《新福尔摩斯》精讲 101

There's a margin¹ for error, but I'm pretty sure there's a 747 leaving Heathrow tomorrow at 6.30 for Baltimore.

还有一点没想明白 但我肯定是架波音747明天六点半将于西斯罗机场起飞 飞往巴尔的摩

Apparently² it's going to save the world, I'm not sure how, but give me a moment, I've only been on the case eight seconds.

显然这条信息能拯救世界 但我不确定怎么个救法 但等我一会 我才想了八秒钟

Oh, come on, it's not code, these are seats on a jet.

得了 这不是密码 是飞机上的座位

Look, no 'I' because it can be mistaken for one. No letters past 'K'—the width of the plane is the limit.

看 没有字母I 因为会和数字1搞混 没有K以后的字母 因为飞机就这么宽

The numbers alwaysappearnot in sequence, but the letters have little runs of sequence all over the place.

数字总是不按顺序排列 但字母则几乎没有乱过顺序

Families and couples sitting together. Only a Jumbo's wide enough for a letter 'K' or rows past 55, so there's always an upstairs.

家人和夫妻都坐在一起 只有巨型喷气式飞机的座椅才会排到K 还有55排 所以机顶上还有一层

A row 13 eliminates superstitious³ airlines.

有13排说明不是那些迷信的航空公司

The style of the flight number, '007', eliminates a few more.

航班号的组合规律 007 又能排除一些信息

Assuming a British point of origin because of the original source,

考虑到最初的情报来源可以推断航班从英国起飞

and assuming the crisis is imminent⁴, the only flight that matches all the criteria⁵ and departs within the week is the 6.30 to Baltimore tomorrow from Heathrow.

加上迫在眉睫的危机 唯一符合所有条件并且在本周起飞的飞机 就是六点半伦敦到巴尔的摩的飞机

Please don't feel obliged to tell me that was amazing, John's expressed that in every possible variant⁶ available in English.

别急着要赞扬我 约翰已经这么干过了 他用光了所有表示赞扬的词语

I would have you right here, on this desk, until you begged for mercy twice.

我真想在这个书桌上要了你 要到你求饶 还是两次

John, can youcheckthose flight schedules, see if I'm right?

约翰 你能否查下航班表 看看我说得对不对

I'm on it, yeah.

在查了

I've never begged for mercy in my life. Twice.

我这辈子都没求过绕 你这次要求饶 还是两次

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

4 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

5 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

6 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。