BBC英国史

The irony was, for all his Roman enthusiasm,

而讽刺的是 出于满腔重建罗马的热忱

Wren believed he was building a truly Protestant church,

雷恩坚信他将会建造出一座真正的新教教堂

but his timing was terrible.

可是他选错了时间

Ever since the day of Reformation,

在宗教改革之后

Britain had been victim to anti-Catholic fear and, once again, in Charles's reign, it erupted.

英国深陷反天主教的恐慌 而在查理统治时期 再次爆发了

Not all of it was misplaced.

然而并非所有的恐慌都是无中生有

Charles was suspected of having secret Catholics in his government,and so he did.

人们怀疑查理 在政府中秘密安插天主教徒 确实如此

He was also suspected of making secret treaties with the militantly Catholic Louis XIV of France.

并且还怀疑他与法国天主教徒 好战的路易十四签署了秘密条约

And so he had.But there was worse... much worse.

确实如此 然而 远不止这些

The king's own brother, James, Duke of York,

查理的亲生兄弟 詹姆斯 约克公爵

had actually converted to the Roman Church and he made no secret of it.

已经公开改变信仰 信奉罗马天主教

With no children born to the king,

国王并无子嗣

the first Catholic ruler since Bloody Mary was an imminent prospect.

而眼下 即将诞生一位继玛丽一世之后 另一位天主教君主

There was shivering in the shires.

全国各地都陷入恐慌

A century before, England Queen Elizabeth had been threatened with Catholic assassination plots.

一个世纪前 英国女王伊莉莎白 曾受天主教暗杀的威胁

The Jesuit lurking in the shadows was a permanent fixture in popular nightmare.

躲藏在暗处的耶稣会 对民众来说一直是个梦魇

词汇解析

1、erupt

（火山）喷发，爆发

The volcano erupted in 1980, devastating a large area of Washington state.

那座火山在1980年喷发，摧毁了华盛顿州大片地区。

Scientists say Mount Pinatubo could erupt again soon.

科学家说皮纳图博山近期可能会再次喷发。

（冲突、战斗等）突然发生，爆发，突然加剧

Heavy fighting erupted there today after a two-day ceasefire.

在停火两天后，今天那里爆发了激烈的战斗。

Violence erupted as the boys were driven away in two police vans.

两辆警车将男孩们带走时突然发生了暴力冲突。

（感情）迸发，突然转变;（常指）变得狂躁

Then, without warning, she erupts into laughter.

然后在没有任何征兆的情况下，她突然大笑起来。

Newman fled barefoot as the cheated husband erupted in fury.

被戴绿帽的丈夫勃然大怒，纽曼吓得光着脚逃走了。

2、prospect

可能性；希望

Unfortunately, there is little prospect of seeing these big questions answered.

不幸的是，几乎不可能看到这些重大问题得到回复。

The prospects for peace in the country's eight-year civil war are becoming brighter.

该国经历8年内战之后重归和平的前景正逐渐变得光明。

期望中的事；将要发生的事；预期；展望

They now face the prospect of having to wear a cycling helmet by law.

他们现在面临的情形是：不久将需要依法佩戴摩托车头盔。

After supper he'd put his feet up and read. It was a pleasant prospect.

晚饭后，他会架起脚来看书。想起来就让人愉快。