【BBC纪录片】凡尔赛宫 第27期：年少的爱情总是简单美好
路易十五的婚事早已准备妥当
When he was 15, his original fiance,
他15岁时 最初的未婚妻
who was the little Infanta of Spain,
西班牙的小郡主
was still only five years old.
只有5岁
And, since 15-year-old boys loathe sweet, little girls,
因为15岁的少年厌恶甜美的小女孩
he was rather embarrassed to have her around the place.
所以他为女孩身处宫中深感窘迫
Also, the ministers were terribly keen to get him breeding,
而大臣们急于让他生养后代
so the little Infanta and
所以小郡主
her dolls were packed off back to Madrid,
和她的娃娃只能收拾行李返回马德里
and a new wife had to be found.
国王需要一位新的王后
They cast about for princesses,
他们想方设法寻找公主
and they eventually settled on Marie Leszczynska,
最终选定了玛丽·蕾姗斯卡
who wasn't the most obvious choice,
她并非最明智的选择
since her father was the deposed king of Poland,
因为她的父亲是波兰的废君
and she really had no money.
而且她一贫如洗
She was 22, quite pretty,
公主年方22岁 美丽动人
although, as the female courtiers disparagingly remarked,
尽管女官们轻蔑地评论道
Her complexion had never known any other cosmetic than snow.
她穷得只能用雪当化妆品
Nonetheless, 15-year-old boys aren't really very choosy,
尽管如此 15岁的少年并不挑剔
and Louis fell madly in love with her at once.
路易立刻疯狂地爱上了她
一.rather：adv. 相当，宁愿，有点儿
【词语用法】
rather than和more...than的比较：前者表示“与其……倒不如……”，后者表示“更……比起……”，注意词组more...than中的than前面不可以加上rather。
He depends on you rather than on me.
He depends more on you than on me.
他依赖你胜过依赖我。
在rather加形容词再加名词的结构中，冠词a置于rather前后都可以，如a rather big dog和rather a bigdog(一只相当大的狗)两种表达都可以;
had rather属于习惯用语，表示“宁愿，宁可”，主语短语中必须用had，不可以改成have，且一般其后面接不含to的不定式。
I had rather stay with John than with Charles.
比起查尔斯我宁可和约翰呆一起。
had/would rather后一般接不含that所引导的从句，且从句用虚拟语气。
I would/had rather you paid me now.
我宁愿你现在付钱给我。
had/would rather后还可接than，再加不含to的不定式，还要注意would rather后只可接动词原形。
I would rather stay here than go on holiday.
我宁愿呆在这里，也不愿意去度假。
prefer to...rather than...表示“比起……更喜欢……做某事”，注意结构中than后直接加动词原形，而不是不定式to do。
I prefer to work rather than remian idle.
比起无所事事，我更喜欢工作。
fairly，quite，rather以及pretty的比较：
四个词均属于程度副词。
Fairly一般修饰形容词与副词，表示很一般的程度。
“How was the film?”
“Fairly good. Not the best one I’ve seen this year.”
quite一般修饰动词和名词，表示的程度要比fairly深一点。
“How was the film?”
“Quite good. You ought to go.”
rather一般修饰动词(尤其时感观动词)和名词，表示的程度比quite要更强烈一点，意为“比预期的还要多一些”。
“How was the film?”
“Rather good. I was surprised.”
pretty是非正式用语，修饰形容词与副词，表示的程度与rather相当。
“How’s things?”
“Pretty good. You OK?”
【错句举例与错句分析】
错句：They would rather to die than to surrender.
纠正：They would rather die than surrender.
翻译：他们宁愿死也不愿投降。
分析：had/would rather后可接than，再加不含to的不定式，但要注意would rather后只可接动词原形。
【例句用法】
1.Poultry is rather cheap now.
现在的禽肉相当便宜。
2.I would rather fail than cheat in the examination.
我宁愿考不及格，也不愿意考试作弊。
3.I'd rather walk than take a bus.
我愿意走路而不愿意坐公共汽车。
4.I would rather stay at home.
我宁可呆在家里。
5.These shoes are rather too big.
这双鞋有点太大了。
二.really：adv. 实在，真正地，事实上
【词义辨析】
indeed，really，truly，actually
indeed: 一般用于肯定或证实对方所说的话，多承接前言，也用来加强或肯定自己说话的语气。
really: 主要用于强调与事实或现实不相违背，也可表示不快、惊奇或某种含蓄的怀疑。
truly: 强调客观存在的真实性，没有任何虚假。
actually: 侧重于实际的事，而不是凭空想象或推测的事。
【例句用法】
1.I'm not really sure.
我不太清楚。
2.After the shock of their electoral defeat, the party really began to pull together.
该党在受到选举失败的打击之后，才真正地团结起来。
3.He's quite a nice boy, really.
他真是个好孩子，一点不假。
4.It's really cold today.
今天可真冷。
5.Did she really say so?
她真的那样说吗?
