精美英文欣赏:一开始就与众不同

Lesson 12 Part 1 Different from the Start

第十二课 第一部分 一开始就与众不同

Five-year-old Albert Einstein stared at his hand as if it held magic. Cupped in his palm was a small，round instrument with a glass cover and a jiggling needle. Albert's father called it a compass. Albert called it a mystery. No matter how he moved the compass, the needle always pointed¹ to the north. Quietly Hermann Einstein watched his son. Albert was a chubby² little boy with pale, round cheeks and thick, black hair that was usually messy. His bright brown eyes were wide with discovery.

五岁的阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦盯着他的手，仿佛手上掌控着魔法。他的掌心托着一个小小的、圆形的仪器，仪器带有一个玻璃罩和一根会摆动的针。阿尔伯特的父亲称它为指南针，阿尔伯特称它是一个谜。不管他如何移动罗盘，指针总是指向北方。赫尔曼·爱因斯坦静静地注视着他的儿子。阿尔伯特是一个胖乎乎的小男孩，白白的脸颊圆乎乎肉嘟嘟的，黑色的头发常常乱成一团。看到这一发现，他明亮的棕色眼睛睁得大大的。

Something was in the room with him, Albert realized--something he couldn't see or feel, but that acted on the compass just the same. Spellbound, Albert listened to his father explain magnetism³, the strange force that made the compass needle point north. But nothing his father said made the invisible power seem less mysterious or wonderful. To many children the compass would have been just another toy. To Albert the compass was a miracle he would never forget.

阿尔伯特意识到，房间里有什么东西在他的身边--他无法看到或感觉到的某种东西，同时也对指南针产生着作用。阿尔伯特入迷地听父亲解释磁力，一股使罗盘的指针指向北方的奇特的力量。但是，不管父亲说什么，也丝毫没有减少这股无形力量的神秘感和奇妙感。对许多孩子来说，指南针本来只是一个玩具，对阿尔伯特来说，指南针却是一个他永远不会忘记的奇迹。

But then Albert had always been different from other children. Born March 14，1879，in Ulm, Germany, Albert hadn't been looked like other babies. As she cradled her new son in her arms, Pauline Einstein thought the back of his head looked strange. Other babies didn't have such large, pointed skulls⁴. Was something wrong with Albert? Although the doctor told Pauline everything was fine, several weeks passed before the shape of Albert's head began to look right to her.

然而，阿尔伯特总是不同于其他孩子。1879年3月14日他出生在德国的乌尔姆，出生时，他看上去就不像其他婴儿。当母亲波林·爱因斯坦抚慰着怀抱里的这个新生儿时，她觉得他的后脑勺看起来怪怪的，其他婴儿没有那么突出的大头骨。阿尔伯特有什么问题吗？虽然医生告诉波林一切安好，但几个星期之后她才觉得阿尔伯特的头形正常。

When Albert was one, his family moved to Munich，where his sister, Maja, was born a year later. Looking down at the tiny sleeping bundle, Albert was puzzled. Where were the baby's wheels? The disappointed two year old wanted to know. Albert had expected a baby sister to be something like a toy, and most of his toys had wheels.

阿尔伯特一岁时，全家搬到了慕尼黑，一年后妹妹玛雅出生了。看着襁褓中熟睡的小婴儿，阿尔伯特感到疑惑不解。婴儿的轮子在哪里呢？这个失望的两岁的孩子很想知道。阿尔伯特以为小妹妹应该是像玩具一样的东西，并且他的大部分玩具都是有轮子的。

Albert's parents were amused by his confusion. But any response at all would have delighted them. At an age when many children have lots to say, Albert seemed strangely backward. Hermann and Pauline wondered why he was so late in talking. Was their son developing normally? As Albert grew older, he continued to have trouble putting his thoughts into words Even when he was nine years old, he spoke⁵ slowly, if he decided⁶ to say anything at all. Pauline and Hermann didn't know what to think.

阿尔伯特的父母被他充满疑惑的样子逗笑了，但孩子的可反应都令他们感到快乐。在这个年龄，许多孩子都能讲不少话了，阿尔伯特在语言方面却似乎异常落后。赫尔曼和波林不知道为什么他说话这么晚。他们的儿子生长发育正常吗？阿尔伯特更大一些的时候，仍然难以用文字表述自己的思想。甚至在他九岁时，如果他决定说些什么，速度还是很慢。波林和赫尔曼不知道该如何看待。

But Albert was a good listener and a good thinker. Sometimes when he went hiking with his parents and Maja, he thought about his father's compass and what it had revealed to him. The clear, open meadows were filled with more than the wind or the scent⁷ of flowers. They were also filled with magnetism. The very thought of it quickened Albert's pulse.

但是，阿尔伯特非常善于倾听和思考。有时当他和父母还有妹妹玛雅一起去远足时，他会想到父亲的指南针，思考它向他揭示的秘密。清新开阔的草地不仅充满着风声或花的香味，也充满着磁力，一想到这点阿尔伯特就脉搏加速了。

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 chubby   

adj.丰满的，圆胖的

参考例句：

• He is stocky though not chubby.他长得敦实，可并不发胖。
• The short and chubby gentleman over there is our new director.那个既矮又胖的绅士是我们的新主任。

3 magnetism   

n.磁性，吸引力，磁学

参考例句：

• We know about magnetism by the way magnets act.我们通过磁铁的作用知道磁性是怎么一回事。
• His success showed his magnetism of courage and devotion.他的成功表现了他的胆量和热诚的魅力。

4 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。