UNIT 6ALL IN THE PAST.doc

UNIT 6 ALL IN THE PAST
Language points
1. … to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. (Para 2)
The sentence means to fight against an evil dictatorship worse than any that has existed before in human history, despite all the terrible men there have been in the past.
2. But self-belief was something he maintained despite rather than because of his family. (Para 4)
You might think that coming from such a great family was what gave Churchill his self-confidence, but actually, his family did nothing to encourage him.
3. His father Lord Randolph Churchill … and his mother, Jennie … were both cold and distant people. (Para 4)
Cold and distant people refer to those who are not willing to show or give affection, and who are very formal and unemotional.
4. … Winston's father predicted his child would "degenerate into a shabby, unhappy and futile existence". (Para 4)
Winston's father predicted that Winston would get worse as he grew older and would have an uninteresting, unrespectable, sad and pointless life.
5. This was the onset of his first major bout of depression, a curse he called his "black dog". (Para 8)
Black dog here is a metaphor. Depression is seen as dark / black, and it follows one around as does one's dog. It also causes pain. The black dog is also associated with the Devil.
6. She kept him together, but he got himself out of it, in true Churchillian fashion. (Para 8)
Clementine helped her husband a lot at that bad time to function from day to day, but it was his typical personal mental strength that brought him back to normal.
7. But by 1930, Labour was in power and he was on the backbenches, a nobody and a has-been. (Para 9)
Someone on the backbenches refers to a member of Parliament without a government position (ministers sit on the front row of seats / benches and their followers and supporters behind them). A nobody and a has-been refers to a person of no importance in politics, and someone with only a past, no present or future.
8. He largely sat out the 1930s at his country retreat Chartwell. (Para 9)
The expression sit out is a metaphor from sport: Some players sit on a bench as reserves. Churchill was like this politically: No one asked him to leave his seat and come and take part. He did not need to be in London much and could stay at home in the countryside.
9. The billboards said "Cheer Churchill, Vote Labour", and that's what people did. (Para 12)
During elections large posters are put up. The Labour Party, Winston's opponent in the election, did not attack him personally. They said it was correct to like and admire Winston, but not to vote for his party which did not have good policies, and people agreed.
10. That was the irony. The very democracy that Churchill was prepared to lay down his life to defend was the same democracy that knew the difference between the needs of peace and the needs of war. (Para 12)
It seems ironic that after fighting so hard and bravely to keep Britain a democracy, Churchill was removed from power by a democratic vote. The British knew that a great war leader may not be a good peacetime one.
11. If Britain—its eccentricity, its strength of character, its big-heartedness—had to be summed up in one person, it was him. (Para 13)
Britain has always valued individuals who behave in their own unique way, who are not easily persuaded to do what they don't want to, and who accept others in a spirit of generosity. In this way, Churchill can be seen as the model Briton.

Background Information
The writer of the passage Mo Mowlam (1949–2005) was a British Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Redcar from 1987 to 2001, and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Her personal charisma, reputation for plain speaking and fight against a brain tumour led her to be perceived by many as one of the most popular "New Labour" politicians in the UK. She died in 2005 because of a brain tumour.

温斯顿•丘吉尔
       1940年夏天，英国面临外敌入侵，孤立无援。 在这一危急时刻，有一个人——温斯顿 •  丘吉尔——挺身而出，显示了英国人的英雄本色。 我们英国人喜欢把自己看成是一个宽容而坚忍的民族。 但是丘吉尔以他卓越的领导才能和光辉的榜样让我们看到，当我们所珍视的一切——我们的民主、我们的自由——受到威胁的时候，我们会展示出无与伦比的勇气和决心。
       “我所能奉献的唯有热血、辛劳、眼泪和汗水。 你问我们的政策是什么？ 我会说我们的政策就是在海、陆、空全面开战，竭尽全力，尽上帝赋予我们的全部力量去战斗；与黑暗的、可悲的人类罪恶史上最穷凶极恶的暴政作战。 你问我们的目标是什么？ 我可以用一个词来回答，那就是胜利。不惜一切代价，去夺取胜利。战胜一切恐怖，去夺取胜利。不论前方的道路多么漫长、多么艰辛，一定要夺取胜利。”
       在这样一个时刻，英国必须显示出她最伟大的一面。 而在丘吉尔身上，我们看到了一个最伟大的英国人。
       1874年，温斯顿 •  丘吉尔出生于英国一个极为显赫的家庭。 丘吉尔家族世代为国王和国家出生入死，征战沙场。 温斯顿年轻的时候一直相信他会继承父业。 但是他一直能够保持自信却与他的家庭无关，他的家人并没有给他多少支持。 他的父亲伦道夫 •  丘吉尔勋爵（1849–1895）和母亲珍妮（1854–1921）都是冷漠、拒人于千里之外的人。 他们把温斯顿送到了哈罗公学。 他既不英俊又不聪明；他体弱多病，说话口齿不清，还结巴。 他是那种在学校里注定要被人欺负的学生——实际情况也是如此。 温斯顿的父亲不仅没有给他支持和帮助，还预测他的儿子将来会“沦落到穷困潦倒、一事无成、抑郁而终的地步”。
       离开学校之后，经过三次努力，温斯顿进入了位于桑赫斯特的英国皇家陆军军官学校。 从桑赫斯特毕业之后，他就找地方去打仗——不管是什么地方。 他自费兼任战地记者，并因报道出色而成为布尔战争的英雄。因此当1900年回到英国的时候，他已经名满天下，为当选国会议员铺平了道路。
       同年，他代表奥德姆市当选为保守党国会议员。 此后，他一度转投自由党，后来又重回保守党。 他从来不是一个热衷于党派斗争的人。 他只关心英国的前途和命运。 他理想中的英国是普通百姓安居乐业的地方，但同时他又非常看重法律和社会秩序。 尽管丘吉尔不是一个邪恶的人，但他对妇女参政论者、工会主义者以及任何想要挑战现行体制的人都残酷无情，他首先想到的手段就是动用军队进行镇压。
       但是他一直想当一名将军。 这个理想可以追溯到他的学生时代。学校放假的时候，他就在布伦海姆宫的走廊里、在他那些战功卓著的祖先的织锦画像下玩玩具士兵，那时候他就萌生了这种理想。 1911年，被任命为海军大臣的时候，他一定非常高兴；1915年，当第一次世界大战让他有机会制定加利波利重大攻势计划的时候，他更是欣喜万分。
       但是加利波利战役以惨败收场，让温斯顿丢掉了饭碗，也使他几乎精神崩溃。 丘吉尔第一次犯严重的抑郁症就是从那个时候开始的，他把这个让他痛苦不堪的疾病称为“黑狗”（沮丧）。 值得庆幸的是，此时他已经娶妻成家。他的妻子克莱门泰因帮他度过了难关。 她比他小11岁，美丽、聪明、忠贞不渝。 她让他振作起来，但最终丘吉尔以自己特有的方式走出了抑郁。 为弥补他的过失，他奔赴法国战场，在战壕中浴血奋战。 在第一次世界大战中，大概没有几个士兵会像他那样从战场上写信回家，说他“感觉到了几个月来从没有过的幸福和满足”。 他就是为战争而生的。
       当丘吉尔回到英国的时候，他已经成就了丰功伟业。 他曾是一名成功的记者，他曾为国家浴血奋战，他曾经身居高位。在20世纪20年代他再次官居要职，担任财务大臣。 但是到了1930年，工党开始执政，而他只是一名后座议员，一个无足轻重的小人物，一名过气的政客。 30年代的大部分时间，他都在他的乡间别墅查特威尔庄园里闲坐度日。
       1938年9月，时任首相的内维尔 •  张伯伦（1869–1940）公开挥舞着他和阿道夫 •  希特勒（1889–1945）签订的和平协议，宣告他已经确保了我们这个时代的和平。 你甚至都可以听到人们如释重负地松了一口气。 但是丘吉尔并不这么认为。 他预测到——比任何人都要早——德国的民族主义会走向何方。 事态的发展证明他是对的，战争爆发了，英国国王乔治六世（1895–1952）知道“要组建一个能赢得全国信任的政府，我只能去请一个人，那就是温斯顿。” 任命下来的时候，丘吉尔已经65岁了。 为这一天他等了很久，但上天最终还是把大任交给了他。
       人们经常会说起1066年的诺曼征服，说起击败西班牙无敌舰队的壮举，提到特拉法尔加战役这些重要的历史事件。 但其实1940年才是英国历史上最重要的一年。 敦刻尔克大撤退、不列颠之战、德国空袭英国都发生在这一年。 在这一年，每一个英国人，不管是平民还是士兵，都发现自己处于战争之中。 英国似乎不可能赢得这场战争，但是温斯顿用500年前阿金库尔战役中那个表示胜利的V字手势告诉我们，我们能够取得胜利。
       丘吉尔是一个直觉敏锐、大胆、常常令人恼火的战争领袖。 他对部下粗鲁，令人不快。他工作起来不要命，喝起酒来也不要命，这让他的部下疲于应付。 但同时他也鼓舞了无数人。 1945年5月8日，欧洲最终宣布战争胜利，英国随即举行了大选。 英国许多告示牌上都写着“为丘吉尔喝彩，给工党投票”，而人们也确实是这么做的。 这真是充满了讽刺意味。 丘吉尔随时准备誓死保卫的民主国家知道和平时代的需求和战时的需求是不一样的。
       1965年，丘吉尔去世，刚刚进入摇滚乐时代的英国举国皆哀。 如果要用一个人来代表英国的怪僻、坚强的个性和宽广的胸怀，那就是丘吉尔。 丘吉尔已经离我们而去，但正是因为有了他，英国才得以存活下来。 还有什么比这更伟大的业绩呢？

4. Translate the paragraph into Chinese.
The historian is not required to have the special skills which enable the expert to determine the origin and period of a fragment of pottery or marble, to decipher an obscure inscription, or to make the elaborate astronomical calculations necessary to establish a precise date. These so-called basic facts which are the same for all historians commonly belong to the category of the raw materials of the historian rather than of history itself. The second observation is that the necessity to establish these basic facts rests not on any quality in the facts themselves, but on a priori decision of the historian. In spite of C. P. Scott's motto, every journalist knows today that the most effective way to influence opinion is by the selection and arrangement of the appropriate facts. It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course, untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: It is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context. It was, I think, one of Pirandello's characters who said that a fact is like a sack—it won't stand up till you've put something in it. The only reason why we are interested to know that the battle was fought at Hastings in 1066 is that historians regard it as a major historical event. It is the historian who has decided for his own reasons that Caesar's crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of history, whereas the crossing of the Rubicon by millions of other people before or since interests nobody at all. The fact that you arrived in this building half an hour ago on foot, or on a bicycle, or in a car, is just as much a fact about the past as the fact that Caesar crossed the Rubicon.
历史学家不需要掌握特殊的技能去确定陶瓷或大理石残片的起源与断代、去解读一段意义隐晦的铭文的含义、或是为确定一个准确的日期而进行繁复的天文计算。这些所谓的基本事实对所有的历史学家来说都是一样的，它们是历史学家可用的原始素材，而非历史本身。我要说的第二点是，是否需要确定这些基本的事实并不取决于这些事实本身，而是取决于历史学家事先做出的判断。尽管 C.P. 斯科特的那句箴言深入人心（译者注：斯科特的箴言 Comment is free, but facts are sacred."事实不可歪曲，评述大可自由"），但是现在每一名新闻记者都知道要影响大众舆论，最有效的方式就是对特定的事实进行选择和剪接。人们以前常说事实不言自明。这种说法显然是错误的，历史事实只是在历史学家用到时才会不言自明。哪些事实可以现身说法，以及这些事实以什么样的顺序或是在什么样的情景中出现，都是由历史学家来决定的。我记得皮兰德娄笔下的一个人物曾经说过：事实就像一个麻袋——不塞点东西进去就立不起来。我们之所以对1066年发生在黑斯廷斯的战役感兴趣，其唯一的原因就是历史学家把这一战役看作是一个重大的历史事件。历史学家依照自己的推断，认为凯撒穿越那条小河——卢比孔河——是一个史实，但没有人对在他之前或是之后几百万其他人穿过这条河的举动感兴趣。你半个小时之前或徒步、或骑车或开车来到这座大楼，这件事和当年凯撒渡过卢比孔河一样都是一个关于过去的客观事实。

5. Translate the paragraphs into English.
为保证校园的安全，校方最近发布了一项新的规定，禁止小商贩进入校园。校长呼吁学生在这件事上与学校合作。学生们表示强烈反对，几百名学生在学校的BBS上表达了他们的愤怒。他们说，因为校园离市中心很远，校内商店里的货品又不多，把小贩赶出校园就无异于把学生扔到孤岛上。有些人提出，正是在这样的事情上，学校应该听取学生的意见和需求。有些学生认为，这项规定能让校园更安全的想法是错误的。

学生的反应让校长感到震惊，为弥补过失，他宣布学校将重新考虑这项规定。他对学生说，他们完全有权力过上方便、舒适的生活，但校园的安全也同样重要。他还提议在校园里建一个大超市，在宿舍楼附近开一些便利店 (convenience store)，这样就能大大方便学生们的生活。(it's for matters of this kind; get sth wrong; make amends; be entitled to)
To make the campus safer, the university authorities recently released a new regulation that forbids any vendors from entering the campus, and the president called on the students to cooperate with the university on this matter. But the students' opposition was strong, and hundreds of them expressed their anger on the university BBS. They said that to keep vendors off campus was like deserting students on an isolated island, as the university was far away from the downtown and the shops on the campus did not provide enough commodities. Some claimed that it was precisely for matters of this kind that the university should listen to students' opinions and needs. Some students thought the university had got it wrong in believing that this regulation will ensure safety on campus.
Shocked by students' reaction, the president tried to make amends for this mistake by announcing that the university will look into this new regulation again. He told students that they were entitled to live a convenient and comfortable life, but safety was just as much an important concern as that. He proposed to build a big supermarket within the campus and some convenience stores near dormitory buildings, which would certainly make students' life much easier.