Lesson 77 A successful operation

jakke

Lesson 77    A successful operation

【New words and expressions】

mummy            n. 木乃伊

Egyptian         adj. 埃及的

temple           n. 庙

mark             n. 斑点

plate            n. （照相）底片

disease          n. 疾病

last             v. 持续

prove            v. 显示出

resin            n. 树脂

skin             n. 皮肤

section          n. 切片

figure           n. （人的）体形；人像

normally         adv. 通常地

survive          v. 幸免于

★last      vi. 持续，延续（常跟一个表示时间的名词或短语，没有被动语态）

last直接加时间或加for+时间

The meeting lasts (for) three hours.

The war between the two countries lasted (for) over three years/until 1453.

★prove       v. 显示出

① vi. 显示，表明

prove +adj.

It proves difficult to do the job by herself.

prove +to be +adj.

It proves to be difficult.

② vt. 证明，证实（后面可跟从句、形容词、名词、不定式等）

I will prove it to you.      我将会证明给你看

We’re been trying to sell our house, but it’s proved to be very difficult.

You should first prove that you bought these goods here.

【Text】

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.

参考译文

死于公元前800年的一位埃及妇女的木乃伊刚刚接受了一次手术。这是曾在底比斯神殿里当过歌手的赛潘姆特的木乃伊。由于在给这个木乃伊拍摄的X光片子上有点奇怪的斑点，所以，医生们一直试图搞清这位妇女是否死于一种罕见的疾病。搞清的唯一办法就是手术。手术持续了4个多小时，非常难做，因为皮肤上覆盖着一层硬硬的树脂。医生们从木乃伊身上取下一个切片，送去化验。他们还发现了X光片所没有显示的东西：一个蜡制的杜瓦木特夫神小塑像。这种牛头人身的神像通常被放在木乃伊体内。医生们至今还未确定这位妇女的死因。他们曾担心在把木乃伊切开后，它会散成碎片，但幸运得很，这种情况并未发生。这具木乃伊成功地经受了这次手术。

【课文讲解】

1、The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation.

B.C. = Before Christ     公元前，放在年代的后面。

A.D.      公元，放在年代的前面,常常可以省略。

2、The mummy is that of Shepenmut who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes.

that指代上文当中出现的名词the mummy。在指代特指事物时，尤其是在比较状语从句中，常用that和those指代提到的事物：

The cost of living here is lower than that in London.

that of和those of一般用于较正式的文体中：

It's colder than Guangzhou. × （北京、广州是地点，只有大小之分，本身没有冷和热）

The weather of Beijing is colder than Guangzhou. ×

The weather of Beijing is colder than the weather of Guangzhou.

= The weather of Beijing is colder than that of Guangzhou. ∨

The texts of Book Two are more difficult than those of Book One.

The area of the USA is larger than that of Britain.

Temple of Thebes     底比斯神庙

3、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.

take plates of sth.     给……拍片子

take photos of the mountain

take plate    拍片子，take photo    拍照片

4、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.

find out + 从句

die 是瞬间动词，不能和段时间连用。要和段时间连用，就必须变成系表结构be dead。die不能用be doing形式。若用了be doing，表示即将发生的动作。

He has died for three years.    ×

die in the accident     死于车祸

die of + 内因      死于……

die of hunger

die of grief     死于悲哀

die from + 外因      死于……

die from wound   （枪伤）

He died from the heart disease.

在日常生活表达当中，die of和die from可以互换。

5、The only way to do this was to operate.

way + of       做……的方式（做定语）

way + to do    做……的方式（做定语）

6、The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died.

what 对名词提问，how对副词或介词短语提问。

how在这里是对of sth.提问的。要想用what提问，died后面加of。

decide     v. 做出最终的判断，对……下判决，解决（悬案）

  The police cannot decide yet which of the two men is guilty.

7、They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened.

fear     v. 害怕（长时间的）

cut open     切开

fall to pieces =go to pieces     碎成碎片，散掉

  During the storm, the old house fell to pieces.