Lesson 18 Electric currents in modern art现代艺术中的电流夸张 一语双关

Modern sculpture rarely surprises us any more.

rarely ^{adv.罕有，很少；异乎寻常地，极度}

英文中自带“屎”的使役动词

• His reaction made me feel deeply disappointed. → His reaction deeply disappointed me. ^{disappoint v.使失望}
• What he said made me totally confused. → What he said totally confused me.

The idea that modern art can only be seen in museums is mistaken.  ^{圆周句（掉尾句）}

The idea is mistaken that modern art can only be seen in museums. ^{避免头重，同位语从句通常放到后面。}

Although Tchaikovsky himself thought of the Pathetic Symphony as his crowning masterpiece, the premiere on October 28th 1893 in St. Petersburg proved a disappointment. ^{从句引出、主句句尾才揭示迷底}

Even people who take no interest in art cannot have failed to notice examples of modern sculpture on display in public places.

take + 名词 + 介词

cannot have failed to notice ... ^{不可能没有注意到（强）}

• must have noticed... ^{肯定注意到了（稍弱）}
• Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.

“on + 名词”^{表示处于某种状态}

• on display / show / exhibition
• The house is on sale. ^{出售中/甩卖/打折出售}
• The workers are on strike.
• I'm here on vacation.
• I'm here on business.
• The nurse is on call 24 hours a day.  ^待命

Strange forms （of sculpture）stand in gardens, and outside buildings and shops.We have got quite used to them.

Some so-called 'modern' pieces have been on display for nearly eighty years.

so-called ^所谓的...

• Where are your so-called friends now?

• air conditioner: Thanks to the air conditioner, the house is nice and cool.
• charger: I need my charger to charge my phone.
• computer: I do all my work on my computer.
• digital camera: I take lots of pictures with my digital camera.
• earphones: I use my earphones to listen to music on my way to work.
• headphones: Sam couldn’t hear me as he had his headphones on.
• heater: The house was cold, so I turned on the heater.
• lamp: I wanted to read in bed, so I turned on the lamp.
• monitor: We’re connected to WiFi through a monitor.
• notebook: I work on my notebook when I’m travelling.
• phone: I picked up the phone and called my mother.
• printer: I used the printer to print out my essay.
• remote: I wanted to change channels, so I picked up the remote.
• robot vacuum: I watched my robot vacuum as it moved round the room.
• scanner: I used the scanner to scan all my documents.
• speakers: The music became louder when we switched on the speakers.
• stereo: There was loud music coming from the stereo.
• tablet: Peter was reading on his tablet.
• television: When my programme ended, I switched off the television.
• vacuum cleaner: I use my vacuum cleaner to pick up cat hair from the carpet.

In spite of this, some people — including myself — were surprised by a recent exhibition of modern sculpture.

The first thing I saw when I entered the art gallery was a notice which said: 'Do not touch the exhibits.Some of them are dangerous!'

say ^{v.上面写着:“...”}

• The sign says 'Keep Out'.^写着
• What did the letter say? ^{信上怎么说？}
• My watch says four o'clock. ^显示为
• A tiny asterisk conducted me to a, footnote at the bottom of the page. It said: 'This service has been suspended.'

go ^{v.一句话一个故事是怎么说的；一首歌是怎么唱的}

• As the old saying goes, 'look before you leap'. ^{俗话说：“三思而后行”}
• The story goes that the prince was turned to a frog.
• How does the song go? ^{歌是怎么唱来着？}

Do not touch the exhibits. = Keep away from the exhibits.

The objects on display were pieces of moving sculpture.

Oddly shaped forms that are suspended from the ceiling and move in response to a gust of wind are quite familiar to everybody.

副词修饰形容词

• a strangely shaped carrot ^{形状奇怪的胡萝卜}
• She has a perfectly shaped figure. ^完美身材
• heart-shaped ^心形的
• pear-shaped ^{梨形的（大腹便便）}
• V-shaped ^V形的

in response to ... ^{作为回应：作为对某事物或某情况的回应或反应}

• The president stepped down in response to public pressure.

a gust of wind ^一阵风

• a fit of coughing ^一阵咳嗽
• a round of applause ^一阵掌声
• peals / gales of laughter ^阵阵笑声

Lined up against the wall, there were long thin wires attached to metal spheres.

attach sth. to sth. ^{把某物附加到某物上：将一个物体连接或固定到另一个物体上。}

• It is possible to attach executable program files to e-mail.^{可以在电子邮件上附上可执行程序文件。}

造句： Lined up on the table, there are a number of brand-new computers connected to printers. ^{在桌上排列着一些崭新的电脑，而电脑上又连着打印机}

The spheres had been magnetized and attracted or repelled each other all the time.

In the centre of the hall, there were a number of tall structures which contained coloured lights.

These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad.

go mad ^发疯

• go crazy
• go wild
• go bananas ^{生气；发疯；变得疯狂或兴奋}
• go nuts ^{变得疯狂，精神失常}
• Oceans apart, day after day, and I slowly go insane. ^变得疯狂

Sparks were emitted from small black boxes and red lamps flashed on and off angrily.

on and off = off and on ^{断断续续地}

• on and on ^{持续不停地（反义）}

It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.

prehistoric ^{adj.史前的（在本文中为夸张修饰手法）}

夸张 hyperbole ： 白发三干丈，缘愁似个长。危楼高百尺，手可摘星辰。燕山雪花大如席，片片吹落轩辕台。

• Everybody was clapping their hands off. ^{鼓掌鼓得手都掉了。}
• I didn't sleep a wink last night. ^眼都没合
• He has a skeleton of a wife. ^{瘦得皮包骨}

These peculiar forms not only seemed designed to shock people emotionally, but to give them electric shocks as well!

shock ^{v.使震惊；使触电}

双关pun : 本句的shock为多意双关（A very dear cat），还有谐音双关(More sun and air for your son and heir.)。

• We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately.
• What do lawyers do when they die? Lie still.^{静静的躺着？依然在撒谎？}
• The professor tapped on his desk and shouted, "Gentlemen, order!" ^{肃静？点菜？} The entire class yelled, "Beer!"  ^{请来点啤酒！}