黑暗版阅读真题解析2000 Text 2

重点词汇：

maturity /mE5tjuEriti/ （成熟）←matur(e)+ity，mature（成熟的v.成熟），-ity名词后缀。Love is quiet understanding and the mature acceptance of imperfection.爱情是静静的理解和对不足之处的成熟接受。maturity - ①behaviour determined by the plans other people have in mind ②a high price for growing 成熟--①按照别人脑子里的计划决定自己的行为 ②成长的高昂代价。

mortality /mC:5tAliti/ （死亡率）←mortal+ity，mortal（致命的；凡人），-ity名词后缀。If I laugh at any mortal thing, it's that I may not weep.如果我笑任何mortal事物，那是为了我可以免于哭泣。←此处mortal的中文意思guangxian不知如何表达。

survive /sE5vaiv/ （v.幸存；比......活的长）即sur+vive，sur-(=super-)前缀"超"，vive词根"活的"，于是"超过别人活的长度"→比别人活得长→幸存；survival /sE5vaivEl/ （n.幸存；幸存者）←surviv(e)+al名词后缀。同根词：revive（v.恢复；复苏），见2003年Text 1。I have observed that only those plants in nature which are strongest survive and reproduce themselves. It seems to me that hardiness is the chief essential for success.我观察到，自然界中只有最强壮的植物才能存活并繁衍。看来坚韧是成功的基本要素。The survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.我在这里一直想要以机械论术语表达的适者生存，就是达尔文先生说过的"自然选择"，或者说是优越种族在生存斗争中的保存。guangxian注：英特尔前任总裁Andrew S. Grove的一本极具影响力的书就叫"Only the Paranoid Survive"。此书名一直被译作《只有偏执狂才能生存》，导致上世纪九十年代后期以来无数强烈渴望成功的创业者（IT界为甚）以将"偏激固执"作为人生信条而自豪。但就像很多人已指出的那样，"paranoid"不是指上述意义的"偏执狂"，而是指"迫害妄想狂"，其典型症状是--认为周围所有人都想加害自己而终日惶恐不安。Grove在书的前言中说：Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left. I believe that the prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management.企业的成功包含着自身毁灭的种子。你越是成功，对你垂涎三尺的人就越多，他们会一块块地夺取你的生意，直到最后一点都不剩。所以管理者的首要职责就是始终保持警惕以防范他人袭击，并把这种防范意识灌输给下属人员。

evolution /7evE5lu:FEn/ （n.进化；发展），动词形式为evolve /i5vClv/；evolutionary /7evE5lU:FEnEri/ （进化的）←evolution+ary形容词后缀；另revolution（见2003年Text 1）可看作r+evolution，r看作镰刀，于是"用镰刀使其发展"→"拿着镰刀闹革命"→革命。Evolution is not the force but a process, not a cause but a law.进化不是动力而是过程，不是原因而是法则。

opportunity /7CpE5tju:niti/ （机会）即op+port+un(e)+ity，op-前缀=to，port港口，-une后缀，-ity后缀，有港口的地方都是很发达的，因此人们都到港口去寻找"机会"。Opportunity makes the thief.大意失荆州。（←妙！）A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.智者创造的机会要比他发现的多。opportunity - a bird that never perches 机遇--一只不落的鸟。

diminish /di5miniF/ （v.缩小，减少）即di+min+ish，di-前缀"使"，min词根"小"=mini，-ish动词后缀。Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, just as the wind blows out a candle and fans a fire.离别减弱浅薄的感情而增强深厚的感情，正如风吹灭蜡烛而煽旺火焰。

poverty /5pCvEti/ （贫穷）记其中有over←"人贫穷就完了"（即使物质贫穷，在精神上也不能贫穷）。Poverty is not vice, but an inconvenience.贫穷不是罪恶，而是一种不便。poverty - ①having enough money to buy all the things you ever wanted to have if only you hadn't got children ②the most effective way to keep out robbers and thieves 贫穷--①假如没有孩子，你的钱就能买得起你想要的任何东西 ②把强盗和小偷拒之门外的最有效方法。

mediocrity /7mi:di5Ckriti/ （平常）可看作medi+ocr+ity，medi-前缀"中间"（如medium→medi+um后缀→中间的；媒介），ocr看作Optical Character Recognition（光学字符识别），-ity名词后缀，用中等(medi)识别率OCR的效果是平常(medicocrity)的。

upper-middle-class 上中阶层。

Utopia /ju:5tEupjE/ （乌托邦）是英国空想社会主义者托马斯·莫尔(Thomas More)所著书名的简称，书中描写了作者所想象的没有阶级的幸福社会--乌托邦，意即"没有的地方"。Utopia - ①a place where men are severely punished for all odours and noises they expel ②the place where all women get married, and all men remain bachelors 乌托邦--①在那个地方，人类因其散发的气味和制造的噪音而受到惩罚 ②所有女人都结了婚，而所有男人却仍然单身的地方。

involve /in5vClv/ （v.陷入；涉及）←in+volve，in-前缀=into，volve词根"卷"，"把东西卷到里面"。参revolution词条（含revolve），2003年Text 1。Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the co-operation of many minds.伟大的发展和改进总是牵涉到许多富于才智的人的协作。The power of choice must invovle the possibility of error - that is the essence of choosing.选择的权力必须包括出错的可能--这是选择的精髓。

transform /trAns5fC:m/ （v.转变；改造）即trans+form，trans-前缀"改变"，form词根"形状"。Marriage is the miracle that transform a kiss from a pleasure into a duty, and a life from a luxury into a necessity.婚姻是个奇迹，它把接吻从快乐化为义务，把生活从享乐化为必需。

describe /dis5kraib/ （v.描述，形容）←de向下+scribe写，"写下来"，名词为description。A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's.在描述另一个人的性格时，人最清楚地显露自己的性格。

descendant /di5send(E)nt/ （后裔）即de+scend+ant，de-向下，scend词根"爬"，-ant名词后缀表"人"。同根词：descend→de+scend→"向下爬"→下降；ascend→a+scend→"向上爬"→攀登。One of the best things people could do for their descendants would be to sharply limit the number of them.人们能为后代做的最好的事情之一大概就是严格限制自己的数量。