第4章 万物的尺度 The Measure of Things · 第6讲S1

1. 老师，讲稿里说英国科学家的失望是'mild'的，那这个词具体是指程度很轻，还是指他们心态很好？
2. Mason和Dixon被安排去苏门答腊，结果船刚出海就被法国战舰袭击了。既然当时科学家之间有国际合作的精神，为什么国家之间还是打起来了？
3. 信里问'if perhaps the whole thing oughtn't to be called off'，这里用了否定疑问句。这跟直接问'can we cancel it'相比，语气上有什么不一样的感觉？
4. 皇家学会回信痛骂了他们，说如果不去会遭受'irretrievable loss of reputation'。这里的'irretrievable'到底是什么意思？为什么用这个词强调损失无法挽回？
5. 为什么科学家观测金星凌日这么危险，甚至可能引发国际冲突，但皇家学会还是坚持让他们必须完成，而不是直接取消任务？

1. Teacher, the script says the British scientists' disappointment was 'mild'. Does this word specifically mean the degree was light, or does it refer to their good mindset?
2. Mason and Dixon were sent to Sumatra, but their ship was attacked by a French frigate just one night at sea. Since there was a spirit of international cooperation among scientists, why were the nations still fighting?
3. The letter asks 'if perhaps the whole thing oughtn't to be called off'. Compared to directly asking 'can we cancel it', what is the difference in tone when using this negative interrogative sentence?
4. The Royal Society scolded them in their reply, saying they would suffer an 'irretrievable loss of reputation' if they didn't proceed. What exactly does 'irretrievable' mean here? Why use this word to emphasize that the loss cannot be recovered?
5. Why did the Royal Society insist that the scientists must complete the mission rather than cancel it, even though observing the transit of Venus was so dangerous and might even trigger international conflict?

1 00:00:08,930 --> 00:00:13,290 Hello everyone,welcome back. 2 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,660 This surreal picture was taken during the transit of 3 00:00:17,660 --> 00:00:19,140 Venus in 2012. 4 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,240 This is the sun,this is Venus, 5 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,960 and this is the top of Taj Mahal, 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:31,540 Taiji Ling.A bird was flying over the top of Taj Mahal as 7 00:00:31,540 --> 00:00:33,920 if it were trying to catch Venus in its beak. 8 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:35,640 Well, 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,980 today we will continue to learn about European 10 00:00:37,980 --> 00:00:38,600 scientists 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,520 joint effort to observe the transit of Venus. 12 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:43,120 Here we go. 13 00:00:45,070 --> 00:00:45,950 In comparison, 14 00:00:46,270 --> 00:00:49,150 the disappointments experienced by Britain's 18 15 00:00:49,150 --> 00:00:53,110 scattered observers were mild.In our previous 16 00:00:53,110 --> 00:00:55,370 lesson,we learned about French scientists 17 00:00:55,650 --> 00:00:59,650 misfortunes in their effort to chart the transit of 18 00:00:59,650 --> 00:01:02,510 Venus Now the British scientists 19 00:01:02,990 --> 00:01:07,670 misfortunes were mild in comparison to theirs 跟法国 20 00:01:07,670 --> 00:01:13,460 科学家的不幸遭遇比起来英国的 18 位科学家的失望可 21 00:01:13,460 --> 00:01:20,160 以说是算不了什么 Mild 指的是很轻微的 scattered 22 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:26,260 意思是这十八位观测员并不是集中在一个地方而是分 23 00:01:26,260 --> 00:01:29,040 散地在各处开展观测活动 24 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:33,580 Mason found himself paired with a young surveyor named 25 00:01:33,580 --> 00:01:37,560 Jeremia Dixon and apparently they got along well, 26 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,930 for they formed a lasting partnershippaired with 是指 27 00:01:42,930 --> 00:01:49,030 跟什么人搭配一起干活 pair 是一对的意思那这里是动 28 00:01:49,030 --> 00:01:53,830 词的过去分词 Found himself paired with 就说明 Mason 29 00:01:53,830 --> 00:01:59,890 并不是自己要跟这位年轻的观测员搭配工作的而是皇 30 00:01:59,890 --> 00:02:02,530 家天文学会安排他们在一起工作 31 00:02:03,090 --> 00:02:07,610 但是呢 Obviously they got along well Apparently means 32 00:02:07,610 --> 00:02:12,450 obviously 显然他们相处的应该是不错 For 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,980 they formed a lasting partnership 因为他们之间形成 34 00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:19,200 了一种长期的伙伴关系。 35 00:02:20,180 --> 00:02:22,500 在这次的观测以后, 36 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,780 他们还一起进行了多次的合作。 37 00:02:24,780 --> 00:02:30,370 Their instructions were to travel to Sumatra and chart 38 00:02:30,370 --> 00:02:34,070 the transit there But after just one night at sea, 39 00:02:34,190 --> 00:02:38,950 their ship was attacked by a French frigate Although 40 00:02:38,950 --> 00:02:41,930 scientists were in an internationally cooperative 41 00:02:41,930 --> 00:02:42,650 mood, 42 00:02:42,850 --> 00:02:49,040 nations weren't Sumatra 是苏门达拉岛他们 43 00:02:49,130 --> 00:02:56,150 两个得到的指令是前往苏门达拉岛在那里观测惊心临 44 00:02:56,150 --> 00:03:00,870 日并且记录惊心临日的过程 But after just one night at 45 00:03:00,870 --> 00:03:07,590 sea 可是出海才刚出海才过了一个晚上他们的船就被 46 00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:11,290 法国的快速战舰给袭击了虽 47 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:18,420 然科学家们有意进行国际合作 Mood 表示情绪心情的意 48 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:23,750 思虽然他们有进行国际合作的意愿而国家与国家之间 49 00:03:23,750 --> 00:03:28,170 在这个情况下就是英国和法国之间他们可没有国际合 50 00:03:28,170 --> 00:03:28,950 作的意图 51 00:03:31,260 --> 00:03:31,620 Well, 52 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:37,020 let's look at Sumatra This is Sumatra It is the second 53 00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:41,300 largest island of today's Indonesia 是印度尼西亚的 54 00:03:41,300 --> 00:03:45,280 第二大岛 The Chinese people have been coming to this 55 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,080 island since the Tang Dynasty 郑和 in the Ming Dynasty 56 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,460 also visited Sumatra several times 57 00:03:53,040 --> 00:04:00,880 苏门达拉岛是海上丝绸之路的重要一站 Mason and 58 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,460 Dixon sent a note to the Royal Societyobserving that it 59 00:04:05,460 --> 00:04:08,840 seemed awfully dangerous on the high seas and 60 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,260 wondering if perhaps the whole thing oughtn't to be 61 00:04:12,260 --> 00:04:20,240 called off Mason and Dixon 给皇家科学会送了一封信一 62 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:21,040 封短信, 63 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:27,180 所以叫 Note Observing that and wondering if 画线的这 64 00:04:27,180 --> 00:04:32,680 两个部分就是这封信的两个内容这封信表达了两点第 65 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,920 一点是 observing that means saying that 信里面表达说 66 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,120 It seems awfully dangerous on the high seas The high 67 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:46,780 seas 就是中文说的公海不属于任何一个国家的属于公 68 00:04:46,780 --> 00:04:52,780 共的一个海域在公海上航行非常危险第二点 69 00:05:01,340 --> 00:05:04,800 大家可能比较熟悉另外一种说法就是 70 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:15,340 就是我们比较习惯这里是肯定的整件事情是不是该被 71 00:05:15,340 --> 00:05:21,980 取消掉那这里呢确实用否定可是它表达的意思确实一 72 00:05:21,980 --> 00:05:28,340 样的其实只是在语气上稍有不同也就是使得这种说法 73 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:35,080 显得更塔特不安更战战兢兢就这件事情是不是该被取 74 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,560 消掉呢好像很不敢提的样子 75 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,920 proceed would result in the irretrievable loss of 76 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:57,800 their reputations 77 00:05:58,910 --> 00:06:03,810 果然,他们马上就收到了回复在这个回信里面呢, 78 00:06:03,910 --> 00:06:06,630 他们两个被痛骂了一顿, 79 00:06:06,690 --> 00:06:10,490 swift means quick,chilly meanscold, 80 00:06:10,510 --> 00:06:12,970 在这里就是冷酷无情的, 81 00:06:13,010 --> 00:06:14,930 rebuke means scolding, 82 00:06:14,970 --> 00:06:20,130 责骂,他们收到的回复是一通冷酷无情的责骂, 83 00:06:20,210 --> 00:06:21,390 这个 84 00:06:21,450 --> 00:06:26,530 回复呢表达了三个观点 noting that noting 就是指出 85 00:06:26,530 --> 00:06:27,610 that 86 00:06:27,870 --> 00:06:32,190 and that 看到三点第一点就是 they had already been 87 00:06:32,190 --> 00:06:35,570 paid 第二点 the nation and the scientific 88 00:06:35,570 --> 00:06:40,770 communitywere counting on themcount on 指的是指望某 89 00:06:40,770 --> 00:06:45,470 人整个国家还有整个科学界都还指望你们完成任务呢 90 00:06:45,470 --> 00:06:46,310 and 91 00:06:46,340 --> 00:06:50,160 that their failure to proceedfailure to proceed to 92 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,620 pr ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）