The silent village

原文

In this much-travelled world, there are still thousands of places which are inaccessible to tourists. We always assume that villagers in remote places are friendly and hospitable. But people who are cut off not only from foreign tourists, but even from their own countrymen can be hostile to travellers. Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable -- as my wife and I discovered during a tour through the Balkans.

We had spent several days in a small town and visited a number of old churches in the vicinity. These attracted many visitors, for they were not only of great architectural interest, but contained a large number of beautifully preserved frescoes as well. On the day before our departure, several bus loads of tourists descended on the town. This was more than we could bear, so we decided to spend our last day exploring the countryside. Taking a path which led out of the town, we crossed a few fields until we came to a dense wood. We expected the path to end abruptly, but we found that it traced its way through the trees. We tramped through the wood for over two hours until we arrived at a deep stream. We could see that the path continued on the other side, but we had no idea how we could get across the stream. Suddenly my wife spotted a boat moored to the bank. In it there was a boatman fast asleep. We gently woke him up and asked him to ferry us to the other side. Though he was reluctant to do so at first, we eventually persuaded him to take us.

The path led to a tiny village perched on the steep sides of a mountain. The place consisted of a straggling unmade road which was lined on either side by small houses. Even under a clear blue sky, the village looked forbidding, as all the houses were built of grey mud bricks. The village seemed deserted, the only sign of life being an ugly-looking black goat on a short length of rope tied to a tree in a field nearby. Sitting down on a dilapidated wooden fence near the field, we opened a couple of tins of sardines and had a picnic lunch. All at once, I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm. Looking up I saw that we were surrounded by children in rags who were looking at us silently as we ate. We offered them food and spoke to them kindly, but they remained motionless. I concluded that they were simply shy of strangers. When we later walked down the main street of the villager, we were followed by a silent procession of children. The village which had seemed deserted, immediately came to life. Faces appeared at windows. Men in shirt sleeves stood outside their houses and glared at us. Old women in black shawls peered at us from doorways. The most frightening thing of all was that not a sound could be heard. There was no doubt that we were unwelcome visitors. We needed no further warning. Turning back down the main street, we quickened our pace and made our way rapidly towards the stream where we hoped the boatman was waiting.

译文

在这个旅游频繁的世界里，仍然有数以千计的地方游客无法到达。我们总是以为偏远地方的村民友好而好客。但是，那些不仅与外国游客隔离，甚至与本国人隔绝的人们，对旅行者可能充满敌意。访问真正偏远的村庄很少是愉快的——正如我和我妻子在巴尔干半岛旅行中所发现的那样。

我们已经在那个小镇上逗留了数日，并参观了附近的一些古老教堂。这些教堂吸引了许多游客，因为它们不仅在建筑学上极富趣味，而且还保存着大量精美的壁画。在我们离去的前一天，几大车游客突然涌入小镇。这实在叫我们难以忍受，因此我们决定用最后一天的时间去乡间探险。我们沿着一条通往镇外的小径前行，穿过几片田野，直达一片茂密的树林。我们原以为小径会突然中断，却发现它蜿蜒穿行于树丛之中。我们在树林里跋涉了两个多小时，最后来到一条深溪。我们可以看到小径在对岸继续延伸，但却不知该如何渡过溪流。突然，我妻子发现岸边有一只系泊着的船，船上有个船夫正在酣睡。我们轻轻地叫醒了他，请他把我们渡到对岸。虽然起初他很不情愿，但我们最终说服了他。

小径通向一个依山傍崖的 Tiny 村庄。这个地方只有一条坑坑洼洼的土路，两旁排列着几间小屋。即使在晴朗的蓝天下，这个村庄看起来也令人生畏，因为所有的房屋都是用灰色的泥砖建成的。村庄似乎空无一人，唯一的生机就是附近田野里，一只丑陋的黑山羊被拴在树上的一段短绳上。我们在一道破旧的木栅栏上坐下来，打开几听沙丁鱼罐头，吃了一顿野餐。突然，我注意到妻子似乎充满了惊恐。抬头一看，我发现我们已被一群衣衫褴褛的孩子团团围住，他们默默地注视着我们进食。我们递给他们食物，并和颜悦色地同他们说话，但他们一动不动。我断定他们只是对陌生人害羞。后来，当我们走在村庄的主要街道上时，一队沉默的孩子跟在我们身后。原本显得荒凉的村庄顿时活跃起来。窗后出现了面孔。穿着衬衫的男人们站在屋外，怒视着我们。披着黑头巾的老妇人从门廊里窥视着我们。最令人恐惧的是，四周鸦雀无声。毫无疑问，我们是 unwelcome 的访客。我们无需更多的警告。掉头走下主要街道，我们加快了步伐，迅速向溪边走去，希望船夫还在那里等候。

词汇表

inaccessible

形容词

英:/ˌɪnəkˈsɛsəbl/

美:/ˌɪnəkˈsɛsəbəl/

定义

1. 无法进入的 - Not able to be reached or entered, often due to physical barriers or restrictions.

例子: The remote village is inaccessible by car during the rainy season.

例子: Some parts of the forest are inaccessible to tourists for safety reasons.

2. 难以获得的 - Not obtainable or understandable.

例子: Advanced scientific concepts can be inaccessible to beginners.

例子: The old manuscript's language is inaccessible without translation.

近义词

unreachable: 强调完全无法到达，常用于物理距离；与 'inaccessible' 类似，但更侧重于实际可达性。

impassable: 特指道路或路径被阻挡，无法通行；'inaccessible' 更广泛，包括抽象概念。

inapproachable: 更强调难以接近或亲近，常用于人或情感；'inaccessible' 更常用于物理位置。

反义词:

accessible, reachable, approachable

用法

常用于描述地理位置、交通或信息，语境包括旅游、探索或限制访问，常搭配如 'inaccessible to' 表示对某人或物不可达。

形式:

比较级: more inaccessible, 最高级: most inaccessible

关键句型 "not only... but also..."

定义

此句型用于强调两个或更多事物，其中一个是主要强调点，另一个与之并列，突出两者之间的联系。结构为：not only + [clause or phrase] + but also + [clause or phrase]。根据《剑桥英语语法指南》，这是一个并列结构，常用于正式或书面英语中，旨在加强对比或添加信息，使句子更富有表现力。例如，在文章中，“not only of great architectural interest, but contained a large number of beautifully preserved frescoes as well” 展示了这种强调。

它帮助学习者表达事物不止一个方面，从而使语言更精确和生动。

用法

此句型主要用于描述事物的多个特征、原因或结果，强调“不仅仅是……而且……”。规则包括：not only 后跟一个元素（如名词短语、从句），but also 后跟另一个平行元素，确保结构平衡。例如，可以用于句子开头、中间或结尾。在语法体系中，它属于并列连词结构，与其他连接词如 “and” 或 “as well as” 相关，但 not only... but also... 更强调对比和全面性。

横向比较：与 “and” 相比，此句型更正式，能突出优先级（如 “not only A, but also B” 暗示 B 更重要）；与 “both... and...” 相比，它强调一个方面基础上添加另一个，而 “both... and...” 则平等对待两者。跨语法联系：它常与从句结合，如定语从句或状语从句，帮助构建复杂句式。学生可以将其与条件句或对比句联系起来，例如与 “although” 比较，用于表达转折。

在实际应用中，此句型适合描述、解释或说服场景，如文章中的旅游描述。

注意事项

学生常犯的错误包括：不保持结构平行，例如 “not only the churches are interesting, but also they have frescoes” 应改为 “not only are the churches interesting, but they also have frescoes”，以确保主语和动词一致；另一个问题是遗漏逗号或倒装结构，如在正式英语中，“Not only did we visit, but we also explored”。纠正建议：练习时，确保 not only 和 but also 后跟相同类型的元素，并使用简单句扩展到复杂句。提供例句：

错误示例：Not only the village was deserted, but also there was a goat.
正确示例：Not only was the village deserted, but it also had an ugly-looking black goat nearby.

此外，学生可能过度使用导致句子冗长，建议在口语中适度替换为更简单的表达。

练习

原创例子：假设你在描述一个旅游景点，可以说：“Not only is the beach beautiful, but it also offers exciting water sports.” 学生可以替换关键词，如将 “beach” 换成 “mountain” 并调整为 “Not only is the mountain scenic, but it also has rare wildlife.” 这能帮助他们在旅行日记或对话中应用，例如在讨论偏远村庄时说：“Not only are the villages remote, but they also hold cultural secrets.”

通过这种替换，学生能加深对句型的掌握，并将其用于个人叙述，增强语言的表达力。

额外内容

背景知识：此句型源于古典英语的修辞手法，类似于拉丁语的排比结构，在现代英语中用于增强说服力或文学效果。对比分析：与中文的 “不但……而且……” 类似，但英语版本更注重语法平行，强调平衡性；与法语的 “non seulement... mais aussi...” 相比，英语更灵活，不需要特定的动词变化。这能帮助学生理解英语的对比表达方式，丰富跨文化沟通能力。