美国小学英语教材6:第154课 年轻的乔治·华盛顿(5)

Had his mother not interfered¹, he would certainly have gone to sea at the age of fourteen,

如果不是他的妈妈干预，他一定在14时当了一名水手，

for Captain Lawrence encouraged the idea. Fortunately, however, Mrs. Washington promptly² forbade the plan,

因为劳伦苏上校鼓励这种想法，幸运的是，华盛顿的妈妈立马反对这个计划，

and her son returned to Ferry Farm to finish his schooling³ under a man named James Marye,

她的儿子回到了“渡口农场”完成了学业，他的老师名叫詹姆斯·马尔晔，

who taught him a little Latin and generally improved his education. Washington was not a solemn old man of a boy.

他教授了他一点拉丁文，普遍上提高了他的教育水平，华盛顿不是一名表情严肃的老男孩。

He was a lively, quick-tempered, companionable youngster who wrestled⁴ with the boys and romped⁵ with the girls,

他是一个性格活泼，急脾气，友善的年轻人，他和男孩子摔跤，和女孩子嬉戏喧闹，

but had plenty of good, hard commonsense⁶. His schoolmates quickly learned this, and he was often selected to decide disputes,

但他有很多好的，强有力的常识，他的同学迅速了解了这一点，他通常都被选择来决定纷争，

not as an outsider, but as a fellow who could be serious when it was necessary and was known to play fairly and squarely at every kind of sport.

而不是局外人，但他也是一个在必要时刻严肃的人，在各项运动中他都可以做到公平竞争。

Although he was not particularly studious, Washington could work as hard as he could play,

尽管他不是特别勤奋，但华盛顿在工作上也可以像他玩耍时一样努力，

and he was clever enough to know that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. One of his schoolbooks,

他清楚地知道，如果一件事情值得去做，那就值得去做好，他的一本课本

called The Young Man's Companion, is still in existence. From its exercises anyone can see where he acquired his good, clear handwriting,

名叫“年轻人的伴侣”，如今这本书还在，从书的练习册人们就知道他的一手好字出自哪里，

and how faithfully he stuck to its figures and accounts until he trained himself to exactness and order.

他准确地按照数字和账目执行，直到把自己训练到十分精准和有秩序。

There were plenty of boys in Virginia who were quite as well educated and promising⁷ as he was at the age of sixteen,

弗吉尼亚有很多男孩接受了很好的教育，也像他在16岁一样前程似锦，

but the little he had learned from books, he had learned thoroughly⁸.

但他很少从书本中得到知识，他的涉及范围很广泛。

1 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

3 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

4 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 romped   

v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜

参考例句：

• Children romped on the playground. 孩子们在操场上嬉笑玩闹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• John romped home well ahead of all the other runners. 约翰赛马跑时轻而易举地战胜了所有的选手。 来自辞典例句

6 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。