Unit8.ppt

Track 2-08-02.mp3

Detailed Reading 

Ⅰ. Difficult Sentences

1. (Para.1) In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of colour

    that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines.

1. Paraphrase the sentence.

    (=In autumn, the leaves of oaks, maples and birches turned bright red against a background of green pines.)

2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.

     (=秋季到来时，橡树、枫树和白桦树五彩缤纷，在大片松林的衬托下如同一片火海，熠熠生辉。)

2. (Para.2) The countryside was, in fact, famous for the abundance and

   variety of its bird life, and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and autumn people travelled from great distances to observe them.

1. Understand the long sentence.

 (=This is a compound sentence connected with the transitional word “and”. In the second main clause, a sub-clause of time “when the flood of…”is used.)

2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.

(=事实上，这里的乡村鸟类品种丰富，数量可观，因此远近闻名。每当大批候鸟在春秋之际蜂拥而至，许多人远道赶来观看。)

3. (Para.2) So it had been from the days many years ago when the first

  settlers raised their houses, sank their wells and built their barns.

What does the author mean by saying “it had been from the days many years ago when…”?

(=She means that the land had been known for abundance and bio-diversity for a long time.)

4. (Para.2) Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died.

1. What does the author mean by a “strange blight” and “evil spell”?

     (=She refers to the shadow of death. Chickens, cattle and sheep began to die of mysterious maladies. People were stricken with strange sicknesses and some of them died. )

2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.

    (=后来，一种奇怪的疫病在这个地区悄悄蔓延开来，一切不再依旧。这个社区中了一种什么邪，一群群鸡很快都染上了神秘的疾病，牛羊纷纷病死。)

5. (Para.6) The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire.

1. What’s the function of “as though”?

  (=Here the author used a figure of speech, simile to make her expression more vivid and clear.)

2. What’s her purpose by saying so?

  (=She focuses on the severe consequence caused by the pollution.)

6. (Para.9) This town does not actually exist, but it might easily have a thousand counterparts in America or elsewhere in the world.

1. Why does the author want to say by using “it might…?

 (=“might” is used here to express a possibility that it may happen or may be true — such things did have happened in America or elsewhere in the world.)

2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.

(=这座小镇在现实世界中并不存在，但是在美国和世界的其他地方，很可能会轻而易举地有数千个遭遇到与其类似命运的小镇出现。)

7. (Para.10) What has already silenced the voices of spring in countless towns in America? 

1. What should spring be like? What does “silenced the voices of spring” mean?

(=Spring should be throbbing with life, full of birdsong.  “Silenced the voices of spring” means the spring has already been made lifeless.)

2. Translate this sentence into Chinese.

     (=是什么东西使无数美国小镇的春天鸦雀无声？)

Ⅱ. Words and Expressions

1. (Para.1) in harmony with: agree with another idea, feeling etc., or look good with other things

* Your suggestions are not in harmony with the aims of this project.

我们的行为应该与话语相一致。 

(=Our actions should be in harmony with our words.)

Collocation:

be in harmony with 与…协调一致

be out of harmony with     与…不协调一致

live in harmony 和睦相处

2. (Para.1) surroundings: n. everything that is around or near sb./sth.

* The house is set in beautiful surroundings near Lake Coniston.

 (=We work more happily in pleasant surroundings.)

3. (Para.1) in the midst of: among or with; while (sth.) is happening

* The government is in the midst of a major crisis.

他在暴雨中离开了公寓。 

(=He left his flat in the midst of a rainstorm.)

4. (Para.1) prosperous: adj. rich and successful

* I’m sure you can build a prosperous business in China.

 (=After their misfortunes the family slowly became prosperous.)

5. (Para.1) bloom:

1. n. a flower, especially one cultivated for its beauty

     *Fall leaves make the Japanese mad, just like the cherry bloom in the spring.

     苹果树正在开花。

(=The apple trees were in bloom.)

2. vi. produce flowers; be in flower.

* Some of my last roses of summer are even more beautiful than the first ones that bloomed in early spring.

(=Everything in the garden was blooming lovely!)

NB: bloom , blossom以及flower均可作名词和动词，意为“花，开花”。其不同点是：bloom 尤指“大的、供观赏的花，诸如牡丹、玫瑰、梅花、菊花等; blossom 指树木开花，尤指果树上开的花。flower指开放的花朵或泛指花卉。

Collocation:

come into bloom/blossom 开花

be out of bloom/blossom 花已落

in (full) bloom/blossom 花盛开着

the bloom is off the rose                    明日黄花，已失去新颖感或应时价值的事物

6. (Para.1) flame: vi. become suddenly bright with light or colour, especially red or orange

* A great fire flamed in an open fireplace.

 (=His face flamed with embarrassment.)

7. (Para.1) bark:

1. vi. make the short loud sound that a dog makes

* Have you ever seen a dog barking at the moon?

    这只狗对陌生人吠叫。

(=The dog barks at strangers.)

2. vt. say something quickly in a loud voice

     * The captain barked into the microphone, “Attention everyone!”

      他开始厉声下达命令。

(=He began barking out his orders.)

8. (Para.1) mist: n. a light cloud low over the ground that makes it difficult for you to see very far

* We could just see the outline of the house through the mist.

 (=The mist along the river banks had gone by mid morning.)

CF: mist, fog & smog

这三个词都是名词，都可表示“雾”之意。

mist   指轻雾，气象学上称作霭。例如：

       * The peaks were shrouded in mist.  山峰笼罩在雾霭中。

fog    指较浓的雾。例如：

       * We get heavy fogs on the coast in winter. 这里的海边冬季有浓雾。

smog  指工业区的烟和雾相混而造成的又黑又浓的烟雾。例如：

        * The river appeared as if enveloped in smog. 那条河好像笼罩在烟雾之中。

9. (Para.2) feed on: look for and eat (as one’s usual food)

* Giant pandas feed on arrow bamboo twigs and leaves.

这台燃气轮机以它抽入的燃料为能源。

(=The gas turbine feeds on the fuel it pumps.)

10. (Para. 2) abundance: n. a very large quantity of sth.

   * The tropical island boasts an abundance of wildlife.

 (=She was blessed with talent and charm in abundance.)

Collocation:

abundance of     丰富, 许多

in abundance     充足，丰富

a year of abundance     丰年

11. (Para. 2) migrant: n.

1) a bird or animal that travels regularly from one part of the world to another

  * The migrants span the animal kingdom, from whales to dragonflies.

夏天候鸟来这里筑巢。

(=Summer migrants nest here.)

2) someone who goes to live in another area or country, especially in order to find work

*Historically, California has welcomed migrants from other states and nations.

 流动工人从一国转到另一国。寻找工资高的工作。

(=Migrant workers move from country to country in search of well-paid work.)

 NB: 与migrant 形似的词有 emigrant “移居国外的人”， immigrant “(自国外移入的)移民”。

12. (Para. 3) creep: vi. move quietly and slowly   

 * Ivy crept up the walls of the building.

 (=She crept up behind him and put her hands over his eyes.)

CF: creep, climb, crawl

这三个动词都有“爬”之意。

creep   多指人或四足动物匍匐爬行，尤指偷偷地或不出声地缓慢向前爬行。也指植物的蔓

延生长等。

climb    通常指用手或足爬上或爬下，也指飞机、日、月的上升，还可用作比喻。

crawl    指人或动物以身躯贴着地面缓慢地移动。

(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.

1. The baby ____ across the floor. (=crawled)

2. No one noticed that the little boy had _____ into the room and was sitting there, listening. (=crept)

3. Boys were _____ trees along the river bank. (=climbing)

4. It took several hours to drive the 50 miles, _______ along through the snow. (= crawling)

5. She _____ into Chrissy's room, shutting the door silently behind her. (=crept)

6. Several fans ______ onto the roof of the arena to get a better view. (=climbed)

7. Sales have            11% this quarter. (=climbed)

13. (Para. 3) spell: n.

1) (state or condition caused by) magic power

* After a short spell in hospital she was soon back at work.

    她担心你正从她魔力般的影响下清醒过来。

(=She is afraid that you are waking from her spell.)

2) a short period of time during which sth. lasts

* He's had a spell of bad luck recently.

她趁上班时一段清静的时间写了封信。 

(=She managed to write a letter during a quiet spell at work. )

Collocation:

during a … spell 在一段时间内

a … spell as 作为…的时期

a spell of unemployment 失业期

be/come/fall under 在咒语的支配下；中了咒语

under sb.’s spell 被某人迷住

14. (Para. 3) settle on: fall from above and come to rest on

* When you are ready, fly down to Earth; settle on the moist green banks of a running stream.

 (=As a thick fog settled on the ground it became too dark to play outside.)

Pattern:

settle for     对…感到满足

settle on 决定

settle with     同…清理账目

settle down to/into     定下心来

15. (Para. 3) mysterious: adj. hard to explain or understand

   * The police are investigating the mysterious deaths of children at the hospital.

    一个神秘的捐助人提供了这笔钱。

(=A mysterious benefactor provided the money.)

16. (Para. 3) malady: n. an illness; a serious problem

    *Between 1937 and 1941 he discovered drugs which mitigated (缓和) the worst symptoms of these maladies.

暴力犯罪是为害现代社会的弊病之一。

(=Violent crime is one of the maladies affecting modern society.)

17. (Para. 3) flock: n. a group of birds, sheep or goats

   * Naturally the shepherds who had brought their flocks across must know the safest route.

   一群鸟飞过来, 打猎开始了。 

(=A flock of birds comes over, and the hunting starts.)

CF: flock, herd & swarm

这三个名词都有“群”之意。

flock   主要指鸟群、羊群，也指较小的动物群，也可指人群。例如：

         A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open. 一群顾客在等候着商店开门。

herd   一般指大动物的群，尤指家畜的群，也可指人群。例如：She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness. 她赶着牛群穿过荒野。

swarm  通常指蜜蜂、昆虫等的群。例如：A swarm of ants are moving busily.

一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

18. (Para. 3) puzzle: v. make (sb.) worry and think hard  

    * He puzzled his brains to find an answer.

 (=She was still puzzling over this problem when she reached the office.)

19. (Para. 3) stricken: adj. seriously affected by a disease or a difficult situation

   * Fire broke out on the stricken ship.

    食物和药品被迅速运往受灾的城市。

(=Supplies of food and medicine were rushed to the stricken city.)

NB: stricken 是strike 的过去分词，意为“被打中的, 受了伤的; 被侵害的; 受…之苦的”；（作定语或构成复合词）意为“受灾的, 遇难的; 患病的; 受罪的; 愁苦的; 衰老的; 受了创伤的”。例如：be stricken with poverty（受贫困的折磨），a stricken area（灾区），poverty-stricken （贫穷不堪的）。

20. (Para. 4) desert: vt. abandon            

   * His father had deserted the family when Graham was three years old.

   他遗弃妻女，返回了英格兰。

(=He deserted his wife and daughter and went back to England.)

CF: desert, abandon & give up

这两个动词和一个词组均含“抛弃、放弃”之意。

desert      着重指违背法律责任和义务，或自己的信仰与誓言的行为，多含非难的意味。

abandon    强调永远或完全放弃或抛弃人或事物等，这可能是被迫的，也可能是自愿的。

give up      普通用语，强调指没有希望或因外界压力而放弃。

(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.

1. Many of the party's traditional voters _____ it at the last election. (=deserted)

2. Bad habits are not easily _______. (=given up)

3. We had to ____ the car and walk the rest of the way. (=abandon)

4. The family refused to ____ any of their land. (=give up)

5. Mrs Hasan was _____ by her husband and had to support four children on her own. (=deserted)

6. Because of the fog they ______their idea of driving. (=abandoned)

21. (Para. 4) scores of: a large number of

   * Scores of reporters gathered outside the courthouse. 

     那里有好多人, 也许有80个或者更多。

(=There are scores of people there, maybe eighty or more.)

22. (Para. 5) be lined with: have rows of sth. along the sides

   The street was lined with small shops.

(=The road is lined with people waving flags.)

Collocation:

above the line （财政）日常支出的

below the line （财政）资本支出的

bring someone/thing into line      使符合，使一致

come into line   一致

23. (Para. 7) patch: n. an area that is different from what surrounds it

   * I noticed a patch of dirt in the middle of the rug.

这只狗的皮毛白色中带有黑斑。 

(=The dog's coat is white with black patches.)

24. (Para. 8) silence: vt.  bring to silence, put a stop to

* She was silenced by the Inspector's stern look.

    该队的表现使爱挑他们毛病的人哑口无言。

(=The team's performance silenced their critics.)

Collocation：

in silence 安静地，无声地

silence is golden     (谚)沉默是金；什么话不说为好

25. (Para. 9) counterpart: n. a person or thing that has the same position or function as another in a different place or situation

   * Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts.

 (=The sales director phoned her counterpart in the other firm.)

26. (Para. 9) misfortune: n. bad luck

* The project was dogged by misfortune.

    她不幸摔断了腿。

(=She had the misfortune to break her leg.)

 CF: misfortune, disaster & calamity

这三个名词均表示“灾难”或“不幸”之意。

misfortune   普通用词，多批较为严重的不幸，强调不幸多由外界因素所致。

disaster     普通用词，指大破坏、痛苦或伤亡。

calamity     多指个人的不幸，比disaster严重，强调灾难引起的悲痛以及对于损失的感觉。

(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.

1. Natural _____ such as floods and earthquakes are common occurrences in California. (=disasters)

2. It will be a ______ for farmers if the crops failed again. (=calamity)

3. Her ____ worsened this year, when her company eliminated her position and she lost her job. (=misfortunes)

4. Their expedition nearly ended in ____, when one of the climbers slid off the mountain. (=disaster)

5.______ never come single. (=Misfortunes)

27. (Para. 9) tragedy: n. a very sad event that causes people to die or suffer

* Investigators still do not know what caused the tragedy, which killed all 278 people on board.

 (=The tragedy happened as they were returning home from a night ou

After Reading

Ⅰ. Text Analysis — fable

A fable is a short tale used to teach a moral lesson. Fables are used to teach humans a lesson about recognizing and overcoming their foibles (小缺点，小癖好). The main character in the fable displays the foible being criticized. As the fable unfolds the foible brings downfall to the character. In this text human beings bring destruction upon themselves by neglecting the environment. The moral lesson often comes near the end of the fable, as is the case in the text.

Fables are usually brief. Remember Aesop’s Fables you read as a child? This text contains only 680 words, shorter than all other texts in Book II. They are not complicated, either. As a result they are easy to remember and to tell, grabbing audience attention right to the end of the story.

Fables relate to everyday problems people face, such as the education of the young and the protection of the environment.

Readers must pay attention to the title of a fable, which will cue who or what to pay attention to. The title A Fable for Tomorrow implies that the invented story will turn out to be true in the future if nothing is done today.

Ⅱ. Useful Expressions 

1. 在…的腹地 in the heart of…

2. 与…和谐相处     live in harmony with

3. 富足的农场 prosperous farm

4. 默默地穿越 silently cross

5. 在…中 in the mists of

6. 令…人目不暇接 delight sb’s eye

7. 以…为食     feed on

8. 蜂拥而至     pour through

9. 悄悄蔓延     creep over

10. 死亡的阴影     a shadow of death

11. 对…迷惑不解     be puzzled by

12. 莫名其妙突然死去     sudden and unexplained deaths

13. 出奇地安静     a strange stillness

14. 许许多多     scores of

15. 开花     come into bloom

16. 几处斑痕     a few patches

17. 遭遇灾难的世界     the stricken world

18. 经历…的不幸     experience the misfortune

19. 多个     a substantial number of

20. 想像的悲剧     imagined tragedy

21. 严酷现实     stark reality

22. 使…鸦雀无声     silence the voices of

Ⅲ. Word Completion

(Directions:) Choose the suitable word or phrase from the list and complete the following sentences, change the form where necessary.   

1. Eighteenth-century urban dwellers lived in much worse conditions than their modern ______. (=counterparts)

2. It helps if your mind and emotions are ______ it and you have the loving support of those around you. (=in harmony with)

3. In the region's most ______ countries, it is doubling every four to six months. (= prosperous)

4. I opened my mouth to speak but she ______ me with an angry look. (=silenced)

5. Unless the world deals with the AIDS threat now, the African continent could suffer "a _____ of historic proportions." (=tragedy)

6. She touches the small colorful _____ with her index finger, and laughs. (=patches)

7. As the sun began to set, long shadows seemed to _____ out of the  corners. (=creep)

8. When in the nineteenth century naturalists first examined it, they were mystified as to how any animal could _____ it. (=feed on)

9. It can offer you just about everything you can think of by day and by night, in ______. (=abundance)

10. The beach was _____ and unsafe for bathing according to the guidebook. (=deserted)

Ⅳ. Dictation 

Directions: Listen to the following passage and fill in the blanks with the words you hear. 

Environment is the physical surroundings of an organism (生物，有机物) or organisms, including _________ (=biological), physical, and _______ (= chemical) factors. In the case of human ecology (生态学), it also includes ________ (=social) and cultural surroundings. Planning, caring for, and _______ (=conservation) of the human environment, both built and natural, became of increasing concern in recent years. In philosophy, environmentalism stresses the ________ (=influence) of the physical environment on man’s development and activities.