[高等教育]新标准大学英语三unit7.ppt

Toast always lands butter side down. When a piece of toast falls, it is always the side with butter on it that touches the ground. Language Points 翻译： 每次吐司掉到地上总是抹了黄油的那一面贴地。 Part of the explanation for bad luck is mathematical, but part is psychological. The sentence means bad luck is not only a matter of the odds for or against something happening, but of our memories and attitudes. Language Points 翻译： 人之所以走背运，部分是概率的问题，部分是心理上的问题。 For example, take the belief that “bad things always happen in threes” (just like buses ...!) Bad things always happen in threes means misfortune never comes alone. Language Points 翻译： 就拿“坏事成三”这种想法来说吧（就像等公交车一样，要么不来，要么一下来三辆！ This popular notion would be unlikely to stand the scrutiny of any scientific study, but it must have some basis in experience, otherwise the phrase would never have arisen in the first place. To stand the scrutiny of any scientific study means to survive any scientific examination. The expression in the first place is used to mean what someone did or should have done at the start of a situation, e.g. I wish I’d never got involved in the first place. Language Points This popular notion would be unlikely to stand the scrutiny of any scientific study, but it must have some basis in experience, otherwise the phrase would never have arisen in the first place. The sentence means such a notion is well accepted even though it may not be explained scientifically, so it is assumed to be based on some real experience. Language Points 翻译： 这种流传甚广的观念可能根本经不起科学的检验，但是它必定有一些现实的依据，不然的话也不会有这么个说法了。 So badness is much better represented as being on a spectrum rather than something which is there or not there. The sentence means that badness is not an either/or quality, but a matter of degree, and it exists on a continuum. Language Points 翻译： 所以我们更应该把事情的好坏看成是一个程度的问题，而不是非好即坏。 When it comes to bad things happening in threes, what may be most important of all is the duration and me