Part II Reading Task

Comprehension

Content Question

Pair Work

1.        In the midst of prosperous farms and beautiful fields in the central part of America.

2.        Foxes, deer, wild flowers and trees, migrant birds, trout and other fishes, etc.

3.        The roadsides were beautiful even in winter. Berries and seed heads of dried weeds rose above the snow, and birds came to feed on them.

4.        The migrant birds, and fish in the streams and pools.

5.        It was clear and cold.

6.        They built their houses, sank their wells, built their barns, and lived in perfect harmony with the wild life. The town remained beautiful and full of life for many years.

7.        She refers to the shadow of death. Chickens, cattle and sheep began to die of mysterious maladies, people were stricken with strange sickness and some of them died.

8.        Spring should be throbbing with life, full of birdsong. “A silent spring” is a lifeless spring.

9.        The roadsides are now lined with withered vegetation as though swept by fire.

10.    Probably it is the remains of pesticides or other deadly chemicals.

11.    Man. All these changes are the result of man’s own work.

12.    No. The author is pointing to a real danger. The disasters befalling this imagined town have actually happened here and there, though no single town has experienced all of them. If nothing is done to protect the environment, all American towns will suffer the same fate sooner or later.

Text Organization

Working On Your Own

1.          

Part Two: The description of the same town which was now stricken with all kinds of maladies

Part Three: The cause of the maladies

Part Four: Though imagined, the tragedy may well become a reality and the author tells about her purpose in writing the book.

2.          

3. A strange blight crept over the area

5. Animals stopped breeding and trees bore no fruit

Language Sense Enhancement

1.          

(1)     heart

(2)     in harmony with

(3)     in the midst

(4)     prosperous

(5)     orchards

(6)     drifted

(7)     blaze

(8)     flickered

(9)     barked

(10) mists

Vocabulary

I

1.          

1)        barking

2)        evil

3)        brooding; hatched

4)        migrant

5)        tragedies

6)        counterpart

7)        are complaining/co-mplain

8)        grim

9)        flocks; fed on

10)    vegetation

11)    patches

12)    Scores of

2.          

1)        was lined with people who came to welcome the distinguished foreign guests.

2)        the boss silenced all lively conversation in the office.

3)        wearing a pair of sun glasses, the famous movie star passed the crowed unnoticed.

4)        looked deserted.

5)        were stricken by it.

3.          

1)        patches; came into full bloom; were puzzled; mysterious

2)        throbbed with; sickened; migrant; a chorus

3)        had crept into; flickered; the stark

II.    Word Formation

1.          

Compound words                   Chinese meaning

age-old                          古老的

air force                        空军

daughter-in-law                  儿媳妇

first-rate                       一流的

greenhouse                       温室

half brother                     同母异父兄弟；同父异母兄弟

ice-cream                        冰淇淋

lifelike                         逼真的

light year                       光年

salesperson                      售货员；推销员

self-centered                    以自己为中心的，自私的

threefold                        三倍

overuse                          过度使用

stone-still                      石头似的一动不动

worldwide                        全世界范围的；在世界范围内

2.           

1)        poverty-stricken people

2)        heart-breaking news

3)        newly-built database

4)        well-fed kids

5)        successful spacewalk

6)        peace-loving people

7)        need-based scholarships

8)        color-blind people

III.          Confusable Words

1.        lying

2.        laid

3.        lay

4.        lain

5.        lie

6.        lay

7.        lie

8.        lay

9.        lay

10.    lies

Comprehensive Exercises

I.        cloze

1.          

(1)     spell

(2)     stricken

(3)     misfortunes

(4)     surroundings

(5)     blossom/bloom

(6)     migrant

(7)     deserted

(8)     silence

(9)     sickened

(10) hatch

(11) puzzled

(12) in harmony with

2.          

(1)     rate

(2)     publication

(3)     dangerous

(4)     banned

(5)     export

(6)     profit

(7)     accept

(8)     comprehend

(9)     boundaries

(10) ultimately

II.    Translation

1.          

1)        This is a prosperous town, but there is still poverty in the midst of wealth and abundance.

2)        The Brown family was stricken with one misfortune after another, but their children never complained.

3)        The museum is designed in such a way that it stands in perfect harmony with its surroundings.

4)        It was a miracle that these flowers did not wither at all in the blazing sun.

5)        Flocks of sheep feed on the patches of vegetation that rise above the winter snow.

2.          

This village was once famous for its beautiful natural surroundings. All the year round, the trees were green and the flowers in bloom. Clear streams flowed out of the hills through a checkerboard of rice fields. Birds sang all day, and deer came and went in a leisurely manner. However, with the coming of DDT and other pesticides, an evil spell seemed to have settled over the village. Misfortunes came one after another. Chicken died suddenly, cattle and sheep were stricken by mysterious maladies, and farmers complained about a sickening feeling that puzzled the village doctor. The village square, once throbbing with life, was now deserted.