The French Revolutionary Who Tried to Stop the Terror… And Failed (Part 4)

🎯 聽之前

A man who helped start a revolution tries to stop the killing, and finds that a machine built for purity does not have a brake. The lesson is how English talks about ideals, timing, and failure.

• Who wanted to slow the violence, and what power did he actually have?
• Which words mark cause: because, so, once, by then?
• How do the hosts signal that a plan has already failed?
• Listen for the difference between a principle and a method.

💬 重點句 6

先讀英文，想一下意思，再點「翻譯」。按 🔊 聽一次，然後跟著唸。

1. A principle without a limit becomes a weapon.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   沒有界線的原則，會變成武器。

   without + 名詞。becomes 是狀態改變，不是比喻的裝飾。
2. He wanted to stop the Terror, but the Terror no longer needed his permission.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   他想阻止恐怖統治，但恐怖統治已經不需要他點頭。

   no longer 放在助動詞後面。permission 把政治講成「准不准」。
3. By the time he objected, the habit of killing was already in place.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   等他反對的時候，殺人已經變成習慣。

   By the time + 過去式，主句用過去完成，表示「太晚了」。
4. Ideals are easy to announce and hard to restrain.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   理想很好宣布，很難剎車。

   easy to / hard to + 原形。restrain 是拉住，不是禁止一個名詞。
5. Once fear is the method, every moderate sounds like a traitor.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   一旦恐懼變成手段，每個溫和的人聽起來都像叛徒。

   Once 開頭表條件。sound like + 名詞。
6. History is full of people who were right too late.
   🔊 唸 翻譯
   歷史上很多人都是對得太晚。

   be full of。too late 修飾 right，不是修飾 were。

📚 單字 10

點卡片翻面。先猜意思再翻。

🗣️ 俚語與成語 6

🧩 句型練習 3

讀完範例，用自己的事造一句。寫在筆記本或手機備忘錄裡，隔天回頭唸一次。

✅ 理解題 4

看完影片再作答。選一個答案會立刻顯示解釋。

1. What does "by the time" signal in this lesson?
   A future planThat the important moment has already passedA list of namesA joke
   By the time + past, with already, means the chance to stop it is gone.
2. If a movement "turns on" its moderates, what happens?
   It asks them to leadIt attacks people who used to be alliesIt becomes more peacefulIt writes a constitution
   Turn on here means to attack your own side.
3. Which sentence matches the theme?
   A good intention guarantees a good result.A principle with no limit can become a weapon.Violence always starts with a villain who has no ideals.Objecting early and objecting late are the same.
   The pack is about ideals that were never given a brake.
4. What is a slippery slope?
   A steep street in ParisA first step that makes worse steps hard to refuseA fair trialA type of satire
   The idiom is about momentum, not geography.

💭 用英文想一想

挑一題，用英文寫 3 到 5 句，或對著手機錄一分鐘。不用完美，說出來最重要。

• Describe a rule that sounded fair until people used it without a limit.
• When is "too late" different from "unpopular"? Give an example.
• Write three sentences about a decision using because, once, and by the time.