1. 2. 3.
We’re elevated 23 feet. =our house has been raised by 23 feet in comparison with the past.
The place (house) has been here since 1915, and no hurricane has ever bothered (caused any damage to it) We can batten down and ride it out. =we can make the necessary preparations and survive the hurricane without much damage.
4. The generator was doused, and the lights went out. =water got into the generator and put it out. It stopped producing electricity, so the light also went out.
5. John watched the water lap at the steps, and felt a crushing guilt. =as john watched the water inch its way up the steps, he felt a strong sense of guilt because he blamed himself for endangering the whole family by deciding not to flee inland.
6. Janis had just one delayed reaction. =Janis displayed rather late the exhaustion brought about by the nervous tension caused by the hurricane.
1. 2. 3.
and it is an activity only of humans =and conversation is an activity which is found only among human beings conversation is not for making a point = conversation is not for persuading others to accept our ideas
in fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose = in fact, a person who really enjoys and is skilled at conversation will not argue to win or force others to accept his viewpoint
4. bar friends are not deeply involved in each other’ lives = people who meet each others for a drink in a bar are not intimate friends for they are not deeply absorbed in each others’ life
5. 6.
it could still go ignorantly on = the conversation could go without anybody knowing who was right or wrong there are cattle in the fields, but we sit down to beef =these animals are called cattle when they are alive and feeding in the fields; but when we sit down at table to eat we called their meat beef
7. the new ruling class had built a cultural barrier him by building their French against his own lg. = the new ruling class by using French instead of eg made it difficult for the eg to accept or absorb the culture of the rulers
8. 9.
eg had come royally into its own =the eg lg received proper recognition and was used by the king once more the phrase has always been used a little pejoratively and even facetiously by the lower classes = the phrase, the king’s eg, has always disrespectfully and jokingly by the lower classes. The working people very often made fun of the proper and formal lg of the educational people
10. the rebellion against a cultural dominance is still there =there still exists in the working people, as in the early
Saxon peasants, a spirit of opposition to the cultural authority of the ruling class
11. there is always a great danger that” words will harden into things for us” = there is always a great danger that
we might forget that words are only symbols and take them for things they are supposed to represent
12. even with the most educated and the most literate, the King’s eg slips and slides in conversation = even the
most educated and liberated people use non-standard, informal, rather than standard, formal eg in their conversation 13. And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forebears fought is still at issue around the globe. =but
today this issue has not been decided in many countries around the world.
14. United, there is little we cannot do in host of cooperative ventures. =bound together we can accomplish a lot of
things in the variety of joint ventures.
15. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. =we will not allow any enemy
country to subvert this peaceful revolution which brings hope of progress to all our countries.
16. Our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace.=the
US is our last and best hope of survival in an age where the instruments of war have far surpassed the instruments of peace.
17. Before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental
self-destruction. = before the terrible forces of destruction which science can now release, overwhelm mankind; before this self-destruction, which may be planned or brought about by an accident, takes place.
18. Yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind’s final war. =yet both
groups of nations are trying to change as quickly as possible this uncertain balance of terrible military power which restrains each group from an launching mankind’s final war.
19. So let us begin anew (once begin), remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness. = and
remember that being polite is not a sign of weakness.
20. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead
the land we love. = our sure reward will be a good conscience and the history finally will judge whether we have done our task well or not. Let us start leading the country we love.
21. By the very of production, he has risen above the animal kingdom. = because of the fact itself that man produces,
he has developed to a much higher level than or the other animals
22. Work is also his liberator from nature, his creator as a social and independent being. =work also frees man and
makes him into a social being independent of nature
23. All are expressions of the creative transformation of nature by man’s reason and skill. =no matter when it was
done or who did it, provides an example of man applying his intelligence and his skill to change nature creatively 24. There is no spilt of work and play, or work and culture. =the worker finds pleasure in his work and through work
he also develops his mind. Therefore, pleasure and work go together and so does the cultural development of the worker and his work.
25. Work became the chief factor in a system of “innerwordly asceticism,” an answer to man’s sense of aloneness
and isolation.=work became the chief element in a system that preached an austere and self-denying way of life. Work was the only thing that soothed those who felt alone and isolated because of his ascetic life.
26. Work has become alienated from the working person. =work has been separated from the worker and the worker
is not interested in it at all. Instead, he feels estranged from it or hostile to it.
27. Work is a means of getting money, not in itself a meaningful human activity. =work helps the worker to earn
money; except this it is not an activity with much significance
28. a pay check is not enough to base one’s self-respect on = just earning some money is not enough for a worker to
establish his self-respect
29. most industrial psychologists are mainly concerned with the manipulation of the worker’s psyche= most
industrial psychologists are mainly trying to manage and control the workers’ mind
30. it is going to pay off in cold dollars and cents to management=better relations with the public will yield large
profits to management
31. But this usefulness often serves only as a rationalization for the appeal to complete passivity and receptivity=
the fact that gadgets are indeed useful is often used by advertisers as a mere “high-minded” cover for the real, vulgar appeal to idleness and submissiveness.
32. He has a feeling of fraudulency about his product and a secret contempt for it=the businessman gets the
knowledge that the quality of his product doesn’t match what it should be. Conscious of the deception involved, he despises the goods he produces
33. the slighted mention of the decade brings nostalgic recollections to the middle-aged.=at very mention of the
Twenties, middle-aged people began to recall it longingly and young people curious and began to ask questions about it
34. the rejection of Victorian gentility was, in any case, inevitable= anyway, it was inevitable for America to discard
Victorian gentility which upheld the middle-class respectability and affected refinement characteristics of Victorian eg
35. The war acted merely as a catalytic agent in this breakdown of the Victorian social structure=the war only
helped to speed up the collapse of the Victorian social structure.
36. it was tempted, in America at least, to escape its responsibilities and retreat behind an air of naughty
alcoholic sophistication =in America ,at least, the young people are strongly disposed to escape their responsibilities. They pretend to be wordly-wise and disregard conventional standards of behavior, drinking and breaking the traditional morality naughtily.
37. Prohibition afforded the young the additional opportunity of making their pleasures illicit=the young people
found more pleasure in drinking because Prohibition made it a kind of adventure.
38. our young men began to enlist under foreign flags=our young men joined the foreign armies to fight in the war. 39. They “wanted to get up into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up= they wanted to take part in the
adventure of war before it ended.
40. they had outgrown towns and families=they couldn’t adapt themselves to life in their hometowns and families
anymore
41. The returning veteran also had to face the hypocritical do-goodism of Prohibition=the returning veterans also
had to face the stupid cynicism shown by the Victorious allies in Versailles who acted just like Napoleon once did. 42. sth in the tension-ridden youth of America had to “give”=under this pressure sth in the young people, who were
already very tense, had to break down.
43. it was only natural that hopeful young writers, their minds and pens inflamed against war, Babbittry, and
“Puritanical” gentility, should flock to the traditional artistic center=it was only natural the promising young writers whose thoughts extremely opposed war, Babbittry and “Puritanical” gentility, should come in great numbers to live in the Greenwich Village, the traditional culture
44. each town had its “fast” set which prided itself on its unconventionality=each town was proud that it has group
of wild unconventional people
45. it is a complex fate to be an American=the fate of American is complicated and full of changes and possibilities 46. They were no more at home in Europe than I was=all of us felt uneasy in Europe.
47. we were both searching for our separate identities= Each of us was trying to find his own set of personal
characteristics by which his recognizable as a member of some group
48. I do not think that I could have made this reconciliation here=I don’t think I could have accepted my status of
being a Negro willingly in America
49. Europe can be very crippling too=sometimes things in Europe can also be very frustrating
50. it is easier to cut across social and occupational lines there than it is here=it is easier to contact with people of
different social status and occupations in Europe than in American
51. a man can be as proud of being a good waiter as of being a good actor, and in neither case feel threatened= in
Europe a good waiter and actor is equally proud of their social status and jobs. Neither of them envies the other and is not afraid of losing their position
52. I was born in New York, but have lived only in pockets of it=I was born in NY, but have lived only in some small
areas of it
53. on this acceptance, literally, the life of a writer depends=the life of a writer wholly depends upon whether or not
he accepts he will always carry the marks of the origins
54. American writers do no have a fixed society to describe=American writers do not live in the society where
nothing is changed .instead, everything is unchangeable in their society so they do not have a fixed society to write about
55. every society is really governed by hidden laws, by unspoken but profound assumptions on the part of the
people= actually, every society is ruled and influence by hidden laws, and by many people deeply felt and taken for granted by its people, though not openly expressed
张汉熙《高级英语》第二册课后释义
