上学期硕士英语lesson1

1、A Course Book of M. S. Candidates General EnglishLesson One ENGLISH A WORLD LANGUAGEvPage 1vLine 1: obscureknown only by a few peoplev Translate: an obscure author/subjectv The story is so obscure that weve never heard of it.vLine 2: at the onset of at the beginning of something (bad)v People were d

2、ismayed at the onset of the SARS crisis.vLine 3: pass to dominate; (here) be spoken throughoutv She is passed with doubts and fear.vLine 4: Can you tell the difference between “airliner”, “airlines” and “airline”?vAn airliner bearing the insignia of Air China is taking off now.vThe East Airlines has

3、 bought a dozen of Boeing 707 recently.vThere is not a direct airline between the Mainland and the Taiwan Island.vLine 6: alert to call the attention of v Its high time to launch a campaign to alert the public to the dangers of drug addiction.vLine 9: executive a person who makes and carries out dec

4、isions, esp. in businessv Translate: CEO; a sales executivevLine 9: entrepreneur a person who sets up businessesv businessman a person who works in businessv merchant a person who buys and sells goods in large quantitiesv tradesman a person whose job is to sell goods; a shopkeepervLine 13: ring out

5、to sound loudly and clearlyv Translate: The commander rang out his order. vShots rang out and three people were killed.vLine 14: often as not = more often than not very frequentlyv Planes are often as not delayed during foggy/terrible weather.vLine 15: English has e to the modern world what Latin wa

6、s to the ancients v Just as Latin was a dominant language spoken by the ancients, so English has e a dominant language in the modern world.vTranslate: Books are to students what land is to farmers.vTranslate: Education is to a human soul what gardening is to a piece of land.vLine 19: amaze to fill w

7、ith the feeling of surprise or disbeliefv Synonyms: surprise, astonish, astound, stupefy, stun, stagger, dumbfoundvPage 2vLine 5: twist an unexpected development or changev The story takes a strange twist.vLine 5: jargon special term which is hard to understandv I dont understand what they are talki

8、ng about because they are using so much professional v jargon.vLine 5: boost to help to advance or developv The government boosted security precautions.v Translate: The new line boosted production by 10 per cent.vLine 6: capture the lead in to play the leading role in; e the leader inv The United St

9、ates has captured the lead in IT and the state of the art of computer science.vLine 9: Inevitable as “English creep” seems to be = Although “English creep” seems to be inevitablevSmall as atoms are, electrons are still tinier. vTranslate: Young as he is, the boy knows a lot about astronomy. vLine 11

10、: denounce to express strong disapproval of; condemnv He was denounced as a traitor/black sheep.vLine 13: scramble to struggle or compete eagerly v They are scrambling for the front seats/microphone.v Several networks scrambled to report the news/scandals.vLine 15: barely hardly; almost notv I have

11、barely enough money to last the weekend.vLine 18: lag behind to move or develop more slowly thanv China is lagging far behind Japan in the development of electronics technology.vLine 20: augment to cause to grow or develop; enrichv They hit upon a new idea to augment their e.v Police units were augm

12、ented with newly recruited men and women.vLine 21: infuse with to fill with v His speech infused the listeners/audience with inspiration and resolution.vLine 22: bet on to risk (money) on the result of a future eventv I bet a weeks pay on that white horse, but it came in last.vLine 28: retreat to mo

13、ve back; withdrawv Once I make up my mind, Ill never retreat.vLine 33: boom rapid growth or increasev Translate: puter/net boomv Do you know Bill Clinton is a baby-boomer?vLine 33: vault to go up; v Synonyms: jump; soar; skyrocketv Page 11 (5): In spite of the political disturbances for years, the b

14、irthrate of many African countries has continued to vault.vPage 3vLine 5: a required subject = a compulsory subjectv Compare: an optional subject/coursevLine 7: aviation operation or flight of aircraftv CAAC = Civil Aviation Administration of ChinavLine 12: prestige general respect and admiration fo

15、rv The old universities of Oxford and Cambridge still have a lot of prestige.v Synonyms: fame, distinction, eminence, celebrity, renown, cachetvLine 15: manual a small book which tells you how to do thingsv Examples: a car manual; a teachers manual; a shorthand manual; operation manualsvLine 17: slo

16、t a place or position in a list, system, or organizationv Example: to fill advertising slots;v The guest hostess has been given a regular ten-minute slot on the radio.v Translate: a mail slot in the door; a slot of a vending machine (vendor)vLine 18: swear to use rude, abusive language; cursev What

17、are “four lettered words”?v The man swore at the dog when he tripped over it.vLine 19: enroll to make one officially a member of a groupv He enrolled in the computer course at the local evening school.v The national enrolment takes place in June instead of July.vLine 24: scoff at to speak or act con

18、temptuously or disrespectfullyv They all scoffed at the idea that he could win the Nobel Prize. v Synonyms: laugh at, mock, ridicule, tease, despise, scornvLine 28: Todays Special an advertised reduced price in a shopv They are having a special on refrigerators/air-conditioners this week.vLine 30: E

19、nglish is a must for many technical jobs.v For a tourist it is a must to visit the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai. vLime 33: recession a period of reduced trade activities; depressionv Examples: tide over the recession rising from the financial/SARS/bird flu crisisvLine 36: partner one who shares in an a

20、ctivityv Example: 21st century strategic partners/partnershipv Translate: form pairs of partners in practicing conversational EnglishvPage 4vLine 3: routinely regularlyv This meter is routinely read and recorded.v The information is routinely collected and published. v Compare: routine adj. & n.

21、v Translate: routine report/test/treatment; follow/break routinevLine 5: mangle to do something in a wrong way or not in a proper or effective way; spoilv He mangled the music by his terrible playing.vLine 6: stumble over to speak hesitantlyv Nervously the man stumbled over his speech and sat down w

22、ith great relief. v Translate: The schoolboy stumbled through a recitation.vLine 8: skirts = outskirts the outer areas of a townv New campuses/High-tech parks are springing up on the outskirts of Shanghai.vLine 10: croon to sing in a low soft voicev The young man crooned folk songs while he was walk

23、ing. v Translate: The young mother crooned a lullaby by the cot.vLine 10: otherwise v If the singer had sung the song in Japanese instead of in English, it would have been a perfect “Moon Liver”.vLine 11: scramble to mix (the white and yellow parts of an egg)v Would you like your eggs scrambled or f

24、ried?vLine 15: “Bottoms up” an expression used to propose a toast; same as “Cheers”vLine 24: irk to irritate; annoy; frustratevHis evident superiority must have irked them.v Translate: It irked me to have waited so long.vLine 25: Anglicism an English word or expression that is in common use by non-n

25、ative speakersv Examples: case; cool; fans; coffee; show; talk show; OK; bye-byevLine 26: displace as to take the place of v Mr. Zhang was displaced as Health Minister at the onset of SARS crisis.vLine 28: prod into to urge sharply into action or thought; give someone a pushv He hesitated, but his p

26、arents prodded him into accepting the challenge.vLine 30: sue to make a legal claim, esp. for an amount of moneyv If you dont return our property, well sue. vThey have decided to sue the company for the damages/breach of their contract.vLine 35: concise short and clearv Examples: a concise report/sp

27、eech/survey of the development of subwayv Translate: A Concise English-Chinese Dictionaryv Write your essay clearly and concisely on the Answer Sheet.vLine 37: a rear-guard action a campaign which is unlikely to winv Theyre in fact fighting a stubborn rear-guard action against the reforms.vLine 38:

28、gadget a small machine or useful apparatusv Translate: a little gadget for peeling potatoesvPage 5vLine 1: flashback part of a cinema film that goes back to an earlier timev The events of his childhood are shown in (a) flashback.vLine 1: brainstorming a method of finding answers to problems using co

29、llective wisdomv The experts finally solved all the technical problems by holding a number of brainstorming vsessions.v Translate: brainstorm a permanent solution to the problemvLine 2: clamp to put or impose restriction onv The local government has decided to clamp a limit on the number of web-bar.

30、vLine 3: balk to be unwilling to dov Obviously the firm balked at renewing the contract.vLine 6: a cream puff something or someone thought to be ineffectivev He is by no means a brave man; he is a cream puff.vLine 8: enforce to cause a rule or law to be carried out effectivelyv It is highly necessar

31、y to enforce the law to bring down the crime rate.vLine 8: corps a group of people united in the same activityv Translate: the diplomatic corps; the presidents press corpsvLine 12: corporate of or belonging to a corporationv The company is concerned about its corporate image.v Translate: corporate p

32、any/bodyvLine 17: downgrade to make less important; lower in rank, position or importancev The embassy will be downgraded to a trade office.v He was downgraded to an assistant manager. v Compare: upgradev Translate: upgrade the talks to the foreign-minister level; an upgrade gatev We need to upgrade

33、 the pay and status of migrant workers.vLine 18: flunk to fail an exam or a study coursev I hope I wont flunk biochemistry.v Translate: If you keep behaving like that, Ill flunk you.vLine 19: reinstate to pit back into a former state or positionv He was dismissed, but was later reinstated as head ma

34、ster.v Translate: The central bank reinstated tax of savings deposits.vLine 22: at the expense of causing the loss of v In many areas industry is developed at the expense of natural environment.vLine 33: appeal to to please, attract, or interestv Does the idea of working abroad appeal to you?v Many buildings that appeal to architects get the thumb down from the public.vPage 6vLine 1: “We are seen as the country of the future.”v