第5章 敲石头的人 The Stone-Breakers · 第1讲
课程：《万物简史》慕课教程(WANWUJS001)主讲：余俊英副教授(数字人)词汇 38 条句型 5 条要点 1 条
一、本课要点
- The Deluge：大洪水。全球多地神话（如诺亚方舟、大禹治水）均提及，呼应水成派理论。
二、核心词汇（38）
| 词条 | 释义 / 讲解 |
|---|
| concluding | adj. 结论性的；重大的。语境：concluding moment 指具有决定性意义的时刻。 |
| embarrassment | n. 尴尬，难堪。语境：without fear of embarrassment 指无需担心因改写已故者著作而感到尴尬。 |
| play fair | phrase 公平行事，守规矩。语境：John Playfair 的名字拆解，意为诚实、遵守规则。 |
| by all accounts | phrase 据大家说，普遍看法。语境：by all accounts a man... 指大家都认为他是... |
| innocent of | phrase 缺乏，没有。语境：innocent of literary merit 指缺乏文学价值，即写得不好。 |
| all but | phrase 几乎，差不多。语境：all but audible 指几乎能听到（叹息声），强调程度之深。 |
| proceed | v. 发生，前进。本课语境：指在时间或顺序上先于某事发生（happen before）。 |
| predecessor | n. 前任，前物。本课语境：指地质年代中现存的“前一代”地球。 |
| single-handedly | adv. 独自地，单枪匹马地。本课语境：指Playfair先生独立完成了改写工作。 |
| prosperous | adj. 繁荣的，富有的。本课语境：形容Hutton出生的苏格兰家庭家境优渥。 |
| material comfort | n. 物质享受。本课语境：指富裕生活带来的舒适条件，使其无需为生计奔波。 |
| betterment | n. 改善，提升。本课语境：intellectual betterment指智力或知识层面的自我增进。 |
| a round of | phr. 一系列，一轮。本课语境：指一系列轻松的工作（a series of light work）。 |
| soot | n. 煤烟，炭黑。本课语境：从煤烟中提取氯化铵（cell ammonia），区别于普通烟雾smoke。 |
| leading member | 主要成员/核心人物。leading在此指地位重要、起主导作用的。 |
| economist | 经济学家。词根economy（经济）+ist（人）。亚当·斯密是古典经济学奠基人。 |
| in the company of | 与……在一起/在……的陪伴下。正式用语，指与某人共处。 |
| sparks | （俚语）花花公子/时髦青年。指打扮入时、风流倜傥的年轻男子。 |
| mineralogy | 矿物学。mineral（矿物）+ -ogy（学科）。研究矿物的组成、性质和分布。 |
| metaphysics | 形而上学。指超越日常物理事物的哲学领域，探究宇宙本源和根本道理。 |
| speculate on | 推测/思索。指在没有确凿证据时进行理论上的猜测或思考。 |
| fanatic | 狂热者。对某项爱好或活动极度热衷、痴迷的人。 |
| inquisitive | 好奇的/好问的。对事物感兴趣并想探求更多的。源自inquire（询问）。 |
| Neptunists | 水成派。地质学历史学派，认为岩石由海水沉淀形成，崇拜海神Neptune。 |
| lofty | 高耸的/崇高的。此处指地理位置高，如高山。 |
| sloshed over | （液体）晃动流过/漫过。形象地描述洪水漫过地表的过程。 |
| enlivening agents | 激活力量。enliven意为使有活力，agents指作用力或物质。 |
| agents | 作用力/物质。指引起变化的力量或实体。 |
| wayward | 任性的/难以控制的。如wayward child（任性孩子），形容大海狂暴难测。 |
| awkward | 令人难堪的/棘手的。此处指Plutonists提出的问题让对手感到尴尬。 |
| tranquility | 平静/安宁。形容词为tranquil。指非洪水期的平静年代。 |
| puzzling over | 苦思冥想/仔细思考。指对难题进行深入思考。 |
| erosion | 侵蚀。指岩石被风或水磨损带走的过程。 |
| Plate Tectonics | 板块构造学说。地质学核心理论，解释地壳运动、地震及火山成因。 |
| Renewal and Uplift | 更新与隆起。指海底岩浆喷发形成新地壳并向上抬升的地质过程。 |
| Oceanic Ridges | 大洋中脊。海底的山脉系统，是板块张裂、新地壳生成的地方。 |
| Consecutive | 连续的。指一个接一个、不间断的。文中指在几次连续的会议上宣读。 |
| Attract notice | 引起注意。文中指该理论发表后未受学界关注，暗示其超前性。 |
三、句型与语法点（5）
| 要点 | 说明 |
|---|
| when it came to | phrase 当涉及到...时。语境：when it came to understanding... 指在理解地球过程这一方面。 |
| It was beyond sb to do | structure 做某事对某人来说太难/超出能力。语境：It was beyond him to set down... 他无法将思想写成易懂的文字。 |
| Those who... | Those who thought... 定语从句。Those指代“那些人”，who引导从句修饰Those。 |
| Pray | 请问。古英语用法，相当于Would you please tell me?，用于礼貌提问。 |
| Work up ideas | 将想法整理拓展。Work up 在此意为逐步完善、发展成（长文/计划等）。 |
四、课堂讨论题
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？
五、Discussion Questions (English)
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?
六、听力 / 讲稿全文
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Chapter 5 The Stonebreakers The
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Stonebreakers are geologists who study rocks.
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Geologists are not usually called stonebreakers.
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I guess the author calls them that because of a painting
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by the name of The Stonebreakers.
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The Stonebreakers here in this painting are dressed in
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rags.
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They are poor workers.但我们今天要讨论的那些是富
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有和穿得很好的人,例如这些人。
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在约翰凯文迪什在在伦敦完成他的试验时,
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在阿丁堡四百米远处,
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另一种终结的时刻正在与杰姆斯霍顿的死亡发生。
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正当凯文迪什在伦敦快要结束自己的实验的时候,
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400 英里以外的爱丁堡随着 James Hutton 的去世另外一
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个重大的时刻也正要发生
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concluding 指的是具有结论性的所以这指的是重大的
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时刻 Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland 是苏格兰的
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首府也是一个重要的历史名称发音是要读作
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Edinburgh Edinburgh 不是 Edinburg
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This was bad news for Hutton,
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of course,
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but good news for science as it cleared the way for a man
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named John Playfair to rewrite Hutton's work without
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fear of embarrassment
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这对 Hutton 本人来说当然是个坏消息但是对于科学界
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来说却是一件好事因为他扫清了道路为什么扫清了道
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路呢?
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是 for a man named John Playfair to rewrite Hutton's
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workwith out fear of embarrassment 先看这个
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embarrassment to embarrass someone means to make
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someone feel ashamednervous or
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uncomfortableespecially in front of other people for
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example I did not want to embarrass him by asking any
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more questions
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我不想再问他更多的问题以免尴尬以免他不好意思
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Hought on 的去世为一个叫 John Playfair 的人来改写
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Hought on 的著作扫清了道路 Hought on 现在已经死了那
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Playfair 就可以大胆地去改写他的著作不用不好意思
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了这个做法也不会让 Hought on 觉得尴尬了 Playfair 这
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个人的名字很有意思我们如果把它分开看它就是一个
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词 To play fair To
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play fair means to do something by the rules Be have
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honestly Often used in sports or games
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Do you play fair?
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如果
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把它倒过来写 fair play 就变成名词 My game is fair play
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这是指公平竞赛的意思 Hurton was by all accounts a man
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of the keenest insights and liveliest conversation a
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delight in company and without rival when it came to
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understanding the mysterious slow processes that
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shaped the earth Account means description a written
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or spoken description that says what happened in an
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eventlike can you give me an account of the party 你能不
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能跟我介绍一下那个 party 的情况 so by all accounts
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meansfrom all reports availablefrom what everyone is
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sayingkeen means sharpinsight means the ability to
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understand the true nature of things 就是洞察力
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keenest insightsinsights,
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非常敏锐的,最敏锐的洞察力,
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大家都说他拥有非常敏锐的洞察力,
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而且非常健谈,a delight in company,
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comp any 并不是公司的意思,
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而是 he is a delightful person when you spend time with
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him,就跟他非常好相处,
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跟他相处是非常愉快的,
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a delight,相当于就是 a delightful person,
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是一个令人愉快的人,
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And without rival,when it came to,
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when it came to 是指在某一个方面它是 with out rival,
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是举世无双的 rival 是竞争对手的意思,
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它是没有对手那在哪个方面没有对手呢?
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When it came to understanding the mysterious slow
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processes that shaped the earth
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要论到对形成地球的那个神秘而缓慢的过程的理解谁
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也赶不上它 Unf ortunately,
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it was beyond him to set down his notions in a form that
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anyone could begin to understand To be beyond somebody
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means to be too difficult somebody 然
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而他却不能 set down his notions means write down his
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ideas in a form that anyone could begin to understand 但
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很不幸,
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要他把脑子里想的东西写下来成为能看得懂的文字这
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显然超出了他的能力范围了
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据此首先要这样看这个 as one biographer observed
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with an all but audible sight 就把它当成一个插入的成
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分先把它拿出去 To
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be innocent of something means to be without something
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or to be lacking something A no
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七、课堂练习（AI 生成）
1. 在课堂练习中，老师指出某个事件是决定历史走向的“决定性时刻”，应使用哪个英文形容词来修饰 moment？
A. concluding
B. embarrassing
C. prosperous
D. lofty
答案：A · 根据板书，concluding 意为“结论性的；重大的”，concluding moment 指具有决定性意义的时刻。
2. 当想表达“当涉及到理解地球过程时”这一含义，应选用板书中的哪个短语？
A. by all accounts
B. when it came to
C. in the company of
D. a round of
答案：B · 板书明确指出 when it came to 意为“当涉及到……时”，符合语境。
3. 若想表达“将复杂理论写成通俗文字对这位学者来说太难了”，应套用板书中的哪个句型？
A. It was beyond sb to do
B. Those who...
C. Pray...
D. speculate on...
答案：A · 板书指出 It was beyond sb to do 表示“做某事对某人来说太难/超出能力”。
4. 在评价某篇文章时，若想表达“缺乏文学价值”，应使用板书中的哪个短语？
A. innocent of
B. all but
C. leading member
D. wayward
答案：A · 板书说明 innocent of 意为“缺乏，没有”，innocent of literary merit 即指缺乏文学价值。
5. 老师讲解到“几乎能听到叹息声”这一程度时，应选用板书中的哪个短语来修饰 audible？
A. all but
B. by all accounts
C. inquisitive
D. speculate on
答案：A · 板书指出 all but 意为“几乎，差不多”，all but audible 强调程度之深。