西南联大英文教程（西南联大英文课贫瘠的春天）
西南联大英文教程（西南联大英文课贫瘠的春天）willow /ˈwɪləʊ ˈwɪloʊ/ n. 柳树 可是在往年，这本是一件极容易的事情。他本可以指着屋子四周的柳树，给大家看就要抽条的嫩芽。但是现在树已经没有了，严冬饥荒时被他全砍了，一颗一颗地卖了。sap /sæp/ n. [植] 树液 stir /stɜː stɜːr/ vi.&vt. 微动In other years it would have been easy enough. He could have pointed to the willow trees（柳树 ）about the house and shown the swelling buds. But there were no more trees now. He had cut them off during the bitter winter when they were starving f
Barren Spring——Part 1
Liu （the farmer） sat at the door of his one-room house. It was a warm evening in late February and in his thin body he felt the coming of spring. How he knew that the time had now come（when sap should stir in trees and life begin to move in the soil）he could not have told himself.
农民老刘坐在自己仅有的一间房门口。那是二月末一个温煦的黄昏，他瘦削的身体已经感知到春天的来临。他怎会知道正是这时候树木的汁液开始颤动，泥土中的生命开始苏醒呢？他无法给自己一个答案。
barren /ˈbærən / adj. 贫瘠的
peasant /ˈpezənt/ n. 佃农
sap /sæp/ n. [植] 树液
stir /stɜː stɜːr/ vi.&vt. 微动
In other years it would have been easy enough. He could have pointed to the willow trees（柳树 ）about the house and shown the swelling buds. But there were no more trees now. He had cut them off during the bitter winter when they were starving for（挨饿） food and he had sold them one by one.
可是在往年，这本是一件极容易的事情。他本可以指着屋子四周的柳树，给大家看就要抽条的嫩芽。但是现在树已经没有了，严冬饥荒时被他全砍了，一颗一颗地卖了。
willow /ˈwɪləʊ ˈwɪloʊ/ n. 柳树
swelling /ˈswelɪŋ/ adj. 膨胀的
bud /bʌd/ n. 萌芽 vi. 发芽，萌芽
bitter /'bɪtɚ/ adj. 有苦味的；严寒的
one by one 一颗接着一颗
Or he might have pointed to the pink-tipped buds of his three peach trees and his six apricot trees 【that his father had planted in his day so that now】 being at the height of their time they bore a load of fruit every year. But these trees were also gone.
或者他本来还可以指着父亲年轻时亲手栽种的三株桃树和六颗杏树，给大家看那粉嫩的花苞。这些果树正值壮年，每年都会结下累累的果实，但是这些树也没有了。
peach trees /pitʃ/ n. 桃；桃树
apricot trees /'eɪprɪkɒt/ n. 杏仁；杏树
adj. 杏黄色的
in one‘s day 在壮年期；在某人的鼎盛时期
in any other …… than this 强调结构
at the height of their time 在他们的巅峰时期
Most of all in any other year than this he might have pointed to his wheat fields where he planted wheat in the winter when the land was not needed for rice and where when spring was moving into summer he planted the good rice for rice was his chief crop.
最重要的是，往年他还会指着麦地给大家看。在这块土地上，他冬天种麦子，因为那个时令没法种水稻；快入夏时，他就会插秧种稻子，而且收成很好。水稻是他田里的主要农作物。
in any other year than this 除了今年之外的任何一年
wheat /wit/ n. 小麦
spring was moving into summer 春夏之交
chief /tʃif/ adj. 主要的
crop /krɑp/ n. 农作物；庄稼
vt. 种植；收割
But the land told nothing this year. There was no wheat on it for the flood had covered it long after wheat should have been planted and it lay there cracked and like clay but newly dried.
但是今年地里啥也没有。没有离离的麦子，因为该种麦子的时候，田地被洪水淹没了，现在地都开裂了，像干不久的黏土一样。
land tell nothing 颗粒无收
cracked /krækt/ v. 破裂（crack过去分词） adj. 破裂的
clay /kle/ n. 泥土；粘土
vt. 用黏土处理
作者：Peal S.Buck
赛珍珠(Peal S.Buck)于1892年6月26日出生在弗吉尼亚州西部。1921年下半年，赛珍珠随丈夫布克来到南京，受聘于美国教会所办的金陵大学（1952年并入南京大学）。1938年度诺贝尔文学奖的获得者——获奖作品是中国题材的《大地三部曲》、《异邦客》和《东风·西风》；诺贝尔颁奖委员会对她的评语是：“对中国农民生活进行了丰富与真实的史诗般描述，且在传记方面有杰出作品”。
