One afternoon I saw Petey lying on his bed looking very much miserable and depressed, and I at once discovered that he was suffering from appendicitis.
3. My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. (Para. 20)
My brain, which was like a precision instrument, quickly started working at high speed.
4. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited emotions, but I was not one to let my heart rule my head. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason. (Para. 23)
Of course, she was beautiful and attractive enough to arouse the desires and passions of men, but I certainly would never have my senses dominated by my feelings or emotions. I wanted to have Polly as my wife for a cleverly considered, thoroughly unemotional reason.
5. She was not yet of pin-up proportions, but I felt sure that time would supply the lack. (Para. 25)
She was not yet fully developed like those attractive pin-up girls, but I felt sure that, given time, she would fill up and become just as glamorous.
6. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction. (Para. 27)
Actually, she went in the opposite direction — she was rather stupid.
7. If you were out of the picture, the field would be open. (Para. 34)
If you’re no longer having a romantic relationship with her, others would be free to compete for her love.
8. Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning. (Para. 50)
Back and forth he kept turning his head round, and each time he did so, his desire grew stronger and his resolution became weaker.
9. This loomed as a project of no small dimensions, and at first I was tempted to give her back to Petey. (Para. 61)
The task of teaching Polly to think appeared to be so difficult and demanding that I, for a while, even thought of giving the girl back to Petey.
10. There is a limit to what flesh and blood can bear. (Para. 115)
This is indeed too much for any human being to bear.
Translation: A. Phrases
1. the acme of mindlessness (Para. 5) 愚蠢到了极点
2. a horrified whisper (Para. 46) 惊愕地失声叫出来
3. a torn man (Para. 50) 一个不知所措、左右为难的人
4. to set his jaw resolutely (Para. 50) 挺着下巴，表示坚定不移
5. to qualify the generalization (Para. 73) 对某种一般的陈述进行限定
6. a logic-proof head (Para. 97) (这女孩儿的)脑袋是逻辑进不去的；(这女孩儿的)对逻辑一窍不通
7. to knit her creamy brow in concentration (Para. 118) (她)紧锁眉头，聚精会神（进行思考)
8. a glimmer of intelligence (Para. 118) 一丝智慧的闪光
9. to make a logician out of Polly (Para. 124) 把波莉培养成逻辑学家
10. an immense effort of will (Para. 153) 强大的意志力
B. Sentences
1. Charles Lamb, as merry and enterprising a fellow as you will meet in a month of Sundays, j unfettered the informal essay with his memorable Old China and Dream's Children.(Para. 1)