新概念3第48课The Silent Village是一篇读起来略有些惊悚的游记。作者和妻子误入了巴尔干半岛一个偏僻村庄，结果在村子里处处感受到了敌意，显然他们的到访是不受欢迎的。这一经历放在今天也有现实意义：并不是所有偏僻地区的人都热情好客，有时候游客的闯入对他们的生活只会造成困扰，并容易引发冲突。
文中有不少值得学习的语言点，我在下文做了分析：
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.
在这个旅游频繁的世界上，仍有成千上万个游人足迹未至的地方。人们总以为偏僻地方的村民们热情好客。但是，那些不但与外国旅游者隔绝，而且与本国同胞隔绝的人们有可能对游客抱有敌意。到真正偏僻的村庄去旅游并不是一件愉快的事情。我与妻子在一次周游巴尔干半岛时对此深有体会。
段落解析
In this much-travelled world, there are still thousands of places which are inaccessible to tourists.
much-travelled是个固定搭配，意思是“常在国外旅行的，常云游四方的”，要形容某人很喜欢旅游可以说：XX is a much-travelled person. 美式英语里面也写成much-traveled
在实际英语应用中much-travelled中间的连字符通常可以去掉，比如BBC新闻就有这样一个句子：
This independent lady, a much travelled person was taken from us far too early.
But people who are cut off not only from foreign tourists…
cut somebody/something off from…意思是“将某人或某事与……隔开”，比如：Accessible only by air, the town is cut off from the rest of the country. 小镇只有乘坐飞机才能进去，它与国内其他地方是隔绝的。
Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable—as my wife and I discovered during a tour through the Balkans.
as my wife and I…这里是as引导的定语从句，as指代"Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable"这部分内容，作为discovered的宾语。
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.
我们在一座小镇上逗留了几天，参观了附近许多古老的教堂。这些教堂吸引大量游客，不仅是因为建筑风格奇特，而且还有大量保存完好的壁画。我们离开小镇的前一天，镇上来了几辆满载游客的公共汽车。人多得使我们难以忍受，于是我们决定利用最后一天去乡间一游。我们走上了一条出镇的小路，穿过几块农田，来到一片茂密的树林。我们原以为小路会到此突然终止。没想到它到树林中继续向前延伸。我们在树林中跋涉了两个多小时，到了一条深溪边。我们可以看到小路在深溪对岸继续向前伸展，但却不知如何越过这道深溪。突然，妻子发现岸边泊着一条小船，船上有一船夫在呼呼大睡。我们轻轻地把他唤醒，请他把我们摆渡过溪。一开始，他很不愿意，但经劝说，终于同意了。
段落解析
These attracted many visitors, for they were not only of great architectural interest…
XX is of great architectural interest 相当于XX is interesting in terms of architectural styles，即是“XX极富建筑魅力”。
“be of+抽象名词”是英语里面一个常见搭配，它可以用来代替形容词用法，比如要表达“客户满意度很重要”，除了可以说：Customer satisfaction is very important. 我们还可以说：Customer satisfaction is of great importance.
On the day before our departure, several bus loads of tourists descended on the town.
a bus load / car load / truck load of XX是一个固定搭配，意思是“满满一巴士/一汽车/一卡车的XX”，文中several bus loads of tourists即“挤满了几辆巴士的游客”。
descend on这一词组用得很精准，它通常用来指一群人突然大量造访某地（尤其是在不是很受欢迎的时候），放在文中很贴切。
…we crossed a few fields until we came to a dense wood.
wood最常见的含义是“木头，木材”，但它在这里的意思是“森林，树林”，比如比尔布莱森（Bill Bryson）就写过一本书：A Walk in the Woods（林中漫步）
Suddenly my wife spotted a boat moored to the bank.
moor作为动词一般用来指“停泊，系泊（船只）”，它通常使用被动形式，上面的句子相当于：Suddenly my wife spotted a boat (that was) moored to the bank.
In it there was a boatman fast asleep.
这里用了倒装结构，将in it提前，这样可以跟上文联系更加紧密，句子还原后相当于：There was a boatman fast asleep in it (=the boat). fast asleep意思是“熟睡”。
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 village, 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.
顺着小路，我们来到一个座落在陡峭山坡上的小村庄。这儿有一条未经修筑的弯弯曲曲的道路，路两边排列着一些矮小的农舍。农舍全用灰色的土坯建成，因此，即使在晴朗的蓝天底下，村庄看上去也会令人感到难以亲近。村里似乎无人居住，唯一的生命迹象是附近田里一只面目可憎的黑山羊，用一截短绳拴在一棵树上。我们在田边一堵东倒西歪的篱笆墙上坐下来，打开几听沙丁鱼罐头，吃了一顿野外午餐。突然，我注意到妻子十分惊恐。我抬头一看，发现我们被一群衣衫褴褛的小孩团团围住了，他们在默不作声地看着我们吃饭。我们给他们东西吃，客客气气地同他们交谈，但他们却一动也不动。我认为这不过是他们在陌生人面前表现出的害羞。后来，我们在村里的主要街道上行走的时候，一队默不作声的孩子跟在我们后头。刚才还似乎空荡荡的村庄一下子活跃了起来，窗口露出了一张张面孔，只穿着衬衣的男人们站在屋子外面凶狠地盯着我们，披黑纱巾的老妇人站在门口偷偷地瞅着我们。最令人害怕的是到处没有一点声音。毫无疑问，我们的来访是不受欢迎的。我们不需要进一步的警告了。便掉转身子，沿着那条主要街道加快步伐，快速地朝深溪边走去，希望船夫还在那儿等着我们。
段落解析
The path led to a tiny village perched on the steep sides of a mountain.
A is perched on/above B意思是“A处于B的上方”，文中perched on the steep sides of a mountain是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰village，相当于：a tiny village (that was) perched on the steep sides of a mountain.
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.
the only sign of life being…是独立主格结构，其中the only sign of life是being an ugly-looking black goat…的逻辑主语。
Looking up I saw that we were surrounded by children in rags…
rags指的是“破旧衣服”，children in rags相当于children wearing rags，即“衣衫褴褛的小孩”。英语中还有一个短语from rags to riches，即“白手起家”。
Faces appeared at windows.
这里不写"People appeared at windows."而是使用faces作为主语，这样更有画面感。读这句话的时候我们能够想象出一张张脸出现在窗边默默看着作者和妻子的场景。
Men in shirt sleeves stood outside their houses and glared at us.
in shirt sleeves是一个固定搭配，意思是“只穿衬衫而未穿外衣的”，它也可以写成in shirtsleeves，比如：Franklin went to work in his shirtsleeves. 富兰克林穿着衬衫去上班了。
Turning back down the main street, we quickened our pace and made our way rapidly towards the stream…
down最常见的意思是“在下面，朝下”，但在句子中它的含义是“沿着，朝着”，比如：A young man came hurrying down the street. 一个年轻人急匆匆地沿着马路走来。
make your way to/towards…意思是“向……行进”，这一表达还有一个引申义“（在工作、活动、职业等中）逐步取得成功”，比如：This book will teach you how to build a career and make your way in life.
via 英文悦读
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