新概念英语第四册49-04

接下来课文...of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. ...

the …the …： 并列比较

self-evident：不言自明 不言而喻

接下来课文...They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things 'wear out'. ...

organism ：有机体

in the nature of things：为插入语 一切事物的本质

wear out ：是谓语

接下来课文...Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch or the sun, do in fact run out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics ...

wind ： 上发条

wound ： 上了发条的

run-down ：发条不紧的

energy conservation：能量守恒

接下来课文...(whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn

and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending .But a watch could never repair itself it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could,at one time, repair ourselves well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses an accidents. ...

at one time means sometimes

but=except

fatul=deadly 致命的

接下来课文...Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power; an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduce by half again.

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