基础英语轻松学——萨达姆的“美好生活”

In Iraq, everyday, bodyguards¹（保镖） knock open doors of several households（人家） and declare（宣布）: "You will have a guest tonight." They make the hosts leave in minutes with their toothbrush, toothpaste and nightclothes. Occasionally, they invite one family to stay in a hotel. Those who refuse to leave are stupid because the guest is no one else but President Saddam Hussein.

在伊拉克，保镖每天都要敲数户人家的大门。接着，他们会宣布：“今天晚上将有一位客人来你家。”他们让住户在几分钟内准备好牙刷牙膏和替换的衣服，迅速离开，偶尔他们会安排某户人家到宾馆住一宿。拒绝离开家的住户将是很愚蠢的，因为要来的客人是萨达姆总统。

Over the years, Saddam has made up various preemptive（先发制人的） plans to confuse（使困惑） assassins（刺客）. It is not until the night falls that the Iraqi President, owner of dozens of residences（住所）, will decide where to stay for the night. One principle（原则） he always abides³ by（遵守） to whenever meeting in the cabinet（内阁）, or receiving military advisers⁴（顾问） or foreign guests, is that he won‘t decide the time and place of meeting until the last minute.

多少年来，萨达姆为了迷惑刺客，精心设计了多种防范方案。只有到夜幕降临后，拥有几十处住所的伊拉克总统，才决定到某一处就寝。无论是召开内阁会议，接见军事顾问，还是会见外国贵宾，他也常常遵循同样规则：只有到最后一秒钟，才决定开会的地点和会议开始时间。

Saddam has survived（幸存） over 20 coups⁵（政变） and assassination⁶（暗杀） attempts（企图）. Once his childhood friend came to his presidential office and found his palace with the help of an officer. When he appeared, Saddam asked: "How did you find me?" The poor officer was killed immediately.

萨达姆安然度过了20多次政变和谋杀。有一次，当他孩童时代的一个朋友来巴格达总统办公室找他时，一名军官的那人指出萨达姆所在的宫殿。朋友出现在他眼前时，萨达姆问：“你怎么找到我的？”得知是一名军官指的路后，萨达姆当即下令杀掉那个军官。

【世博读书笔记】

1．abide² by

（1）表示“遵守、信守”，如：

She will abide by her promise.

她会遵守诺言的。

（2）表示“承担……的后果”，如：

You must abide by the results of your mistakes.

你必须承受因你的错误所造成的后果。

2．survive意思是“幸存”，可以做及物动词和不及物动词，主要有以下用法。

（1）做及物动词，意思是“从……中逃生”，如：

Only two passengers survived the air-crash.

这次飞机失事只有两名乘客幸免于死。

（2）做及物动词，意思是“比……活得长”，如：

She survived her husband by twenty years.

她丈夫去世后她又活了二十年。

（3）做不及物动词，理解为“幸存、残留”，如：

Few survived after the flood.

洪水后极少有人生还。

make sb. do sth.

使某人做某事

 The boss made them work all night.

老板让他们通宵劳动。

The man made the little child cry. 这位先生把小孩逗哭了。

*额外收获：

make sb. do意思是“让某人做……”或“使某人……”，如果把do换成形容词，就可以表达“让某人觉得……”的意思，比如：

This kind of stories make me sad.

这种故事让我难过。

如果把sb.换成sth.，即变成make sth. do sth.，就可以表达“使某物……”的意思，如：

It‘ll make the cabbage plants grow.

这会让卷心菜生长。

练习：

1．昨天Jim让我等了他很久。

2．他们要我复述那故事。

练习答案：

1．Jim made me wait for a long time yesterday.

2．They made me repeat the story.