英语四级考试阅读备考的笔记（4）

　　Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work.

　　注：1.第二段：在十九世纪之前，对海洋感兴趣的科学家很少，可以推断本文根据时间顺序来描述海洋学发展的过程

　　2.further 跟在 to 后面是个动词，表示 推进

　　For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question What is at the bottom of the oceans? had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of cable that had to be manufactured.

　　注：1. remote 遥远的

　　2. and with...多重复合句

　　3. intercontinental 洲际的 (Inter 在之间，continent 大洲)

　　4. let alone 更不用说

　　5. first time 由不感兴趣转折到感兴趣 ，谓语是 was

　　6. 第二句that引导同位语从句，when引导表语从句，整句意思为 当有人基于商业目的建议在美国和欧洲之间铺设电报电缆的时候，人们才提出问题：海底是什么?

　　7.route 路线 router 路由器

　　It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings aroused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea.

　　注：1. it was ...that...强调句型

　　2. turn to sb. for sth. 向某人请教某事

　　3. 出现问题中划线词：Maury,1840s

　　3. investigate 调查， 测量

　　The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there

　　was no life in the deeper parts of the sea.

　　注：1.not until 引导的句子要倒装

　　2.living growth 生物

　　3.a fact 作同位语

　　4.contemporary 当代的

　　5.defy 前后意思相反，可以推出24题答案为C

　　24. Defied in the 5th paragraph probably means ________

　　A) doubted B) gave proof to

　　C) challenged D) agreed to

　　注：词汇题。定位倒数第二段