L1 Finding fossil man
We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write. But there are some parts of the world where even now people cannot write. The only way that they can preserve their history is to recount it as sagas----legends handed
down from one generation of storytellers to another. These legends are useful because they can tell us something about migrations of people who lived long ago, but none could write down what they did. Anthropologists wondered where the remote ancestors of the Polynesian peoples now living in the Pacific Islands came from. The sagas of these people explain that some of them came from Indonesia about 2,000 years ago.
But the first people who were like ourselves lived so long ago that even their sagas, if they had any, are forgotten. So archaeologists have neither history nor legends to help them to find out where the first'modern men' came from.
Fortunately, however, ancient men made tools of stone, especially flint, because this is easier to shape than other kinds. They may also have used wood and skins, but these have rotted away. Stone does not decay, and so the tools of long ago have remained when even the bones of the men who made them have disappeared without trace.
New words and expressions
recount /ri'kaunt/ v.叙述 / ' rei'kaunt/ 再数一次 record / ' rek[d/ /ri' kC:d/ 第一个音节带重音,名前动后 叙述:recount : emotionless 重复 describe
depict: a little emotional
narrate: temporal&spacial 根据时间或空间顺序描述。 portray:描述
saga /'sa:g[/ n.英雄故事 描述的内容mostly real 北欧海盗活动的故事
legend /'ledV[nd/ n.传说,传奇 unreal e.g robin hood anthropologist/ 'AnWr['pCl[dVist/ n.人类学家 anthrop:人
philosophere :philo+sopher|爱+智慧=哲学家 philanthropist : 慈善家(对人有爱心的人) anthropology :人类学
带-gy结尾的都是学科:biology 生物学 geography 地理学 ecology 生态学 remote/ ri'm[ut/ n.遥远 ancestor / 'Ansest[/ n.祖先 an- 在前面
forefather,forebear ,predecessor祖先 rot/ rCt/ v.烂掉
leave me rot.=leave me along rot to death.
soon ripe,soon rotten.
decay 国家民族逐渐衰亡 decompose 逐渐衰竭 deteriorate关系逐渐恶化
trace /treis/ n.痕迹,踪迹
trace the problem
i follow your trace=i follow where you go polynesia 波利尼西亚 poly-多
polyandric: a wife with more than one husband polygeny : a husband with more than one wife flint /flint/ n.燧石 flinting hearted fossil / ' fCsl/ n. 化石 cobble 鹅卵石 read of 读到
谈到:speak of ,talk of ,know of,hear of
near east:近东 mediterranean, south europe,north afric far east
非限定性从句,表原因
oral(spoken) language is earlier than written language. precede :什么在什么之前,不用比较,直接跟名词 counterpart: two things or two people have the same position oral(spoken) language is earlier than written counterpart. preserve: 保留,保存(腌制)
如果句中有only,那后面的表语结构就要用to do sth,而不是doing sth.
storyteller: 讲故事的人
fortuneteller, palmreader: 算命先生
migration :移民 1)migrant 2)immigrant v. migrate:迁移,迁徙 migratory bird:候鸟 none: no body people+s 民族
if they had any: 即便是有
his relatives,if he had any,never went to visit him when he was hospitalized.
find out千方百计,费尽周折=explore modern men :the men who were like ourselves however-anywhere you want ,加逗号
but,yet-不加标点,only at the beginning of the sentence therefore-自由 so-自由 tool:小工具 instrument:实验器械 equipment:设备
shape:成型;教育,改造 may also have:表推测 peel:果皮 leather:皮革
hide:兽皮 cowhide:牛皮 without (any) trace:无影无踪
L 2 Spare that spider
Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends ? Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race. Insects would make it impossible.for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection
we get from insect-eating animals. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings.
Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them. One can tell the difference almost at a glance for a spider always has eight legs and an insect never more than six. How many spiders are engaged in this work on our behalf ? One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in a grass field in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre, that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
T. H. GILLESPIE Spare that Spider from The Listener New words and expressions flocks and herds 牛群和羊群 /flCk/ the birds of the same feather flock together.物以类聚,人以群分
you are the same flock.也可指人 herd多指牛群 cowherd cowboy throng and crowd swarm owe vt.感激欠 i owe you. i owe you a big favor. 欠 issue
oblige indebt appreciate----常用口语词 正式:grateful thankful
beast n 兽形容人野蛮无比,不能用animal 形容 creature可以指小孩,女人,不用于男性. Fraction
小部分 分数,小数 a fraction of rice will suffice
on one's behalf 代表...利益 I beat you on your behalf.我打你是为你好 on behalf of somebody /something
e.g on behalf of chinese government on behalf of =represent authority /C:'WCriti/ n.权威 authorize批准 authoritative权威性的 authoritarian独裁的
-tarian带有这种词缀的词都是坏词 dictator独裁者 dictatorial独裁的
authorities 1.权威(可单数可复数) 2.当局(复数) census /sens[s/ n.统计数
据 the fifth national population census. censor审查 censorious 挑剔的,挑刺的
acre /'eik[/ n.英亩 1acre=4047square meters
football pitch 足球场 football yard football court football field be content with 满足于 满足作表语,不能出现定语结构 He is content with status quo. contented heart :心满意足的人
spare /spZ[/ v. 不伤害,宽恕 spare me He doesn't spare himself.
I spare no efforts to learn english.( spare no efforts: 不遗余力作什么)
Notes on the text
why, you may wonder-you may wonder why插入语 先不管插入语,弄清句子结构
you may wonder why spiders should be our friends?插入语位置不固定
why以疑问句 开头
why,you may wonder,the problem of pollution befalls human beings.
why,you may wonder,one of my friends is so kindhearted. destroy程度比damage要重得多,片甲不留,消灭光 tear into pieces
greatest enemies:天敌 dying enemy crying enemy dear enemy
human race:人的种族,一般不加复数,表示一个总称词 impossible 和possible 永远不要以人开头
It is impossible for somebody to do something. likely可以以人做主语。i am likely to go. probable 也不以人做主语
they would表示假设
devour狼吞虎咽devour the food
make a cake of myself make a god of myself devour the book it虚拟语气 前面是主句,下面是条件句 前面一般的加动词devour,后面用一般过去时 If it were not for:如果这不是因为
I would not survive if it were not for his timely help. but for 一定是虚拟语气 =if it were not for owe感激,欠 i owe you. 引出主题
all of them put together:把他们堆到一起 谓语动词是kill destroyed后置定语,重心转到spider
L 3 Mattonhorn
Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them good sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all. The early climbers were looking for the easiest way to the top because the summit was the prize they sought, especially if it had never been attained before. It is true that during their explorations they often faced difficulties and dangers of the most perilous nature, equipped in a manner which would make a modern climber shudder at the thought, but they did not go out of their way to court such excitement. They had a single aim, a solitary goal--the top! It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers. Except for one or two places such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had rapidly become popular, Alpine villages tended to be impoverished settlements cut off from civilization by the high mountains. Such inns as there were were generally dirty and flea-ridden; the food simply local cheese accompanied by bread often twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine. Often a valley boasted no inn at all, and climbers found shelter wherever they could
--sometimes with the local priest (who was usually as poor as his parishioners), sometimes with shepherds or cheesemakers. Invariably the background was the same: dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable. For men accustomed to eating seven-course dinners and sleeping between fine linen sheets at home, the change to the Alps must have been very hard indeed. New words and expressions
1、 alpinist(1.1)/'$lpinist/n.登山运动员 climber mountaineer
词根:alp- Alps(1.16)/$lps/ n.阿尔卑斯山脉Alpine(1.9)/$lpain/adj.阿尔卑斯山的 2、 attain(1.4)/+'tein/ v.到达 to get to to arrive at/in
to attain one's goal=realize
to attain the top/peak/summit 达到顶点 attain youth 永葆青春
attainment (n) attainments 成就 accomplishment
3、perilous(1.5)/'peril+s/adj.危险的 peril (随时可能出现的)危险
avalanche雪崩
4、shudder (1.5)/'M)d+/ v.不寒而栗 shudder:quick and sudden tremble:long and very obvious quiver:excitement ,maybe cold
shiver: cold and nervous
5、 go out of one's way 专门 by the way 顺路 too much for me 受不起
6、 court (multiple meanings 多义词) 1) 朝廷 朝臣courtier 2) courteous彬彬有礼的 3) 法庭
4) 娱乐场 足球场soccer/football court高尔夫球场golf court 5) 追求
6) 招致 骄兵必败pride courts failure 7、 solitary(1.6)/'s&lrt+ri/adj.唯一的 sol-独 solo独唱 独奏 solitude 孤独
I live in solitude.=I live a lonely life.
8、 pioneer(1.2)/?pai+'n+/ v.开辟,倡导;n.先锋,开辟者 9、 impoverish(11.9-10)/$m'p&v+rM/v.使贫困 poor(口语词) 罗素名言:
A great many man will cheerfully face inpoverishment if they can secure complete
ruin for their rival,hence present level of taxation.
许多人会高兴的面对贫困,如果他们能使对手落魄,因此出现了现在的税收水平。
10、coarse(1.12)/k&:s/adj.粗劣的 coarse throat 嗓子哑 sore throat 嗓子发炎 coarse fare 粗粮
refined fair细粮 coarse and refined
in a coarse manner粗暴无礼 11、boast(1.12)/b+ust/v.自恃有
用法:以人作主语,夸耀;以物作主语,拥有 He boasted that of his knowledge.
The center boasts a team of high qualify(qualified researchers.) 12、parishioner(1.13)/p+riM+n+/n.教区居民 parish教区
13、shepherd(1.14)/'Mep+d/n.牧羊人 sheepshep 羊 herd 兽群 14、linen(1.15)/'linin/n.亚麻布床单 Notes on the text
1、Route 路线 Road 道路
2、good sports :stimulus 刺激 thrilling 震撼、兴奋 3、regard
regard sb with sth(感情词love \\hatred\\horror\\respect) Dad, I regard you with horror.爸爸,我很害怕你。 4、pineering days, ancient (先人时期) 5、not at all 根本不 case这回事 6、be doing 表达当时的行动(状态) 7、top:顶点 summit 山顶 peak山顶
The scenery is at the peak of the mountain.无限风光在险峰。 I am at the top of the world.我在世界之巅。 Summit meeting峰会 8、 attain 到达 conquer 征服 9、be of the most perilous nature nature 特点、特性
the most perilous difficulties and dangers
学会be of the + adj+noun 结构
He is the kindest man. =He is the man of the kindest man. 10、equipped 表示当时的一种伴随。 11、in a manner 以这样的方式 12、make sb do sth (省to 结构)
13、at the thought 一想到 ,mention一提到,idea 一想到 这个结构后面加介词of 原文
即 at the thought of their poor equipment
14、go out of one's way 刻意 intentionally eye catching引人注目的
15、the real living conditions 真实生存状况
16、nowadays 插入语,现在回想起来,可在句首、句末 17、except for 把其中的一部分扣除 18、tend to be 倾向于
19、settlement 生存地、驻扎地 20、cut off=which are cut off 21、flea ridden跳蚤
22、as they were 可以这么说,插入语 还有as it were This book is , as it were, his life portrait. 这本书,可是说,是他的人生写照。 23、local当地的
24、wine低度酒 alcohol 酒精 alcoholic酒鬼 25、boast 拥有 priest牧师 shepherd牧羊人 invariably=all the same
26、dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable (结构不符合习惯,不可学) 27、course一道菜 28、must have been表推测
29、be accustomed to ,be used to + 名词、动名词 I am used to the life in Bejing. I am used to living in Bejing.
30、早餐:scratch a meal 中午餐:snack快餐 晚餐:dinner 31、the change to
Education brings great change to his outlook/view on life. 教育使他的面貌(对生活的看法)产生了很大变化。
L 4 Seeing Hands
In the Soviet Union several cases have been reported recently of people who can read and detect colours with their fingers, and even see through solid doors and walls. One case concerns an 'eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova, who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls. This ability was first noticed by her father. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe. Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in bundles.
Vera's curious talent was brought to the notice of a scientific research institute in the town of UIyanovsk, near where she lives, and in April she was given a series of tests by a special commission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federal Republic. During these tests she was able to read a newspaper through an opaque screen and, stranger still, by moving her elbow over a child's game of Lotto she was able to describe the figures and colours printed on it; and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her foot theoutlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet. Other experiments showed that her knees and shoulders had a similar sensitivity. During all these tests Vera was blindfold; and, indeed, except when blindfold she lacked the ability to perceive things with her skin. lt was also found that although she could perceive things with her fingers this ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.
New words and expressions
1、Perceive 察觉,瞬间感觉到的 to make out 费尽心机辨出
I looked thoroughly for my elderly mother, finally I make her out . Yeah, I remembered, I finally make him out. I perceive a fly in my teacup. 2、elbow one's way (用肘)挤出
elbow one's way out of the crowed.挤出人群 L5 No Room in the Ark
The gorilla is something of a paradox in the African scene. One thinks one knows him very well. For a hundred years or more he has been killed, captured, and imprisoned, in zoos. His bones have been mounted in natural history museums everywhere, and he has always exerted a strong fascination upon scientists and romantics a
like. He is the stereotyped monster of the horror films
and the adventure books, and an obvious (though not perhaps strictly scientific) link with our ancestral past.
Yet the fact is we know very little about gorillas. No really satisfactory photograph has ever been taken of one in a wild state, no zoologist, however intrepid, has been able to keep the animal under close and constant observation in the dark jungles in which he lives. Carl Akeley, the American naturalist, led two expeditions in the nineteen-twenties, and now lies buried among the animals he loved so well. But even he was unable to discover how long the gorilla lives, or how or why it dies, nor was he able to define the exact social pattern of the family groups, or indicate the final extent of their intelligence. All this and many other things remain almost as much a mystery as they were when the French explorer Du Chaillu first described the animal to the civilized world a century ago. The Abominable Snowman who haunts the imagination of climbers in the Himalayas is hardly more elusive.
New words and expressions
(good article : five stars 该文写得不错。) the + n.(s) 表示一类: the gorilla(s) scene 场景
in the African scene : Africa as the background gather palace 聚集地
something of a paradox 自相矛盾(人对猩猩的观点) contradictory ideas about him
主题句:One thinks one knows him very well. 问题:Yet the fact is we know very little about gorillas. Their ideas vary。人们对他的观点相差很大。
For a hundred years or more 一百年甚至更多(包括一百年) For more than one hundred years 一百多年
西方,动物一般用人称代替。本文中,gorillas用him代替。另外有cat – she, dog – he . imprisoned 关起来圈养
be mounted in natural history museums 陈列在自然历史博物馆 重点句型:
He exert a strong fascination upon(on) Sb. 施加给人们强大的魅力
exert … on … 施加(压力)
impose … on … ,例如 impose influence on , impose pressure on 上句可表示为 He have a strong fascination for Sb. 或The gorilla is always fascinating to Sb. alike adv.相同,一样 adj.只能做表语。例如: The two are alike. 这两人真像。
形容词只要以a开头,99.99%都做表语。不能做定语词。 例如:asleep , awake ,afloat等
He is the stereotyped monster of the horror films and the adventure books.
stereotyped – old time 老样子 horror films 恐怖片 film (英) movie (美)
the stereotyped monster 经典模式
省略主语and (he is) an obvious (…) link with our ancestral past
link with … 与…相联系 our ancestral past (n.)
through not perhaps strikly scientific 尽管话说回来,不是严格的科学概念
through 引导的从句主语和主句相同,可以省略。
Eg: I arrived at the meeting , though (I was ) late.
Yet 与however ,表示转折,意思完全相同。但yet 用在句首,however加标点,可以用 在自由位置。 重要句型:
No really satisfactory photograph has ever been taken of one in … Take picture / photograph 照相
of one 定语后置,satisfactory photograph of one。主要是为了句子的平衡。One 指gorilla in a wild state 在野生状态下
keep the … under … observation 把某事处于观察之下 keep the city clean 保持城市清洁
close and constant observation 持续不断的观察 Eg: I have to keep the boy under close control. To control the boy very strikly.
插入语:however intrepid = no matter how intrepid 无论多么英勇 Eg: No man , however intelligent , is perfect.
No palace, however peaceful and tranquil , is a paradise. lies buried here among the animals he loved so well 埋葬在他所钟爱的动物中间
形容词做状语:lie awake , lie crouched lifespan 寿命
how long the gorilla lives
因为猩猩的寿命客观存在,所以live 用一般现代时。 Organ's decay 器官衰竭
Nor 引导否定并列句,与unable并列 生活方式:group living , individual living 智力:intelligence – IQ , intelligence qoutient CIA – the Central Intelligence Agency of America
CID – Criminal investigation Division 重案组,罪犯调查科 All this and many other thing remain (amost as much ) a mystery (as ) they were.
as much as 同the same as
…remain a mystery the same as they were.
He is as much a musician as a writer.= He is both a musician and a writer.
civilized world 文明世界 savaged world 野生世界
civilized : to get away from wild life
中文中的\文明单位\不能用civilized , 应该用model 或pace setting unit
I'm a pace soldiery。我是排头兵。
The Abominable Snowman who haunts the imagination of climbers in the Himalayas is hardly more elusive.
那萦绕在喜马拉雅山爬山者脑海中的那种令人难以捉摸的雪人,看起来也不一定比我们研
究的大猩猩更加令人费尽心思。(通过侧面比较,引出结论,一种有用的写作方法)
Abominable Snowman 作比较,省略gorilla
L 6 Youth
People are always talking about' the problem of youth '. If there is one—which I take leave to doubt--then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves. Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings--people just like their elders. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him: and maybe that is where the rub is.
When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain--that I was a new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking. I find young people exciting. They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort. They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to material things. All this seems to me to link them with life, and the origins of things. It's as if they were in some sense cosmic beings in violent an lovely contrast with us suburban creatures. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person. He may be conceited, illmannered, presumptuous of fatuous, but I do not turn for protection to dreary cliches about respect for elders--as if mere age were a reason for respect. I accept that we are equals, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong. New words and expressions .
sb. take leave to do sth. 允许某人做某事,冒昧做某事 get down to sth. 认真研究 get down to +名词/动名词 glorious 光辉灿烂的 rub 难题 teenager 青少年
for one thing 原因之一,有一点是… 连接词… for another identity 身份
air of freedom 无拘无束 air:神态、气势 dreary 沉郁的 ambition 追名逐利
cosmic being 宇宙人 human being 人 violent 强烈的,暴力的 suburban 见识不广的,有偏见的 conceited 自高自大的
presumptuous 自以为是的,放肆的 fatuous 愚蠢的 cliché 陈词滥调 I take leave to say… 我冒昧地说… I take leave to be frank 恕我直言。口语:
maybe I'm too bold… or . I'm bold enough… or. Allow myself to