Chapter 4 THE EXAMINATIONS

This chapter mainly centred on “The Examinations”,befor the exam,su brothers were married under the arrangement of their parents, they passed many exams with high honor,expecially,su tungpo were known as one of the first scholars in the land.But,unfortunately his mather died,they change the subject to obtain the official degrees,after they deal with the ceremonies,su senior ,su brother and their wife were departure from their homeland

1. sentence

1.1 At this time there was the custom of chuo-hun ("catch marriage"): rich merchants at the capital with unmarried daughters were on the lookout for the announcement of the results of the examinations, and were ready to negotiate financial settlements on successful bachelor candidates.

chuo-hun ("catch marriage")求婚，可以反映当时社会的风俗

on the lookout for 密切留意某事，

Chapter 4 THE EXAMINATIONS

Eg: You should be on the lookout for available job which is you admirable

            negotiate

vi. 谈判，协商，交涉;

vt. 谈判达成; 成功越过; 议价出售;

[例句]It is not clear whether the president is willing to negotiate with the democrats

还不清楚总统是否愿意和民主人士洽谈。

[其他] 第三人称单数：negotiates 现在分词：negotiating 过去式：negotiated过去分词：negotiated 商人重利，把儿女婚姻当做交易，故作者在这里用negotiate突出商人特点

译文：那时有求婚的风俗习惯，京中未婚的富商之女都等待着皇榜公布的那天，好想取得功名的未婚举人提亲。

1.2 It is not by any means implied that mistakes were not made by parents in arranging their children's marriages, or that a higher percentage of happy marriages ensued; all marriages, however arranged, are a gamble and an adventure upon an uncharted sea.

Uncharted

adj. 未知的，图上未标明的;

[例句]Carter's fourth album definitely moves into uncharted territory.

卡特的第四张专辑无疑涉足了全新的领域。

译文：但这不是说父母安排的婚姻就不会出毛病，也不是说父母安排的婚姻就圆满幸福。所有的婚姻，无论怎样安排就像是一场赌博，都是在未知海洋的冒险。

1.3 Hurriedly the father and brothers set out for home, to find the mother gone and the house in very bad condition, with the fences broken down and the roof leaking, "like the home of a refugee."

译文：父子三人即可启程回故乡，到故乡时苏东坡母亲已病故，家中一团纷乱，篱笆倾倒，房屋漏雨，就像难民的家一样。

2. Words

2.1 Imperial

Finally an imperial edict came…. special examinations.

adj. 帝国的，皇帝的; 皇家的，庄严的; 特级的; 度量衡英制的;

    n. 纸张尺寸，通常是23×23英寸; 特大号，特级品; 一小绺胡须; 马车的车顶;

[例句]They executed Russia's imperial family in 1918.

他们1918年处死了俄国沙皇皇族。

2.2 Hibernation

Again a period of compulsory hibernation followed until the ……two things had to be done.

n.过冬，冬眠

eg:Mama bear is going into hibernation.

2.3 Bodhisattvas

Su Shun had had images of six bodhisattvas made and placed in two carved ……

n. 菩萨( Bodhisattva的名词复数 )

eg: May Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Bless You