Detailed Reading

I. Difficult Sentences

1. “You did that in your head?” she asked in amazement. (Para. 3)
1) What does the word “that” refer to?
(It refers to “the author’s doing mental arithmetic.”)
2) What can we infer from this sentence?
(The children like the girl in the text are very poor at calculations and they can never do mental arithmetic like the man does.)

2. No modestly educated adult can fail to be upset by such an experience. (Para. 6)
1) What is the meaning of the phrase “such an experience”?
(The phrase “such an experience” means “the salesgirl’s ignorance.”)
2) Paraphrase the sentence.
(Any adult who has got average education will feel worried and unhappy about the ignorance the girl shows.)

3. The ability to perform even the simplest calculations is only a memory among many students I see, and their knowledge of world history or geography is nonexistent. (Para. 7)
Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(在我所见过的许多学生中，再也没有过去学生都有的哪怕是进行最简单的计算的能力，他们对世界历史和地理都一无所知。)

4. At some point soon, his intellectual laziness will seriously affect his way of life. (Para. 9)
Paraphrase the sentence.
(Before long his intellectual laziness will have a serious influence on his way of life.)

5. To drive this message home to such young Americans, I have a humble suggestion: a movie, or TV series, dramatizing just how difficult it was for this country to get where it is — and how easily it could all be lost. (Para. 10)
Translate the sentence into Chinese.

6. (为使这样的美国青年彻底认识到这一点，本人的愚见是：拍一部电影，或电视连续剧，生动地描述我们国家的今天如何来之不易——而要丧失这一切又何其容易。)

7. His only hope lies in his children. (Para. 12)
What is his hope?
(His hope is that his children will get good education and live a better life.)

8. Kevin Hanley 1928 is far better off than either his father or his grandfather. (Para. 13)
1) What is the meaning of this sentence?
(It means that he is much richer than both his father and grandfather.)
2) Why is he far better off than them?
(He is richer because he is literate. That’s to say, he can read and write.)

9. Kevin 2020’s father,  who is of course Kevin 1990 himself, works as a cleaner in a factory owned by the Japanese. (Para. 18)
What can we infer from the fact that the factory in which Kevin 2020’s father works is owned by the Japanese not the Chinese or people from other countries?
(It can be inferred that in the author’s opinion the Japanese are the symbol of success because of their hard work, education and discipline.)

10. The man explains to Kevin that when a man has no money, education can supply the human capital necessary to start to acquire financial capital. (Para. 20)
1) Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(那人跟凯文解释说，如果一个人没有钱，教育能提供积累金融资本所必需的人力资本。)
2) Do you agree with that man’s opinion? Why or why not?

11. “America beat Japan in war?” (Para. 21)
What can we infer from the sentence?
(We can infer from the sentence that Kevin 2050 is really very ignorant about history.)

12. … they work and study and learn and discipline themselves. (Para. 21)
There are three words of “discipline” in this text (Para. 19, Para.20 and Para. 21). Tell the different meanings of them in Chinese.
[The first “discipline” (Para. 19) means “训练”, the second (Para. 20) means “纪律” and the last one (Para. 21) means “约束”. ]

13. “Sorry, Pop,” Kevin 1990 says. “I have to study.” (Para. 24)
1) Why does the boy say so?
(Because his dream makes him know the importance of education and he has made up his mind to study hard.)
2) Can you imagine his father’s reaction to the boy’s answer?

II. Words & Expressions

run out of:  use up or finish a supply of (sth.)

- To our disappointment, our car ran out of gas halfway home.

- When they ran out of food, the soldiers set about hunting for more.

in amazement:  with a feeling of great surprise or disbelief

- Aunt Sophia gazed at her picture in amazement: she looked like a teenage girl in it.

- 当他大声地与他的朋友交谈时，报告厅里所有的人都吃惊地盯着他看。(All the people in the lecture hall stared at him in amazement when he talked loudly with his friend.)

upset: vt.

1) make (sb.) worry or feel unhappy.

Pattern:

be upset by / about

- They are terribly upset by the break-up of their parents’ marriage.

- 他为与他妻子争吵而感到烦恼。(He was upset about the argument he had with his wife.)

2) make ill in the stomach

- The foreign food upset me / my stomach.

3) knock over, causing confusion

- The boy upset the glass of milk.

- Her plans were upset by the change in the weather.

ignorant: adj.  knowing little or nothing

- She was ignorant of her husband’s illegal activities. Otherwise she would have done everything possible to stop him.

Collocation:

ignorant about / of                     在…方面无知的

- Some people are ignorant of the facts about global warming.

- 我对计算机一窍不通。(I’m rather ignorant about computer.)

ability: n.  power or skill to do, make, or think; talent

- We elected him monitor because he had the ability to bring out the best in others.

- 虽然这翻译并不尽善尽美，但他已尽力而为了。(Although his translation is not perfect, he did it to the best of his ability.)

- He lost the ability to walk after a car accident.

CF: ability, capability & capacity

这三个词都是名词，都有“能力”的意思。

ability 含义最广，指智力（或体力）上的“能力”，主要指人， 说明他能否做一件事，后面接不定式，或介词 in，for，但不能接 of doing。 例如：

- He shows considerable ability in / for organization.  (他颇有组织能力。)

此外，该词用作复数时只能指智力方面的能力。例如：

- He has found a job more suited to his abilities. (他找到了一份更适合他能力的工作。)

capability 与 ability 互通，也指智力（或体力）上的“能力”，可指人或物，后面接 of doing 或 for (doing) sth.。例如：

- The essay is a proof of the writer’s capability of using the right word in the right place. (这篇文章证明作者能在适当的地方用适当的字。)

NB：

需要注意的是，capability of 后接含有主动意义的动作； capability for 后接含有被动意义的动作。此外，capability 常指天生或潜在的能力，而 ability 常指学到的能力。例如：

- He acquired in eight hours the ability to drive a car. (他在八小时内就学会了开汽车。)

capacity 主要指能够容纳或吸收的“能力”，可用于人或物。例如：

- He has a capacity for mathematics. [他有学数学的能力。（着重脑中的容纳力）]

- The auditorium has a seating capacity of two thousand. (礼堂能容纳二千人。)

sum up:  give a brief summary (of sth.)

- My teacher would sum up the main points of the lesson before he ended the class.

- Alice summed up her Christmas holidays in one word: “Terrible.”

compete: vi.  try to be better than (sb. else)

- John competed for a place at the school, but he didn’t get it.

Pattern:

compete with / against

- The young tennis player has often competed against famous players, but so far he has always been beaten.

- 中国正与其他国家竞争国际市场。(China is now competing with other countries for world market.)

accumulate: v.  collect, or gather together, esp. over a period of time;  make or become greater in quantity or size

- I have accumulated many books over the last few years.

- Dust quickly accumulates if we don’t sweep our room.

- 他债台高筑。(His debts accumulated.)

Collocation：

accumulate a huge mass of data                                积累大量资料

accumulate experience                                                           积累经验

accumulate a fortune                                                                        积攒一笔财富

accumulate a good library                                                      积聚一大批藏书

CF: accumulate & amass

两者均可指积聚大量的东西。

accumulate 强调经年累月地点滴积累。例如：

- Through the years he accumulated sufficient money to buy a farm when he retired. (经过多年积攒，他有了足够的钱在退休时买下一个农场。)

amass 指在较短的时间内积聚到大量东西，尤指为自己而积聚。例如：

- He soon amassed sufficient evidence to support his case. (他不久便收集到足够的证据来为他的案子辩护。)

affect: vt.

1) have an influence on

- More than seven million people have been affected by the drought.

2) cause feelings of sorrow, anger, love, etc, in (sb.)

- 马丁· 路德 · 金的讲演深深打动了听众。 (Martin Luther King’s speech deeply affected the audience.)

CF: affect , effect & influence

这里这三个词都作为动词进行比较。

affect 表示“影响”，以被影响的人或物作宾语。大致可分为两种情况：1）“使…起变化”，没有好或坏的意思；2）“对…发生不良影响”。例如：

- Nothing you say will affect my decision. (无论你说什么都不会影响我的决定。)

- The small amount of rain last year affected the growth of crops. (去年雨少影响了庄稼的生长。)

effect 表示“产生，招致”或“实现”，以“改进，变化”等类的词作宾语。例如：

- The new hairdo effected a startling change in her appearance. (这新发式使她的外貌产生了惊人的变化。)

influence 指对行为、性格或观点等产生潜移默化的影响。例如：

- Such films have a dangerous influence on children.

function:

1. vi. operate; act

- 你若不给机器加油，它就运转不灵。(The machine won’t function well if you don’t oil it.)

- Athens (雅典) functioned as a center of trade in the thirteenth century.

2. n. a usual purpose (of a thing) or special duty (of a person)

- The function of an adjective is to describe or add to the meaning of a noun.

idle: adj.

1) lazy

- The boy is really idle; he just sits around the house all day.

2) not working

- Men are left idle when machines break down.

3) of no use

- His words were just idle threats; he can’t harm us.

Collocation：

stand / lie idle                    闲着

- The machinery stood idle for a month.

break down:

1) stop working

- The elevators in this building are always breaking down.

2) fail

- Talks between the two countries broke down when the two sides failed to reach an agreement.

3) destroy; reduce or be reduced to pieces

- They broke the door down.

Collocation：

break away                                            逃走，逃脱

break in                                                  闯入，强行进入；打断；插嘴

break into                                              闯入，强行进入

break out                                               逃脱，逃出；突然发生，爆发

break through                             突破

break up                                                 打碎；结束；解散；（学校）开始放假

drive home:  make (sth.) clear so that people understand it

Pattern:

drive sth. home (to sb.)

- He drove the point home with another quotation.

- 我们必须使他彻底明白困难在哪里。(We must drive home to him where the difficulties lie.)

- Peter was lazy. His parents tried to drive home to him the importance of hard work.

humble: adj.

1) not proud; modest

- Frank strikes me as a very humble person.

- 这位医生虽然治好了许多人的病，但他对他的工作仍很谦逊。 (The doctor was humble about his work, although he cured many people.)

2) low in rank or position; unimportant

- Michael started his career as a humble fisherman.

- Many famous historical figures came from a humble background.

suggestion: n.  sth. suggested

NB：

该词后面经常接 by / for 和 that-clause 。在that-clause 中，动词要用虚拟语气。

- I have lots of suggestions for the park’s future.

- They didn’t like my suggestion that she share the room with her classmate.

- At my suggestion we went on a picnic.

CF: suggestion, advice & opinion

这三个词都可译作“意见”。

suggestion 意为“建议”或“意见”，特指为了改进或解决问题而提出的办法，常带有“不一定正确，提出供对方参考”的意味。例如：

- This is merely a suggestion. [这不过是一点（小）意见。]

advice 着重提意见的人比对方（或自认为）有更多的经验知识，因此可用于医生给病人的“劝告”，老工人讲给新手的“经验之谈”等。该词有时也用得比较广泛，凡是与己无关、纯粹为了帮助旁人而提出的“意见”都可译作advice。例如：

- You should follow the doctor’s advice and give up smoking. (你应该遵从医生的意见，停止吸烟。)

opinion 指对事物的一般“意见，看法”。例如：

- He showed me a poem he had written and asked my opinion about it. (他给我看他写的一首诗，要我提出意见。)

Collocation:

advance / make / offer / put forward a suggestion         提出建议

ask for / call for / invite suggestions                                                                征求建议

act on a suggestion                                                                                                                          将建议付诸实施

adopt a suggestion                                                                                                                           采纳建议

reject a suggestion                                                                                                                           拒绝建议

a suggestion about / concerning …                                                                 一项有关…的建议

at sb’s suggestion                                                                                                                             按照某人的建议

search for:  look for

- Many planes and ships were sent to search the South Sea for the missing Chinese pilot.

- 警察正在住宅内搜查一件藏匿的武器。(The police were searching the house for a hidden weapon.)

luxury: n.

1) a pleasant  thing  that is expensive, but not necessary (used as a countable noun)

- Champagne is a luxury they can no longer afford.

- 我们花不起买奢侈品的钱。(We can’t afford to spend money on luxuries.)

2)  great comfort, as provided by wealth  (used as an uncountable noun)

- She was brought up in an atmosphere of luxury and wealth.

- He took over his father’s company and led a life of luxury.

- They wallowed in luxury. (他们沉溺于奢侈的生活中。)

Collocation：

enjoy (a) luxury                                              享受

afford a luxury                                                买得起奢侈品

pure / sheer luxury                              绝对的奢侈；十足的享受

unaccustomed luxury                         罕有的享受

in luxury                                                                    奢侈地

better off:  richer than you were before; more comfortable

- 现在，中国人的生活比以前强多了。(Nowadays Chinese people are better off than they used to be.)

- It’s obvious that those who work hard are better off than those who don’t.

scared: adj.  frightened (often followed by of / to / that-clause)

- The lady has always been scared of snakes.

- They’re scared of making a fool of themselves.

- 我害怕坐飞机；我怕飞机可能坠毁。(I’m scared to fly in a plane. I’m scared that it might crash.)

complex: adj.

1) difficult to understand or explain

- Her political ideas were too complex to get support from ordinary people.

- The problem was so complex that there would be no easy solution.

2) consisting of many closely connected parts

- When I visited Shanghai for the first time I got lost in the rather complex network of roads.

adequate: adj.  enough (often followed by infinitive to or for)

- Is the transport system adequate to deliver the food to remote areas?

- Her knowledge of English was adequate for the job.

CF: adequate, enough & sufficient

三词均表示“足够的”。

adequate 指“能够满足特定的或最起码的要求的”。例如：

- For the use of beginners, the book is adequate. (对于初学者来说，这本书也够用了。)

enough 指“能够满足一种欲望或需要”，比较偏重数量，并可放在所形容的名词后面。例如：

- Are there enough apples for everyone? (苹果够所有人吃吗？)

sufficient 具有与 enough 相同的意思，只是更为正式，并较强调程度。

Fill in the blanks with the adequate, enough or sufficient.

1) We haven’t got sufficient information from which to draw a conclusion.

2) The pianist gave an adequate performance.

3) There is enough food for six people.

4) I hope you will prove adequate to the job.

decline:

1. n. a gradual decrease in the quality, quantity, or importance of sth. (followed by in)

- Some people are worried that there will be a great decline in the stock market.

- Class attendance is in decline recently.

Collocation：

fall / sink into a decline             开始衰落, 衰弱下去； 体力衰退（尤指因患肺病而衰弱）

hasten the decline of                          加速…的衰退

on the decline                                                在下降； 在衰退中

2. v.

1) move from a better to a worse position, or from higher to lower

- Her power has begun to decline now that she is old.

- Because of the measures taken by the new mayor, the crime rate in our city sharply declined in the past two years.

2) (fml) refuse, usu. politely

- We had to decline their invitation because we had made other plans.

- When he asked me to dance, I declined politely.

acquire: vt.  gain or come to possess by one’s own work, skill, action, etc.

- He acquired a knowledge of computer by careful study.

- 格林先生靠做石油生意发了一笔大财。(Mr. Green acquired a fortune in the oil business.)

astonish: vt.  surprise very much; amaze

- They were greatly astonished at the extraordinary beauty of the picture.

- We were astonished to hear that he had passed his driving test.

CF: astonish, amaze, & surprise

这三个词在表示“使…惊异”时，意义相近，一般以事物或人作主语；以人作主语时，一般用被动语态。它们的主要区别在于：

astonish 特指不可能解释的事发生后使人产生较强的惊异感情。astonish 表示惊异的时间较 surprise 长久。例如：

- They were astonished at / by the news of his escape. (他们对他逃跑的消息感到吃惊。)

amaze 指带有迷惑或赞美的惊奇，是意义很强的词。例如：

- I was amazed at / by her calmness. [我对她的冷静感到惊讶。（含有“钦佩”之意）]

surprise 着重因意外之事或特殊的事而产生的突然反应。例如：

- Her frank answer surprised him. (她坦率的回答使他感到惊讶。)

make a living by:  earn money by (doing sth.)

- Many farmers in this area make a good living by growing flowers.

- He makes a living by writing.

miracle: n.  an amazing or wonderful event, esp. sth. that happens unexpectedly

- There was a severe earthquake in that area, but by a miracle, no one was killed in it.         

- The teacher told me that it’d be a miracle if I passed the examination.

- It was a miracle that the pilot landed the plane in that snowstorm.

Collocation：

by a miracle                                                                                                                     依靠奇迹；奇迹般地

to a miracle                                                                                                                      奇迹般地；（好得）不可思议地

accomplish / perform / work a miracle             创造奇迹

faculty: n.

1) mental and physical abilities

- For a woman of 85, she still has all her faculties.

- It is a myth that the faculty of hearing is greatly increased in blind people.

2) all the teachers of a university or college

- After seven years of study, he succeeded in joining the faculty of Columbia University.