---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-3/50-new-year-resolutions.md
description: 新概念英语第三册：New Year Resolutions。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 新年的决心

## 课文学习台 {#study}

### 第1段

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of "dos" and "don'ts". The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening. An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.

中文理解：新年是下决心的时候，至少在大多数人的心里会编排出一份“应做什么”和“不应做什么”的令人生畏的单子。相同的决心以单调的规律年复一年地出现。我们决心每天早晨起得早些；吃得少些；多花点时间与孩子们一起做游戏；做大量的家务；对不喜欢的人友善一些；小心驾车；每天都要遛狗；等等。以往的经验告诉我们有些事是办不到的。如果我们烟瘾大，戒不掉，那是因为屡戒屡败，失去信心。我们大多数人想自我完善却遭到失败，这是因为我们的规划过于宏大，而又根本没有时间去实施。我们还犯有一个根本性的错误，即把我们的决心向大家宣布。这样一旦溜回到那些老习惯上去，我们在别人的眼里会显得更加难堪。我深知这些问题，于是，今年我对自己的计划严加保密，只给自己定下两项适中的任务；每天早上锻炼身体，每天晚上多看点书。元旦前夜的一场通宵聚会，使我理直气壮地在新年头一天免去执行这两项任务。不过，新年第二天，我全力以赴地照做。

* **get up**：起床 / 赖在床上 / 吃早餐；把一天中的动作作为整体记忆；三餐前通常不加冠词。

* **results from**：导致 / 由……引起；同一个词，介词决定因果方向。

* **so that**：以便或以致 / 尽管 / 即使 / 仿佛；先判断两部分的关系；even though 说已知情况，even if 常说假设。

* **carrying out**：执行 / 继续；out 强调把任务实施，on 强调继续。

#### 这一段的读法与用法

注释：①mentally = in our minds/heads。②formidable = challenging, frightening。 ③recur year in year out = happen every year/year after year。④beyond attainment = cannot be achieved。⑤inveterate = firmly established in a bad habit。 ⑥frustration = feeling of annoyance and dissatisfaction。⑦carrying out = doing。

\[语法符号讲解] \[1]这里是because 引导的表语从句，该从句里面有一个that 引导的定语从句，故句末，表语从句的结束符号需要把定语从句的括号下面也予以标记虚线。

### 第2段

The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work. Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!

中文理解：晨练一共只有 11分钟，我打算在别人起床之前进行。这么一来，我就得要求自己比平时早11分钟起床，自律可是蛮难的。不过开头两天我还是成功地蹑手蹑脚地来到楼下起居室，谁也没发现。我在地毯上跳过来蹦过去，扭曲身子，摆出各种姿势，弄得浑身不舒服，然后坐到桌边吃早饭，一副筋疲力尽的样子。正是这副模样出卖了我（的秘密）。第二天早晨全家人结队来到起居室看我表演。这真叫人不好意思，但我心平气和地顶住全家人的嘲笑和奚落。不久，大家对我习以为常了，而这时我的热情却减退了。我花在锻炼上的时间逐渐减少，慢慢地从11分钟减到了零。到了1月10日，我恢复了原来的作息时间。我辩解说，早晨少耗费精力锻炼，晚上下班回家看书时头脑更清醒些。有几天晚上，我极力抵挡住电视的诱惑，坐在自己的房间里，两眼盯在书上。可是，有一天夜里，我感到又冷又孤单，便来到楼下坐在电视机前假装看书。这下我可完了，因为不一会儿，我就恢复了以前的坏习惯，在屏幕前打起瞌睡来。但我还没有放弃多看些书的决心。事实上，我刚买来一本叫《如何每分钟阅读一千词》的书。也许这本书能解决我的问题，但我一直还没时间去看。

* **got up**：起床 / 赖在床上 / 吃早餐；把一天中的动作作为整体记忆；三餐前通常不加冠词。

* **managed to**：设法成功做到；不仅是尝试，还包含最终做到了；try to 不保证成功。

* **used to**：过去常常 / 习惯于；used to do 说过去习惯；be used to 后说已习惯的事，别混用。

* **given up**：放弃 / 让步 / 送出或泄露；先辨认动作和对象，再决定能否替换。

#### 这一段的读法与用法

注释：①这里 back 表示回到原状；to 后的 where 从句作介词补足语，意思是“回到了当初的起点”，不宜因为含有地点意义就一概称为地点状语从句。

#### Summary 摘要

The writer exercised early in the morning for two days before anyone found out. When he sat at breakfast the second day, his condition betrayed him. His enthusiasm waned so that by January 10th, things were back to normal. However, he decided to keep his mind fresh for reading. He read on his own until one evening he went down and sat in front of the television, but he dozed off. He has now bought a book on speed reading! (80 words)

#### Composition 作文

\[1]Are New Year resolutions made to be broken? I think so. Some people are serious about them of course,but most know that they won't succeed in keeping them. That's probably why they make resolutions such as "I must be polite to Aunt Harriet" when they only see Aunt Harriet twice a year!—or "I must cut down on my smoking" when they only ever have a cigarette after a family lunch on Sundays! Such resolutions, then, are not only ridiculous, but hardly resolutions at all!

\[2]The last time I ever made a list of resolutions was five years ago. I remember now that I resolved always to do my college work on time, to keep my room tidy, to have nothing to do with the girls in the nearby girls' college, to write home at least once a week, to wash my dirty clothes regularly and to have a haircut once a month. What was I thinking of?! For most college students such resolutions would be impossible—and of course they were for me!

\[3]I kept three of the resolutions for a week, and a girlfriend from the nearby girls' college helped me to keep two more (the ones about keeping my room tidy and washing my dirty clothes regularly!) for another week. After that, I gave up in despair. Instead, I resolved just to try to be just a little bit more tidy and a little more thoughtful, generally.

\[4]I don't bother to make New Year resolutions any more since I have proved to myself and others that I can't keep them. There seems to be little point in breaking habits which have taken years to establish. (279 words)

### 第3段 · 原稿补充

The thing is, once you've known what love feels like, well, when you're without it, you feel lonely, like a huge something is missing.

中文理解：关键是，一旦你体会到了坠入爱河的幸福感觉，那么当你失去它的时候，你就会觉得很孤寂，如同很重要的东西不见了。

#### 这一段的读法与用法

注释：①从once 到最后的missing 为表语从句。②在该表语从句中，包含两个时间状语从句（分别是once…feels like和when…lonely）和一个方式状语从句（like…missing）。

## 学完这一课

保留原段的推进关系，换成自己的经历，写或说一段四五句的话。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-3/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*译文与解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第175—179页，2022年2月第3版。*