One is curiosity. Another is the personal feeling of success, of achievement.
这两句话中one和another分别都是代词,意思相当于one reason和another reason。
Leonardo Da Vinci, who lived in Italy during the fifteenth century, enjoyed every possible challenge.
这句话中有一个非限制性定语从句:who lived in Italy during the fifteenth century。注意,非限制性定语从句要用逗号隔开。
Leonardo Da Vinci是意大利文艺复兴时期的巨人,是众所周知的人物,所以去掉这个定语从句并不影响整个句子的意思。
Leonardo Da Vinci在诸多领域的挑战中所取得的杰出成就: He is an artist, an inventor and a scientist.
He learned a great deal about human anatomy.
learned在这里的意思是“懂得、知道、认识”。a great deal意思是“大量”,在这里是“大量的知识或学问”,相当于a great deal of knowledge,作learned的宾语成份。
短语a great deal作“大量”讲时可以修饰不可数名词,例如:
He spent a great deal of money on books. 他花了很多钱来买书。
a great deal还可以表示程度,有“非常、极其”的意思,可以修饰动词或者副词,例如:
I like her a great deal. 我非常喜欢她。(a great deal修饰动词like)
He runs a great deal faster than I. 他跑起来比我快得多。(a great deal修饰副词比较级faster)
Another kind of challenge faced the Egyptians between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago when ...
这个句子的谓语动词是faced,是及物动词,在这里的意思可以解释为“摆在……的面前”,它的宾语是the Egyptians,是被动的承受者。
如果用the Egyptians作主语,而又要保持原句的意思,那么动词face就要用被动语态形式,即:The Egyptians were faced with another kind of challenge.
face这个动词如果用作主动语态,而事物的承受者处于宾语的地位时,则face这个动词就使它的宾语具有被动的意味,例如:
the problems that faced us / the problems that we were faced with 我们所面临的问题
an economic crisis that faced the country / an economic crisis that the country was faced with 这个国家所面临的经济危机
如果事物的承受者作face这一动词的主语,face就具有“正视、面对”这样的意思,含有主动的意味,如:
Medical science faces the challenge of conquering the many diseases which still attack human beings.
在这句中medical science作事物的承受者讲,在句中作主语,后面的动词faces含有“主动迎接挑战”的意味;of后面的conquering the many diseases是动名词短语;which still attack human beings是定语从句,修饰前面的the many diseases。
face作“正视、面对”讲的例子:
He faced the difficulty with courage. 他勇敢地面对困难。
You should face reality. 你应该正视现实。
So, for thousands of years, people have accepted challenges.
谓语动词用了现在完成时,与表示一段时间的状语for thousands of years连用,表示动作从过去某时开始,持续到现在,还可能继续下去,是现在完成时中的未完成用法,请大家注意。
NOTES TO THE DIALOGUE
At the neighbour's
At the neighbour's 在邻居家中 = At the neighbour's home 这是's所有格结构中省略被修饰名词的用法,在以下的几种情况下可以采用这种省略形式:
1)被修饰的名词表示某人的家,比如对话中的例子,又比如:
Shall we meet at his brother's (home) tomorrow afternoon? 明天下午我们在他哥哥家碰头好吗?
2)被修饰名词表示教堂、学校以及其他公共建筑物,比如:
Did you visit St. Paul's (Cathedral) while you were in London? 你在伦敦的时候有没有参观过圣保罗大教堂?(St. Paul's后面省略了Cathedral,意思是“天主教大教堂” )。
3)被修饰的名词表示某个店铺,比如:
I go to the barber's once a month. 我每月去理一次发。
Do you often go to McDonald's? 你常去麦当劳吃快餐吗?
I just stopped by to remind you to leave a key for me.
stop by 顺路走访,顺便拜访,例如:
He stopped by the post office on his way home. 他回家的路上顺便去了趟邮局。
remind sb. to do sth. 提醒某人做某事,而“提醒某人某事”是:remind sb. of sth. 例如:
He reminded me of the promise I had made. 他提醒我别忘了许下的诺言。