新编英语教程5 Unit 3 My Friend Albert Einstein.doc

Unit THREE: TEXT IWords and Expressions1) knack (l. 5) n. a clever way of doing something2) be in awe of (l. 13) have respect as well as fear and reverence for3) staggering (l. 20) adj. unexpectedly surprising; astoundinge.g. The external debts of that country are staggering. (大得惊人)stagger: vt. cause shocked disbliefe.g. He was staggered by the news that his parents were killed in that traffic accident.4) vestiges (l. 22) pl. n. traces e.g. With the overthrow of the monarchy, all vestiges of feudalism are gone.vestiges of an ancient civilization 古代文明的遗迹带否定词时用单数： without a vestige of clothing 一丝不挂No vestige of a change appeared. 没有一点改变。5) ultimately (l. 33) adv. finally; after a long series of events6) recalcitrant (l. 47) adj. hard to deal with; unmanageable Its often used to describe a person or an animal that is hard to keep under ones control.n. a recalcitrant person. 执拗的人，桀骜不驯的人，不顺从的人antonyms: docile/obedient7) worry (l. 47) vt. assail a problem again and again until it is solved, just like a dog biting some small animals repeatedly, shaking it or pulling at it with the teeth8) surcease (l. 66) n. (archaic) cessation, pause9) plausible (l. 81) adj. seeming to be reasonable10) a house of cards (l. 86) an insecure scheme n. 纸牌做的房子, 不牢靠的计划11) ineffable (l. 109) adj. unutterable; incapable of being expressed in words 不可言表的 It is used to describe something positive that is too wonderful to be described. e.g. joy / happiness / delight / beauty12) elusively whimsical (l. 110) indescribably quaint or strange 捉摸不透的古怪13) convey (l. 1) vt. make known (ideas, views, feelings) to another personcollocation: + meaning/feeling/essence/etc. in a worde.g. I cant convey my feelings in words.Mary asked me to convey her gratitude to you. Please convey to him my best wishes14) none the worse for (l. 5) not harmed by; not adversely affected bynone the + 比较级/none too/none so: 一点也不，决没有e.g. He got lost in the street for quite a while, but was none the worse for it. She did it none too well. 她做得一点儿也不好。15) plead (l. 11) v. plead with sb.: ask sb. very strongly in a begging way 向恳求e.g. The girl pleaded with her parents to let her go to school by herself.plead (not) guilty: (不)服罪 plead illness: 以生病为借口16) prodigy (l. 24) n. a person with exceptional talents or powers 天才an infant prodigy; a child prodigy; a prodigy violinist; a prodigy of learning (非凡的学者); a prodigy of energy (精力异常充沛的人)17) run abreast of (l. 28) abreast: adv. side by side; up to date withrun/walk/ride/march abreast (of sth.): 并肩前进We should keep abreast of the times in science. 我们应在科学方面与时俱进。18) offshoot (l. 36) n. a thing that is developed from something else 衍生物，分枝19) fathom (l. 58) vt. come to understand; get the true meaning of 推测；揣摩；领会e.g. I cant fathom what you really meant. 我不能领会你的真正用意。20) steer (l. 62) vt. generally means “make a boat or a car go in a particular direction”. Figuratively, steer often means “direct”.e.g. steer visitors to the park; steer a conversation away from unpleasant subjectssteer an automobile an airplane 驾驶汽车飞机steer ones country to peace and prosperity 领导国家走向和平与繁荣21) tamper with (l. 87)interfere with; try to change something without permission 削弱；篡改；干涉e.g. tamper with history 篡改历史Its wrong to tamper with other peoples affairs.22) fail (l. 90) vt. leave someone helpless at a difficult time“Words failed him” means that he could not find words to express his feelingshealth/strength/courage/words/time + fail + sb.健康状况不允许/体力不支/泄气/找不到话/时间不够e.g. He was eager to climb to the top of the high mountain, but his health failed him. His courage failed him in the end. 到最后,他泄气了。His name escaped me.23) remote (l. 94) adj. distant in time and space, and in relationshipe.g. a remote village; in the remote past; a remote cousin half brother 同父异母兄弟; 同母异父兄弟24) turmoil (l. 95) n. state of confusion, chaos, disorder, trouble25) endeavor (l. 107) n. effort; attempt26) akin (l. 119) adj. related by blood; having a similar quality or character; analogous 同族的；同类的；相似的e.g. be to: be similar toThe language is closely akin to Arabic.Some synonyms: 1. climb; crawl; creep a) climbvt. suggests most strongly a laborious or tortuous moving upwards e.g. The mountaineers climbed Mt. Qomolangma from the north slope. The car slowly climbed the steep hill. b) crawlvi. 1) If a person crawls, he moves on his hands and knees, or on all fours. e.g. In its infancy, man crawls on all fours. We learn to crawl before we learn to walk. 2) If an insect crawls, it moves using its legs. 3) If a vehicle crawls, it moves forward very slowly. c) creep vi. 1) to move in a quiet, careful way, especially to avoid attracting attention 蹑手蹑脚 + into / over/ around, etc. e.g. He crept back up the stairs, trying to avoid the ones that creaked. 2) if sth. such as an insect, small animal, or car creeps, it moves slowly and quietly 爬行；蔓延；蠕动 + down / along / away, etc. a caterpillar creeping down my arm 3) to gradually enter something and change it 渗透 + in / into / over, etc. Funny how religion is creeping into the environmental debate. 4) if mist, clouds etc. creep, they gradually fill or cover a place 弥漫 + into / over, etc. Fog was creeping into the valley. 5) creep (up) to sb. （British English; informal） 巴结；讨好；拍马2. decrease; decline; reduce; drop; diminish; lessen; dwindle a) decreasesuggests a growing gradually smaller in bulk, size, volume or number 大小、尺寸、体积、数量的逐渐减少vi. The number of traffic accidents decreased by 7% last year.vt. Decrease the dose of medicine as you feel better.n. 1990 saw a decrease in our budget. b) declinevi. & n. suggests a gradual decrease in quantity, quality or importance of something 数量、质量、重要性上逐渐减少to deteriorate gradually; fail.逐渐恶化；衰败 to draw to a gradual close; wane.接近结束；消逝e.g. an empire that has declined 业已衰落的帝国His health is declining. 他的健康日渐衰退。They wish that prices would decline. 他们希望物价能下降。The arts of China have not declined in spite of Western influence. 虽有西方影响, 中国的古老艺术并未因此而衰落。 c) reducevt. a general word, suggests making less, smaller in size, amount, or price to reduce expenses / wages / price / weight / rent to reduce sb. to tears / silence 使某人哭起来/安静下来 to reduce sb. to doing sth. 使某人被迫做某事 to reduce sb. to the ranks 把某人降为普通士兵 d) drop1) vt. & vi. (level / amount) to fall to a low level or amountThe towns population is expected to drop in the next decade.Drop your speed as you approach the bend. to / fromThe number of people out of work has dropped to 2 million.2) vi. (temperature) to become colder quite quicklyThe temperature dropped below zero.3) drop your voice / let your voice drop e) diminish (从整体中)减去（少）；削弱；贬低vt.& vi. emphasizes the subtraction from the whole by some external agent. His illness diminished his strength. 他的病削弱了他的体力。 Unforeseen expenses diminished his savings. His income diminished. 他的收入减少了。 f) lessen vt. & vi. 减小（退）is equivalent to decrease except that the word does not imply any particular rate of decline.His influence lessened overnight.The value of money lessens during inflation. g) dwindle (away) vi. & vt. gradually become less and less or smaller and smaller, close in meaning to decrease, emphasizing a wasting away to nothing to nothing / one / two, etc. His hopes decreased as his fortune dwindled away. The regiment dwindles to a handful of troops. Failing health dwindles ones ambition. 恶化的身体情况使人壮志消磨。Paraphrase (page 26)1. This natural ability of intuitively getting to the essence of a subject was the key to the great discoveries made by him in science this natural gift and his unusual awareness of beauty.2. His engrossment in ideas was incredibly intense and deep. When attacking a problem difficult to solve, he kept attempting to deal with it with great effort, just as an animal chases and bites a weaker animal it preys upon until the latter gives in.3. He would look lost in thought, thinking about something distant, and yet mediating within himself. He did not seem to be in deep thought, nor did he knit his brows he was just in self-contained peaceful contemplation.4. The theories, considered isolatedly one by one, was really credible, so much so that they seem to be simple and clear. But when considered together, they were so strongly contradictory to each other that a less learned scholar would have given up one or the other completely and would no longer take up the issue again.5. Ei