Professor randall, an illustrious volcanologist, pursued his discipline with a passion that went well beyond ordinary scientific enquiry. He even had to park his car out in the street, as his garage was stacked up to the rafters with a multitude of samples of igneous rock.
蘭德爾教授是著名的火山學家,他從事這門學科的熱情遠遠超過普通的科學調(diào)查。他甚至不得不把車停在大街上,因為他的車庫里堆滿了各種各樣的火成巖的標本,一直堆到房椽上。
The professor’s theories, while highly imaginative, were by no means universally accepted. In particular, he found himself rebutted on a wide range of issues by one of his colleagues, professor martin. This, of course, was just what might be expected in the world we live in . what was not to be expected was just how much professor randall’s fury would be ignited. He was fond of calling his detractor illiterate, denouncing his scientific theories as illegitimate and illusive. Making use of a kind of poetic imagery one would not ordinarily expect from a scientist, he wrote: “those ignorant comments do nothing to illustrate, let alone illuminate, the fundamental principles at stake, they convey an image of a reality that is akin to an illusion.”
教授的理論雖然頗具想像力,但根本沒達到被普遍接受的程度。特別是他發(fā)現(xiàn)同事馬丁教授在很多問題上反駁他。當然,這是我們在自己生存的世界里意料之中的事情。意想不到的是蘭德爾教授的怒火被點燃的程度。他喜歡把他的惡意批評者稱作文盲,公然抨擊他的科學理論是非法的,迷惑人的。他用人們一般認為科學家不會使用的如詩般形象的語言寫道:“那些無知的評論無法說明,更不用說闡明所爭論的基本原則。它們傳達的是真實情況的映象,類似于幻覺。”
Professor martin did his best to ignore this stream of invective but then , one day, he found his laboratory on fire, the flames illuminating the evening sky, his lifetime’s work had been incinerated, professor randall, the perpetrator of this ignoble act, at first pleaded ignorance, but soon confessed, confronted with the weight of the evidence.
馬丁教授盡量不理會這一連串的惡語謾罵,但是,有一天,他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的實驗室著火了,火焰照亮了夜空。他一生的工作成果都被燒成了灰燼。這起卑鄙事件的作惡者蘭德爾教授起初借口說不知道,但很快就迫于證據(jù)的壓力承認了。
He found himself indicted for arson and attemptedd murder, his career came to an abrupt and ignominious end. When he finally killed himself he was in a state of extreme distress. His suicide note was all but illegible.
他被指控犯有縱火罪和謀殺未遂。他的事業(yè)突然間落了個可恥的下場。他最后自殺的時候,已經(jīng)處于極度痛苦的狀態(tài)。他自殺前留的字條幾乎無法辨認。
This sad tale is by no means an imaginary example, it is a fitting illustration of the principle that it can be dangerous to allow fame to go to one’s head.
這個悲慘的故事決不是一個虛構的例子。它是一個合適的例證來證明這個道理:如果允許讓名譽占據(jù)一個人的頭腦,那是很危險的。
Words:
igneous adj. (地)火的,火成的(火山噴出的)
ignite v.點燃,使燃著
ignoble adj.卑鄙的,下流的
ignominious adj.可恥的,不名譽的
ignorance n.無知,不了解
ignore vt.忽視,不顧,不理會
illegible adj.難以辨認的.(字跡)模糊的
illegitimate adj.非法的,私生的
illiterate adj.文盲的,缺乏教育的
illuminate v.照明,照亮, 說明,闡明
illusion n.幻覺,錯覺
illusive adj.迷惑人的,錯覺的
illustrate vt.說明,闡明
illustration n.例證,插圖
illustrious adj,輝煌的,著名的
image n.圖像,肖像,形象
imagery n.肖像,形象,形象化的比喻
imaginary adj.想像中的,虛構的
imaginative adj.富于想像力的.