Text A Detailed Reading
Detailed Reading
Ⅰ. Difficult Sentences
1. (Title) THE GLORIOUS MESSINESS OF ENGLISH
1) Translate the title into Chinese.
2) What kind of rhetorical device is used in the title?
( =1) 英语中绚丽多彩的杂乱无章现象.
2) The rhetorical device used here is called oxymoron (矛盾修饰法). An oxymoron puts two contradictory terms together to puzzle the reader, luring him/her to pause and explore why. Here “Glorious” is a commendatory(褒义的) term, while “Messiness” is derogatory(贬义的). As the reader reads on, he/she will know that English is messy, but the messiness reflects some commendable qualities of English, such as tolerance, the love of freedom, and the respect for others’ rights. At this point the reader cannot but admire the author’s ingenuity.)
2. (LL. 9~10) … which French kids are supposed to say instead – but they don’t.
Paraphrase this part of the sentence.
(= French children are expected to say the word “balladeer” instead of “Walkman” but they don’t say it.)
3. (L. 14) Such is the glorious messiness of English.
What can we know about the author’s attitude towards English from this sentence?
(= He thinks much of it.)
4. (LL. 20~21) The history of English is present in the first words a child learns about … (food, water).
1. Paraphrase this part.
2. Translate this part into Chinese.
(=1) The history of English is revealed in the first words a child learns about …
2) 英语的历史体现在孩子最先学会用来表示…的词汇当中。)
5. (LL. 29~31) … “We shall fight …surrender.”
What kind of rhetorical device is used here? And what’s the function of it?
(= The rhetorical device used here is called parallelism(排比法). With this device the sentences become more powerful and will leave a deeper impression on listeners or readers.)
6. (LL. 69~70) … French for the nobles, Latin for the churches and English for the common people.
What kind of rhetorical device is used here?
(=The rhetorical device used here is called metonymy(转喻). Here the word “churches” stands for religious institutions and those who are involved in religious practices. Another example, in the sentence “The kettle boils.”, the word “kettle” stands to “the water in the kettle”.)
7. (LL. 80~81) Translations of Greek and Roman classics were poured onto the printed page, …
1. What is the Chinese version of this part?
2. What kind of rhetorical device is used here?
(= 1) 希腊罗马经典著作的译文纷纷印成书册
2) The author used personification(拟人法) in this part.)
8. (LL. 83~84) Today we still borrow from Latin … cyberspace.
Where are the two words “television” and “cyberspace” from?
(= The word “television” is formed by “tele”(Greek, meaning “far off”) and “vision” (Latin, meaning “to see”).
The word “cyberspace” is formed by “cyber”(Greek, meaning “to steer”) and “space”(Old French, Latin)).
9. ( L. 89) Fortunately their idea has never been put into practice.
What can we infer from this sentence about the author’s attitude towards English?
(= The author prefers what English is today to what some British scholars wanted to do.)
10. (L. 95) I like that idea.
What does “that idea” refer to?
(= It refers to the fact that the English language today results from the great respecters of the liberties of each individual and his freedom to strike out new path for himself.)
11. (LL. 95~99) Consider that … around their language.
What kind of rhetorical device is used in these sentences?
(=The rhetorical device used in these sentences is called metaphor. Here the author uses sustained metaphor: the cultural soil, the first shoots sprang up, … grew stronger, build fences around their language. In this case the English language is compared to plants, and the various cultures influencing it are compared to the soil, while users of English are compared to gardeners. Besides this, the author employs many other metaphors in this text, such as core of English (Para. 4), another flood of new vocabulary (Para. 14), and the special preserve of grammarians (Para. 19) ).
Ⅱ. Words and Expressions
1.(L. 7) corrupt: vt.
1) cause errors to appear in
* The Academy ruled that such foreign expressions were not permitted, as they corrupted the language.
(=Has Japanese been corrupted by the introduction of foreign words?)
2) cause to act dishonestly in return for personal gains
* To our great surprise, the former mayor turned out to have been corrupted by the desire for money and power.
* To gain more profits, the businessman tried every means to corrupt the officials in the local government.
2. (L. 8) ban:
1. vt. forbid (sth.) officially (used in the pattern: ban sth.; ban sb. from sth./doing sth.)
* The local government will ban smoking in all offices later this year.
* Tom was banned from driving for six months after being caught speeding again.
* Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned when it was first published.
CF: ban, forbid & prohibit
这三个是及物动词，均含“禁止”之意。
ban语气最重，指权威机关“正式禁止”。一般含有“严厉谴责”的意思，只能用于严重危害公众利益的事物。例如：
* The treaty bans all nuclear tests. 该条约禁止一切核试验。
forbid是普通用词，可用于较细小的事物。例如：
* He forbade his children sweets because he didn’t want their teeth to be ruined.他不许孩子们吃糖果，因为他不希望他们的牙齿蛀坏。
prohibit指“（通过法律、法令或严正警告）禁止某些事物”，应用范围较ban广。例如：
* In some countries the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited.在一些国家禁止出售含酒精的饮料。
2. n. ban (followed by on)
* The government is considering a total ban on cigarette advertising.
*The ban on human cloning is welcomed by most countries in the world.
3（L. 9）invent: vt.
1) make or design (sth. that has not existed before); create (sth.)
* James Watt invented the steam engine.
* Walter Hunt and Elias Hone invented the sewing machine
2) give (a name, reason, etc. that doesn’t exist or is not true)
(=All the characters in the novel are invented.)
* Standing still in the teacher’s office, the boy tried to invent a plausible excuse for his absence from class.
CF.: invent & discover
这两个词都是及物动词，在意义上比较容易混淆。
Invent“发明”，发明的对象是以前没有的新东西；如：工具、手段或方法，是
实践问题，不仅仅是认识问题。例如：
* Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.亚历山大•格雷厄姆•贝尔
发明了电话。
discover“发现”，发现的对象是本来就存在，但主语不知道的东西，如新的科
学真理，新领域等。有时也可泛指“发现”、“认识到”某 种情况。例如：
* The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930.冥王星是在1930年被发现的。
4．(L. 11) fascinating: adj. of great interest or attraction
* The story of his adventures in the Arctic was fascinating to listen to.
我觉得有关克隆的讨论很有吸引力。
(=I found the discussion about cloning absolutely fascinating.)
* It is fascinating to imagine what might have happened if the US had not declared war against Japan in World War II.
5. (L. 11) strictly speaking: if one uses words, applies rules, etc. in their exact
sense
* He’s not strictly speaking an artist; he is more of a performer.
(=Strictly speaking she was not qualified for the job. But we employed her
because of her honesty.)
6. (L. 15) tolerance: n.
1) the quality of allowing other people to say and do as they like, even if you
don’t agree or approve of it (followed by for)
* School teachers have to have a great deal of tolerance in order to deal
with difficult children.
* He has no tolerance for people who disagree with him.
2) the ability to bear sth. painful or unpleasant (followed by of/for/to)
* Human beings have limited tolerance of/to noise.
* The patient had no tolerance for/to pain. Whenever he was injected he
would cry.
Collocation：
display/show tolerance 表示宽容
have tolerance 有容忍力；有雅量
tolerance for/of/towards 对…容忍
7. (L. 16) to a (very real, certain, etc.) extent: to the degree specified
* I agree with him to some extent but there are still some areas of sharp
disagreement between us.
(=To some extent the water pollution has affected local residents.)
从某种程度上说，餐馆的失败是由于经营不善造成的。
（＝To a certain extent the failure of the restaurant was due to bad
management.）
8. (L. 22) necessity: n.
1) sth. you must have in order to live properly or do sth.
(= Water is a basic necessity of life.)
* A lot of people would consider a TV as more of a necessity than a
luxury item.
* The workers’ wages were so low that they hardly had enough money to
buy the bare necessities of life.
2) circumstances that force one to do sth.; the state of being necessary;
the need for sth. (followed by of/for)
再搞一次选举有必要吗？
(= Is there any necessity for another election?)
*There is absolutely no necessity for you to be involved in the project.
Collocation：
feel the necessity of 感到有…的必要
the bare necessities 最低限度的必需品
the necessities of life 生活必需品
of necessity 必然地
* You will of necessity remain silent. 你必然会保持沉默。
by necessity 由于必要；不得已
* I walked home by necessity, because the car broke down. 汽车坏了，我
不得已只好走回家。
9. (L. 26) arouse: vt. provoke (a particular feeling or attitude)
* These educational toys give children a feeling of self-worth by arousing
their interest in challenging tasks.
* The man’s strange behavior aroused the policeman’s suspicions.
10. (L. 31) surrender: v. give in (followed by to)
* After several weeks of severe attacks, Afghanistan’s Taliban forces
surrendered to the Northern Alliance.
*After the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese
surrendered.
*We’ll never surrender to terrorism despite the terrorist attacks.
你们必须向警方缴枪。
(= You must surrender your guns to the police.)
11. (L. 32) virtually: adv. for the most part, almost
* It’s virtually impossible to tell the imitation from the real thing.
* It has been raining virtually non-stop for the past several days.
晚饭差不多准备好了；我只差做蔬菜了。
(=The dinner’s virtually ready; I only have to finish the vegetables.)
12. (L. 38) invade: vt. enter with armed forces
* In July 1937 the Japanese army invaded China.
* The Germans invaded Poland in 1939, leading to the start of World War
II.
13. (L. 40) mystery: n. sth. that people can’t, or have not been able to
understand or explain
* The politician’s sudden death remains a mystery to us all.
埃及的金字塔（pyramid）是如何建成的依然是个谜。
(=How Egyptian pyramids were built still remains a mystery.)
* No one has ever been able to explain the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.
Collocation：
pose a mystery 形成疑团
remain a mystery 依然是个谜
clear up a mystery 使神秘的事真相大白
solve/unravel a mystery 阐释奥秘
shrouded/cloaked/wrapped in mystery 处于神秘之中
14. (L. 42) resemble: vt. be like or similar to
约翰在各方面都非常像他父亲。
（＝John resembles his father very much in all ways.）
(= I’d say he resembles his mother more than his father.)
15. (L. 43) descend: v. come down (from a source), go down
* These ideas descend from those of the ancient philosophers.
* The old lady descended the stairs.
太阳落山了。
（＝ The sun descended behind the hills.）
CF: descend, fall & drop
这三个词都是动词，均含“下落”之意。
descend是相当正式的用法，表示从某一高处落到某一低处。
fall为不及物动词，表示由于地球吸引力或失去支撑而导致的下落。广义上讲，指
任何形式的下落。
drop表示一点一滴地落下，但通常表示下落或使下落时的速度、方向出乎意料
或不经意。
(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.
1. The rain was still __________ from the trees. (=dropping)
2. On turning the corner, we saw that the road ______ steeply. (=descended)
3. Large masses of rock are constantly ______ into the sea. (=falling)
4. The hawk (鹰) ______ in a vertical stoop on its quarry (猎物). (=descends)
16. (L. 49) establish: vt.
1) cause to be, set up
这学校是由一位意大利教授于1905年建立的。
（＝ The school was established in 1905 by an Italian professor.）
* The bank helps people wanting to establish their business.
2) place or settle sb./oneself in a position, an office, etc.
* Ingrid Bergman established her fame as a film star at the age of 20.
* Yao Ming established himself in the team soon after he arrived in
U.S.
17. (L. 50) drift:
1. vi. move or go somewhere in a slow casual way
(=Jimmy spent the year drifting around Europe.)
* The football match was over, and the crowds drifted away from the
stadium.
她经常调换工作。
（＝She just drifts from job to job.）
2. n.
1) the movement or course of sth. drifting
* Nowadays there is a drift of young people from the country to the city.
2) the general meaning
* I’m sorry: I can’t catch/get the drift of what you’re saying.
论点的要旨你明白了吗？
（＝Did you get/see the drift of the argument?）
Collocation：
drift along 漫无目的地游荡
drift apart 分开；疏远
drift into/toward 渐渐进入；陷入
* At last, he drifted into a life of crime. 最后，他陷入了犯罪生涯。
drift from … to … 从…漂流到…
* The conversation drifted from one subject to another. 谈话从一个主题转
到另一个主题。
a general drift 总的倾向
get/catch the drift of … 理解大意
follow sb’s drift 听懂某人的意思
18. (L. 56) pass (sth.) on to (sb.): hand or give (sth.) to (sb.)
* When you have finished reading the novel, please pass it on to Laura.
* The King passed on much of his fortune to the princess.
19. (L. 66) addition: n.
1) a person or thing added (followed by to)
* The baby is a welcome addition to the Smith family.
他将是我们篮球队里可贵的新增力量。
(=He will be a valuable addition to our basketball team.)
2) the act of adding, esp. adding numbers together
* Before I entered the primary school, my mother taught me to do addition and subtraction.
Collocation：
do addition 做加法
make an addition 增加一些
in addition to 除…之外
* In addition to his salary, he earns a lot from giving lectures.
in addition 另外；加之
* You need money and time. In addition, you need diligence.
20. (L. 69) conquer: vt. take possession and control of (a country, city, etc.) by
force; defeat
* Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance conquered Kabul a month ago.
(= She has conquered the hearts of many men.)
全世界已作出巨大努力来征服癌症。
* There has been a tremendous international effort to conquer cancer.
CF: conquer, beat & defeat
这三个词都是动词，均含“打败”、“胜过”之意。
conquer指通过武力、斗争或坚强的意志把某事或某物、某人置于自己的控制之
下。例如：
* The Romans conquered parts of Britain in the first century B. C. 公元前
一世纪罗马人曾占领了英国的部分领土。
beat强调对手被彻底打败，该词常用在正式场合，可用于描写任何比赛。例如：
* She beat her brother at tennis. 在网球上，她打败了她弟弟。
defeat是个普通用语。可指打败敌人、对手，也可指在选举中落选，希望、计划
受挫等。例如：
*He was defeated by 165 votes against 132. 他以132票对165 票落选了。
21. (L. 73) alternative:
1. n. one of two or more possibilities (followed by to)
* His father gave John the alternative of staying in high school or going to
work.
恐怕除了向警察告发你之外，我别无选择。
（＝ I’m afraid I have no alternative but to report you to the police.）
NB: 该词本意是“另一个，每两者中的第二个”，因此仅限于在两者之间进行选
择，但现在也可指“几种可能中的一种”，类似 We have several
alternatives to chose from.（有几种可能性可供我们选择。）之类的句子也
相当普遍。
2. adj. (of two things) that may be used, had, done, etc. instead of another;
other
* We returned by an alternative road.
NB: 有时alternate可用来代替alternative：They had an alternate/alternative
plan.（他们另有一个计划。) 但是，alternative被认为是更地道的英语。
22. (L.76) enrich: vt.
1) make rich or richer
* That once poor coastal village has been enriched by the profits from
tourism.
油田的发现使许多阿拉伯国家富足起来了。
（＝ The discovery of oil has enriched many Arabian countries.）
2) improve
* It is important to enrich the soil prior to planting.
* Music can enrich your whole life.
23. (L. 86) source: n.
1) a place from which sth. comes or is obtained
* Tourism, which is a major source of income for the city, has been
seriously affected by SARS.
* Do you have any other source of income apart from your job?
2) the place where a stream of water starts
* Where is the source of the Amazon River?
CF: source & origin
这两个词都是名词，均含“根源，起因”之意。
source原指“水源”，转义指事物的“根源，起因或出处”。例如：
* They had to find a new source of income. 他们不得不寻找新的收入来源。
origin指事物的起源、源头，含有现在的情景已有变化之意，有时也指“出身，血
统”。
(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.
1. There are a number of words in the English language which were French
in __________. (=origin)
2. Where is the _______of the River Thames? (=source)
3. They had to find a new _________ of income. (=source)
4. This practice owes its _________ to the Chinese. (=origin)
24．(L. 87) out of control: no longer able to be controlled
* The fire was out of co
ntrol by the time the second fire engine arrived.
* There was nothing they could do about it. The situation was out of
control.
25. (L. 89) put into practice: take action regarding sth.
* They weren’t allowed to put into practice in their daily lives the
teachings they received.
(= Having delayed several times, we must put this plan into practice
now.)
26. (L. 94) strike out: start being independent; start doing what one wants to do in
life
* After working for his father for about ten years, he decided to strike out on
his own.
约翰辞掉原来的工作，开始从事旅游推销员的工作。
(= John quit his job and struck out as a traveling salesman.)
After Reading
Ⅰ. Useful Expressions
1. 排行榜 a hit parade
2. 严格地说 strictly speaking
1. 对我们真正至关重要的事 the things that really matter to us
2. 发表演说 make a speech
3. 为了加强效果 for effect
4. 系统的研究 a systematic study
5. 起源于 descend from
6. 提出 come up with
7. 向西漂泊 drift west
8. 留传给我们 pass on to us
9. 日子过得开心 enjoy oneself
10. 抚养孩子 rear/raise a child
11. 诺曼人征服英国 the Normans conquered England
12. 平民百姓 common people
13. 印刷机 a printing press
14. 大量新思想 a wealth of new thinking
15. 欧洲文艺复兴 the European Renaissance
16. 失控 be out of control
17. 付诸实施 put into practice
18. 个人自由的崇尚者 a respecter of the liberties of each
individual
19. 开拓新路 strike out new path
20. 培育了…的准则 nourish the principles of …
21. 人权 the rights of man
22. 知识精英 an intellectual elite
Ⅱ. Listening Comprehension
ⅰ. Brainstorm
(Directions: ) Work in groups and brainstorm as many words as possible that are related to the topic – Chinese Language.
ⅱ. Respond
(Directions: ) Listen to the passage and answer the following questions.
1. What does the Chinese language usually refer to?
(= It refers to the standard language and its dialect.)
2. What percentage of the Han nationality accounts for the total population?
(= 93.3%.)
3. Why do we say the Chinese language is very important in the world?
(= Because it is one of the five working languages in the United Nations.)
4. How many overseas Chinese and persons of Chinese decent in Southeast Asia speak Chinese language?
(= It’s more than 10 million.)
5. According to this passage, what was the world’s population when the passage was written?
(= About 5 billion.)
6. How long has the Chinese language been spoken?
(= More than 6,000 years.)
Ⅲ. Synonyms
（Directions: ） Choose a suitable word from the given pairs to complete the following sentences and try to figure out the difference in meaning.
1. want/wish
a) I ________ you both a very pleasant journey.
b) Ann, I am sorry. I ________ I had never said that to you.
c) My parents ________ me to give you their best regards.
d) We do not ________ to waste our money on such worthless things.
2. skin/hide
a) This is the best lotion I’ve ever known for ________ care.
b) “I’m sorry I called you a pig.” “My ________ is thick enough; it didn’t
bother me.”
c) This pair of boots is made of buffalo ________. They are very durable.
d) I don’t need a knife; I can peel the ________ off with my fingers.
3. raise/rear
a) The male bird helps the female to ________ the young.
b) You cannot ________ corn here. The climate is not right for it.
c) The couple agreed that to ________ the children properly they need two
incomes.
d) He worked hard to ________ himself from poverty.
4. royal/kingly/sovereign
a) The British ________ family has been the focus of media attention in
recent weeks.
b) The young man’s ________ bearing(仪态)has won him many admirers.
c) When did India gain its independence and become a ________ state?
d) With his health restored, he is now ready to resume his ________ duties.
Ⅳ. Body Language
(Directions:) In this part, you can see four pictures and each picture shows the different meaning of body language both in China and U.S. At the same time, you can also see the different phrases or expressions showing the meaning of the different pictures. You’re required to match the picture with the phrases by drawing the phrases into the proper places.
（略）
Ⅴ. Sentence Translation
1. That happy tolerance, that willingness to accept words from anywhere, explains the richness of English and why it has become, to a very real extent, the first truly global language..
(=这种乐意包容的精神，这种不管源自何方都来者不拒的精神，恰好解释了英语为什么会这样丰富，解释了英语缘何在很大程度上成了第一种真正的国际语言。)
2. A systematic study revealed that many modern languages descended from a common parent language, lost to us because nothing was written down.
(=系统的研究显示，许多现代语言起源于一个共同的母语，但由于没有文字记载，该母语已经失传。)
3. The English language would not have been what it is if the English had not been for centuries great respecters of each individual and if everybody had not been free to strike out new paths for himself.
(=如果不是多少世纪以来英国人一向崇尚个人自由，如果不是人人都能自由地为自己开拓新的道路，英语就不会成为今天的英语。)
4. English may become one tool that opens windows to the world, unlocks doors to opportunities, and expands our minds to new ideas.
(=英语可能成为人们了解世界、开启机遇大门、扩展思路、接纳新思想的一种
工具。)
5. 而演说中使用我们语言中的古词汇具有直接拨动心弦的效果。
(=Yet there is something direct to the heart that speaks to us from the earliest words in our language.)
6. 希腊罗马经典著作的译文纷纷印成书册。
(= Translations of Greek and Roman classics were poured onto the printed page.)
7. 到2010年，将英语作为第二语言或外语使用的人数将超过以英语为母语的人数。
(=By 2010, the number of people who speak English as a second or foreign language will exceed the number of native speakers. )
8. 世界正处于变革之中，英语将会出现新的形式。
(=The world is in transition, and the English language will take new forms.)
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