基础英语轻松学【65】这是你生命的时期吗？

本课您将学到：sharp（锋利又智慧），though的用法

　　人生的起伏不可预知，但科学家们却研究出了一些规律，可以帮助我们认识——这是我们生命的时期吗？

　　You're sharpest in your 20's; around 30, memory begins to decline（下降）, particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations（计算）. But your I.Q. for other tasks（任务、工作） climbs（爬升）. Your vocabulary at age 45, for example is three times as great as when you graduated from college.

　　This trade-off（交易） between sharpness and wisdom has led psychologists（心理学家） to suggest that “maturity（成熟） quotients”（M.Q.） be adopted（采用） for adults.

　　When are you most creative? Generally between 30 and 39.

　　Most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39. Most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39——most Nobel prize（诺贝尔奖） winners did their top research in their late 20's and 30's——creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives. For the “well-conditioned mind”, there is no upper（上面的） limit.

　　「读书笔记」

　　20多岁的时候你的思维最敏捷；（You're sharpest in your 20's）30岁左右，记忆力开始衰退，（around 30, memory begins to decline）尤其是你的数学计算能力。（particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations）然而，你做其他事情的智商提高了。（But your I.Q. for other tasks climbs）例如45岁时你的词汇量是你刚从大学毕业时的3倍。（Your vocabulary at age 45, for example is three times as great as when you graduated from college）

　　知名电器品牌“夏普”的英文写法就是sharp，这实在是一个好记又好用的词，所以今天我们也来掌握一下。

　　用sharp来形容刀子或边缘，意思是“锋利的”，比如：

　　Peel the apple using a sharp knife.

　　如果用来形容声音，那指的就是“尖锐的、突然的”，比如：

　　a sharp scream of fear
　　害怕的尖叫

　　如果我们说某人头脑很sharp，意思就是这个人很有洞察力，很敏锐，比如：

　　He has a sharp mind for figures.
　　他头脑聪明，善于计算。

　　如果某人或某物looks sharp，就表示他们的外形很有杀伤力，比如：

　　Uncle George's new car is really sharp.
　　乔治叔叔的新车实在设计优美。

　　Tod looked really sharp in his tux.
　　Tod穿着燕尾服太帅了。

　　敏锐和智慧之间的协调，（This trade-off between sharpness and wisdom）心理学家们就此提出了在成年人在采用“成熟商”这一概念。（has led psychologists to suggest that “maturity quotients”（M.Q.） be adopted for adults）

　　什么时候你最富创造力？一般在30岁至39岁之间。（When are you most creative? Generally between 30 and 39. ）

　　大部分伟大的音乐作品都是人们在33岁至39岁之间创作出来的。（Most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39）虽然大多数领域的状态来得比较早（Most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39）——大多数诺贝尔奖获得者都是25岁以后、30多岁时完成他们最出色的研究的（most Nobel prize winners did their top research in their late 20's and 30's）——但是创造型的人会在生命中不断地完成高质量的工作。（creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives）对于“状态良好的大脑”，（For the “well-conditioned mind”）不存在上限。（there is no upper limit）

　　「语法小教室」

　　今天的语法小教室，我们来重点介绍though.

　　我们都知道，although和though都可以用于对比或转折意思的从句中，表示“虽然;尽管”的意思，不过在日常会话中，我们经常使用的是though，而正式的书面语中通常用although.

　　有时，为了强调，我们通常在though前面加上even，比如：

　　She wore a fur coat, even though it was a very hot day.
　　尽管天气很热，她还是穿了一件裘皮外套。

　　可在although前面，却不能这样使用。

　　中国人讲“虽然……”后面常接“但是”，用一组关联词组构成转折的意思，所以，许多人在使用although/though时，也就想当然地把but/yet加在了后面，于是就出现了这样的句子：

　　Although he was late, yet he stopped to buy a sandwich.

　　其实，外国人讲话多讲求简洁，一个although/though就足够了，正确的讲法应该是：

　　Although he was late, he stopped to buy a sandwich.

　　有一个短语和though的意思差不多，那就是in spite of/despite，不过它们在用法上差别还是很明显的，比如：

　　Though he worked hard, he failed the exam.
　　In spite of his hard work, he failed the exam.

　　也就是说，in spite of/despite要用在名词、代词或动名词前面，而although/though却要总领一个句子。

　　今天的节目里，我们重点介绍了sharp的含义和though的用法，你都记住了吗？我们下次再见！