Punctuality is a necessary habit in all public affairs in civilized society.

public affairs ^{n. issues and questions about social, economic, political or business activities, etc. that affect ordinary people in general 公众事务}

• No one CARES about public affairs. ^{没有人关心公共事务。}
• Aquarius constantly participates in numerous public affairs. ^{水瓶座不停的参加繁多的公共活动。}
• Although they are very old, they are in high spirits in public affairs. ^{虽然他们都很老了，但是做起公共事务来却是精神饱满。}

civilized society ^文明社会

• Terrorism is a threat to the civilized world.
• Such behaviour is totally unacceptable in a civilized society. ^{这种行为在文明社会是完全不能接受的。}
• Is a civilized society responsible for crime? ^{文明社会对犯罪负有责任吗？}

造句：Politeness / Courtesy is a necessary habit in all public affairs in civilized society. ^{礼节是文明社会所有公众事务中一个必备的习惯。}

Without it, nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion; everything would be in a state of chaos.

虚拟语气的省略 ^{介词短语代替虚拟条件句}

If we didn’t have it nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion; everything would be in state of chaos. ^课文补全

• Without it we could not make a living.
• If we didn’t have it we could not make a living.

ever ^{（加强语气）从来}

• Nothing ever seems to upset him.
• She's got a great voice and is singing better than ever. ^{她有一副好嗓音，比以往任何时候都唱得好。}
• Japan is wealthier and more powerful than ever before. ^{日本现在比以往任何时候都富有和强大。}

bring sth. to a conclusion ^{使某事结束}

• In the nineteenth century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences—most of them wildly improbable.
• They couldn’t bring them to a conclusion. ^{他们的原因在于总是不能得出结论。}
• The only way to bring everything to a peaceful conclusion will be to stop whoever is behind all this. ^{想要重建和平的唯一方法，就是将那只幕后的黑手揪出来。}

draw / come to / reach a conclusion ^得出结论

This trend began during the Second World War, when several governments came to the conclusion that the specific demands that a government wants to make of its scientific establishment cannot generally be foreseen in detail.^{标准答案：这种趋势始于第二次世界大战期间，当时一些国家的政府得出结论：政府要向科研机构提出的具体要求通常是无法详尽预见的。}

chaos ^{disorder; mess; confusion 混乱}

• Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake.
• The world's first transatlantic balloon race ended in chaos last night. ^{世界首次横渡大西洋的气球比赛昨晚在混乱中结束了。}
• The storms and torrential rain caused traffic chaos across the country. ^{暴风雨和倾盆大雨造成了全国的交通混乱。}

in (a state of) chaos ^{处于一片混乱（状态）}

• Without rules, people would live in a state of chaos. ^{若无规则，人们将在混乱状态中生活。}
• After the bombing attack, the city was in a state of chaos. ^{轰炸过后，城市陷入一片混乱。}
• We're in a state of complete chaos here and I need a little time to sort myself out. ^{我们这儿处于一片混乱之中，我需要一些时间让自己平静下来。}

In the absence of the teacher, the class was in a state of chaos. ^{在老师不在的时候，班里处于一片混乱状态。}

Only in a sparsely-populated rural community is it possible to disregard it.

sparsely / thinly populated  ^{人口稀少的}

• The province is heavily forested and sparsely populated. ^{该省森林茂密，人烟稀少。}
• The $220m bridge goes to the sparsely inhabited island of Gravina, Alaska. ^{这座造价2.2亿美元的桥，通往人烟稀少的阿拉斯加州格拉维纳。}
• The island is thinly populated. ^{这个岛人口稀少。}
• There is little demand for electricity in the thinly populated coastal region. ^{在人口稀少的沿海地区电力需求小。}

disregard ^{vt. 忽视；不理；漠视；不顾}

• They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary.
• He disregarded the advice of his executives. ^{他对主管们的建议置之不理。}
• He drove with blithe disregard for the rules of the road. ^{他开车时全然不顾交通法规。}

In ordinary living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality.

living ^{n. 含义1：生计}

• make / earn a living ^谋生
• Father never talked about what he did for a living. ^{父亲从未谈起他是做什么来谋生的。}

living ^{n. 含义2：生活；生活方式}

• plain / luxurious living ^{简朴/奢侈 的生活}
• the art of living ^{生活的艺术}
• Olivia has always been a model of healthy living. ^{奥利维亚一直是健康生活的榜样。}

常见几种英译汉的错误原因：1、单词不认识；2、语法分析错误；3、习语搭配产生的误解；4、主语不符合中文习惯^{（被动、无灵主语等）}；5、词性的转换^{（书面语中英文更倾向使用名词）}；
解决翻译错误的方法：1、名词换动词；2、无灵主语换人称主语；被动换主动；

无灵主语

• … there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality. ^{翻译：人们可以容忍一定程度的不准时}
• There can’t be any tolerance of this brutality. ^{翻译：没有人会容忍这种暴行}

The intellectual, who is working on some abstruse problem, has everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand.

work on sth. / doing ^致力于…

• John is still working on the new book.
• The couple need to work on improving their relationship. 
• I need to work on my swing. ^{我需要改进我的挥杆动作。}

abstruse ^{adj. difficult to understand 深奥的；难理解的}

• It's a good movie but it's too abstruse for me. ^{这是一部好电影，但是对我太深奥了。}
• Einstein's theory of relativity is very abstruse. ^{爱因斯坦的相对论非常难懂。}
• For the average editor, that analogy might seem abstruse. ^{对大多数编辑而言，这一类比似乎很深奥。}

some abstruse problem ^{some 用法}

• She was never happy unless he was worrying at some problem. ^{只要设法将把问题解决了她才会高兴起来的。}
• I read something that he had some problem with a taxi driver. ^{我有一次在报纸上看到他和一个出租车司机有些问题。}
• In one of my projects, Drools 5 was chosen as a solution for some problem. ^{我有一个项目选择Drools 5来作为解决某个问题的方案。}

• I need some information about the new policy. ^{我需要一些关于新政策的信息。}
• She bought some books for her upcoming trip. ^{她为即将到来的旅行买了一些书。}
• Can you lend me some pen? (informal, less common) ^{你能借我一支笔吗？（非正式，较少用）}
•  He will be back in some 10 minutes. ^{他大约10分钟后回来。}

(have sth. done) 主语本身做某事^{（通过上下文判断）}

By this time, a Lancaster bomber in reasonable condition was rare and worth rescuing.
The French authorities had the plane packaged and moved in parts back to France. Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored.

the job / task / matter in hand ^手头的…

• Could you just concentrate on the job in hand?
• As the matter in hand was urgent, we dealt with it at once. 
• Their courage was up now and well in hand. ^{他们现在已经鼓起了勇气，一切尽在掌握之中。}

hand ^前加介词

• I always keep a dictionary close at hand. ^在手边
• My birthday is near at hand. ^{快到了(日子)}
• The signature must be made by hand.^用手
• They are always on hand whenever you need them.  ^有空的
• I can’t remember his phone number off hand.^{立即、马上}