锦瑟无端五十弦是你的谎言
听说，今天教资考试选择题考了，“瑟有多少弦”？五十弦？二十五弦？
不少同学因为李商隐的诗句「锦瑟无端五十弦」而选择了「五十弦」，但实际上答案是「二十五弦」。
借（cèng）此（gè）机（rè）会（diǎn），我们就来看看关于琵琶的故事吧
🤔️小作业：
1. What factors contributed to Wu Man's pipa being considered irreparable after the incident?
A) Its unique shape and the rarity of its wood.
B) The extensive damage to its strings and frets.
C) The complete separation of the neck from the body.
D) The lack of available repair specialists for such an instrument.
2. What does Wu Man anticipate for the future with her new pipa?
A) Immediate perfection in performance.
B) Potential after a period of adjustment.
C) The possibility of returning it for another model.
D) Selling it to invest in a more durable instrument.
无注释原文：
Reincarnation of Treasured Instrument
From: The New York Times, Oct. 9, 2013
This was a sound no musician should have to suffer: the destruction of her longtime instrument. In Wu Man’s case, in June, it was a loud crack, heard from her seat as a flight attendant, trying to stow her pipa in a coat closet up front, dropped it, breaking its neck.
The pipa is a Chinese lute of ancient origin, with four plucked strings and a pear-shaped body, played upright in the lap. Its back consists of a single heavy piece of wood, exquisitely curved from a rounded bottom to a tapering neck.
With that neck broken clean off the body, Ms. Wu’s instrument of 17 years, valued at some $50,000 and uninsured, was deemed irreparable. But thanks to US Airways, whose employee inflicted the damage, Ms. Wu has a new pipa, made in Beijing by the same master who had made her old one.
She will display it proudly in Hartford on Friday and Saturday evenings, when she performs Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Pipa With String Orchestra in the season-opening concerts of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Wu has done more than perhaps anyone else to popularize the instrument in the West, with her performances and recordings of both Western and Chinese traditional music and her work with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project.
“It’s a story that started with anger and has a happy ending,” Ms. Wu said this week in New York.
The June accident occurred as she was boarding a flight from Philadelphia to New Haven to join the Kronos Quartet in a concert at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Unable to fit the pipa in an overhead bin, she started to strap it into an empty seat next to her, as she had often done before.
“The flight attendant was in a bad mood,” Ms. Wu said. The attendant instructed her to remain in her seat and took the instrument to the front with fateful results.
“That instrument was quite special to me,” Ms. Wu said. “I made my whole career with her. I call her ‘her.’ ”
She left the plane but eventually made her way to New Haven, where she played on an instrument borrowed by the festival from a pipa teacher who lived an hour and a half away. Lacking a concert-quality backup instrument, Ms. Wu has had to borrow instruments from others in recent months.
When asked why she didn’t have a hard carrying case for the pipa of the type commonly used for Western instruments, Ms. Wu said that good ones simply don’t exist, the pipa being so distinctive in shape and not heavily traveled. She is researching ways to manufacture one, she added.
Similarly, when asked why the pipa wasn’t insured, she said that insurance was not readily available for an instrument that Western companies know so little about and don’t know how to value. She’s doing research there, too.
Her subsequent dealings with US Airways were “quite a pleasant experience,” she said. “I talked to the airline people every week.” With help from friends but using no lawyer, she reached a settlement covering the full cost of the instrument, and the company flew her to China twice to consult with the maker on finishing touches.
The terms of the settlement prevent her from revealing the cost, but she said that new instruments, varying widely in quality, can run from $15,000 to $150,000. A spokesman for the airline confirmed the details of the settlement.
The new pipa is a beauty to look at, with a back of aged rosewood, a face of sycamore and frets made of bamboo. It is also a beauty to hear in Ms. Wu’s hands, though she senses the need for some seasoning of the instrument and some adjusting of her own.
“It’s comfortable,” she said. “It definitely has potential, but it will take a couple of years to get my own music out of it.” Clearly, she relishes the challenge.
- ◆ -
注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Reincarnation of Treasured Instrument
From: The New York Times, Oct. 9, 2013
This was a sound no musician should have to suffer: the destruction of her longtime instrument. In Wu Man’s case, in June, it was a loud crack, heard from her seat as a flight attendant, trying to stow her pipa in a coat closet up front, dropped it, breaking its neck.
亲耳听着陪伴自己多年的乐器被摧毁——没有任何音乐家应当承受这种痛苦。今年6月，吴蛮就经历了这样的事，她坐在自己的位子上，一个空服人员想把她的琵琶堆到上面的衣物存储箱内，一个失手，琵琶摔在地上，折断了琴颈，发出破裂的巨响。
reincarnation
reincarnation /ˌriː.ɪn.kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən/ 表示“（灵魂的）转世化身，化身”，英文解释为“a person or animal in whose body a dead person's spirit returns to life”
2）表示“轮回转世说”，英文解释为“the belief that a dead person's spirit returns to life in another body”举个🌰：Hindus and Buddhists believe in reincarnation. 印度教徒和佛教徒相信轮回转世说。
3）表示“（昔时旧事物的）变体，翻版”，英文解释为“a new version or close match of something from the past”
crack
crack /kræk/ 作动词，1）表示“（使）破裂；（使）裂开；（使）产生裂纹”，英文解释为“to break something so that it does not separate, but very thin lines appear on its surface, or to become broken in this way”举个🌰：A stone hit the window and cracked the glass. 石块击中窗户，打裂了玻璃。
2）表示“说（笑话）；开玩笑，说俏皮话”，英文解释为“If you crack a joke, you tell it.”举个🌰：He drove a Volkswagen, cracked jokes, and talked about beer and girls. 那时他开着一辆大众牌汽车，讲着笑话，谈论着啤酒和女孩。
📰奥巴马卸任后首次重返白宫 和拜登互开玩笑文中提到，INSIDER标题：Obama cracks joke at 'Vice President' Biden during White House event.
作名词，crack /kræk/ 表示“裂缝，缝隙；裂口”，英文解释为“a very narrow space between parts of something”举个🌰：Cracks had appeared in the dry ground. 干涸的土地上出现了裂缝。
2）表示“爆裂声；噼啪声”如：the crack of a rifle/whip/breaking branch 步枪/鞭子／树枝断裂的噼啪声。
作形容词，可以表示“优秀的；顶呱呱的；第一流的”，英文解释为“excellent, or of the highest quality”如：a crack regiment 王牌军团，crack troops 精锐部队。
flight attendant
flight attendant /ˈflaɪt əˌten.dənt/ 表示“（客机的）乘务员”，英文解释为“someone who serves passengers on an aircraft”
stow
stow /stəʊ/ 表示“储存，储藏”，英文解释为“to store something”举个🌰：There's a big cupboard under the stairs for stowing toys. 楼梯下有一个很大的壁橱用于储藏玩具。
closet
closet /ˈklɒz.ɪt/ 表示“（尤指放衣服的）壁橱，壁柜，储藏室”，英文解释为“a cupboard or a small room with a door, used for storing things, especially clothes”如：a bedroom/linen/storage closet 卧室壁橱/家庭日用织品柜橱/储藏室。
The pipa is a Chinese lute of ancient origin, with four plucked strings and a pear-shaped body, played upright in the lap. Its back consists of a single heavy piece of wood, exquisitely curved from a rounded bottom to a tapering neck.
琵琶是一种类似鲁特琴的中国古乐器，琴身呈梨形，有四根拨弦，放在膝上弹奏。琴身后部用一块厚重的木板制成，圆形的底部到细细的琴颈形成一条精美的弧线。
lute
lute /luːt/ 表示“诗琴，鲁特琴（拨弦乐器）”，英文解释为“a musical instrument that has a body with a round back and a flat top, a long neck, and strings that are played with the fingers”
pluck
pluck /plʌk/ 作动词，1）表示“拨，弹（乐器的弦）”，英文解释为“to pull and then release the strings of a musical instrument with your finger to play notes”举个🌰：He sat on the bed, idly plucking (at) the strings of his guitar. 他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他琴弦。
2）表示“摘（花）”，英文解释为“to collect flowers by breaking or cutting their stems; pick”
3）表示“使…脱离险境，解救”，英文解释为“to remove someone quickly from a dangerous or difficult situation”举个🌰：The last passengers were plucked from the ship just seconds before it sank. 最后一批游客在船沉没前几秒钟被救起。
作名词，表示“胆识，勇气”，英文解释为“courage and a strong wish to succeed”举个🌰：She showed a lot of pluck in standing up to her boss. 她顶撞老板，显示出了很大的勇气。
string
string /strɪŋ/ 1）表示“（乐器的）弦”，英文解释为“a thin wire that is stretched across a musical instrument and is used to produce a range of notes depending on its thickness, length, and tightness”举个🌰：A violin has four strings. 小提琴有4根弦。
2）表示“一系列；一连串；一批”，英文解释为“a series of things or people that come closely one after another”如：a string of hits 接二连三的成功。
exquisitely
exquisitely /ɪkˈskwɪz.ɪt.li/ 1）表示“精美地;精致地;优雅地”，英文解释为“in a very beautiful and delicate way”举个🌰：Their house is exquisitely furnished. 他们的房子布置得非常精致。
2）表示“极端地，极度地”，英文解释为“in a way that is very extreme”如：an exquisitely painful disease 极为痛苦的疾病。
curved
curved /kɜːvd/ 表示“圆形的或弯曲的”，英文解释为“having a rounded or smoothly bending shape”如：a curved surface 曲面。
curve /kɜːv/ 作名词，表示“曲线，弧线；转弯”，英文解释为“a line that bends continuously and has no straight parts”如：a curve in the road 道路转弯处。
curve 作动词，表示“弯曲；成弧线运动”，英文解释为“to form a curve, or move in the shape of a curve”举个🌰：The road curves round to the left. 道路转向左边。
tapering
tapering /ˈteɪ.pə.rɪŋ/ 表示“尖细的”，英文解释为“becoming gradually narrower at one end”如：long, tapering fingers 修长的手指。
With that neck broken clean off the body, Ms. Wu’s instrument of 17 years, valued at some $50,000 and uninsured, was deemed irreparable. But thanks to US Airways, whose employee inflicted the damage, Ms. Wu has a new pipa, made in Beijing by the same master who had made her old one.
吴蛮这把琴用了17年，价值5万美元，未上保险，这一下把琴颈彻底摔掉了，肯定无法修理。造成这一损害事故的是全美航空公司的职员，公司赔偿了吴蛮一把新琵琶，由制作她原来那把琵琶的大师在北京制作。
uninsured
uninsured /ˌʌn.ɪnˈʃɔːd/ 表示“没有（驾车、医疗等）保险的”，英文解释为“not having any insurance to pay for medical expenses or for damage or injury while driving a car”如：uninsured drivers 没有上保险的驾车人。
deem
deem /diːm/ 表示“认为；相信”，英文解释为“If something is deemed to have a particular quality or to do a particular thing, it is considered to have that quality or do that thing.”举个🌰：He says he would support the use of force if the UN deemed it necessary. 他说如果联合国认为有必要，他就支持动用武力。
irreparable
irreparable /ɪˈrep.ər.ə.bəl/ 表示“不能修复的，无可挽救的”，英文解释为“impossible to repair or make right again”举个🌰：Unless the oil spill is contained, irreparable damage will be done to the coastline. 除非石油泄漏被控制住，否则会对海岸线造成无可补救的破坏。
inflict
inflict /ɪnˈflɪkt/ 表示“使遭受，使承受”，英文解释为“to force someone to experience something very unpleasant”举个🌰：These new bullets are capable of inflicting massive injuries. 这些新型子弹可以造成重创。
She will display it proudly in Hartford on Friday and Saturday evenings, when she performs Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Pipa With String Orchestra in the season-opening concerts of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Wu has done more than perhaps anyone else to popularize the instrument in the West, with her performances and recordings of both Western and Chinese traditional music and her work with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project.
周五和周六晚，作为本音乐季的开场演出之一，吴蛮将在哈特福德与哈特福德交响乐团合作，演奏卢·哈里森（Lou Harrison）作曲的“琵琶与管弦乐协奏曲”，届时她将自豪地使用这把乐器。在将琵琶向西方推广的过程中，吴蛮所做的贡献也比任何人都大，她的演出和录音中既有西方曲目，也有中国传统曲目，还参与了大提琴家马友友的“丝绸之路”项目。
concerto
concerto /kənˈtʃɜː.təʊ/ 表示“协奏曲”，英文解释为“a long piece of music for one or more main solo instruments and an orchestra”如：a violin/piano concerto 小提琴/钢琴协奏曲，Mozart's concerto for flute and harp 莫扎特的长笛和竖琴协奏曲。
orchestra
orchestra /ˈɔː.kɪ.strə/ 表示“管弦乐队”，英文解释为“a large group of musicians who play many different instruments together and are led by a conductor”举个🌰：She's a cellist in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. 她是伯明翰交响乐团的大提琴手。
symphony
symphony /ˈsɪm.fə.ni/ 表示“交响乐，交响曲”，英文解释为“a long piece of music for an orchestra, usually with four movements (= parts)”如：Mahler's ninth symphony 马勒的《第九交响曲》。
cellist
📍cellist /ˈtʃel.ɪst/ 表示“大提琴手，大提琴演奏家”，英文解释为“a musician who plays the cello”
📍cello /ˈtʃel.əʊ/ 表示“大提琴”，英文解释为“a wooden musical instrument with four strings, that is held vertically between the legs and is played by moving a bow across the strings”
“It’s a story that started with anger and has a happy ending,” Ms. Wu said this week in New York.
“这是个转嗔为喜的故事，”本周吴女士在纽约说。
The June accident occurred as she was boarding a flight from Philadelphia to New Haven to join the Kronos Quartet in a concert at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Unable to fit the pipa in an overhead bin, she started to strap it into an empty seat next to her, as she had often done before.
6月的事故发生在从费城到纽黑文的航班上，她将在那里与克罗诺斯四重奏（Kronos Quartet）合作，在国际艺术与创意节（International Festival of Arts and Ideas）上演出。她的琵琶在头顶的行李厢放不下，只能放在身边的空座位上，她以前一贯都是这样做的。
board
board /bɔːd/ 威尔·史密斯被禁止出席奥斯卡活动十年文中提到，board作名词，1）表示“董事会；理事会；委员会”，英文解释为“the group of people who are responsible for controlling and organizing a company or organization”举个🌰：Every decision has to be approved by the board (of directors). 每项决定都必须由董事会通过。
2）表示“（有特定用途的）薄木板；板；牌子”，英文解释为“a thin, flat piece of cut wood or other hard material, often used for a particular purpose”
board作动词，表示“（使）上（船、火车或飞机）”，英文解释为“to get onto or allow people to get onto a boat, train, or aircraft”举个🌰：At the airport she boarded a plane to Hangzhou. 在机场她登上了去杭州的飞机。
quartet
quartet /kwɔːˈtet/ 表示“四重奏（曲）；四重唱（曲）”，英文解释为“a piece of music written for four people”或者表示“四重奏乐团；四重唱组合”，英文解释为“a group of four people who play musical instruments or sing as a group”举个🌰：A string quartet was playing Mozart. 一个弦乐四重奏乐团正在演奏莫扎特的乐曲。
bin
bin /bɪn/ 1）表示“垃圾箱”，英文解释为“a container for waste”如：a litter bin 废物箱。
2）表示“容器；箱子；柜”，英文解释为“a large container used for storing things”如：a bread bin 面包箱。
strap
strap /stræp/ 作名词，表示“皮带；带子”，英文解释为“a narrow piece of leather or other strong material used for fastening something or giving support”举个🌰：Could you help me fasten this strap around my suitcase? 你能帮我用这条带子把手提箱系紧吗？
2）作动词，表示“用带子系（或捆、绑）”，英文解释为“to fasten something in position by fastening a narrow piece of leather or other strong material around it”举个🌰：Are the kids strapped into their car seats? 给孩子们系好坐椅安全带了吗？
“The flight attendant was in a bad mood,” Ms. Wu said. The attendant instructed her to remain in her seat and took the instrument to the front with fateful results.
“那个空乘人员脾气很差，”吴蛮说，那人让她不要站起来，然后把她的乐器放了上去，于是造成了致命后果。
fateful
fateful /ˈfeɪt.fəl/ 表示“对未来有重大（负面）影响的”，英文解释为“having an important and usually negative effect on the future”如：the fateful day 灾难性的一天。
“That instrument was quite special to me,” Ms. Wu said. “I made my whole career with her. I call her ‘her.’ ”
“那件乐器对我来说非同寻常，”吴蛮说，“我的整个演奏生涯都是和她一起缔造的，我用‘她’来称呼之。”
She left the plane but eventually made her way to New Haven, where she played on an instrument borrowed by the festival from a pipa teacher who lived an hour and a half away. Lacking a concert-quality backup instrument, Ms. Wu has had to borrow instruments from others in recent months.
她下机后最终还是赶往纽黑文，从一个家住一个半小时车程之外的琵琶教师那里借来了一把琵琶，在艺术节上演出。因为没有满足音乐会演出品质的后备琵琶，几个月来，吴蛮都得从别人那里借琴演出。
backup
backup /ˈbæk.ʌp/ 作名词，表示“备用物（如设备、计划）；后备人员；候补物，替代物，备用物”，英文解释为“If you have something such as a second piece of equipment or set of plans as backup, you have arranged for them to be available for use in case the first one does not work.”举个🌰：Every part of the system has a backup. 这套系统的每个部分都有备件。
作形容词，表示“伴奏的；伴唱的”，英文解释为“supporting the main singer, performer, etc. ”如：backup vocals 伴唱。
📍backup-dancer / back-up dancer 还有英式backing dancer都可以表示“伴舞”，英文解释为“a dancer who dances behind or with a main singer, performer, or band”
When asked why she didn’t have a hard carrying case for the pipa of the type commonly used for Western instruments, Ms. Wu said that good ones simply don’t exist, the pipa being so distinctive in shape and not heavily traveled. She is researching ways to manufacture one, she added.
她为什么不用西方乐手常用的那种硬盒子携带琵琶呢？吴蛮说，琵琶的形状太特殊，而且也不经常旅行，适合它的乐器盒根本就不存在。她补充说，目前她已经在设法定制了。
manufacture
manufacture /ˌmæn.jəˈfæk.tʃər/ 1）表示“（通常指工厂利用机械大量）制造，（批量）生产”，英文解释为“to produce goods in large numbers, usually in a factory using machines”举个🌰：He works for a company that manufactures car parts. 他在一家生产汽车部件的公司工作。
2）表示“捏造；编造；虚构”，英文解释为“to invent something, such as an excuse or story, in order to deceive someone”举个🌰：She insisted that every scandalous detail of the story had been manufactured. 她坚持认为报道中每一个骇人听闻的细节都是捏造出来的。
Similarly, when asked why the pipa wasn’t insured, she said that insurance was not readily available for an instrument that Western companies know so little about and don’t know how to value. She’s doing research there, too.
还有，她的琵琶为什么不上保险呢？她回答说西方公司对这种乐器知之甚少，不知如何估价，因此没有这个险种。目前她也已经在研究这个问题了。
insure
insure /ɪnˈʃɔːr/ 表示“（给…上）保险，（为…）投保”，英文解释为“to protect yourself against risk by regularly paying a special company that will provide a fixed amount of money if you are killed or injured or if your home or possessions are damaged, destroyed, or stolen”举个🌰：The house is insured for two million dollars. 该房子投保了200万英镑。
Her subsequent dealings with US Airways were “quite a pleasant experience,” she said. “I talked to the airline people every week.” With help from friends but using no lawyer, she reached a settlement covering the full cost of the instrument, and the company flew her to China twice to consult with the maker on finishing touches.
她说，她与全美航空公司的后续交涉是“相当愉快的经历”，“我每周都要和航空公司的人交流”。没请律师，在朋友们的帮助下，她达成一份协议，公司全价赔偿她的乐器，并提供两次她飞往中国的机票，与制琴者研究琴的润色细节。
subsequent
subsequent /ˈsʌb.sɪ.kwənt/ 表示“随后的，接着的；后来的；之后的；接后的”，英文解释为“happening after something else”举个🌰：The book discusses his illness and subsequent resignation from politics. 书中讲述了他患病及随后隐退政坛的事。
settlement
settlement /ˈset.əl.mənt/ 1）表示“庭外和解；庭外和解费”，英文解释为“an arrangement to end a disagreement involving a law having been broken, without taking it to a law court, or an amount of money paid as part of such an arrangement”举个🌰：They reached an out-of-court settlement. 他们达成了庭外和解。
2）表示“（结束争端的）协议”，英文解释为“an official agreement that finishes an argument”举个🌰：It now seems unlikely that it will be possible to negotiate/reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict. 现在看来和平解决这一冲突是不可能的。
3）表示“结算；结帐；支付”，英文解释为“the action of paying money to someone”举个🌰：The settlement of his debts took him several months. 他花了几个月时间才还清了债务。
📍2023年政府工作报告Part 13提到：住院和门诊费用实现跨省直接结算，惠及5700多万人次。On-the-spot settlement of cross-provincial outpatient and inpatient medical bills was realized, with over 57 million applications for settlement approved.
4）表示“定居；定居地”，英文解释为“a place where people come to live or the process of settling in such a place”
finishing touch
finishing touch，通常复数，finishing touches，指的是在一个项目、作品或任务的最后阶段所做的最后一些改进或修饰，目的是提升整体质量、外观或功能，确保最终成果尽可能完美。（the last thing done to make something complete）
📍put the finishing touches to/on 表示“做最后的加工（或润饰）”，英文解释为“to add the final improvements to something so that you are satisfied with it or certain that it is complete”
The terms of the settlement prevent her from revealing the cost, but she said that new instruments, varying widely in quality, can run from $15,000 to $150,000. A spokesman for the airline confirmed the details of the settlement.
协议条款规定她不得透露赔偿金额，但她说，新乐器质量差别相当大，价格可以在1.5万美元到15万美元不等。航空公司的发言人也确认了协议细节。
The new pipa is a beauty to look at, with a back of aged rosewood, a face of sycamore and frets made of bamboo. It is also a beauty to hear in Ms. Wu’s hands, though she senses the need for some seasoning of the instrument and some adjusting of her own.
新的琵琶外形美观，琴背以老红木制成，琴面用桐木打造，品格是用竹子制成。吴蛮用它弹出的音乐也十分美妙，但她觉得这件乐器还需要磨合，她自己也需要一些调整。
fret
fret /fret/ 作名词，表示“（吉他等弦乐器指板上定音的）品”，英文解释为“any of the small raised metal bars across the long, thin part of a stringed musical instrument such as a guitar, that show you where to put your fingers on the strings in order to produce different notes”
作动词，表示“烦躁不安；苦恼，发愁”，英文解释为“to be nervous or worried”举个🌰：Don't fret - I'm sure he's OK. 别发愁——他肯定没事。
“It’s comfortable,” she said. “It definitely has potential, but it will take a couple of years to get my own music out of it.” Clearly, she relishes the challenge.
“弹起来很舒服，”她说，“它的确很有潜力，但要过几年才能在上面真正弹出我自己的音乐。”显然她喜欢这个挑战。
relish
relish /ˈrel.ɪʃ/ 1）表示“享受；喜欢”，英文解释为“to like or enjoy something”举个🌰：I always relish a challenge. 我一向喜欢迎接挑战。
2）表示“期盼；憧憬；指望”，英文解释为“If you relish the idea or thought of something, you feel pleasure that it is going to happen.”举个🌰：She's relishing the prospect of studying in Hangzhou for six months. 她憧憬着在杭州学习6个月的美好时光。
作名词，relish /ˈrel.ɪʃ/ 可以表示“佐料；调味品”，英文解释为“a type of sauce that is eaten with food to add flavour to it”如：tomato and onion relish 西红柿洋葱调味汁。
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LearnAndRecord
2015年2月8日
2024年3月9日
第3318天
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