第5章 敲石头的人 The Stone-Breakers · 第1讲

1. 老师，文中说Hutton的去世为Playfair'扫清了道路'（cleared the way），这里的cleared the way具体是指清除了什么障碍？是因为Hutton死了大家就不怕尴尬了吗？
2. 文中提到Hutton的写作水平'all but audible sigh'（几乎听得见的叹息），这个all but是什么意思？为什么作者说这个叹息是'几乎可以听见'的，明明写在书上是看不见的呀？
3. 文中说Hutton的著作'was an invitation to slumber'（是睡眠的邀请），这里用slumber而不用sleep有什么特殊含义吗？这反映了他的书在可读性上有什么问题？
4. Playfair能把Hutton晦涩难懂的内容改写清楚，而Hutton自己却'beyond him to set down his notions'（超出他的能力去记录观点），这两个人在'洞察力'（insights）和'表达能力'上到底有什么区别？
5. 文中提到Hutton认为世界物质来自'第三代地球'（third earth），但描述时又是'ascending'又是'preceded'，为什么作者说他这里'非常混乱'（very chaotic）？这种混乱对后来地质学的发展有什么影响？

1. Teacher, the text says Hutton's death 'cleared the way' for Playfair. What exactly does 'cleared the way' mean here? Does it mean people weren't afraid to be embarrassed anymore?
2. The text mentions an 'all but audible sigh' regarding Hutton's writing. What does 'all but' mean? Why does the author say the sigh is 'almost audible' when it's written in a book and can't actually be heard?
3. The text says Hutton's work 'was an invitation to slumber'. Is there a special meaning in using 'slumber' instead of 'sleep'? What does this imply about the readability of his book?
4. Playfair managed to rewrite Hutton's obscure content, while Hutton himself was 'beyond him to set down his notions'. What is the difference between the two men regarding 'insights' and 'expression ability'?
5. The text mentions that Hutton believed the world's materials came from the 'third earth', but the description uses words like 'ascending' and 'preceded'. Why does the author say this part is 'very chaotic'? How did this confusion affect the development of geology?

1 00:00:08,070 --> 00:00:14,900 Chapter 5 The Stonebreakers The 2 00:00:14,930 --> 00:00:17,730 Stonebreakers are geologists who study rocks. 3 00:00:18,030 --> 00:00:21,170 Geologists are not usually called stonebreakers. 4 00:00:21,310 --> 00:00:24,450 I guess the author calls them that because of a painting 5 00:00:24,450 --> 00:00:26,710 by the name of The Stonebreakers. 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,220 The Stonebreakers here in this painting are dressed in 7 00:00:31,220 --> 00:00:31,740 rags. 8 00:00:31,980 --> 00:00:38,040 They are poor workers.但我们今天要讨论的那些是富 9 00:00:38,300 --> 00:00:41,200 有和穿得很好的人,例如这些人。 10 00:00:42,860 --> 00:00:48,700 在约翰凯文迪什在在伦敦完成他的试验时, 11 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:50,860 在阿丁堡四百米远处, 12 00:00:51,660 --> 00:00:56,860 另一种终结的时刻正在与杰姆斯霍顿的死亡发生。 13 00:00:57,650 --> 00:01:01,790 正当凯文迪什在伦敦快要结束自己的实验的时候, 14 00:01:01,790 --> 00:01:08,670 400 英里以外的爱丁堡随着 James Hutton 的去世另外一 15 00:01:08,670 --> 00:01:11,010 个重大的时刻也正要发生 16 00:01:11,710 --> 00:01:16,030 concluding 指的是具有结论性的所以这指的是重大的 17 00:01:16,030 --> 00:01:17,410 时刻 Edinburgh 18 00:01:18,020 --> 00:01:22,180 Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland 是苏格兰的 19 00:01:22,180 --> 00:01:27,540 首府也是一个重要的历史名称发音是要读作 20 00:01:27,540 --> 00:01:30,300 Edinburgh Edinburgh 不是 Edinburg 21 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:34,600 This was bad news for Hutton, 22 00:01:34,780 --> 00:01:35,240 of course, 23 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,940 but good news for science as it cleared the way for a man 24 00:01:38,940 --> 00:01:42,520 named John Playfair to rewrite Hutton's work without 25 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:43,440 fear of embarrassment 26 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:49,840 这对 Hutton 本人来说当然是个坏消息但是对于科学界 27 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,820 来说却是一件好事因为他扫清了道路为什么扫清了道 28 00:01:54,820 --> 00:01:55,080 路呢? 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,900 是 for a man named John Playfair to rewrite Hutton's 30 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:02,240 workwith out fear of embarrassment 先看这个 31 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,800 embarrassment to embarrass someone means to make 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,380 someone feel ashamednervous or 33 00:02:08,380 --> 00:02:12,200 uncomfortableespecially in front of other people for 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,940 example I did not want to embarrass him by asking any 35 00:02:15,940 --> 00:02:16,800 more questions 36 00:02:17,420 --> 00:02:21,940 我不想再问他更多的问题以免尴尬以免他不好意思 37 00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:27,940 Hought on 的去世为一个叫 John Playfair 的人来改写 38 00:02:27,940 --> 00:02:33,200 Hought on 的著作扫清了道路 Hought on 现在已经死了那 39 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,220 Playfair 就可以大胆地去改写他的著作不用不好意思 40 00:02:38,220 --> 00:02:44,040 了这个做法也不会让 Hought on 觉得尴尬了 Playfair 这 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,560 个人的名字很有意思我们如果把它分开看它就是一个 42 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,060 词 To play fair To 43 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,980 play fair means to do something by the rules Be have 44 00:02:53,980 --> 00:02:57,560 honestly Often used in sports or games 45 00:02:58,530 --> 00:02:59,770 Do you play fair? 46 00:02:59,770 --> 00:03:00,910 如果 47 00:03:02,510 --> 00:03:07,650 把它倒过来写 fair play 就变成名词 My game is fair play 48 00:03:07,650 --> 00:03:14,680 这是指公平竞赛的意思 Hurton was by all accounts a man 49 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,600 of the keenest insights and liveliest conversation a 50 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,820 delight in company and without rival when it came to 51 00:03:21,820 --> 00:03:25,000 understanding the mysterious slow processes that 52 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:30,710 shaped the earth Account means description a written 53 00:03:30,710 --> 00:03:34,670 or spoken description that says what happened in an 54 00:03:34,670 --> 00:03:40,200 eventlike can you give me an account of the party 你能不 55 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,370 能跟我介绍一下那个 party 的情况 so by all accounts 56 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:49,170 meansfrom all reports availablefrom what everyone is 57 00:03:49,170 --> 00:03:55,750 sayingkeen means sharpinsight means the ability to 58 00:03:55,750 --> 00:03:59,190 understand the true nature of things 就是洞察力 59 00:03:59,190 --> 00:04:00,830 keenest insightsinsights, 60 00:04:00,970 --> 00:04:03,750 非常敏锐的,最敏锐的洞察力, 61 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,720 大家都说他拥有非常敏锐的洞察力, 62 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,470 而且非常健谈,a delight in company, 63 00:04:11,650 --> 00:04:13,550 comp any 并不是公司的意思, 64 00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:18,630 而是 he is a delightful person when you spend time with 65 00:04:18,630 --> 00:04:20,490 him,就跟他非常好相处, 66 00:04:20,590 --> 00:04:22,530 跟他相处是非常愉快的, 67 00:04:22,590 --> 00:04:25,530 a delight,相当于就是 a delightful person, 68 00:04:25,790 --> 00:04:27,090 是一个令人愉快的人, 69 00:04:27,740 --> 00:04:29,980 And without rival,when it came to, 70 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,260 when it came to 是指在某一个方面它是 with out rival, 71 00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:38,180 是举世无双的 rival 是竞争对手的意思, 72 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,400 它是没有对手那在哪个方面没有对手呢? 73 00:04:41,580 --> 00:04:44,840 When it came to understanding the mysterious slow 74 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,580 processes that shaped the earth 75 00:04:48,350 --> 00:04:54,090 要论到对形成地球的那个神秘而缓慢的过程的理解谁 76 00:04:54,090 --> 00:04:56,650 也赶不上它 Unf ortunately, 77 00:04:56,990 --> 00:05:00,770 it was beyond him to set down his notions in a form that 78 00:05:00,770 --> 00:05:04,490 anyone could begin to understand To be beyond somebody 79 00:05:04,490 --> 00:05:08,090 means to be too difficult somebody 然 80 00:05:08,250 --> 00:05:12,390 而他却不能 set down his notions means write down his 81 00:05:12,390 --> 00:05:17,850 ideas in a form that anyone could begin to understand 但 82 00:05:18,580 --> 00:05:19,180 很不幸, 83 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:24,520 要他把脑子里想的东西写下来成为能看得懂的文字这 84 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:26,880 显然超出了他的能力范围了 85 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,620 据此首先要这样看这个 as one biographer observed 86 00:05:45,620 --> 00:05:48,940 with an all but audible sight 就把它当成一个插入的成 87 00:05:48,940 --> 00:05:50,880 分先把它拿出去 To 88 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:54,980 be innocent of something means to be without something 89 00:05:54,980 --> 00:05:58,500 or to be lacking something A no ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）