英语口语大赢家Topic156:四大发明The Four Great Inventions

丹尼尔和阿美在观看中国古代的四大发明。丹丹觉得那些都是简单的东西，没有什么意义。其实他们的发明者都是一些很聪明的人。那最后丹丹的观点有没有改变呢？

 

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May: There are so many people that the tickets are all sold out!

Daniel: Luckily we got the last two.

May: Look, Danny. The Four Great Inventions!

Daniel: Gunpowder¹, compass, the paper making, and the printing.

May: I really admire those who made such great inventions!

Daniel: May, I don't see why they are great. They are just simple things.

May: They look simple today. But they were milestones³ in their times.

Daniel: Milestones? May, you must be kidding.

May: Just think Bill Gates, those inventions are as important as the windows system.

Daniel: Well, I suppose the ancient inventors made a lot of money out of them.

May: No, quite the contrary.

Daniel: Why? Didn't you say that they were milestones?

May: Yes, but they went to the public without any patent protection.

Daniel: Well, their inventors were not as clever as Bill Gates.

 

听看学

阿美：人太多了，票都卖完了。

丹尼尔：幸好我们买了最后两张。

阿美：看，丹丹，四大发明！

丹尼尔：火药、指南针、造纸术和印刷术。

阿美：我真崇拜这些伟大的发明者。

丹尼尔：阿美，我不明白有什么伟大的。它们只是些很简单的东西啊。

阿美：它们今天看起来很简单。但在它们那个时代却是里程碑。

丹尼尔：里程碑？阿美，你在开玩笑吧。

阿美：想想比尔?盖茨，那些发明的重要性不亚于Windows 操作系统。

丹尼尔：我想古代的发明家们肯定从它们身上赚了不少钱吧。

阿美：不，恰恰相反。

丹尼尔：为什么？你不是说它们是里程碑吗？

阿美：是啊，但是它们没有任何专利保护就进入市场了。

丹尼尔：哦，它们的发明者可没有比尔?盖茨那么聪明啊。

 

经典背诵 Recitation

Daniel: The Four Great Inventions of China are very famous in the world. They are gunpowder, compass, paper making, and printing. They were milestones in human history. But they went to the public without any patent protection. Well, their inventors lost a good chance of making a lot of money out of them.

 

生词小结

ticket n. 票

gunpowder n. 火药

compass n. 指南针

printing n. 印刷术

simple adj. 简单的

milestone² n. 里程碑

inventor n. 发明家

patent n. 专利

clever adj. 聪明的

 

语法小结 Grammar

so…that 的用法

 

“so …that…”句型表示“如此/这么…….以至于……”，常引导结果状语从句。…so that…则表示“以便，为了”。

 

（1）so …that…中的so是副词，常用句型为：

 

a.主语+谓语+ so + adj. /adv. +that从句

b.主语+谓语+ so + many/much/(a)few/(a)little +名词+that从句

My brother is so young that he can't look after himself.

我弟弟太小了而不能照顾自己。

My mother was so angry that she couldn't say a word.

我妈妈如此生气，以至于一句话也说不出来。

This rich man has so much money that he can buy everything.

这个富人这么有钱，他可以买一切东西。

I have so much work to do that I can't spend this weekend with you.

我有如此多的工作要做，不能和你一起过周末了。

 

（2）so与that也可连起来写，即变成:…so that…（以便/为了……），引导目的状语从句

I got up early so that I could catch the early bus.

我起得很早为了能赶上早班车。

We must go now so that we won't be late.

我们现在必须要走了，以防迟到（为了不迟到）。

 

家庭总动员 Do it together

 

两人一组，一方朗诵下面的中文句子，另一方挑选出合适的翻译。

1．电影很无聊，丹尼尔不喜欢。

2．丹尼尔看了埃及木乃伊，所以晚上睡不着。

3．青铜杯如此珍贵，没法给它标价。

4．四大发明如此重要，我们应该崇拜那些发明者。

5．我们必须快点以防买不着票。

1．The four Great Inventions are so important that we should admire the inventors.

2．The bronze cup is so valuable that we can't put a price on it.

3．We should hurry up so that we can get tickets.

4．The film is so boring that Daniel doesn't like it.

5．Daniel has seen the Egyptian mummy so that he can't sleep well.

1 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

2 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

3 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网