很多小夥伴都想讀英文原著學英語，可每次看兩頁就放棄。為了幫助大家從閱讀中找到樂趣，曉梅老師就帶大家一起讀英文原著，看看有意思的故事，學學地道表達。先從A Short History of Nearly Everything《萬物簡史》開始。這本書從宇宙大爆炸開始講現代科學史，穿插了很多科學家的生平故事，妙趣橫生。本書作者Bill Bryson喜歡用口語化的語言敘述，因而裡面的英語要比一般的原著通俗易懂。
今天讀第5章關於地質學家詹姆斯•帕金森 (James Hutton) 的片段。詹姆斯·帕金森是一位英國醫生、地質學家、古生物學家、社會活動家。
帕金森原來不止是醫生
Then there was Dr James Parkinson, who was also an early socialist and author of many provocative pamphlets with titles like Revolution without Bloodshed. In 1794 he was implicated in a faintly lunatic sounding conspiracy called 'the Pop-gun Plot', in which it was planned to shoot King George III in the neck with a poisoned dart as he sat in his box at the theater.
詹姆斯•帕金森博士還是早期社會主義者，寫過很多富有鼓動性的小冊子，標題類似於《不流血的革命》。1794年，他被牽連進一場有些瘋狂的“氣槍陰謀”，當時有人策劃用氣槍發射的毒鏢刺殺在劇院包廂看戲的國王喬治三世。
Parkinson was hauled before the Privy Council for questioning and came within an ace of being dispatched in irons to Australia before the charges against him were quietly dropped. Adopting a more conservative approach to life, he developed an interest in geology and became one of the founding members of the Geological Society and the author of an important geological text, Organic Remains of a Former World, which remained in print for half a century. He never caused trouble again.
帕金森被押到樞密院審問，差點被戴上鐐銬發配到澳大利亞，後來對他的指控不了了之。經過這場意外，他漸漸開始對生活採取比較保守的態度，對地質學產生興趣，成為地質學會的發起人之一，還寫了一本重要的地質學著作《遠古世界的生物遺骸》，有半個世紀，這本書不停重印。他再沒製造過麻煩。
Today, however, we remember him for his landmark study of the affliction then called the 'shaking palsy', but known ever since as Parkinson's disease. (Parkinson had one other slight claim to fame. In 1785 he became possibly the only person in history to win a natural history museum in a raffle. The museum, in London's Leicester Square, had been founded by Sir Ashton Lever, who had driven himself bankrupt with his unrestrained collecting of natural wonders. Parkinson kept the museum until 1805, when he could no longer support it and the collection was broken up and sold.)
然而，如今我們之所以記得他，是因為他對當時叫做“震顫麻痺”的一種病具有劃時代意義的研究，這種病現在叫“帕金森症”。（帕金森身上還發生過一件讓他出名的事。1785年，他抽獎獲得一座自然歷史博物館，這在歷史上可能絕無僅有。這座位於倫敦萊斯特廣場的博物館是由阿什頓·利弗爵士創建的，他因為毫無節制地收集自然寶物而傾家蕩產。帕金森把這個博物館保留到1805年，那時他已無力支撐，只好分批賣掉藏品。）
詞彙與短語
1. conspiracy，[kənˈspɪrəsi]，n. 陰謀；共謀。
He was charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage. 他被控陰謀進行刑事破壞。
2. within an ace of (doing) something，差點就……
The team came within an ace of winning the championship. 這個隊差點就贏得了冠軍。
3. developed an interest in，對……產生興趣
He developed an interest in geology. 他對地質學產生了興趣。
4. landmark decision/case/ruling，具有里程碑意義的決定/案例/裁定
The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in January 2001. 最高法院於2001年1月做出了一項具有里程碑意義的裁決。
5. collection，[kəˈlekʃn]，n. 收集；收藏品。
Robert's collection of prints and paintings has been bought over the years. 羅伯特的印刷收藏品和藏畫是多年來花錢買的。
關鍵字: conspiracy 簡史 ace
