英语博客：Analysis time, reviving ancient flowers.

　　Because many of you have responded positively¹ to my new series 'Analysis time', we will continue with a particularly interesting one today taken from an article about 'break-through' scientific technology. If you haven't come across the phrase 'break-through', you might be able to imagine its meaning. It is literally² the idea of breaking through a wall of ignorance, and arriving at new knowledge and new technology. A break-through is positive and exciting, and it can be used in many different areas: science, medicine, even psychology³. Infact, you can even use it on a personal basis

　　Ex: I had a break-through with my counselor⁴ yesterday; I realize that I must forgive my parents.

　　So, there will be many more examples coming up. Let's here the article.

　　A plant that was frozen in Siberian permafrost for about 30,000 years has been revived by a team of Russian scientists - and borne (1)fruit, to boot(2). Bacteria and other simple organisms had been known to survive in the ice for thousands of years. But reviving a life as complex(3) as a plant is an entirely⁵ different matter(4), scientists said. For this study, the researchers managed to(5) grow a plant without even using a seed. Instead(6), they thawed⁶, washed and disinfected the fruits and took out bits of nutrient-rich fruit flesh known as placental tissue(7). When bathed in the right broth⁷(8) of chemicals, placental tissue acts like the plant version(9)of stem cells. The study is an encouraging sign that it may be possible to revive larger and more complex beings that were preserved in the frozen tundra⁸.

　　1. Borne comes from the verb 'to bear fruit' . The sentence should have said 'and has borne fruit' to be clear. The plant has produced fruit. It is an irregular past participle that obviously looks nothing like the original verb 'to bear'. It is spelt the same as the predatory animal 'bear', is pronounced the same, but has nothing to do with it. It is also often used with other meanings, such as 'to accept' or 'to carry'. There are other meanings, but these are the most common.

　　Exs: a. He bore all the criticism, even though other people were guilty.

　　b. I can't bear the pain anymore; I'll take a headache pill.

　　2. To boot is a funny little phrase that means 'also'. or 'besides'. It carries (or bears) more of a sense of surprise or significance than 'also'.

　　Exs: a.  He not only sailed the Atlantic, but he wrote a novel at the same time, to boot.

　　b. I returned the dress to the shop and got my money back, and a gift certificate to boot.

　　3. Complex is a straight forward word meaning complicated or difficult. It is used in any arena⁹.

　　Exs: a. She is a complex individual. Just when you think you know her, she says something very unexpected.

　　b. The math that my son is doing in school is too complex for me!

　　4. 'An entirely different matter' is a very useful phrase that adds seriousness to a second idea.

　　Exs: a. Why they argued is one thing. The state of their marriage is an entirely different matter.

　　b. Making austerity cuts might be necessary, but creating economic growth is an entirely different matter.

　　5. 'To manage to + verb' is a very useful and common phrase implying that some effort has been used to achieve an outcome.

　　Exs a. I managed to find my wedding ring; it had been missing for two months.

　　b. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to pull himself out of the hospital bed and walk out of the building.

　　It is also used when asking questions in an accusatory way:

　　c. How on earth did you manage to crash the car into the mailbox?

　　6. 'Instead' means 'as a substitute for' or 'as an alternative':

　　a. I was going to call you, but I decided¹⁰ to walk to your house instead.

　　b. I told him to study, but he played outside instead.

　　7. Tissue is the soft paper we use to wipe our noses. It is, however, also used as 'material' or 'substance' when talking about animal or plant life.

　　Exs: a. They took some brain tissue to do a biopsy.

　　b. Some of the inside tissue of the leaf was studied.

　　8. Broth means a thin, watery¹¹ soup that usually has meat or fish extract in it. It can be used, as in this case, in science when talking about a mixture.

　　Ex: To make the best chicken broth, boil the bones for at least half an hour, then add vegetables and seasoning¹².

　　9. The ... version of indicates that something is similar to something else in function or essence, but different in a fundamental way.

　　Exs: a. That boy is the young version of Elvis Presley!

　　b. 'Lovesong' by Adele, is a slow jazz version of a song by The Cure.

　　c. I met Mary's mother the other day. She is an older version of her daughter; they are so similar.

　　Let's here the excerpt¹³ one more time.

1 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

4 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 thawed   

解冻

参考例句：

• The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿，他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 broth   

n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等)

参考例句：

• Every cook praises his own broth.厨子总是称赞自己做的汤。
• Just a bit of a mouse's dropping will spoil a whole saucepan of broth.一粒老鼠屎败坏一锅汤。

8 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

9 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

12 seasoning   

n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物

参考例句：

• Salt is the most common seasoning.盐是最常用的调味品。
• This sauce uses mushroom as its seasoning.这酱油用蘑菇作调料。

13 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？