Lesson 4 Seeing hands
第四课 能看东西的手

by ERIC DE MAUNY
from The Listener

4-1. Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can read and detect colours with their fingers, and even see through solid doors and walls.

【译文】

俄罗斯最近报导了几个事例，说有人能用手指看书和辨认颜色，甚至双眼能透过厚实的门和墙看到东西。

【讲解】

of people who can…walls作定语修饰cases，这部分较长，所以被移到谓语部分后，这样句子就不会头重脚轻。句中的of意为“关于”。

【单词和短语】

detect：察觉，发觉（to notice or discover something, especially something that is not easy to see, hear etc.）。

4-2. One case concerns an eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova, who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls.

【译文】

有一例涉及11岁学生维拉•彼托洛娃，她视力正常，但她还能用皮肤的不同部位辨认东西，甚至看穿坚实的墙壁。

【讲解】

and through solid walls与with different parts of her skin并列作状语，修饰perceive。

【单词和短语】

normal的反义词为abnormal。
perceive：感觉，感知（to notice, see, or recognize something）。

4-3. This ability was first noticed by her father.

【译文】

她父亲首先发现她具备这一能力。

【讲解】

this ability指上句中perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls。

4-4. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe.

【译文】

一天，维拉进入父亲的办公室，碰巧把双手放在一个锁着的保险柜的门上。

【单词和短语】

happened to do something：碰巧做某事（if you happen to do something, you do it by chance），

例如：
I happened to look in that direction and caught him in the act of doing it.
我碰巧朝那个方向看，正好目睹他在做那事。

safe:保险柜（a strong metal box or cupboard with special locks where you keep money and valuable things）。

4-5. Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in bundles.

【译文】

她突然问父亲为什么把这么多的旧报纸锁在柜子里，她甚至还描述了捆扎报纸的方式。

【讲解】

locked away there作kept的宾语补足语。lock sth. away意为“把某物锁起来”。there指locked safe。they were done up in bundles作定语修饰way，意为“报纸是怎样捆着的”。they指newspaper。

【单词和短语】

do up：捆，包（to fasten something，or to be fastened in a particular way）。