美文串记考研词汇 古代人的生活

The life of Primitives¹

古代人的生活

About 2 million years ago, our feeble and vulnerable (susceptible) ancestors dwelled in the cavities and they were exposed to grim hardships in nature so as to be prone³ to diseases.

大约200万年以前，我们虚弱而且易受攻击的祖先居住在山洞里，他们面临大自然的严峻考验，很容易生病。

Nevertheless (Nonetheless), after a long period of evolution, ingenious humanity changed to be sturdy and immune to some diseases. Now, supposing we trace back to 8,000 years ago, let us image visiting our hardy⁴ ancestors, who resided at Zhoukoudian.

然而，经过长期的进化，足智多谋的人类变得更强健，而且对一些疾病有了免疫力。现在假设追溯到8000年以前，我们去访问住在周口店的吃苦耐劳的祖先。

In early autumn, some women found a flock (string) of wild ducks gliding⁵ across the small inlet near Yongding River, and then they flung the net with pebbles⁶ fastened on its rim² to the ducks. The masculine members of this savage⁷ tribe could hunt a bull almost every day.At sunset, all the villagers gathered (converged ) around a big grill⁸. The ignited sticks blazed under the grill, and the drastic flare⁹ illuminated¹⁰ the sky. An old mistress, in an imperative¹¹ tone, summoned all the people to dine. Everyone got a chunk¹² of meat which was distributed by a bizarre stone knife.

大约在早秋，几个妇女发现了一群正飞过永定河旁一个小水湾的野鸭子，于是她们用边缘系着卵石的网子扔向鸭群。这个原始部落的男子们几乎每天都可猎获一头公牛。太阳落山，村民们聚集到一个大烤架前。点燃的柴棒在烧烤架下燃烧，熊熊火焰照亮了天空。一位老太太以命令的口气召集大家进餐。他们每人得到一大块肉，这些肉是用奇形怪状的石刀分割开的。

They lost some grains on ground at random¹³ and reaped more, which initiated¹⁴ the original agriculture. They found ducks could hatch a brood of little ducks, which denoted (signified ) the original husbandry. It is likely that the authentic¹⁵ astronomy originated from the studies of the eclipse.

他们随意地将谷物丢在地上并且收获了许多，这便是最原始的农业。他们发现鸭子能够孵出更多的小鸭子，这标志着原始畜牧业的开始。很可能真正的天文学起源于对月食的研究。

The underlying¹⁶ reason of the rebellion is the surplus of some nourishing food. With the eruption¹⁷ of a war, the tribes encountered breakdown¹⁸. In order to appease¹⁹ the turbulent tribes, the chiefs propagated superstition²⁰ to alter the member’s ideology²¹ and consolidate²² their reign²³. Catholic moralities catered²⁴ to the tribal²⁵ chief's mind; thereby²⁶ they made the popes, bishops²⁷ and missionaries²⁸ preach it. In order to avoid the divine punishment, the pathetic people yielded to the repression²⁹ of tribal chiefs.

引起反叛的根本原因是因为有了一些剩余的营养丰富的食物。战争爆发后，原始部落面临崩溃。为了安抚战乱的部落，部落首领通过宣传迷信来转变部落成员的思想形态并巩固他们的统治。天主教的伦理迎合了部落首领的愿望，因此他们派教皇、主教和传教士竭力鼓吹。为了避免神的惩罚，可怜的人们屈服了部落首领的压制。

All in all, our ancestors were conscientious³⁰ and compatible. Their solidarity³¹ was important in the face of every catastrophe³² (disaster) such as hurricanes and other mortal misfortunes.

总之，我们的祖先是勤恳尽责而且易于相处的。每一次面临诸如飓风和其他致命的灾难时，他们的团结一致是很重要的。

1 primitives   

原始人（primitive的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Almost all operators work only with primitives. 几乎所有运算符都只能操作“主类型”(Primitives)。
• The anthropology of the future will not be concerned above all else with primitives. 未来的人类学不会以原始人为主要的研究对象。

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

4 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

5 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

6 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

9 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

10 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

11 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

12 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

13 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

14 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

15 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

16 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

17 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

18 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

19 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

20 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

21 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

22 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

23 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

24 catered   

提供饮食及服务( cater的过去式和过去分词 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• We catered for forty but only twenty came. 我们准备了40客饭菜，但只来了20个人。
• They catered for everyone regardless of social rank. 他们为所有人服务而不计较其社会地位。

25 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

26 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

27 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

28 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

29 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

30 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。

31 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

32 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。