Unit 15-Gettysburg Address 林肯的葛底斯堡演讲课文讲解

Proposition—statement that expresses a judgement oow we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Unit 15
Text 1 A Gettysburg Address
Brief Background
Lincoln (1809—1865), the 16th president of the U.S.A. (1861— 1865). On 19th, Nov.1863, when he was invited to attend the ceremony at which the battlefield of Gettysburg was dedicated as a national cemetery for the soldiers who were killed in that battle during the American Civil War, he delivered the nowfamous Gettysburg Address.
7.The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
Detract—1), 减损，去掉． All the ornamental work detract from the beauty of the building ’s shape.
The author--- Abraham
Gettysburg Address
1. Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Fourscore– four score,80. a score means twenty. Bring forth--（old use),造成，尤指生产． Conceive—become pregnant. 孕育． Dedicate to—devote or give(oneself, time, effort, etc) to
１０．It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increase devotion to that cause for which they gave that last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
４．We have come to dedicated a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
A portion of—一份，部分．
9.It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
Nobly—in a noble manner. 高尚地；高贵地．
2).贬抑，损坏，诽谤．He always tries to detract from the work of other people in the same field.
8.The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
That cause—the cause of the upholding of liberty and the maintaining of the proposition that all men are created equal. 维护自由和人人平等的事业． In vain—徒劳地，白白地． Of the people, by the people, for the people—民有，民制，民享． Perish—(formal) be destroyed; die.毁灭；死亡．
Consecrate—使圣化；奉献．Consecrate to:The priest promised God he would consecrate his life to helping the poor. Hallow—make s.b./s.th. Holy; honour as holy．使某人某物成为神圣；尊崇．
Be engaged in—从事，忙于． The civil war—refers to the American Civil War, the war between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) in the United States (1861-1865). So– here is an adverb of manner meaning ” in this/that way.
3.We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have gathered together or assembled here on the great battlefield of that war. Met—is used as an adjective now only on extremely formal occasions, and it sounds rather old-fashioned.
Comments on the text
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has come to be seen as one of the finest speeches ever made in the English language.
The speech has come to be considered as one of the world’s great masterpieces, as literature and as a statement of equality. It is an invaluable piece of writing in literature for its depth of feeling, its concentration of ideas, its concisense, the elegance of its sentences, its sincerity and the endurability of its impact.
Resting place—(formal) 安息地，墓地．
That that nation—前一个that引导目的状 语；后一个作指示代词，that nation.
5. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
6.But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. In a larger sense—从深一层的意义上来说．In a sense. E.g. You’re right in a sense, but you didn’t know all the facts.