高英的讲义.doc

13Unit3 Ships in the DesertAl Gore1. I was standing on a good day in the sun: in the sunlight, as opposed to in the shade to process: to prepare by a special methodcatch: the amount caught on a good day: good here means satisfying capable of processing a fifty-ton catch on a good day: having the ability of cleaning and preparing for marketing or canning 50 tons of fish caught on a productive dayText Study2. the prospects of a good catch looked bleak1) bleak: not promising or hopeful2) it was not at all possible to have a good catch, to catch a large amount of fish3) This is obviously an understatement because with sand all around there was no chance of catching fish, to say nothing of catching a lot of fish. Text Study Understatement: The opposite of hyperbole. It is used to make something appear smaller or less important than it really is. It can be used to entertain or to reduce the importance of the truth. A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is. E.g. “Hank Aaron was a pretty good ball player.” “The Rocky Mountains are scenic. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress. Text Study3. The other ships to the horizon 1) How could the other ships be at rest in the sand? The other ships were also anchored in the original coast but now water had turned into sand therefore they were surrounded by sand and could not move.2) dune: a rounded hill or ridge of sand heaped up by the action of the wind3) that stretched to the horizon: that extended as far as the eye could see; that extended to the far off place where the sky meets the earthText Study4. Why is the Aral disappearing? It is becoming smaller and smaller because the water that used to flow into the sea has been turned away to irrigate the land created in the desert to grow cotton. The scheme was an ill-conceived one because it failed to take into consideration the ecological effect. THE ARAL SEA The Aral Sea, located in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan (both countries were part of the former Soviet Union), is historically a saline lake. It is in the center of a large, flat desert basin. The Aral Sea is a prime example of an dynamic environment. In 1960 it was the worlds fourth largest lake, the size of the entirety of Southern California (at 26,250 square miles, approximately two hundred times larger than the Salton Sea). THE ARAL SEATHE ARAL SEATHE ARAL SEA This south looking image (STS51F-0036-0059) of the Aral region was taken from the Space Shuttle on August 6, 1985. It also appears in the article on the Aral Sea that can be found in the February 1990 issue of National Geographic. THE ARAL SEAText StudyText Study5. My research for destruction Why did he travel around the world? He traveled around the world because he wanted to see, check and study cases of such destruction in order to find out the basic causes behind the environmental crisis.6. the tunnel he was digging through time: he was drilling to get samples from the glacier, the deeper he drilled, the farther the sample in time; in other words, the surface of the glacier is an indication of recent time while the deeper part of the glacier tells of situation of a much remote period Text Study7. He moved his finger ago Following the layers of ice in the core sample, his finger came to the place where the layer of ice was formed 20 years ago.8. At the bottom on earth: 1) two continents away: the two continents refer to South America and Antarctica 2) emission here means the amount of pollutants discharged 3) least accessible place on earth: the place which is most difficult to get to in the worldText Study9. Industry meant warm the earth:Industry meant coal: the development of industry meant the use of large amount of coal as fuel to generate power with its ability to trap more heat in the atmosphere: heat cannot easily get through carbon dioxide and go into the high altitude so carbon dioxide plays the role of a cover, keeping the heat near the earth10. upwind from the ice runway inexorable change: Why are the engines of the plane kept running? Because the pilot fears that if he stops the engines, the metal parts would be frozen solid and the engines would not be able to start again.Text Study11. and then I was standing sheets collide: 1) eerily: mysteriously or uncannily esp. in such a way as to frighten or disturb 2) windswept: swept by or exposed to winds 3) with the horizon defined by little hummocks: with the stretch of ice field characterized by small ridges 4) How are these hummocks formed? When separate layers of ice, broad in extent, strike violently against each other, ice is pushed up into ridges by the force of the collisionText Study12. Considering such scenarios exercise 1) scenario: an outline for any proposed or planned series of events, real or imagined方案2) Thinking about how a series of events might happen as a consequence of the thinning of the polar cap is not just a kind of practice in conjecture (speculation), it has got practical value. Text Study13. where billowing clouds rain forest 1) billowing: large swelling mass of 2) Where do the billowing clouds of smoke come from? They come from the burning of the rain forest.14. Acre by acre beef Bit by bit trees in the rain forest are felled and the land is cleared and turned into pasture where cattle can be raised quickly and slaughtered and the beef can be used in hamburgers.Text Study15. with more than each yearworth: equal in area or sizeslash: cut with a sweeping stroke The area of rain forest burned in one year is bigger than the state of Tennessee.16. which means even heard Since miles of forest are being destroyed and the habitat for these rare birds no longer exists, thousands of birds which we have not even had a chance to see will become extinct.Text Study 17. On some nights now in progressin high northern latitudes: 在北纬高纬度地区the sky itself offers another ghostly image: The sky alone presents another example of ill omen showing there is ecological imbalance and this kind of imbalance is developing 18. Simple wonder the zoo? Should it only be a feeling of surprise and admiration or a combination of different feelings we experience in the zoo?Text Study19. just as men with extinction: Men are killing such large number of elephants for their tusks that the species will soon extinguish 20. we are ripping darkness: We are using and destroying resources in such volume that we are disturbing the balance between daylight and darkness21. changing the chemistry atmosphere: changing the chemical composition of atmosphere in high altitudeText Study22. Or have and the earth?1) Or have we been so accustomed to the bright electric lights that we fail to understand the threatening implication of these clouds, that it is a glaring sign of the violent clash between human activity and nature?2) For what they are: in their real light; the real nature of Text Study 23.whether of waste: whether it is the fact that recently there are more hot days when the temperature is over 100 degrees F, or the fact that the sun burns our skin more quickly in recent times, or the fact that the debate over the way of disposing of the growing amount of waste matter comes up more frequently 24. But our response puzzling: but our reaction to these signals is so baffling that it is difficult to understand Text Study25. Why havent environment?: Why havent we started a large-scale movement to save our environment?26. to come at the question another way: to approach the question in a different way; to put the question differently27. Why do effectively? Why do some symbols so alarm us that we immediately take action and concentrate on ways of dealing with them effectively?Text Study28. And why do distraction?1) equally dramatic: as striking as (other images)2) paralysis: partial or complete loss; inability to act3) convenient distraction: handy and easy to get diversion4) And why do other symbols, though sometimes no less striking, only cause a kind of loss and inactivity and we concentrate our attention not on the ways to deal with them but instead, on some other substitutes which are easy to get and less painful?Text Study29. it may be appropriately: It may be useful to arrange them into different groups, thus getting our thoughts and feelings straightened out so the we will be able to take the most suitable action.30. what kind of conflict will be considered as “strategic” conflict? Only the conflict that will endanger a nations existence and must be viewed against the background of the world will be considered as “strategic” conflict Text Study31. In both not at stake the pattern appears to be global: It seems that the problem has acquired a global nature since so many similar things occur at the same time all over the world2) Why arent the problems regarded as strategic? Because the working of world environment as a whole has not been affected and the existence of mankind has not been endangered.Text Study32. The concentration in the atmosphere: As a result of the increase of those particles that can take in heat, less heat is released into the high altitude and more heat is kept in the atmosphere than in the past. This will make the climate of the world warmer.33. But these changes ecological system Although sometimes these changes seem to be taking place everywhere in the world they have, until recently, been relatively insignificant in their influence on the ecological system of the world.Text Study34. But it is precisely environment: What we should get rid of is exactly that kind of view which has been taken for granted. Only when we have dropped such a view can we think in a long-term, overall way about our relationship to the environment.35. our effect mountains: that we should treat our effect on the earth in the same way as the moons gravitational pull on the oceans or the winds effect on the mountains and measure our effect in the same way as we measure the effect of natural forcesText Study36. surely restraint: Of course we must recognize that we have the responsibility to use the newly acquired capability in a prudent way and with proper restraint.37. So far natural systems: Up till now, we seem to be unaware of the fact that the earths natural systems are very delicate and can easily be disrupted.38. that define to the earth: that determine the actual state of our relation-ship with natureText Study39. a sudden and startling every ten years: Every ten years the newly-added population will equal the population of China; every ten years, one more Chinas population will be added to the population of the world. Population explosionPopulation explosionText Study40. a sudden acceleration revolution: the scientific and technological revolution suddenly develops more rapidly41. which has allowed the world around us: which has increased our power to influence the world around us to such a degree that can hardly be conceived Text Study42. has suddenly accelerated exponentially: has suddenly developed at a speed that doubled and tripled the original speed 43. while unrestrained nuclear war: 1) while no single to warfare: although no individual discovery has changed human relationship to the earth so much that it is comparable to the nuclear weapons which have brought tremendous change to the relationship between man and warfare Text Study 2) they have completely for sustenance: Originally, our ability to utilize the earth productively for survival grew by gradual addition but now these discoveries have changed the ability fundamentally. 3) making war: This increased ability has made the results of unlimited use of global resources altogether as terrible as the results of full-scale nuclear war Text Study44. They are symptoms faced: They are signs and indications showing that there exists a much greater and more serious problem which we have never encountered.45. to see ourselves used to: to regard ourselves as part of a complicated system which does not function according to the rule of cause-effect we are familiar with 46. The problem is the environment: What is involved is a matter of human relations with nature, rather than how mankind will affect nature.Text Study47. As a result ecological system: As a result, it we want to solve the problem, we will have to carefully weigh and determine how important that relationship is and how important is the complicated interconnection among factors inside human society and between these factors and the main natural parts of global ecological system.48. There is to our thinking: There is only one example in the past which posed similar demand on us for a change in our way of looking at things.Text Study49. That sobering such a war: that sobering realization: once you know how serious and terrible a nuclear war will be, you become more clear headed, more balanced in your reasoning and judgment the prospect of such a war: the expected outcome of such a war 50. may well tear away in warfare: can suitably dispose of the wrong thinking people entertain which have made them fail to see the change in the nature of armed conflictText Study51. For decades, of its own: For decades, the two super powers had been competing in the research, production and deployment of more sophisticated, more advanced weapons, hoping that in this way the other side would be deterred not to launch a first strike in nuclear weapons. But the result was just the opposite. Each advance in weaponry led to a new round of arms race, a race of a much more destructive level.inspire: to arouse or produce leapfrog: to jump or skip over (Leapfrog is a game in which one person bends down and another jumps over him from behind.)Text Study52. It is complicated what war is all about: No doubt that the advance in technology has made the problem more difficult to solve but technology is not the real cause. The real cause lies in the kind of relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States and the theoretical basis for this kind of relationship is their outdated concept of war. In other words, they fail to understand that in the nuclear age, war is no longer a means of settling disputes but a step towards mutual destruction.obsolete: no longer in use or in practice; out-of-datewhat war is all about: what war means; what is the implication of war Text Study53. What does the author think should be the eventual solution? The final solution, according to the author, should be a mutual transformation of relationship based on a new understanding of war and of relationship between states.ultimate weapon: a weapon beyond which it is impossible to develop rogue states: states which do not observe or follow the established international norms and practices, which can be considered as rascals among statesText Study54. a simplistic notion at best: an oversimplified view even under the most favorable interpretation; at most a view which makes complex problems unrealistically simple55. Where, according to the author, should the real solution lie? The real solution lies in a careful reconsideration of all the factors leading to the dramatic change which now poses a threat and nature. In other words, change in mans thinking, in mans concept on the relationship, is the most important thing.reinventing: re-devising Unit 4Text Study1. wavy: characteristic of waves, resembling waves. Here the word describes the marks in wavy patterns on the clay ground left by the broom.2. an extended living room: an enlarged living room by a new addition to the original space. Extended means prolonged, continued; enlarged in influence, meaning, scope, etc. e.g. extended care: nursing care provided for a limited time after a hospital stay extended family: a group of relatives blood, marriage or adoption, often including a nuclear family, living together, esp. three generations are involved. 3. and the fine sand groves: Before the word “lined.” The link verb “is” is omitted. fine “not coarse, in small particles. e.g. fine cloth, fine sugar4. “no” is a word the world never learned to say to her: She could always have anything she wanted, and life was extremely generous to her. 5. a TV program of this sort: “This sort” carries a derogatory tone, suggesting that the TV program is of poor or inferior kind.6. In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough man working hands: The phrase “in real life” is transitional, liking this paragraph and the one above, implying that those TV programs are nothing but make-believe and the narrator is very skeptical of them. In reality she has the typical features of a black working woman.7. overalls: loose-fitting trousers of some strong cotton-cloth, often with a part extending up over the chest, worn, usually over other clothes, to protect against dirt and wear. 8. I am the way an uncooked barley pancake: My daughter wishes me to have a slender figure and a fair complexion; like an uncooked barley pancake: a simile, comparing the skin to barley dough which has a creamy, smooth texture. This sentence suggests