　2．難點練習答案
　　1 complexion  2 leather  3 skin  4 candle  5 B.C.
　　3．多項選擇題答案
　　1a  2c  3a  4b  5c  6d
　　7d  8d  9a  10a  11b  12a