摘自《新視野大學英語》第四冊
1 I had my first date with Polly after I made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year every guy on campus had a leather jacket, and Rob couldn't stand the idea of being the only football player who didn't, so he made a pact that he'd give me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn't the brightest guy. Polly wasn't too shrewd, either.
在我和室友羅伯的交易成功之后，我和波莉有了第一次約會。那一年校園里每個人都有件皮夾克，而羅伯是校足球隊員中唯一一個沒有皮夾克的，他一想到這個就受不了，于是他和我達成了一項協議，用他的女友換取我的夾克。他可不那么聰明，而他的女友波莉也不太精明。
2 But she was pretty, well-off, didn't dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She had the right background to be the girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I could show the elite law firms I applied to that I had a radiant, well-spoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the competition.
但她漂亮而且富有，也沒有把頭發染成奇怪的顏色或是化很濃的妝。她擁有合適的家庭背景，足以勝任一名堅忍而睿智的律師的女友。如果我能夠讓我所申請的頂尖律師事務所看到我身邊伴隨著一位光彩照人、談吐優雅的另一半，我就很有可能在競聘中以微弱優勢獲勝。
3 "Radiant" she was already. I could dispense her enough pearls of wisdom to make her "well-spoken".
“光彩照人”，她已經是了。而我也能施予她足夠多的“智慧之珠”，讓她變得“談吐優雅”。
4 After a banner day out, I drove until we were situated under a big old oak tree on a hill off the expressway. What I had in mind was a little eccentric. I thought the venue with a perfect view of the luminous city would lighten the mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned down the stereo and took my foot off the brake pedal. "What are we going to talk about?" she asked.
在一起外出度過了美好的一天之后，我驅車來到了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡樹下。我的想法有些怪異。而這個地方能夠俯瞰燈火燦爛的城區，我覺得它會使人的心情變輕松。我們呆在車子里，我調低了音響并把腳從剎車上挪開。“我們要談些什么？”她問道。
5 "Logic."
“邏輯學。”
6 "Cool," she said over her gum.
“好酷啊，”她一邊嚼著口香糖一邊說。
7 "The doctrine of logic,” I said, "is a staple of clear thinking. Failures in logic distort the truth, and some of them are well known. First let's look at the fallacy Dicto Simpliciter."
“邏輯學的原理，”我說道，“即清晰思考的主要原則。邏輯上出現的問題會歪曲事實，其中有些還很普遍。我們先來看看一種叫做?絕對判斷?的邏輯謬誤。”
8 "Great,” she agreed.
“好啊，”她表示同意。
9 "Dicto Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody should exercise."
“絕對判斷?是指在證據不足的情況下所作出的推斷。比方說：運動是有益的，所以每個人都應該運動。
10 She nodded in agreement.
她點頭表示贊同。
11 I could see she was stumped. "Polly," I explained, "it's too simple a generalization. If you have, say, heart disease or extreme obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you must say exercise is good for most people."
我看得出她沒弄明白。“波莉，”我解釋說，“這個推斷太過簡單化了。如果你有心臟病或者超級肥胖癥什么的，運動就變得有害而不是有益。所以你應該說，運動對大多數人來說是有益的。”
12 "Next is Hasty Generalization. Self-explanatory, right? Listen carefully: You can't speak French. Rob can't speak French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French."
“接下來是?草率結論?。這似乎不言自明，對吧？仔細聽好了：你不會說法語，羅伯也不會說法語，那么這所學校里好像是沒有人會說法語。”
13 "Really?" said Polly, amazed. "Nobody?"
“是嗎？”波莉吃驚地說。“沒有人嗎？”
14 "This is also a fallacy," I said. "The generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a conclusion."
“這也是一種邏輯謬誤，”我說，“這一結論太草率了，因為能夠支持這一結論的例證太少了。”
15 She seemed to have a good time. I could safely say my plan was underway. I took her home and set a date for another conversation.
她似乎學得很開心，而我也可以放心地說我的計劃正在穩步推進中。我把她送回家，并且定下了下一次約會交談的日子。
16 Seated under the oak the next evening I said, "Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam."
第二天晚上，坐在那棵橡樹下，我說：“今天晚上我們要談的第一個邏輯謬誤叫?文不對題?。”
17 She nodded with delight.
她高興地點了點頭。
18 "Listen closely," I said. "A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he says he has six children to feed."
“聽好了，”我說，“有個人去申請工作，當老板問他有什么應聘資格時，他說他有六個孩子要撫養。”
19 "Oh, this is awful, awful," she whispered in a choked voice.
“哇，這太可怕了，太可怕了，”她哽咽著輕聲說到。
20 "Yes, it?s awful," I agreed, "but it's no argument. The man never answered the boss's question. Instead he appealed to the boss's sympathy - Ad Misericordiam."
“對，是挺可怕的，”我表示贊同地說，“但這不是理由。這個人根本沒有回答老板的問題，而只是在博取老板的同情，這就是?文不對題?。”
21 She blinked, still trying hard to keep back her tears.
她眨著眼睛，仍在竭力地忍住眼淚。
22 "Next," I said carefully, "we will discuss False Analogy. An example, students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during exams, because surgeons have X-rays to guide them during surgery.
“接下來”，我小心地說，“我們來討論?錯誤類比?。舉個例子：學生考試時應該允許看課本，因為外科醫生在做手術時可以看 X 光片。”
23 "I like that idea," she said.
“我喜歡這個主意，”她說。
24 "Polly," I groaned, "don't derail the discussion. The inference is wrong. Doctors aren't taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different. You can't make an analogy between them."
“波莉，”我抱怨道，“別打岔，這一推論是錯誤的。醫生們不是在參加考試以檢查他們學到了多少，而學生卻是。他們的情況完全不同，你不能將他們作類比。”
25 "I still think it?s a good idea," said Polly.
“我仍然認為這是一個好主意，”波莉說。
26 With five nights of diligent work, I actually made a logician out of Polly. She was an analytical thinker at last. The time had come for the conversion of our relationship from academic to romantic.
經過五個夜晚的辛勤努力，我竟然真的將波莉打造成了一個邏輯行家，她總算能夠分析思考了。現在應該是時候讓我們的關系從學術向浪漫發展了。
27 "Polly," I said when next we sat under our oak, "tonight we won't discuss fallacies."
“波莉，”當我們又一次坐在那棵橡樹下的時候我對她說，“今晚我們不討論邏輯謬誤了。”
28 "Oh?" she said, a little disappointed.
“哦？”她回答說，有一點失望 。
29 Favoring her with a grin, I said, "We have now spent five evenings together. We get along pretty well. We make a pretty good couple."
我贊許地對她笑了笑，說：“我們在一起已經度過了五個晚上，相互之間挺合得來，我們是蠻相配的一對。”
30 "Hasty Generalization," said Polly brightly. "Or as a normal person might say, that's a little premature, don't you think?"
“草率結論，”波莉伶俐地說，“或者是按一般人的說法，這個結論有些不成熟，你不這樣認為嗎？”
31 I laughed with amusement. She'd learned her lessons well, far surpassing my expectations. "Sweetheart," I said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner, "five dates is plenty. After all, you don't have to eat a whole cake to know it's good."
我被逗得笑了起來，她功課還真學得不錯，大大超過了我的預期。“親愛的，”我開口說，同時寬容地拍了拍她的手，“五次約會已經夠多了，畢竟你不需要吃掉整個蛋糕才知道它是不是好吃。”
32 "False Analogy," said Polly promptly."Your premise is that dating is like eating. But you're not a cake. You're a boy."
“錯誤類比，”波莉立即回應。“你的前提是約會就如同吃東西。可你不是蛋糕，你是個男孩。”
33 I laughed with somewhat less amusement, hiding my dread that she'd learned her lessons too well. A few more false steps would be my doom. I decided to change tactics and try flattery instead.
我又笑了笑，不過不覺得那么有趣了，同時還不能表露出我害怕她學得太好了。再錯幾步我可就無法挽回了。我決定改變策略，轉而嘗試奉承她的辦法。
34 "Polly, I love you. Please say you'll go out with me. I'm nothing without you."
“波莉，我愛你。請答應做我的女朋友，沒有你我什么也不是。”
35 "Ad Misericordiam," she said.
“文不對題，”她說。
36 "You certainly can discern a fallacy when you see it," I said, my hopes starting to crumble. "But don't take them so literally. I mean this is all academic. You know the things you learn in school don't have anything to do with real life."
“你還真是能在遇到邏輯謬誤時一一辨別它們了，”我說，心里的希望已經開始動搖。“不過不要對它們太死板，我是說這都是些學術的東西。你知道，學校里學的東西和實際生活根本沒有什么聯系。"
37 "Dicto Simpliciter," she said. "Besides, you really should practice what you preach."
“絕對判斷，”她說道，“而且，你自己教的東西應該自己身體力行。”
38 I leaped to my feet, my temper flaring up. "Will you or will you not go out with me?"
我一下跳了起來，怒火中燒，“你到底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？”
39 "No to your proposition," she replied.
“我不愿意，”她答道。
40 "Why?" I demanded.
“為什么？”我追問道。
41 "I'm more interested in a different petitioner - Rob and I are back together.
“我對另一位求愛者更感興趣――羅伯和我重歸于好了。”
42 With great effort, I said calmly, "How could you give me the axe over Rob? Look at me, an ingenious student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Rob, a muscular idiot, a guy who'll never know where his next meal is coming from. Can you give me one good reason why you should be with him?"
我極力地保持著平靜，說道：“你怎么會甩了我而選擇羅伯？看看我，一個聰明過人的學生，一個不同凡響的學者，一個前途無量的人。再看看羅伯，一個肌肉發達的蠢材，一個有了上頓沒下頓的家伙。你是否能給我一個充足的理由，為什么要選擇跟他？”
43 "Wow, what a presumption! I'll put it in a way someone as brilliant as you can understand," retorted Polly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Full disclosure -I like Rob in leather. I told him to say yes to you so he could have your jacket!"
“喔，這是什么假設啊！為了讓像你這樣聰明的人能夠明白，我這么說吧，”波莉反駁道，聲音里充滿了諷刺，“事情的真相是——我喜歡羅伯穿皮衣。是我讓他同意你們的協議的，這樣他就能擁有你的夾克！”
