【BBC紀錄片】凡爾賽宮 第27期：年少的愛情總是簡單美好
路易十五的婚事早已準備妥當(dāng)
When he was 15, his original fiance,
他15歲時 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歲
And, since 15-year-old boys loathe sweet, little girls,
因為15歲的少年厭惡甜美的小女孩
he was rather embarrassed to have her around the place.
所以他為女孩身處宮中深感窘迫
Also, the ministers were terribly keen to get him breeding,
而大臣們急于讓他生養(yǎng)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馬德里
and a new wife had to be found.
國王需要一位新的王后
They cast about for princesses,
他們想方設(shè)法尋找公主
and they eventually settled on Marie Leszczynska,
最終選定了瑪麗·蕾姍斯卡
who wasn't the most obvious choice,
她并非最明智的選擇
since her father was the deposed king of Poland,
因為她的父親是波蘭的廢君
and she really had no money.
而且她一貧如洗
She was 22, quite pretty,
公主年方22歲 美麗動人
although, as the female courtiers disparagingly remarked,
盡管女官們輕蔑地評論道
Her complexion had never known any other cosmetic than snow.
她窮得只能用雪當(dāng)化妝品
Nonetheless, 15-year-old boys aren't really very choosy,
盡管如此 15歲的少年并不挑剔
and Louis fell madly in love with her at once.
路易立刻瘋狂地愛上了她
一.rather：adv. 相當(dāng)，寧愿，有點兒
【詞語用法】
rather than和more...than的比較：前者表示“與其……倒不如……”，后者表示“更……比起……”，注意詞組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.
他依賴你勝過依賴我。
在rather加形容詞再加名詞的結(jié)構(gòu)中，冠詞a置于rather前后都可以，如a rather big dog和rather a bigdog(一只相當(dāng)大的狗)兩種表達都可以;
had rather屬于習(xí)慣用語，表示“寧愿，寧可”，主語短語中必須用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.
比起查爾斯我寧可和約翰呆一起。
had/would rather后一般接不含that所引導(dǎo)的從句，且從句用虛擬語氣。
I would/had rather you paid me now.
我寧愿你現(xiàn)在付錢給我。
had/would rather后還可接than，再加不含to的不定式，還要注意would rather后只可接動詞原形。
I would rather stay here than go on holiday.
我寧愿呆在這里，也不愿意去度假。
prefer to...rather than...表示“比起……更喜歡……做某事”，注意結(jié)構(gòu)中than后直接加動詞原形，而不是不定式to do。
I prefer to work rather than remian idle.
比起無所事事，我更喜歡工作。
fairly，quite，rather以及pretty的比較：
四個詞均屬于程度副詞。
Fairly一般修飾形容詞與副詞，表示很一般的程度。
“How was the film?”
“Fairly good. Not the best one I’ve seen this year.”
quite一般修飾動詞和名詞，表示的程度要比fairly深一點。
“How was the film?”
“Quite good. You ought to go.”
rather一般修飾動詞(尤其時感觀動詞)和名詞，表示的程度比quite要更強烈一點，意為“比預(yù)期的還要多一些”。
“How was the film?”
“Rather good. I was surprised.”
pretty是非正式用語，修飾形容詞與副詞，表示的程度與rather相當(dāng)。
“How’s things?”
“Pretty good. You OK?”
【錯句舉例與錯句分析】
錯句：They would rather to die than to surrender.
糾正：They would rather die than surrender.
翻譯：他們寧愿死也不愿投降。
分析：had/would rather后可接than，再加不含to的不定式，但要注意would rather后只可接動詞原形。
【例句用法】
1.Poultry is rather cheap now.
現(xiàn)在的禽肉相當(dāng)便宜。
2.I would rather fail than cheat in the examination.
我寧愿考不及格，也不愿意考試作弊。
3.I'd rather walk than take a bus.
我愿意走路而不愿意坐公共汽車。
4.I would rather stay at home.
我寧可呆在家里。
5.These shoes are rather too big.
這雙鞋有點太大了。
二.really：adv. 實在，真正地，事實上
【詞義辨析】
indeed，really，truly，actually
indeed: 一般用于肯定或證實對方所說的話，多承接前言，也用來加強或肯定自己說話的語氣。
really: 主要用于強調(diào)與事實或現(xiàn)實不相違背，也可表示不快、驚奇或某種含蓄的懷疑。
truly: 強調(diào)客觀存在的真實性，沒有任何虛假。
actually: 側(cè)重于實際的事，而不是憑空想象或推測的事。
【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.
該黨在受到選舉失敗的打擊之后，才真正地團結(jié)起來。
3.He's quite a nice boy, really.
他真是個好孩子，一點不假。
4.It's really cold today.
今天可真冷。
5.Did she really say so?
她真的那樣說嗎?
