一个丢番图式的问题A diophantine riddle

常用词汇

同义词与近义词

常用短语与固定搭配

• in the year：在……年。原文用法：in the year x²。
• years old：……岁。原文用法：I was x years old。
• counter with：以……反驳；以……回嘴。原文用法：countered with: "I was x years old in the year x²."
• in the ... century：在……世纪。原文用法：who lived in the nineteenth century。

常用句式

• X, who lived in the Y century, when asked Z, countered with: "..."：某人生活在某世纪，当被问及某事时，以……作答。原文例句：The mathematician Augustus De Morgan, who lived in the nineteenth century, when asked the year of his birth, countered with: "I was x years old in the year x²."
• When was he born?：他生于哪一年？原文用法：直接接在谜面之后，作为留给读者的问题。

长难句解析

The mathematician Augustus De Morgan, who lived in the nineteenth century, when asked the year of his birth, countered with: "I was x years old in the year x²."

• 主干：The mathematician Augustus De Morgan ... countered with: "..."。
• 修饰与从句：who lived in the nineteenth century 是非限定性定语从句，修饰 Augustus De Morgan；when asked the year of his birth 是省略了主语和助动词 he was 的时间状语从句。
• 逻辑关系：先交代人物与时代背景，再给出被问及出生年的情境，最后引出他那句以 x 和 x² 巧妙作答的话。

语言使用特点

• 数学家轶事常用"当被问及……时，他以……作答"（when asked ..., countered with ...）这类紧凑句式，引出关键引语。
• 标题中 A diophantine riddle 用斜体，强调这是故事的小标题或类别名。

迁移练习

1. 用英文写出德摩根那句著名回答："在 x² 那年我 x 岁。"
2. 用 counter with 造一个日常对话中的英文句子。
3. 用英文问一个关于"出生年"的小问题。