新标准大学英语综合教程3课后练习答案 - Unit 4
Unit 4 Reading 1 Language points
1 Work in corporate America (Title)
Corporate America is a general term given to a large non-government-owned organization or company in the United States, eg a bank, a marketing research company etc. It has both positive and negative connotations.
Positively, it means that a company or an organization produces wealth and improves people’s living standards in a free market and competitive society by people working together to achieve the goals. This mainly refers to
financial gains and success. Negatively, it seems to indicate the promotion of self-interest, financial gains, greed and irresponsibility in the workplace. 2 It is not surprising that modern children tend to look blank and dispirited when ... (Para 1)
To look blank means that modern children show no sign of understanding or emotion about the corporate workplace, they seem unresponsive and have blank looks.
Someone who is dispirited does not have the hope, enthusiasm or interest that they had earlier; they are in low spirits or downhearted.
3 The parent could take his offspring to his place of business and let him watch while he repaired a buggy or built a table. (Para 2)
A buggy is a vehicle used for babies and toddlers by carers (parents, grandparents and adults in caring professions), to push them around. It is also called a pushchair. In the US, it is called a stroller.
4 When a child asked ? his father could answer in terms that a child could come to grips with, such as “I fix steam engines” or “I make horse collars”. (Para 3)
The expression come to grips with normally means to face up to a problem, situation or difficult job and deal with it. Here, it means that someone gets
to understand something that is difficult or unpleasant. It has the similar meaning as to
come to terms with, tackle, handle, manage etc.
Horse collars are made of leather and fit around animals’ necks to allow them to
pull heavy things. When horses are used to pull carts or carriages they wear horse collars. Here, in corporate America, this is a deliberate image of something very old-fashioned, just like steam engines.
5 How can he possibly envision anyone analyzing a system or researching a market? (Para 5)
The word envision is a verb which means to show a visual scene in your mind, to imagine something that is outside your experience, which has not happened or does not exist.
6 Even grown men ? and it is a safe bet that the average systems analyst is as baffled about what a space salesman does at the shop as the average space salesman is about the tools needed to analyze a system. (Para 6) The expression it is a safe bet means that the speaker or writer is sure about something (they would be willing to risk money to confirm it).
A space salesman deals with the arrangements for the use of space in offices and other places: How many rooms might be needed for what purposes, what sorts of work people do in particular offices and how the office
furniture and equipment can best be arranged for the maximum effectiveness, how much it costs to rent or use office accommodation in different parts of a city ... But probably, a space salesman mainly deals with people who want to rent office space.
In this sentence the writer is saying he is quite sure that neither the systems analyst nor the space salesman knows about each other’s work and what they actually do. 7 The machines that make things make them in such a fashion that they will quickly fall apart in such a way that repairs will be prohibitively expensive. (Para 7)
The expression in such a fashion means in a particular way or manner.
The cost is prohibitively expensive when it prevents you from buying something, as it is beyond the limits of what you can afford. Or, we may say the cost is prohibitive.
The sentence means that the machines make things in such a way that they will break or fall into pieces so that they can’t be cheaply repaired. It is implied that the
things are made to be short-lasting so that the manufacturers can sell more later. 8 The handful of people remotely associated with these machines can, of course, tell their inquisitive children “Daddy makes junk”. (Para 8) Inquisitive children are those who like to ask lots of questions, especially things
that adults do not want to talk about.
9 Most of the workforce, however, is too remote from junk production to sense any contribution to the industry. (Para8)
The sentence means most workers are distant from the process of junk production so they do not feel that their work has any part in it.
10 Others telephone to ascertain the whereabouts of paper. (Para 12) The expression ascertain the whereabouts of something means to find out where something is.
11 Back at the office, the father orders the paper retyped and reproduced in quintuplicate, and then sent to another man for comparison with paper that was reproduced in triplicate last year. (Para 16) The word
quintuplicate means that something is made into five copies. To
quadruplicate means to make into four copies; triplicate three copies; and duplicate two copies.
Dealing with unfamiliar words
4 Match the words in the box with their definitions. 1 old, broken or useless things (junk)
2 relating to large companies, or a particular large company (corporate) 3 to not approve of someone or something (disapprove)
4 to form a picture of someone or something in your mind (visualize)
新标准大学英语综合教程3课后练习答案 - Unit 4
