胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯140：從黑暗的年代中解放出來(lái) Liberated from ages of darkness

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What do we really know about our ancestors who lived in limestone caves at Zhoukoudian? Not a great deal, really, except that the modern day inhabitants of northern China would probably be able to trace their lineage right back to those cave dwellers. Their life span was short, compared to ours, and theirs were by no means lives of liberty, in any sense of the word.Not yet literate, they were unable to read or write, though some of the drawings they left behind on their cave walls were quite magnificent. Their lives were harsh, sleeping on beds made from leaves, not linen, risking life and limb even when simply foraging for food. They were able to draw their liquid refreshment from streams that were still limpid, taking care, though, not to linger, lest they were mauled by a dreadfull saber tooth tiger or some other ferocious beast.

對(duì)于那些在周口店石灰石洞里的祖先，我們了解多少呢?除了知道中國(guó)北部現(xiàn)在的居民可能擁有那些巖洞居民的血統(tǒng)之處，我們知道的的確不多。他們的壽命和現(xiàn)代人相比要短很多，而且他們的生活從任何意義上都不能被稱作是自由的。沒(méi)有受過(guò)教育，他們不能讀書(shū)或者寫字，盡管他們?cè)诙囱ǖ膲Ρ谏狭粝铝艘恍┓浅＞碌漠嫛Ｋ麄兊纳詈芷D苦，睡在樹(shù)葉(而不是亞麻)做的床上，甚至為了尋找食物還要冒著失去生命或四肢折斷的危險(xiǎn)。他們從清澈的小溪中汲取液體養(yǎng)料，同時(shí)要非常地小心，下能逗留太久，以免被可怕的利齒考慮或者是別的猛獸所傷害。

Humankind has long since been liberated and, quite literally, lifted from our ancestors’ day of darkness. One of the most important inventions in the whole of history must be the light bulb. With people being able to sit up at night in splendid brightness, average levels of literacy have increased by leaps and bounds, while literary endeavour has flourished.Likewise, modern men’s linguistic prowess has improved no end, not least through being able to sit up at all hours of the day and night, having liberal discussions on subjects ranging from linguistics to animal liberation.

人類在很早以前就解放了，從字面上講就是升高而從祖先們生活的黑暗日子中超脫出來(lái)。歷史上最重大的發(fā)明之一要算燈光了。當(dāng)人們可以整晚享受美妙的光亮?xí)r，人們一般的讀寫能力有了普遍而飛速的提高，從事寫作的勁頭也空前地高漲。同樣地，現(xiàn)代人的語(yǔ)言才能無(wú)限度地提高了，主要表現(xiàn)在整天整夜自由地高談闊論，話題從語(yǔ)言學(xué)到動(dòng)物學(xué)的自由等等，可謂無(wú)話不談。

Words

liberal adj. (思想)開(kāi)放的，堅(jiān)持(主張)變革的，自由主義的

liberate vt. 釋放，使自由，解放

liberty n. 自由

life span 壽命

lift v. 舉起，升高

light bulb 燈泡

likewise adv. 同樣地，也

limb n. 肢，翼

limestone n. 石灰石

limpid adj. 清澈的

lineage n. 血統(tǒng)，世系

linen n. 亞麻布，亞麻制品

linger vi. 逗留，徘徊

linguistic adj. 語(yǔ)言上的，語(yǔ)言學(xué)上的

linguistics n. 語(yǔ)言學(xué)

liquid n. 液體，流體

literally adv. 照字面意義地,逐字地

literacy n. 有讀寫能力，識(shí)字

literary adj. 文學(xué)(上)的，從事寫作的

literate adj. 精通文學(xué)的，受過(guò)教育的