常春藤生活英語：Following Fate船到橋頭自然直

Once upon a time, an old man lived by himself up in the mountains above a village. His wife had died of a terrible illness years before and everyone thought he was very lonely. All of the townspeople liked the old man. He was very friendly with everyone whenever he came down and fetched supplies to care for his garden. Sometimes people from the town would come up to visit the old man. They also expressed their sympathy for him because his son went so far away to study. They were even concerned about whether his son would ever return to their humble village.

The old man, a firm believer in fate, would give them a simple answer, "Everything always works out in the end." The old man would thank the people for worrying about him. Then he would explain to them that everything in the universe affects everything else. If something was meant to be, then it was meant to be.

很久以前，有位老先生獨(dú)居在某個村莊上的山中。他的妻子多年前因重病過世，大家都覺得他很寂寞。所有的村民都很喜歡他。每回他下山買整理花園的補(bǔ)給品時，對每個人都非常友善。有時候城里的人會上山拜訪他。他們也會因老先生的兒子到遠(yuǎn)地求學(xué)而表示同情。他們甚至?xí)?dān)心老先生的兒子是否會回到這個卑微的村莊。

深信命運(yùn)的老先生會給他們一個簡單的答案：『船到橋頭自然直。』老先生會謝謝大家對他的關(guān)心。接著他會向他們解釋宇宙的萬物都會互相影響。如果某事應(yīng)該發(fā)生，那么它就會發(fā)生。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.fetch　vt. 取得;拿來

Can you go upstairs and fetch me my scarf?

你能上樓幫我拿我的圍巾嗎?

2.humble　a. 簡陋的;卑微的

The Lins live in a humble house.

林家人住在簡陋的房子里。

3.affect　vt. 影響

Marco was deeply affected by the tragedy.

馬可深受這件悲劇的影響。

Phrases for Learning

1.care for...　　照顧∕照料……

Nurse Betty is caring for my grandfather.

護(hù)士貝蒂正在照顧我爺爺。

2.work out　　逐漸解決∕化解

The problems between us will never work out.

我們之間的問題永遠(yuǎn)無法解決。

3.be meant to + 原形動詞　　應(yīng)該∕必須……

We are meant to finish our paper on time.

我們應(yīng)該按時完成報告。

參考字詞

1.sympathy　n. 同情

2.firm　a. 堅(jiān)定的，不變的

Tips In Use

His wife had died of a terrible illness years before...

(他的妻子多年前因重病過世……)

"die of..."與"die from..."皆可表『死于……』。表示死于某種疾病、或因衰老過世時，要使用"die of...";若表死于外在原因(如工作過度、缺乏食物、外傷等)時，則要用"die from..."。

Erin's husband died of cancer last year.

(艾琳的丈夫去年因癌癥過世。)

The man and his son both died from a car crash.

(那對父子皆于車禍中喪生。)