上帝也疯狂之英语学习1

It looks like a paradise, but it is in fact the most treacherous desert in the world: The Kalahari.

Bushman Xi preparing to throw the Coca-Cola bottle off the end of the earth.

故事发生在非洲一个未经开发的地方：卡拉哈里。虽然距离都市只有六百英里，但居民对于现代化事物一无所知。他们把天空偶然出现的飞机当作是上帝的使者。有一次从飞机上掉下一个空的可乐瓶子，居民以为是上帝送他们的礼物。很多人想到要独占它，人们开始为之争吵，甚至大打出手。一名叫“基”的土人决定把这个将原本平静的生活变得不安的东西还给上帝，于是他带着瓶子上路了。一路上，基经历了种种奇遇，也引发了无穷的乐趣。


The Gods Must Be Crazy is a film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a Sho of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian San farmer Nǃxau) whose tribe has no knowledge of the world beyond.

The film is a collision of three separate stories—the journey of a Sho to the end of the earth to destroy a Coca-Cola bottle, the romance between a bumbling scientist and a schoolteacher, and a band of guerrillas on the run.

The Sho of Xi's tribe are living well off the land in the Kalahari Desert. They are happy because the gods have provided plenty of everything, no one in the tribe has unfilled wants. One day, a glass Coke bottle is thrown out of an aeroplane. Initially, this strange artifact seems to be another boon from the gods—Xi's people find many uses for it. But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one bottle to go around. This exposes the tribe to a hitherto unknown phenomenon, property, and they soon find themselves experiencing things they never had before: jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, even violence.

Xi decides that the bottle is an evil thing and must be thrown off of the edge of the world. He sets out alone on his quest and encounters Western Civilization for the first time. The film presents an interesting interpretation of civilization as viewed through Xi's perceptions.

There are also plot lines about biologist Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers) who is studying the local animals; the newly-hired village school teacher, a former newspaper reporter named Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo); and some guerrillas led by Sam Boga (Louw Verwey), who are being pursued by government troops after an unsuccessful coup d'état. Also taking a share of the limelight is Steyn's Land Rover, dubbed the Antichrist (also Son of Maraka) by his assistant and mechanic, M'pudi (Michael Thys), for its unreliability and constant need of repair. Also part of the chaos is a fresh safari tour guide named Jack Hind (Nic de Jager), who would often steal Steyn's thunder.

Xi happens upon a farm and, being hungry as well as oblivious to the concept of ownership, shoots a goat with a tranquilizer arrow. For this he is arrested and jailed for stealing livestock. M'pudi, who lived with the Sho for a long time, realizes that Xi will die in the alien environment of a prison cell. He and Steyn manage to hire Xi as a tracker for the 11 weeks of his prison sentence, with the help of M'pudi, who speaks Xi's language. Meanwhile, the guerrillas invade the school where Kate teaches and use her and her pupils as human shields for their escape by foot to the neighboring country. Steyn and Xi manage to immobilize the guerrillas as they are passing by and save Kate and the children. Steyn allows Xi to leave to continue his quest to the edge of the world.

Xi eventually finds himself at the top of a cliff with a solid layer of low-lying clouds obscuring the landscape below. This convinces Xi that he has reached the edge of the world, and he throws the bottle off the cliff. This scene was filmed at a place called God's Window in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal, South Africa (now a separate province called Mpumalanga). This is at the edge of the escarpment between the Highveld and Lowveld of South Africa.

VOICEOVER: It looks like a paradise, but it is in fact the most treacherous desert in the world: The Kalahari.

After the short rainy season, there are many water holes, and even rivers. But after a few weeks, the water sinks away into the deep Kalahari sand. The water holes dry up and the rivers stop flowing. The grass fades to a beautiful blond colour that offers excellent grazing to the animals.

But for the next nine months, there'll be no water to drink. So, most of the animals move away, leaving the beautiful blond grass uneaten.

Humans avoid deep Kalahari like the plague because man must have water to live. So the beautiful landscapes are devoid of people, except for the little people of the Kalahari-- pretty, dainty, small and graceful -- the Bushmen.

While any other person would die of thirst in a few days, they live quite contentedly in this desert that doesn’t look like desert. They know where to dig for roots and bugs and tubers and which berries and pods are good to eat.

And of course they know what to do about water.

For instance, in the early morning, you can collect dewdrops from leaves that were carefully laid out the previous evening.

Or a plume of grass can be a reservoir.

lf you have the know-how, an insignificant clump of twigs can tell you where to dig and you come to light with an enormous tuber. You scrape shavings off it with a stick that is split for a sharp edge. You take a handful of the shavings, point your thumb at your mouth and squeeze.

They must be the most contented people in the world.

They have no crime, no punishment, no violence, no laws, no police, judges, rulers or bosses. They believe that the gods put only good and useful things on the earth for them to use. ln this world of theirs, nothing is bad or evil.

1. treacherous: 背叛的, 叛逆的, 奸诈的，危险的。这里取的是最后一个意思：危险的。电影开篇就介绍道：“这里看似天堂，其实是世界上最危险的沙漠。”

类似用法有：treacherous ice 看起来坚固而踏上去会破裂的冰，treacherous winding roads 危险的蜿蜒曲折的路，an unreliable trestle 危险的脚手架

2. rainy season: 雨季，又叫wet season，指某些一年中降水相对较多的月份。与此相对的是dry season（旱季），指在一年中降水相对较少的月份。

3. devoid: 缺乏的，空的。画外音介绍Kalahari“风景优美，却荒无人烟。”

类似用法：be devoid of ability 碌碌无为，be devoid of common sense 缺乏常识，be devoid of concern or sympathy 不关心的，不同情的, devoid of brightness 缺乏明亮或者吸引力

来看例句：

The house is totally devoid of furniture. 这所房子里什么家俱都没有。

The team is devoid of alternating attacks. 这个队缺少交叉进攻。

4. know-how: 专业技能，知识。这里指的是在沙漠中生存的技能。

5. clump of twigs: 一丛枝叶。clump是“一丛，一团”的意思，如 a clump of earth（一团泥土），a clump of bushes （一丛灌木）。twig是“小枝, 嫩枝”的意思，如snap off a twig （啪地一下折断一根树枝）。

6. come to light: 字面意思是“变明亮”，引申为“被发现，众所周知， 变得明确，使人知道”，这里可以译成“如果你有常识，这种不起眼的树丛会让你发现一块极大的块茎。“

来看例句：

New evidence has recently come to light. 新证据最近才为人知。

A political scandal has recently come to light. 最近一桩政治丑闻暴露出来。

7. shaving: shave这个动词的意思是刮，剃，刨，shaving是名词，指的是刨花、削片（被削下的一薄片或碎片，如木头或金属的）。

8. a handful of: 一把，少数，一小撮，例如a handful of militarists （一小撮军国主义分子），a handful of rice（一把米）。

来看例句：

A handful of common sense is worth Bushel of learning. 一点小常识常胜过很多有价值的学问。

A dull professor may have only a handful of students. 蹩脚的教授讲课，听众寥寥无几。

Only a handful of people were dead set on following him. 死心塌地跟他走的只是一小撮。