你能解开“爱因斯坦的谜题”吗？ - Dan Van der Vieren：英语精读讲义

Before he turned physics upside down, 習語

在他彻底颠覆物理学之前，

a young Albert Einstein supposedly showed off his genius 講解

据说年轻的阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦展现了他的天才，

by devising a complex riddle involving this list of clues. 短語搭配

设计了一个包含这些线索的复杂谜题。

Can you resist tackling a brain teaser 講解

你能抵挡住去解答这道智力题的诱惑吗，

written by one of the smartest people in history?

这可是历史上最聪明的人之一写出的题目？

Let's give it a shot. 習語

让我们来试一试。

The world's rarest fish has been stolen

世界上最稀有的鱼被偷走了，

from the city aquarium.

它原本在城市水族馆里。

The police have followed the scent

警方顺着气味追踪

to a street with five identical-looking houses.

到了一条有五栋外观相同的房子的街道上。

But they can't search all the houses at once,

但他们不能同时搜查所有的房子，

and if they pick the wrong one,

如果他们选错了，

the thief will know they're on his trail. 習語

小偷就会知道警方在追踪他。

It's up to you, the city's best detective, 語法

这就全靠你这位本市最好的侦探

to solve the case.

来破案了。

When you arrive on the scene,

当你抵达现场时，

the police tell you what they know.

警方告诉了你他们所知道的情况。

1.

1.

Each house's owner is of a different nationality,

每栋房子的主人国籍不同，

drinks a different beverage,

喝不同的饮料，

and smokes a different type of cigar.

抽不同牌子的雪茄。

2.

2.

Each house's interior walls are painted a different color.

每栋房子的内墙漆成了不同的颜色。

3.

3.

Each house contains a different animal,

每栋房子里养了不同的动物，

one of which is the fish. 語法

其中一只就是那条鱼。

After a few hours of expert sleuthing, 用詞

经过几个小时的专业侦查，

you gather some clues.

你收集了一些线索。

It may look like a lot of information, 語法

虽然看起来信息量很大，

but there's a clear logical path to the solution. 短語搭配

但通向答案有一条清晰的逻辑路径。

Solving the puzzle will be a lot like Sudoku, 語法

解开这个谜题会很像玩数独，

so you may find it helpful to organize your information 語法

所以你可能会发现将信息整理成

in a grid like this.

这样的表格会很有帮助。

To start, you fill in the information 講解

首先，你填入信息

from clues 8 and 9.

来自线索8和9。

Immediately, you also realize that since the Norwegian 語法

很快你还会意识到，因为挪威人

is at the end of the street,

在街道的尽头，

there's only one house next to him,

他旁边只有一栋房子，

which must be the one with blue walls in clue 14. 語法

那一定就是线索14中有着蓝色墙壁的房子。

Clue 5 says the green-walled house's owner drinks coffee.

线索5说，绿墙房子的主人喝咖啡。

It can't be the center house,

它不可能是中间那栋房子，

since you already know its owner drinks milk.

因为你已经知道它的主人喝牛奶。

But it also can't be the second house,

但它也不可能是第二栋房子，

which you know has blue walls.

你已经知道那栋的墙壁是蓝色的。

And since clue 4 says the green-walled house

而且既然线索4说绿墙房子

must be directly to the left of the white-walled one, 短語搭配

必须紧贴在白墙房子的左边，

it can't be the first or fifth house either. 語法

它也不可能是第一栋或第五栋房子。

The only place left for the green-walled house 短語搭配

因此，绿墙房子和喝咖啡的人

with the coffee drinker is the fourth spot,

唯一剩下的位置就是第四个位置，

meaning the white-walled house is the fifth. 語法

这意味着白墙房子是第五栋。

Clue 1 gives you a nationality and a color.

线索1给出了一个国籍和一种颜色。

Since the only column missing both these values

既然唯一同时缺失这两个值的列

is the center one,

是中间那一列，

this must be the Brit's red-walled home.

那这就一定是英国人的红墙房子。

Now that the only unassigned wall color is yellow, 語法

现在唯一未分配的墙壁颜色是黄色，

this must be applied to the first house,

这必须应用于第一栋房子，

where clue 7 says the Dunhill smoker lives.

而线索7说这里住着抽Dunhill的人。

And clue 11 tells you that the owner of the horse

线索11告诉你，养马的主人

is next door, which can only be the second house.

就在隔壁，那只能是第二栋房子。

The next step is to figure 短語動詞

下一步是弄清楚

out what the Norwegian in the first house drinks.

住在第一栋房子的挪威人喝什么。

It can't be tea.

不可能是茶。

Clue 3 tells you that's the Dane.

线索3告诉你喝茶的是丹麦人。

As per clue 12, it can't be root beer, 用詞

根据线索12，也不可能是沙士，

since that person smokes Blue Master.

因为那个人抽Blue Master。

And since you already assigned milk and coffee,

既然你已经分配了牛奶和咖啡，

it must be water.

那就只剩下水了。

From clue 15, you know that the Norwegian's neighbor,

从线索15中，你知道挪威人的邻居，

who can only be in the second house,

也就是只能住在第二栋房子里的人，

smokes Blends.

抽Blends。

Now that the only spot in the grid

现在表格中唯一一个

without a cigar and a drink is in the fifth column,

没有雪茄和饮料的位置在第五列，

that must be the home of the person in clue 12.

那一定是线索12中提到的那个人的家。

And since this leaves only the second house without a drink, 語法

因为这使得只有第二栋房子没有饮料，

the tea-drinking Dane must live there.

所以喝茶的丹麦人一定住在那里。

The fourth house is now the only one

第四栋房子现在是唯一

missing a nationality and a cigar brand.

缺少国籍和雪茄品牌的。

So the Prince smoking German from clue 13 must live there.

所以线索13中抽Prince的德国人一定住在那里。

Through elimination, you can conclude 表達脈絡

通过排除法，你可以得出结论：

that the Brit smokes Pall Mall,

英国人抽Pall Mall，

and the Swede lives in the fifth house,

瑞典人住在第五栋房子里，

while clue 6 and clue 2 tell

而线索6和线索2告诉你

you that these two have a bird and a dog, respectively. 用詞

这两人分别养了一只鸟和一只狗。

Clue 10 tells you that the cat owner

线索10告诉你，养猫的主人

lives next to the Blend-smoking Dane,

住在抽Blends的丹麦人隔壁，

putting him in the first house. 語法

这说明他住在第一栋房子里。

Now, with only one spot left on the grid, 短語搭配

现在，表格上只剩下一个位置，

you know that the German in the green-walled house

你就知道住在绿墙房子里的德国人

must be the culprit. 用詞

必定是罪魁祸首。

You and the police burst into the house, 短語搭配

你和警察冲进那栋房子，

catching the thief fish-handed. 習語

人赃俱获，逮住了拿着鱼的小偷。

While that explanation was straightforward, 語法

虽然上述解释听起来很直接，

solving puzzles like this often involves

但解决这类谜题往往包含着

false starts and dead ends. 習語

错误的开头和死胡同。

Part of the trick is to use the process of elimination 短語搭配

诀窍之一是使用排除法，

and lots of trial and error 短語搭配

以及大量的反复试错，

to hone in on the right pieces. 短語動詞

来锁定正确的拼图碎片。

And the more logic puzzles you solve, 語法

你解开的逻辑谜题越多，

the better your intuition will be

你的直觉就会越好，

for when and where there's enough information

能判断何时何地有足够的信息

to make your deductions.

来进行推论。

And did young Einstein really write this puzzle?

那么，年轻的爱因斯坦真的写了这个谜题吗？

Probably not.

很可能没有。

There's no evidence he did, 語法

没有任何证据表明他写过，

and some of the brands mentioned are too recent.

而且其中提到的一些品牌太新了。

But the logic here is not so different 語法

但这里的逻辑其实与你用来解方程的逻辑

from what you'd use to solve equations

没有什么不同，

with multiple variables,

尤其是在解多变量方程时，

even those describing the nature of the universe.

甚至是那些描述宇宙本质的方程。