"Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps"
"We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal"
"I mulled over the events of the afternoon"
"philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"
"The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate"
"I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating"
1.推测;猜测;猜想
If youspeculate about something, you make guesses about its nature or identity, or about what might happen.
e.g. Critics of the projectspeculate about how many hospitals could be built instead...
对该项目持批评态度的人在推测如果改作他用不知可以建多少所医院。
e.g. It would be unfair to Debby's family tospeculate on the reasons for her suicide...
猜测黛比自杀的原因对她的家人来说是不公平的。
2.投机;做投机买卖
If someonespeculates financially, they buy property, stocks, or shares, in the hope of being able to sell them again at a higher price and make a profit.
e.g. Big farmers are moving in, not in order to farm, but in order tospeculate with rising land prices...
大农场主正在不断涌进来，不是为了耕作，而是要利用不断上涨的地价进行投机。
e.g. The banks made too many risky loans which now can't be repaid, and they speculated in property whose value has now dropped.
各银行贷出去太多高风险贷款，目前无法收回，他们还进行地产投机，而地产的价值目前已经下跌了。
1. 推测：他们好像促进了艺术的发展或者从出土的艺术品上可以推测(speculate)他们的情况,这里不太确定. 但关于他们的具体情况并没有文字记载. 2,关于化学元素周期表的发展: 门捷列夫和另一个M打头的人,先是发现相似性,
2. 猜测：批评者猜测(speculate),当地官员可能害怕,对问题的公开(publicity)可能会给奥运会蒙上灰影(tarnish). 所以等到上周,中央政府才对此展开有力的(vigorous)回应. 自此,当局宣布了在全国范围内召回相关产品,逮捕了一些涉案嫌疑人,
医生推测他死于癌症。
Can you speculate how such damage might arise?你能否想出这种伤害是怎样引起的?
He likes to speculate on the stock market.他喜欢炒股。
It's dangerous to speculate.做投机买卖是很危险的。
He did not speculate on who would get the prize.他没有去猜测谁将得奖。
He began to speculate about the future.他开始思索未来。
She often speculated as to what sort of man she would marry.她常常在想将来自己会跟什麽样的人结婚。
We all speculated about the reasons for her resignation.我们大家都推测过她辞职的原因。
It is useless to speculate why he did it.对他为什么这么做妄加猜测毫无用处。
We can speculate that the stone circles were used in some sort of pagan ceremony.我们可以推测，这些石头排成的圆圈是用于某种异教崇拜仪式的。
He likes to speculate on the stock market.他喜欢炒股。
Critics of the project speculate about how many hospitals could be built instead...对该项目持批评态度的人在推测如果改作他用不知可以建多少所医院。
It would be unfair to Debby's family to speculate on the reasons for her suicide...猜测黛比自杀的原因对她的家人来说是不公平的。
Big farmers are moving in, not in order to farm, but in order to speculate with rising land prices...大农场主正在不断涌进来，不是为了耕作，而是要利用不断上涨的地价进行投机。
The banks made too many risky loans which now can't be repaid, and they speculated in property whose value has now dropped.各银行贷出去太多高风险贷款，目前无法收回，他们还进行地产投机，而地产的价值目前已经下跌了。
Some speculate that it was the will of the Force.有人推测是原力的意志使然.
We rouse ourselves at intervals and speculate.我们有时振作起来,进行思索.
The doctors speculate that he died of cancer.医生推测他死于癌症.
It is avoided to speculate on large, global theories that go beyond the facts.这个方法躲避产生大的全局性的超脱于观察依据的理论.
He would not speculate on when studies in larger animals and humans might get under way.对何时会进行大型动物试验以及人体试验,他表示尚不能做出预测.
It is interesting to speculate on some of the reasons for this kind of bad thinking.推测一下形成这类不良思维方式的一些原因是很有趣的.
Its occupation was to speculate on Laetitia Dale's modest enthusiasm for rural pleasures.她还强迫自己接受利蒂霞·戴尔对农村的恰如其分的依恋感情.
Those who speculate are called speculators.做投机的人称投机户.
It's dangerous to speculate.做投机买卖是很危险的.
Then. quite naturally, he began to speculate whence it came.很自然地, 他开始想, 它们是哪儿来的呢?
We should speculate about the purpose of life.我们应该想想人生的目的.
It is too earlyand too little is known, to speculate on Bird's motives.目前我们所知甚少, 要猜测伯德的杀人动机还为时尚早.
A lifetime of obesity might hae different effects on longevity, they speculate.他们推测终生肥胖对于寿命具有不同的影响.
The investors earned last year and they will also speculate in 2008 for their greed.股民去年赚了今年肯定会再投机,因为人类的贪婪.
More diversity reduces amount you can speculate with.分布过散会减少你能用以投机的数量.
This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks.这是投机股票相当危险的一个月份.
The Wise of Tol Eressea thus speculate that Orcs are bred from ancient Elves.因此,托尔埃勒西尔的智者能推断出奥克斯是从远古的精灵腐化而来的.
We don't know all the circumstances, so it would be pointless to speculate.我们不了解所有的情况, 妄加推测是没有意义的.
Most believe that she had killed herself, but others 41 speculate that she was murdered.大多数人相信她是自杀, 但也有人推测她遭到谋杀.
If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won't get anything done.如果你过多的游离于过去和未来的话,你什么都做不了.
Others might speculate that the genocide claimed 800,000 victims, or a million.有人猜测这次屠杀的受害者达80万人, 甚至1百万.
We should speculate about the purpose of life.
我们应该想想人生的目的。
It was a quiet evening and Tom was speculating about the origin of the universe.
静悄悄的夜晚,汤姆在思索着宇宙的起源。
He made a fortune speculating in tin shares, and lost almost all of it in cocoa futures.
他做锡股的投机生意发了财,在做可可的期货交易时几乎又赔了个精光。
Some physicists have speculated that in nature all particles may be colorless.
出自：Scientific American
