新概念英语第四册自学导读：第九课王室谍报活动(中)

9-7. He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self-confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual.

【译文】他立刻发现丹麦侵略军纪律松懈：丹麦人以征服者自居，安全措施松弛。

【讲解】slack后的冒号引出说明解释性内容。

【单词和短语】

slack：懈怠的，松懈的；疏忽的；马虎的（not taking enough care or making enough effort to do things correctly），

例如：
slack supervision 监督不严
Security’s got a bit slack. 安全问题有些放松。

9-8. They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighbouring regions.

【译文】他们靠袭击附近地区、掠夺财物过着舒适的生活。

【讲解】句中的第一个on与live搭配使用，live on…意为“靠……生活”。因为well与on…regions并列作状语，所以用逗号隔开。句中的第二个on是与raid搭配在一起的，意为“袭击”。

【单词和短语】

proceeds：（从事某种活动或变卖财物等的）收入，收益（the money that is obtained from doing something or selling something），

例如：
The proceeds from the school play will be used to buy a new curtain.
学校演剧的收入将用于购买一幅新的舞台幕布。

They are reaping proceeds when the cattle are sold.
卖了那些牲口他们就可以获得收益了。

9-9. There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft.

【译文】这些入侵者在那里不但搜刮吃喝，而且掳掠妇女，这种安逸的生活令他们萎靡不振。

【讲解】句中as well as的侧重点在它前面的women。在用“不但……而且……”或“……还……”翻译as well as时，因为汉语的侧重点是在后面的“而且”、“还”，而作in addition to解的as well as的重点则在它前面的词语，所以汉译时必须颠倒原文as well as连接的前后词语的次序。

【单词和短语】

soft：轻松的；舒服的，舒适的（not very brave and not having a strong character）。

9-10. Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney.

【译文】阿尔弗雷德在敌营呆了一周后回到了阿塞尔纳。

9-11. The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde.

【译文】他集结在那里的军队和丹麦大军相比微不足道。

【讲解】there assembled是过去分词短语，作the force的定语，there指Athelney。compared with the Danish horde作状语，修饰was trivial。

【单词和短语】

trivial：琐碎的；不重要的，无价值的（not serious, important, or valuable），

例如：
trivial matters 琐事

a trivial offence 小过失

trivial formalities 繁文缛节

put the trivial above the important 本末倒置

consider sth. trivial 认为某事无关紧要

raise trivial objections 提出无关紧要的反对

trivial的名词形式为triviality。

9-12. But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.

【译文】然而，阿尔弗雷德推断出丹麦人已不再适合持久战：他们的军需供应处于无组织状态，仅是靠临时抢夺来维持。

【讲解】and that their commissariat…irregular raids作deduced的宾语。同时对the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle进一步解说，所以battle后有冒号。depended前的but意为“仅仅，只有”。

【单词和短语】

irregular：不规则的，无规律的；不合常规的；不稳定的（not happening at times that are an equal distance from each other），

例如：
an irregular pattern 不规则轨迹

an irregular heartbeat 不齐的心律

be irregular in one’s attendance 不时缺席