3．Here was a chance for me to distinguish myself by inventing something merciful that would catch snakes but not harm them. (P20)

　　这回我有机会来表现一下自己了，我要发明某种仁慈的东西，既可以把蛇抓到，又不会伤害到它们。

　　★distinguish vi.& vt. 显示......的差别；使......有所不同；辨别

　　辨别......和......；把......与......区别开

　　distinguish oneself　 使自己与众不同；使自己出名

　　(2)distinguished adj. 卓越的；杰出的

　　be distinguished (＝ famous/well­known) for 以......而著名

　　①In your opinion, what is it that distinguishes her from others?

　　在你看来，是什么使得她与众不同呢？

　　②He has already distinguished himself as an athlete.

　　作为一名运动员他已享有盛名。

　　③We all know that Yuan Longping is famous (＝distinguished/well­known) for his scientific achievements.

　　我们都知道袁隆平因其科学成就而闻名。

　　★merciful adj.宽大的；仁慈的；慈悲的

　　 (1)be merciful to sb.　对某人仁慈

　　(2)mercifully adv. 仁慈地；宽厚地

　　(3)mercy n. 宽大；宽容；仁慈；怜悯

　　show mercy to 对......表示怜悯；宽恕......

　　have mercy on 宽恕；怜悯

　　at the mercy of 任凭......的摆布；在......支配之下

　　without mercy 毫不留情地；残忍地

　　④We should be merciful to the homeless animals.

　　我们要善待那些无家可归的动物。

　　⑤You should show mercy to whoever is in trouble.

　　你应当对任何处于困境的人表示怜悯。

　　⑥They were lost at the sea, at the mercy of the wind and weather.

　　他们在海上迷了路，任凭风和天气的摆布。

　　4．The first thing I did was to see if there were any products that might help me, but there only seemed to be powders designed to kill snakes.(P20)

　　我所做的第一件事就是看看有没有现在的产品能帮助我，但看来只有一种毒杀蛇的药粉。

　　★there seemed to be是there be句型的变体，表示"似乎有......"。there be 句型有多种变体，主要有：

　　①There happened to be a policeman there when we were in trouble.

　　当我们身处困境时，碰巧那儿有个警察。

　　②There stands a tree at the top of the hill which is named the wishing tree.

　　山顶上有棵树，叫做"许愿树"。

　　③There used to be a bridge across the river.

　　过去有一座桥横跨这条河。

　　④There are a few monkeys playing (play) in the tree.

　　树上有几只猴子在玩耍。

　　5．I set about researching the habits of snakes to find the easiest way to trap them. (P20)

我着手研究蛇的习性，以便能找到最容易的方法捉住它们。