本课您将学到：drive(强迫、驱使)，date back to=date from(追溯)

　　你知道吗？被誉为"世界第九大奇迹"的三星堆遗址，原来是农民锄地偶得。

　　Accidental discoveries have often opened the door to beauty and wonder. The rock paintings in France that date back 15,000 years, for example, were discovered by two boys who were looking for shelter(避难所) from the rain. Or, the Sanxingdui Ruins(三星堆遗址), known by historians(历史学家) as the "Ninth Wonder of the World", were discovered in Sichuan Province by a farmer.

　　In the spring of 1929, Yan Qingbao, then a 43-year-old farmer, discovered a circular(圆形的) piece of jade(玉) while digging a hole. Driven by curiosity(好奇心), he dug deeper and found asgroupsof about 400 colorful jade pieces. Since then, more than 10,000 relics(残片), dating back to between 5,000 and 3,000 BC have been unearthed(发掘) at Sanxingdui.

　　But still, only four of the Sanxingdui Ruins' 12 square kilometers have been uncovered(开发). Who knows what other big surprises are waiting to be shown to the world?

　　【世博读书笔记】

　　accident是指“意外事故”，而意想不到就可以表示为by accident。

　　比如：I met her quite by accident.我见到她真是意外。形容词accidental意思就是“偶然的、意外的”。

　　Accidental discoveries意思就是“偶然的发现”，是第一句的主语。偶然的发现常常会打开美妙与奇迹之门。(Accidental discoveries have often opened the door to beauty and wonder)例如，有15,000年历史的法国岩画(The rock paintings in France that date back 15,000 years)就是两个男孩在躲雨时发现的。(were discovered by two boys who were looking for shelter from the rain)无独有偶，被史学家誉为“世界第九奇迹”的三星堆遗址(known by historians as the "Ninth Wonder of the World")也是四川省一位农民发现的。(were discovered in Sichuan Province by a farmer)

　　1929年春，当时43岁的农民阎清宝在锄地时发现一块圆形玉。出于好奇，(Driven by curiosity)他进一步挖掘，最终发现了一批约400件色彩各异的玉器。(he dug deeper and found asgroupsof about 400 colorful jade pieces)随后，三星堆还出土了10,000多件文物(more than 10,000 relics have been unearthed at Sanxingdui)，其历史均可追溯到公元前5,000到3,000年。(dating back to between 5,000 and 3,000 BC)

　　然而三星堆遗址12平方公里总面积中，至今仅有4平方公里被开发。(only four of the Sanxingdui Ruins' 12 square kilometers have been uncovered)谁知它还将呈现给世界怎样的惊喜呢？(Who knows what other big surprises are waiting to be shown to the world)

　　我们以前学过drive是“驾驶”的意思，今天我们来看它的另一个含义。

　　drive有迫使某人处于某种状态的意思。这种强迫有时让我们觉得很难受，比如有时母亲的唠叨实在让我们受不了了，就可以说She drives me crazy.这里drive someone crazy意思就是“迫使某人处于快发疯的状态”，也有惹恼某人的意思。再来看一个例子：

　　The noise from the neighbors is driving me crazy.

　　来自邻居家的吵闹声快把我逼疯了。

　　(也可以说成drive someone mad)

　　有时，我们受到某种不能控制的力量的驱使，但并不会因此而不愉快，也可以用drive来表示这种“驱使”的力量。比如第二段中的Driven by curiosity意思就是“受好奇心的驱使”。

　　【世博句型留言板】

　　今天，我们来学一个用于叙述历史的句型，date back to追溯到……

　　Date back, date是日期，back表示后退，也就是“回溯”的意思。Date back后面可以直接接年头数，比如date back 1500 years意思就是“可以追溯到1500年前”。

　　来看一个例子：

　　The mastery and skills of cooking in China date back thousands of years.

　　中国在烹饪方面的优势和技艺可以追溯到几千年前。

　　如果要表达“追溯到哪一年或者哪一个年代”，则要加上一个介词to，再接具体的年头或年代。比如：

　　My family has a vase, which is said to date back to Ming Dynasty.

　　我家有个花瓶，据说是从明代传下来的。

　　The origins of thesgroupsdate back to 1866 in Switzerland.

　　集团的历史可以追溯到1866年的瑞士。(也就是说，这个集团成立于1866年。)

　　这个短语还有另一种表达就是Date from，比如：

　　My interest of collecting stamps dates from my school days.

　　我集邮的爱好始于学生时代。

　　今天的节目里，我们讲的drive意思是“驱使、迫使”，句型date back to表示“追溯到……”。我是世博英语的大妮子，我们下次再见。

　　本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)大妮子原创编写！从零开始，循序渐进，地道英语，轻松入门！世博英语版权所有！未经书面授权，请勿转载！