One man's meat is another man's poison

原文

People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider octopus a great delicacy. You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat -- the normally accepted practice in many northern countries. The sad truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we stick to them all our lives.

No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail. Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world. There are countless people who, ever since their early years, have learned to associate snails with food. My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised. As his flat is in a large town, he has no garden of his own. For years he has been asking me to collect snails from my garden and take them to him. The idea never appealed to me very much, but one day, after heavy shower, I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants. Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag, and took them to Robert. Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my little gift. I left the bag in the hall and Robert and I went into the living room where we talked for a couple of hours. I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert suddenly said that I must stay to dinner. Snails would, of course, be the main dish. I did not fancy the idea and I reluctantly followed Robert out of the room. To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere: they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete possession of the hall! I have never been able to look at a snail since then.

译文

人们在决定什么能吃，什么不能吃时，往往变得很不合逻辑。例如，如果你住在地中海地区，你就会把章鱼看作是美味无比的佳肴。你无法理解为什么有些人觉得它令人作呕。另一方面，你一想到用动物油炸土豆就会感到恶心——这在许多北方国家却是司空见惯的做法。可悲的事实是，我们大多数人从小就被教育吃某些食物，而且一辈子都墨守成规。

没有一种生物像普通的花园蜗牛那样，既受人称赞又遭人诅咒。用酒煮了，蜗牛在世界许多地方都是一种珍贵的奢侈品。有无数人，从小就学会把蜗牛和食物联系起来。我的朋友罗伯特住在一个蜗牛被人们瞧不起的国家。他的公寓在一座大城市里，所以他没有自己的花园。多年来，他一直要我从我的花园里收集蜗牛给他带去。这个主意一直没有让我特别感兴趣，但是有一天，一场大雨过后，我碰巧在花园里散步，这时我注意到有大量蜗牛在我的珍贵植物上漫步。出于一时冲动，我收集了几十只，把它们装进一个纸袋里，带给了罗伯特。罗伯特见到我非常高兴，对我的小礼物也同样满意。我把袋子放在门厅里，然后我们进了起居室，在那里聊了几个小时。我已经完全忘记了蜗牛的事，这时罗伯特突然说，我必须留下来吃晚饭。当然，蜗牛是主菜。我不喜欢这个主意，于是勉强跟着罗伯特走出了房间。让我们吃惊的是，我们看到蜗牛到处都是：它们已经从纸袋里逃了出来，把整个门厅都占为己有了！从那以后，我再也看不得蜗牛了。

词汇表

illogical

形容词

英:/ɪˈlɒdʒɪk(ə)l/

美:/ɪˈlɑːdʒɪk(ə)l/

定义

1. 不合理的；不合逻辑的 - Not using or following reason; not logical.

例子: People become quite illogical when deciding what to eat.

例子: His illogical fear of spiders prevents him from going outside.

2. 缺乏理性的 - Lacking sense or clear reasoning.

例子: The decision was illogical and based on emotions.

例子: In arguments, people can become illogical under stress.

近义词

irrational: 强调缺乏理性，常用于情绪驱动的决定，而 'illogical' 更侧重于不符合逻辑结构。

unreasonable: 暗示不公平或不合常理，'illogical' 则更中性地指不符合推理。

absurd: 带有强烈的情感色彩，意味着荒谬或可笑，'illogical' 则更客观。

反义词:

logical, rational, sensible

用法

常用于描述行为或决策在逻辑上不一致，常出现在讨论情感或文化偏见时；语境多为非正式或分析性讨论。

形式:

副词: illogically, 名词形式: illogicality

深入解析：关键句型 "If + past simple, subject + would + base verb"

定义

这个句型是英语中第二类条件句的典型结构，用于描述与现在事实相反的假设情况。基本结构为：If + 主语 + 过去式动词（条件从句），后跟主语 + would + 动词原形（主句）。例如，在文章中如 "If you lived in the Mediterranean, you would consider octopus a great delicacy." 权威教材如《新概念英语》或《Cambridge Grammar in Use》定义它为表达 unreal 或 hypothetical 的条件，强调一种不可能或不太可能发生的现在或将来的情况。它的核心含义是探讨假设结果，帮助学习者表达虚拟的观点或推测。

用法

此句型常用于日常对话、故事叙述或讨论偏好中，规则是条件从句使用过去时（past simple），主句使用 would + 动词原形，以表示结果。在语法体系中，它属于条件句家族的一部分，与第一类条件句（真实条件，If + present, will + verb）和第三类条件句（对过去的假设，If + past perfect, would have + past participle）相关联，建立跨语法点联系。例如，它可以与时间状语如 "if" 结合，扩展到更复杂的句子中。学生可以通过这个句型学习如何从真实条件过渡到虚拟条件，增强表达假设的能力。在文章中，它用于对比文化差异，帮助读者理解主观偏好。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：混淆时态，例如用现在时替换过去时（如说 "If you live... you will consider..."，这变成第一类条件句，改变了含义）；或遗漏 would 在主句中，导致句子不完整（如 "If you lived, you consider..."）。另一个常见偏误是错误使用 would 在条件从句中（如 "If you would lived..."，这是不对的）。纠正建议：始终记住条件从句用过去时，主句用 would + 动词原形；练习时，注意语境，避免在真实情况下使用虚拟语气。还需注意，在口语中，学生可能过度使用这个句型，导致表达过于正式；建议结合实际场景练习，以免偏误。

练习

一个额外的例子："If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world." 这个句子帮助学生应用句型，假设一个不可能的情况。通过这个例子，学生可以替换动词和主语，例如 "If you studied harder, you would get better grades."，并尝试在对话中实际使用，如讨论个人梦想或假设场景，以强化理解。

额外内容

背景知识：这个句型源于英语的虚拟语气系统，起源于古英语的亚junctive mood，在现代英语中用于礼貌或委婉表达。对比分析：与中文的假设句不同，英语更依赖特定时态结构；例如，中文可能简单用 "如果...就..."，而英语需精确时态。在法语中，类似结构使用条件式（如 si + imparfait, conditionnel），但英语更直观。补充信息：掌握此句型后，学生能更好地处理文学或新闻中的假设描述，提升语言的表达深度和灵活性。