常春藤解析英语 29 Body-Made Music　人体交响曲

Body-Made Music　人体交响曲

by Jason Alloy

When we think of historical days that sum up the concept of freedom, many dates come to mind. One in _(1)_ was when Roman Emperor Claudius officially stated that all Roman citizens would be allowed to pass gas whenever it was necessary. Back then, _(2)_ one's gas was seen as a serious health risk.

To find out _(3)_ causes the fart, you have to start in the stomach. The stomach is _(4)_ your food is broken down into nutrients and then moved into the small intestine. However, some foods that are _(5)_ pass into the large intestine. Here, bacteria break down the material and create either odorless gases or the infamous _(6)_ gas.

As gases exit the rectum, the vibration of the anal opening produces a sound. The volume of the sound _(7)_ the exit speed of the gas and content of the gas bubble. The fewer bacteria, the larger the bubble and thus the louder the fart is. However, the volume is inversely _(8)_ odor, so a loud fart is not likely to smell, while the silent ones can be "deadly."

Eating foods high in carbohydrates or complex sugars like beans increases the _(9)_ of farting. Most people fart 10 times per day and _(10)_ about 1.12 liters of gas. The longest fart reported was two minutes and 42 seconds. Monitoring the diet or swallowing excess air can treat excessive gas.

Freedom of passing gas didn't last long in ancient Rome. In 315 BC, Emperor Constantine overturned Claudius's law, and we've been cautious about our body-made music ever since.

(A) release (B) smelly (C) frequency (D) where (E) what

(F) related to (G) indigestible (H) particular (I) depends on (J) holding in

原来如此

1. One in particular was when Roman Emperor Claudius officially stated that...

理由:

a. 空格前是介词 in，因此空格内应置入名词。

b. (A) release(释放)、(C) frequency(频率)和 (H) particular(特别)均可作名词，其中仅 (H) 填入后符合语意、用法，故选之。

c. in particular　　尤其，特别是

注意:

in particular 通常置于名词之后，作后位修饰。

例: This cut of meat in particular is best for making beef noodle soup.

(这种肉片特别适合用来煮牛肉面。)

2. Back then, holding in one's gas was seen as...

理由:

a. 本句中有名词 one's gas 和 be 动词 was，可知空格应该填入及物动词的不定词或动名词形态，以形成名词词组作主词用。

b. 符合上述条件的选项只有 (J) holding in(忍住)，填入后语意连贯，意指在当时，忍住放屁被视为有害健康，故 (J) 为正选。

c. hold in...　　忍住……;压抑……

例: If you hold in your anger and don't talk about your feelings, you'll only end up more upset.

(如果你压抑愤怒，不将自己的感觉说出来，到头来只会更不开心。)

3. To find out what causes the fart, you have to...

理由:

a. 空格前是词组动词 find out(找出)，空格后是第三人称单数动词 causes(造成)，因此空格内的字必须可以作为 find out 的受词，同时也作为 causes 的主词。

b. 选项中仅有复合关系代名词 what 具有此功能，填入后语意和文法皆正确，故选 (E)。

4. The stomach is where your food is broken down into...

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 动词 is，空格后是完整句，因此推测空格必须置入关系副词，引导形容词子句作 be 动词后的主词补语。

b. 选项中只有 (D) where 符合上述条件。同时，根据语意，本句说明的是食物分解成养分的地点在胃部，而关系副词 where 引导的形容词子句正是用来形容表地方的名词(此处 where 之前省略了 the place)，故 (D) 为正选。

5. However, some foods that are indigestible pass into the large intestine.

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 动词 are，因此推测空格内应该填入名词、形容词、现在分词或过去分词。

b. 符合上述条件的选项有 (A) release(释放)、(B) smelly(臭的)、(C) frequency(频率)、(F) related to(和……有关)和 (G) indigestible(无法消化的)，然根据语意，仅有 (G) 填入后上下文连贯，故为正选。

c. indigestible a. 不能消化的

6. Here, bacteria...create either odorless gases or the infamous smelly gas.

理由:

a. 空格前有形容词 infamous(恶名昭彰的)，空格后是名词 gas(气体)，推测空格内应该填入另一个形容词，以修饰空格后的名词。

b. 符合上述条件的仅有 (B) smelly(臭的)，填入后亦符合语意，故选之。

c. smelly a. 臭的

7. The volume of the sound depends on the exit speed of the gas...

理由:

a. 本句缺乏动词，而空格前的主词为 The volume of the sound，故应置入第三人称单数动词。

b. 符合上述条件的只有 (I) depends on(视……而定)，填入后语意正确，故选之。

c. depend on...　　视……而定

例: My schedule next week depends on whether or not my boss comes back from China.

(我下周的行程全看我老板是否从中国大陆回来。)

8. However, the volume is inversely related to odor, so...

理由:

a. 空格前是 be 动词 is 和副词 inversely(成反比地)，空格后有名词 odor(臭味)，推测空格内应该填入现在分词或过去分词。

b. 选项中符合条件的唯有 (F) related to，且填入后形成下列固定用法：

be related to...　　和……有关

例: The two problems aren't related to one another and they shouldn't even be brought up at the same time.

(这两个问题彼此并不相干，甚至不应该一起提出来。)

c. 根据上述，故选 (F)。

9. Eating foods high in carbohydrates or complex sugars like beans increases the frequency of farting.

理由:

a. 空格前有定冠词 the，因此空格应该填入名词。

b. 选项中可作名词的有 (A) release(释放)和 (C) frequency(频率)，但根据语意，吃某些食物会增加放屁的频率，故应选 (C)。

c. frequency n. 频率

10. Most people fart 10 times per day and release about 1.12 liters of gas.

理由:

a. 空格前是对等连接词 and，用来连接对等的单字、词组或子句，因此基于对等原则，空格内应填入复数动词，以与其前的 fart(放屁)对等。

b. 选项中仅剩下 (A) release(释放)为动词，填入后符合用法及语意，故选之。

c. release n. & vt. 释放

例: Five hostages were released last night.

(昨晚有五名人质获释。)

难句分析

* The fewer bacteria, the larger the bubble and thus the louder the fart is.

= The fewer bacteria there are, the larger the bubble is and thus the louder the fart is.

(细菌越少，气泡越大，放屁声也就越响。)

精解字词词组

1. sum up...　　总结……

例: At the end of the speech, I'll sum up my main points and then take questions from the audience.

(演讲完之后，我会总结重点，然后让观众提问。)

2. ...come to mind　　想到……

例: When you mentioned Sara, our fun time at the beach came to mind.

(提到莎拉时，我就会想到我们在海滩共渡的快乐时光。)

3. be broken down into...　　被分解成……

break down...into...　　将……分解成……

例: You'll have to break down the boxes into smaller pieces to fit them in the recycling container.

(你得将箱子拆成更小的单位才放得进回收箱。)

4. monitor vt. 监督，监控

例: For the next two weeks, I'd like for you to monitor what you eat.

(接下来的两周，我要你监控自己的饮食。)

5. overturn vt. 推翻

例: The politician is hoping to overturn the law that was passed just last week.

(那名政客希望能推翻上周才通过的法案。)

6. be cautious about...　　对……很小心

例: You should be cautious about what you say to him. He's related to the boss.

(你跟他说话应该要小心。他和老板是亲戚。)

单字小铺

1. historical a. 历史上的

2. officially adv. 正式地

3. fart n. 屁 & vi. 放屁

4. nutrient n. 营养物

5. intestine n. 肠

6. odor n. 恶臭

odorless a. 没有气味的

7. infamous a. 恶名昭彰的

8. exit vt. 离开 & n. 离去;出口

9. rectum n. 直肠

10. vibration n. 震动

11. anal opening n. 肛门口

12. volume n. 音量

13. inversely adv. 相反地，成反比地

14. carbohydrate n. 碳水化合物;醣类

15. complex sugar n. 复糖(淀粉质，如全麦类、全谷类面包或米饭)

16. excess a. 额外的

17. excessive a. 过多的

词组小铺

1. pass gas　　放屁

= break wind

2. be seen/viewed/regarded as...　　被视为……

3. be (not) likely to V　　(不)可能会……

4. be high in...　　……的含量很高

中文翻译&标准答案

当我们想到历史上总结自由概念的时刻时，会想到很多日子。其中一个特别的日子是当罗马皇帝克劳地正式宣布在必要时，所有罗马公民都可以自由放屁。在当时，忍着屁不放被视为有严重的健康风险。

要了解身体放屁的原因，你得先从肚子探究起。胃部是食物分解成营养物然后送往小肠的所在。然而，有些无法消化的食物则排到大肠。细菌在大肠分解这些物质，产生了无臭无味或臭死人的气体。

这些气体排出直肠时，肛门口的震动会造成声响。放屁的音量取决于气体排出的速度和气泡的成分。细菌越少，气泡越大，放屁声也就越响。不过，放屁声和气味恰好成反比，因此响屁不臭，臭屁不响。

吃了碳水化合物含量高或豆子之类含复糖的食物会增加放屁的频率。大多数人每天放十次屁，总共约 1.12 公升。纪录上最长的屁长达两分四十二秒。监控饮食或吞下多余的空气可以解决不断放屁的问题。

古罗马放屁的自由并没有维持太久，在公元 315 年，康士坦汀皇帝推翻了克劳地的法律。从那时开始，我们就很小心这人体自发的乐章。

标准答案: 1. (H) 2. (J) 3. (E) 4. (D) 5. (G)　6. (B) 7. (I) 8. (F) 9. (C) 10. (A)