The Gay Genius |Chapter 5阅读笔记

《苏东坡传》

1. 中文感悟

古代苏轼一家从眉山搬迁到京城用时四个月的时间，中间还经过危险的长江三峡，不像现在坐高铁或者飞机几个小时就到了，科技的发展对我们生活的改变是挺大的~

2. guiding task

Q: How did the Su family move to the capital from their hometown?

A: They set out from October and arrived in February the next year, which was a long stretch of time. First they chose the water route through the Yangtse Gorges, and then the land route. After settling down in the capital, they all got appointed.

interesting sentence:

It is a historian's duty to record all that they did, regardless of good and bad, to the end that posterity may learn of the truth. If it is the intention of the court to present and preserve indealized, complimentary portraits of the ancestors, I cannot regard this as part of my duty.

I appreciate this father's earnest attitude toward his job. Nobody in this world is perfect, so historians should record both the good and the bad, not just the good. In this way we can know a person more accurately.

3. 词汇学习

The Sung neo-Confucianists might look askance at such a regrettable lapse from austere filial piety.

filial    [ 'filjəl ]      adj.

You can use filial to describe the duties, feelings, or relationships which exist between a son or daughter and his or her parents. 子女辈的; 孝顺的[正式]

piety    [ 'paiəti ]  n.

righteousness by virtue of being pious虔诚；孝敬；虔诚的行为或语言

filial piety      n. 孝顺；孝心

eg: As young people, we should show more filial piety to our parents now.

The Yongtse Gorges, majestic in their beauty and exciting in hazzards for the travelers, are a stretch of two hundred and twenty miles of the river ...

gorge  [gɔːdʒ]  n.

A gorge is a deep, narrow valley with very steep sides, usually where a river passes through mountains or an area of hard rock. 峡谷

Emperor Jentsung, anxious to secure good talent, ordered this special examination to encourage the spirit of public criticism ...

secure    v.

If you secure something that you want or need, you obtain it, often after a lot of effort. 争取到[正式]

The brothers were just over twenty, and youth sometimes acted as a handicap for a genius.

handicap    n.

A handicap is an event or situation that places you at a disadvantage and makes it harder for you to do something. 不利条件