Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What was the chance in a million for Franz?
Vocabulary:
credulous adj. 轻信的
improbable adj. 不大可能的
obscure adj. 不起眼的
maidservant n. 女仆，女拥
presume v. 假定
wickedly adv. 心眼坏地，居心叵测地
plot v. 密谋
downfall n. 倒台，垮台
naive adj. 天真的
unacceptable adj. 不能接受的
conspire v. (事件)巧合促成
incredible adj. 难以置信的
resemblance n. 相似
scorn n. 嘲弄，挖苦
acquaint v. 使了解
reunite v. 使团聚
assume v. 假定，认为
Passage:
We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century, a novelist would
bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences
— most of them wildly improbable. Readers happily accepted the fact that an
obscure maidservant was really the hero's mother. A long-lost brother, who was
presumed dead, was really alive all the time and wickedly plotting to bring about the
hero's downfall. And so on. Modern readers would find such naive solutions totally
unacceptable. Yet, in real life, circumstances do sometimes conspire to bring about
coincidences which anyone but a nineteenth century novelist would find incredible.
我们不再像以往那样轻易相信别人了。在 19 世纪，小说家常在小说结尾处给读
者准备一系列巧合——大部分是牵强附会，极不可能的。当时的读者却愉快地接
受这样一些事实：一个低贱的女佣实际上是主人公的母亲；主人公一位长期失散
的兄弟，大家都以为死了，实际上一直活着，并且正在策划暗算主人公；如此等
等。现代读者会觉得这种天真的结局完全无法接受。不过，在现实生活中，有时
确实会出现一些巧合。这些巧合除了 19 世纪小说家外谁也不会相信。
Notes:
1 bring… to a conclusion，作“使……结束”讲。
2 bring about，造成，导致。
3 and so on，等等，诸如此类。
4 do sometimes conspire 中，do 为助动词，对谓语动词起强调作用。
When I was a boy, my grandfather told me how a German taxi driver, Franz Bussman,
found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before. While on a
walking tour with his wife, he stopped to talk to a workman. After they had gone on,
Mrs. Bussman commented on the workman's close resemblance to her husband and
even suggested that he might be his brother. Franz poured scorn on the idea, pointing
out that his brother had been killed in action during the war. Though Mrs. Bussman
was fully acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million
that she might be right. A few days later, she sent a boy to the workman to ask him if
his name was Hans Bussman.
当我是个孩子的时候，我祖父给我讲了一位德国出租汽车司机弗朗兹 · 巴斯曼如
何找到了据信已在 20 年前死去的兄弟的事。一次，他与妻子徒步旅行。途中，
停下来与一个工人交谈，接着他们继续往前走去。巴斯曼夫人说那工人与她丈夫
相貌很像，甚至猜测他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗朗兹对此不屑一顾，指出他兄
弟已经在战争中阵亡了。尽管巴斯曼夫人熟知这个情况，但她仍然认为自己的想
法仍有百万分之一的可能性。几天后，她派了一个男孩去问那人是否叫汉斯· 巴
斯曼。
5 while on a walking tour…,while 后面省略了主谓结构 he was。在表示时间、地点、
条件、让步等的状语从句中，从句的主语如与主句的主语相同，常省略从句的主
语和谓语。
6 pour scorn on…，作“讥笑……”讲。
7 point out，指出，提请注意。
8 be acquainted with，已知道。
Needless to say, the man's name was Hans Bussman and he really was Franz's
long-lost brother. When the brothers were reunited, Hans explained how it was that he
was still alive. After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been
sent to hospital and was separated from his unit. The hospital had been bombed and
Hans had made his way back into Western Germany on foot. Meanwhile, his unit was
lost and all records of him had been destroyed. Hans returned to his family home, but
the house had been bombed and no one in the neighbourhood knew what had become
of the inhabitants. Assuming that his family had been killed during an air raid, Hans
settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.
不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是汉斯· 巴斯曼，他确实是弗朗兹失散了多
年的兄弟。兄弟俩团聚之时，汉斯说明了他活下来的经过。战争即将结束时，他
负伤被送进医院，并与部队失去联系。医院遭到轰炸，汉斯步行回到了西德。与
此同时，他所在的部队被击溃，他的所有档案材料全部毁于战火。汉斯重返故里，
但他的家已被炸毁，左邻右舍谁也不知原住户的下落。汉斯以为全家人都在空袭
中遇难，于是便在距此 50 英里外的一座村子里定居下来，直至当日。
Notes:
9 needless to say ，不用说，当然。
10 become of，结果如何，发生了……情况。
36.2【阅读理解】A chance in a million
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Are we less credulous than we used to be? (Yes. we are.)
2 When did novelists often end their stories with a series of coincidences? (In the
nineteenth century.)
3 Would readers happily accept unusual coincidences? (Yes, they would.)
4 Would modem readers find such solutions acceptable? (No, they wouldn't.)
5 But do strange coincidences occur in real life? (Yes, they do.)
6 Who told the writer about Franz Bussman? (His grandfather did.)
7 Who was Franz Bussman? (He was a German taxi driver.)
8 When did he think his brother had been killed? (Twenty years before.)
9 What was Franz doing when he stopped to talk to a workman? (He was on a
walking tour with his wife)
10 What did Mrs. Bussman comment on? (The workman's close resemblance to her
husband.)
11 Did she suggest the man might be her husband's brother? (Yes, she did.)
12 Did Mr. Bussman agree with her? (No, he didn't.)
13 Nevertheless, Mrs. Bussman thought she might be right. What did she think the
chances were? (A chance in a million.)
14 Who did she send to ask the workman his name? (A boy.)
15 What was the workman's name, and who was he? (Hans Bussman, Franz's
long-lost brother.)
16 When had Hans been wounded? (Towards the end of the war.)
17 What had happened to the hospital he was in? (It had been bombed.)
18 How had he made his way back to West Germany? (On foot.)
19 When he got back home, were there any of his family in the neighbourhood? (No,
there weren't.)
20 What did Hans assume about his family? (He assumed they had been killed in an
air raid.)
36.3【拓展写作】A chance in a million
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words write an imaginary account of Franz Bussman’s life story
up to the time he was reunited with his brother. Use the ideas given below. Do not
write more than four paragraphs.
Title: The past.
Introduction: Tried to get information about Hans ---none available---gave up search.
Development: Found it hard to settle down ---moved from place to place and from
job--- how he met Mrs. Bussman---marriage---settled down at last--- became a
cook---disliked the work ---went into partnership with a friend---became a taxi
driver---once visited hometown---block of flats where his house used to be---no one
remembered him.
Conclusion: Future plans now that Hans has been found.
Key to composition
A possible answer
The past
When the war finished, Franz Bussman did everything he could to get
information about his brother Hans. With no information, he reluctantly assumed his
brother was dead, and gave up the search.
With no family, and having been unable to find his brother, Franz found it
difficult to settle down. Over the years he moved from place to place and from job to
job, never staying very long in one place.
When he met Anna (now Mrs. Bussman), he was working as a waiter in a hotel.
He and Anna got married and Franz settled down at last. He moved from the dinning
room into the kitchen of the hotel and became a cook. But this did not last very long.
He was talking to a friend one day, a taxi driver, who suggested that they should go
into partnership. So they did, and Franz became a taxi driver. He and the friend drove
taxis
themselves, but they also soon owned four more taxis and employed four drivers.
He visited his hometown once to visit his old house, but it was a sad visit. There
was a large modem block of flats where his family house used to be. And although he
spoke to some of the apartment owners, no one remembered him or his family. Now
that he has finally found his brother Hans, he and Anna are planning to invite Hans to
come and live near them and work as a taxi driver in the company.
课外练习：
1 What would a modern reader find totally unacceptable in a novel today?
(a) Having for a hero a man once presumed dead.
(b) The happiness a hero might feel on being reunited with his mother.
(c) Any character being so wicked as to plot against the hero.
(d) Two brothers, each presuming the other long since dead, meeting again by chance.
2 When Mrs. Bussman suggested that the workman might be Franz's
brother .
(a) she was told for the first time that Hans had been killed
(b) Franz objected to the idea of being associated with a workman
(c) Franz was so sure his brother was dead he did not take her seriously
(d) they were both too shy to ask the workman if this Was so themselves
3 What did Hans Bussman do immediately after the war was over?
(a) He went to hospital to have his wounds attended to.
(b) He deserted his unit and walked back to his home town.
(c) He inquired after his family's whereabouts but found no trace of them.
(d) He settled in a village near his home, hoping his family would find him.
4 -his readers with a series of coincidences wildly improbable.
(a) mostly being
(b) most of which were
(c) most of them were
(d) which would be most
5 A long-lost brother had not in fact died and to bring about the hero's
downfall.
(a) wickedly plotting
(b) wickedly plotted
(c) been wickedly plotting
(d) had been wickedly plotting
6 He stopped .
(a) in order to talk to a workman
(b) a workman for a talk
(c) talking to a workman
(d) so that he talked to a workman
7 She sent a boy to ask the workman .
(a) what was he called
(b) what he was called
(c) how he was called
(d) if he was called
8 Meanwhile his unit was lost and had been destroyed.
(a) each of his records
(b) all records of him
(c) all records of his
(d) every record of his
9 He found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years .
(a) ago
(b) back
(c) before hand
(d) previously
10 Mrs. Bussman told her husband that he and the workman ...
(a) had a close look
(b) had the same look
(c) looked very alike
(d) looked the same way
11 -there was the chance she might be right.
(a) remotest
(b) scarcest
(c) greatest
(d) lightest
12-how it had that he Was still alive.
(a) become
(b) arrived
(c) resulted
(d) come about
答案：1d 2c 3c 4b 5d 6a 7b 8b 9a 10c 11a 12d