《哈利•波特與魔法石》（精講之三）
[ 2007-05-06 09:33 ]
影片對白 Nothing, I repeat, nothing
gives a student the right to walk about the school at night.
考考你 現學現賣
3. Pull oneself together
意思是"恢復冷靜，恢復自控"，例如：After that frightening episode, it took her a while to pull
herself together.
4. Have one's wits about one
這個片語也寫作"keep one's wits about one"，意思是"Remain alert or calm, especially in a
crisis"，例如：After the collision I had my wits about me and got his name and
license number.
文化面面觀
龍之眾說紛紜 About Dragons
 魔幻小說里幾乎都少不了龍。Dragons are mentioned throughout the
Harry Potter books and a baby dragon appears in the first installment and
dragons later play a significant role in the fourth. They are portrayed as
having strong magic (even in their blood), but they do not exhibit any hints of
intelligence or self-awareness. Within the series, dragons are considered very
dangerous by most characters (Rubeus Hagrid being a notable exception) and
private ownership of dragons is illegal.
在人類歷史中，龍一直是個經久不老的傳說。Dragons are commonly portrayed as serpentine or
reptilian, hatching from eggs and possessing extremely large, typically scaly,
bodies; they are sometimes portrayed as having large eyes, a feature that is the
origin for the word for dragon in many cultures, and are often (but not always)
portrayed with wings and a fiery breath. Some dragons do not have wings at all,
but look more like long snakes. Dragons can have a variable number of legs:
none, two or four. Modern depictions of dragons are very large in size, but some
early European depictions of dragons were only the size of bears, or, in some
cases, even smaller, around the size of a butterfly.
Although dragons (or dragon-like creatures) occur commonly in legends around
the world, different cultures have perceived them differently. Chinese dragons,
and Eastern dragons generally, are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European
dragons are usually malevolent (there are of course exceptions to these rules).
Malevolent dragons also occur in Persian mythology and other cultures.
Dragons are often held to have major spiritual significance in various
religions and cultures around the world. In many Eastern and Native American
cultures dragons were, and in some cultures still are, revered as representative
of the primal forces of nature and the universe. They are associated with
wisdom-often said to be wiser than humans-and longevity. They are commonly said
to possess some form of magic or other supernormal power, and are often
associated with wells, rain, and rivers. In some cultures, they are said to be
capable of human speech.
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