The Greatest Biologist without Finishing Biology Course

还没结业的生物学家

By Hannah Tyler ■李楠 选注

Patrick Reilly was the manager of a company that made washing powders, among other things.1 The company employed several scientists, whose job was to try to find new and better kinds of products, including washing powders.

Patrick did not know very much about science himself, but he used to meet his scientists regularly.2 He always enjoyed it and took a great interest in what they were doing.

One day one of them was in Patrick's office, talking about plans for the future, when he said to Patrick, "I suppose you know Sir James White. He was my professor at the university where I studied, and now he's one of the world's greatest and most honoured biologists."

"Oh, yes, I know," Patrick answered, "but I've never actually met him. What about him?"

"Well," said the scientist, "he's discovered some new type of system that might be very useful to us for improving our manufacture of soap powders.3 I read an article about it yesterday in one of the scientific journals I take4 every month. You ought to meet him."

"I'd like to," Patrick answered. "What do you think of inviting him to dinner one evening and suggesting that we might be able to offer him a job as an adviser?"5

"I agree," the scientist replied. "That would be an excellent decision."

"Is he single or married?" Patrick asked.

"Oh, he's married," the scientist answered. "His wife's a very important biologist too. I knew her before they married."6

"All right," Patrick said, "I'll give him a call and try to arrange it. A nice, quiet family dinner would be best, I think, and I hope you'll come and bring your wife too."

"We'd love to," the scientist answered. "My wife knew Lilian White too, at the time when she was beginning to become known,7 and I'm sure she'd enjoy seeing her again. She looked up to8 her a lot when they worked together."

Patrick got his secretary to ring Professor White's office at the university to give him the invitation, and they managed to find a date on which they would both be free for dinner.

"It'll be a small family affair," Patrick said. "I propose to invite two of my scientific staff with their wives. One of them was a student of yours. And I hope Lady White will be able to come too."

"Thank you," the professor answered, "I'm sure she'll be delighted to."

Patrick had a son of sixteen, who had finished his O-level examinations and was studying for his A-levels.9 While everybody was having a drink before dinner, the boy chatted to the professor. "What do you do?" the boy asked.

"I study biology," the professor answered.

"Oh?" the boy answered proudly. "Well, I finished biology last July."10

1. 帕特里克·雷利是一名公司经理，他的公司生产洗衣粉和其它产品。washing powder: 或soap powder，洗衣粉。
2. 帕特里克本人对科学不是很了解，但他总是定期与他手下的科学家会面。
3. 他发现了一种新的晶系，会对我们改进洗衣粉的生产工艺有很大的帮助。some: [用于修饰单数名词]某个，某一；system: [化]晶系。
4. take: 订阅（报刊）。
5. adviser: 顾问。
6. 他们还没结婚的时候我就已经认识她了。
7. 在她刚开始出名的时候。
8. look up to sb.: 尊敬，钦佩。
9. O-level: <英>ordinary level的缩略，（中学生的）普通考试（指英国学生到16岁时参加的考试，及格可获普通教育证书）；A-level: <英>（中学生的）高级考试（英国全国考试制度规定，中学生年满16岁可参加一次普通考试，及格者可在两年后参加高级考试，其难度大致与美国大学二年级的水平相仿）。
10. study这词既可作“研究”讲，也可作“学习”讲。生物学家说自己是研究生物学的，而男孩理解成他还在学生物这门课程，所以才会自豪地说自己已修完了生物课。