1. Vocabulary
1.1 Their literary ambitions had been vindicated, their success in official careers was almost assured.
vindicate /ˈvɪndɪˌkeɪt/
If a person or their decisions, actions, or ideas are vindicated, they are proved to be correct, after people have said that they were wrong. 证明是正确的
仿写：
He had been vindicated by the expert.
1.2 She saw that of the three men, her husband was decidedly the excitable, irrepressible, talkative one.
irrepressible /ˌɪrɪˈprɛsəbəl/
An irrepressible person is lively and energetic and never seems to be depressed. 难以抑制的; 难以驯服的
仿写：
His excitement was irrepressible.
1.3 All a traveler could do was to confide the care of his soul to God, because there was nothing else he could do about it.
confide /kənˈfaɪd/
If you confide in someone, you tell them a secret. 吐露 (秘密等)
仿写：
After ten years of friendship, he is the one I can confide in.
1.4 The air itself seemed filled with fairies and sprites frolicking in the clouds.
frolic /ˈfrɒlɪk/
When people or animals frolic, they play or move in a lively, happy way. 嬉戏
仿写：
Tourists frolic in the ocean.
2. Guiding Questions
2.1 Q: The father and sons and sons' wives were now ready to set out for the capital. Why the author said the journey was different from the one they had taken previously?
A: They had passed the examinations，and their talents had been recognized, so they needn’t worry about their official career. They felt relaxed during this journey and took their time, drinking and playing cards while on the boat and enjoying the beautiful scenery on the way.
2.2 Sentences
The Yangtse Gorges, majestic in their beauty and exciting in hazards for the travelers, are a stretch of two hundred and twenty miles of the river where the torrents swirl in and out through the rocky precipices, with hidden rocks beneath the water, requiring a great dexterity on the part of the boatmen.
长江三峡，无人不知其风光壮丽，但对旅客而言，则是险象环生。此段全长二百二十里，急流漩涡在悬崖峭壁之间滚转出入，水下暗石隐伏，无由得见，船夫要极其敏捷熟练，才可通行。作者将三峡之险描绘得栩栩如生。
Each of these consists of a series of dangerous rapids alternating with whirlpools and torrents that pass between sharp cliffs rising several hundred feet high straight from the water.
瞿塘峡、巫峡、西陵峡，每一处都是一连串危险万分的洪流激湍，其中漩涡急流交互出现，悬崖峭壁陡立水中，达数百尺之高。rapids、torrent 都有急流之意。
The Sus passed through the East Dashing Rapids where the water surged and billowed and tossed the boat about like a dry leaf in a small whirlpool, and when they thought they had gone through the worst, they came upon the even more dangerous Roaring Rapids.
三苏行经“东濡滩”时，波涛汹涌，船身被打击抛掷，就像一片枯干的树叶在漩涡之中一般。在他们以为已经过了最危险的地方时，谁知又来到“怒吼滩”。这句连用三个动词surge, billow, toss写出江水之险，把船只比作漩涡之中一片枯干的树叶，非常形象。
3. Reflection
本章讲述的是父子三人和两个儿媳启程进京，一路上饮酒玩牌，欣赏美景，吟诗作赋。那时候作诗不算稀奇事，但凡读书人都会写，但写得好的诗句用词考究，意境高远，不同凡响，流传千古，苏轼的诗便是如此。下面这首《仙都山鹿》为苏轼少年时所作，那时便已展露不俗才华，并有道家的超脱精神。
The unremitting wheels of time turn round, 日月何促促，
And we to this terrestrial life are bound. 尘世苦局束。
The fairy went to his celestial home 仙子去无踪，
And left his deer upon the sainted mound. 故山遗白露。
The homeless deer now sadly gazed afar 仙人已去鹿无家，
At where, cloud-capped, the Elysian City lay. 孤栖怅望层城霞。
I hear at night this creature of the forest 至今闻有游洞客，
Come wandering and cry on river's bay, 夜来江市叫平沙。
While myriad pines are sighing in the wind, 长松千树风萧瑟，
So near the ancient Master's hallowed place! 仙宫去人无咫尺。
Oh, where are you, night-crying deer？ Alas! 夜鸣白鹿安在哉，
Among the woods I cannot find a trace. 满山秋草无行迹。
林语堂在书中给我们描述了长江三峡美丽壮观、波涛汹涌、暗石急流、险象环生的画面。苏氏一家人在欣赏美景的同时，也经历了无数的凶险，只有不轻易到达的地方才有不同寻常的美景，所谓“无限风光在险峰”。我想，人生亦是如此。
While going up the gorges was a strenuous task for the boatmen, with perhaps sixty or seventy boat hands tugging a little junk against the swift current by long ropes slung across their shoulders......
此段描写了经三峡时如若逆流而上真是艰苦万分。一只小平底木船，要由六十至七十个纤夫，用长绳子一头拴在船上，一头套在肩上，在势如奔马的狂波中逆流而上。
