轻松英语电子报第十一期07/08/01

class n.班级；课；阶级；社会等级	concert n.音乐会；演奏会；一致，和谐
after class 课后	at the concert 在音乐会上
have classes 上课	attend a concert 出席音乐会
in class 在课堂上	give a concert 举办音乐会
in the class 在班级里	in concert 一致，一齐
out of class 在课外

作动词时，clean 指弄干净，清洁；clear 指收拾掉不要的东西。

climate 气候，指一个地区气候的总情况，如气温、降雨量等。climate 一般作可数名词用；

weather 天气，指特定一天或某个时节的天气的具体情况，如冷暖阴晴等。weather 一般作不可数名词用。

clothing 是物质名词，是服装的总称，除衣裤外还包括帽子、鞋袜等；没有复数形式，后面要接单数名词；

clothes 是最常用词，统指身上的各种服装，包括上衣、裤子、内衣等；是复数名词，不能直接与数词连用，后面要接复数动词；

计算时，用a suit/two suits of clothes 等方式表示；

dress 范围较窄，作可数名词时指一件女服、连衣裙；做不可数名词时，指某种特殊服装，尤指在社交场合穿的衣服或指装束、外表。

英语distress 译作为难，而distress call 或distress signal 则是遇险求救信号，又叫做SOS。究竟SOS 代表什么字呢？

有人说是save our ship 即救救我们的船，也有人说是save our souls ,意思差不多还有差距，至少不是SOS 的原意。

其实，SOS 并非字母缩写。它只是一个无线电报讯号：三短，三长，三短。因为易记，易发，易认，在1908年获得国际承认作为求救信号。国际通用的

求救口语是mayday 。其起源可能是因为发音近似法语maidez（救我）。

曾有个愤世疾俗的著名作家写下这么一句话：Only people who are s. o. b. s. are moving ahead in this circle.

切勿以为句子里有求救信号。这里的s. o. b.是son of a bitch 的缩略，是骂人语，意即“狗娘养的”，句中用了复数。全句意思是：“在这个圈子

里，只有那些狗娘养的家伙，才能够出人头地。”

    If I were a boy again, I would practise perseverance oftener, and never give up a thing because it was hard or incon-
venient. If we want light, we must conquer darkness. Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results. "There are only two creatures," 　says a proverb ,"who can surmount the pyramids --the eagle and the snail."
    If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention; I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand. I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once. The habit of attention becomes part of our life, if we begin early enough. I often hear grown-up people say, "I could not fix my attention on the lecture or book, although I wished to do so," and the reason is, the habit was not formed in youth.
    If I were to live my life over again, I would pay more attention to the cultivation of the memory. I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means, and on every possible occasion. It takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately; but memory soon helps itself, and gives very little trouble. It only needs early cultivation to become a power.
    If I were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side. Life is very much like a mirror: if you smile upon it, it smiles back upon you; but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in them.
    Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but of all that come in contact with it. "Who shuts love out, in turn shall be shut from love."
    If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say "No" oftener. I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect, and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.
    If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends, and indeed towards strangers as well. The smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long, and make that season of ice and snow more endurable.
    Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would, if I were a boy again, try still harder to make others happy.

perseverance n.坚持；鉴定，毅力
inconvenient adj.不方便的；麻烦的
genius        n.天才；天才人物
creature      n.创造物；生物
surmount      v.登上，越过
school        v.训练，锻炼
faculty       n.能力；才能
accurately    adv.准确地；精密地
frown         v.皱眉
erect         adj.直立的，笔直的
decline       v.谢绝，拒绝
courtesy      n.礼貌，殷勤周到
companion     n.伙伴；朋友
as well       又，也；同样
endurable     adj.可忍受的
sole          adj.单独的，唯一的
purpose       n.目的，宗旨

Nature never deceives us; it is always us who deceive ourselves.
--Rousseau
大自然永远不会欺骗我们；欺骗我们的往往是我们自己。
--卢梭

All things change, and we change with them.
万物皆变，吾人亦当以变应之。