PETS－2语法讲解(156)

　　We'll be taking her to the vet to be neutered.
　　对话
　　Mary: Can I see the new kittens?
　　Isobel: Of course, they're over here with their mother in this basket.
　　Mary: There are five! Aren't they tiny and so sweet?
　　Isobel: Yes, they're only a few hours old and their eyes haven't opened yet.
　　Mary: Is this the mother cat's first litter?
　　Isobel: Yes it is, and happily they all seem to be healthy.
　　Mary: Do you expect her to have more in the future?
　　Isobel: No, we'll be taking her to the vet to be neutered as soon as she has recovered from the birth.
　　玛丽：我可以看看刚出生的小猫吗？
　　伊泽贝尔：当然可以。他们就在这个篮子里，和他们的母亲一起。
　　玛丽：共有五只！这些小东西真可爱，不是吗？
　　伊泽贝尔：是啊。他们生下来才几个小时，眼睛都还未张开呢！
　　玛丽：是猫妈妈的第一胎吗？
　　伊泽贝尔：没错，幸而这些小猫看来都很健康。
　　玛丽：你们还要不要她将来再生小猫？
　　伊泽贝尔：不要了。她产后复原，我们就会带她去兽医诊所做结扎手术。
　　给雄性或雌性动物做结扎手术，英文可用neuter或sterilize二字，The vet neutered/sterilized our tomcat即‘兽医给我们的雄猫做了结扎手术’。Neuter除了作动词，还可作形容词，例如：Our cat was male, but now he is neuter（我们的猫从前是雄性，现在已经去势了）。此外，为雄性动物绝育，即割去睪丸，叫castrate或geld都可以；为雌性动物绝育，即割去卵巢，叫spay，例如：(1) Your cat has to be castrated（你的公猫必须阉割）。(2) Isobel decided to have her cat spayed（伊泽贝尔决定给她的雌猫结扎）。伊泽贝尔谈到刚出生的小猫：Happily they all seem to be healthy。留意happily不一定解作‘快乐’。形容词 happy除了指‘快乐’，还有‘幸运’的意思，例如：(1) On his face was a happy smile（他脸上带着快乐的微笑）。(2) By some happy chance he discovered a cure for the disease（他很幸运，偶然发现了治疗这疾病的办法）。副词(adverb) happily同样有两个意思：用在动词前后，修饰个别词语，解作‘快乐’；用在句子或一个子句(clause)之前，修饰整个句子或子句，则解作‘幸运’，例如：(1) She happily stayed at home（她高高兴兴留在家里）。(2) Happily, she stayed at home, or she would have been killed in the accident（幸而她留在家里，否则遇上这场事故，就没命了）。