胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯074：一篇思想開放的論文 An Open-minded Dissertation

“I think we can disregard this article,” said John, as he helped Mary prepare materials for her political science dissertation. “The author’s dissenting opinions have brought him into disrepute, especially among his peers.”

“我想我們可以不考慮這篇文章。”約翰說。他在幫瑪麗寫政治科學(xué)論文準(zhǔn)備材料。“這個(gè)作者堅(jiān)持異議，這使他，尤其是在他的同輩學(xué)者中，聲名狼藉。”

“Wait a minute,” responded Mary. “I don’t consider a person to be disreputable just because he is a dissenter. Maybe he did disrupt their traditional thinking, but isn’t a little bit of dissonance healthy for the intellectual community? Dissimilar thinking sometimes leads to better ideas and progress. Besides, it’s not likely that he’s been disrespectful to his peers, right?”

“等等，”瑪麗應(yīng)聲說，“我不會(huì)因一個(gè)人是持不同政見者，就認(rèn)為他品行不端。也許他的確打亂了他們的傳統(tǒng)思想，但一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)意見不一致不更有利于知識(shí)界的發(fā)展嗎?不同的思維有時(shí)會(huì)引發(fā)更偉大的思想和進(jìn)步。此外，好像他并沒對(duì)他的同輩學(xué)人有過失禮之舉，是吧?”

“I don’t know,” said John. “I do know he is a member of a dissident group. I have also heard that he leads a dissolute lifestyle, but that is probably just a nasty rumor. Sometimes I see him at the cafeteria near the university. He is always disseminating literature about his opinions. Our professors tell us it’s rubbish and try to dissuade us from reading it.”

“我不知道，”約翰說，“我只知道他是一個(gè)持不同政見者組織的成員。我還聽說他生活放蕩不羈，但這也許只是惡意的謠言。有時(shí)我在大學(xué)旁的自助餐廳見到他。他總在宣傳與他觀點(diǎn)有關(guān)的文學(xué)。教授們告訴我們他在胡說八道，并努力勸我們不要讀他的作品。”

“Don’t you see what’s going on?” said Mary with a smile. “Your professors are trying to keep you from learning new ideas! They only call it rubbish to dissemble their real motives. When all the smoke dissipates, you’ll see the truth.”

“你難道不明白是怎么回事嗎?”瑪麗笑著說，“你們的教授在盡力阻止你們接受新思想。他們把它說得分文不值就是為了掩蓋自己的真正動(dòng)機(jī)。當(dāng)所有的煙霧散去時(shí)，你會(huì)看到廬山真面目的。”

“Really?” replied John. “I can’t imagine professor Smith trying to dissimulate her true thoughts, she’s usually pretty candid. So is professor Doe.”

“真得嗎?”約翰回答，“我真想不出史密斯教授在努力隱藏自己真實(shí)的思想。通常她是很坦誠的。多伊教授也一樣。”

“Are you from some distant planet?” asked Mary with a laugh. “Professor Smith dissects plants all day in botany class. Professor Doe spends most of his time dissolving chemicals in chemistry class. What could these two professors possibly know about political science?”

“你是從某個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)的星球來的吧?”瑪麗大笑著問，“史密斯教授整天在植物學(xué)課上解剖植物，多伊教授的大部分時(shí)間則花在課上的溶解化學(xué)制品。關(guān)于政治科學(xué)這兩名教授又能知道些什么呢?”

Words:

disregard vt. 不理會(huì)，不顧;蔑視

disreputable adj. 聲名狼藉的，品行不端的

disrepute n. 壞名聲，不光彩

disrespectful adj. 無禮的，輕視的

disrupt vt. 使混亂，使中斷

dissect v. 解剖(動(dòng)植物等);詳細(xì)研究，剖析

dissemble v. 掩蓋，掩飾

disseminate vt. 傳播，宣傳

dissenter n. 不同意者，反對(duì)者

dissenting adj. 不同意的

dissertation n. 論文

dissident n. 持不同政見者;adj. 持不同政見的

dissimilar adj. 不同的，相異的

dissimulate v. 掩飾，隱藏

dissipate vi. 消失，消散

dissolute adj. 放蕩的，無節(jié)制的，墮落的

dissolve vt. 使溶解

dissonance n. 不一致，不調(diào)和

dissuade v. 勸阻，阻止

distant adj. 遠(yuǎn)離的，遙遠(yuǎn)的