发布时间 : 星期二 文章unit 5 Straight-A Illiteracy更新完毕开始阅读56480b62b0717fd5370cdc7c
18. entrepreneur: a person who undertakes an enterprise or business with the chance of profit of loss
19. filter: a porous device for removing impurities or solid particles from a liquid of gas passed through it
20. inexorable: a. relentless b. (of a person or attribute) that cannot be persuaded by request or entreaty
eg. – to wage an ~ struggle against fascism 对…坚决的斗争 -- an ~ law 不可抗拒的法律 -- History is ~. 历史是无情的。
21. grapple with: a. to fight/struggle with sb. usu. with one’s hands eg. to grapple with a thief/the enemy b. to struggle with/deal with (a difficulty)
eg. It will take a brave politician to grapple with the inequalities in the tax laws.
22. bulge with: be full of
eg. -- His stomach bulged out. 他大腹便便。
His pockets were bulging with money. 他口袋里的钱鼓鼓囊囊。 23 exile: 流放
e.g. -- In some periods of history, a government could punish a citizen by exiling him. (forcing him to leave the homeland)
-- self-exiled to Paris/exiled themselves to Paris
24 banish: forcible removal
e.g. – The judge ordered the suspect banished from the courtroom. 带下去/押下去
-- TV commercials that promise their products can banish washday drudgery.
25 deport: official sending away of someone who is not a citizen 驱逐出境 When a government deports a foreigner, he is sent out of the country because he has committed a crime or has no official permission to stay.
26 expatriate: it refers to the stripping of citizenship from sb. either by his own choice or by the nation’s choice
expatriate oneself 移居国外，放弃原国籍
27 extradite: 引渡
28 eject: a. to push, send sth. out, usu. with force eg. The machine ejected a handful of cigarettes. b. to eject sb. from a place, to force him to leave
eg. We reserve the right to eject away objectionable person.
29 inaccessible: a. difficult/impossible to reach e.g. the most inaccessible part of the jungle b. unable to understand/appreciate
e.g. The music of Bartok is considered inaccessible by many people.
30 cursory: e.g. a cursory glance/examination; that is, a brief one, not pay attention to details
31 bear out: to support (sb. or the truth of what sb. says) e.g. -- The prisoner’s story was vorne out by his wife. -- If I tell the judge that I wasn’t there, will you bear me out? 32 bear up: a. remain strong/brave
eg. Alice bore up well under the news of her husband’s death. b. to help sb. to continue living in a time of trouble
eg. How could I have lived through Mother’s illness without you to bear me up.
33 stagnant: business/society/economy stagnant 社会/经济/生意惨淡 34 secluded: quiet, private, undisturbed - secluded beaches/corner of the garden 幽静的 35 motionless: not moving at all
- to sit motionless; queues of motionless cars
36 come through:
- A feeling of sadness comes through his music. (can be seen or felt)
--All my family came through the war. (survive the danger)
37 sustain:
- They do not have enough money to sustain a strike.
- They had nothing to sustain them all day except two cups of coffee. - It is his belief in God that sustains him.
38 catch on: . (not formal) to become popular
- I don’t think this strange new fashion will catch on.
- Would you mind repeating that? I didn’t quite catch on. (understand what one said)
39 catch out: (not formal)
– The examiners will try to catch you out, so have all your answers prepared.
(to discover one unable to answer) 难倒你
-I’m sure the prisoner is not telling the truth; talk to him and see if you can catch him out. (找他的破绽)
Step 6 Classroom discussion
1. Mr. Bright’s writing represents an example of bad style resulting from using abstract, big words. Do you suffer from the same disease?
2. What are the bad effects of Bright’s disease?
3. According to the author, the more time students stay at the university to receive education, the worse he’ll suffer from Bright’s disease. Do you agree? Why or why not?
4. The writer states firmly that the Straight-A illiterate is worse than an ordinary illiterate. Why?
5. What is ―double negative‖? Who are likely to make such mistakes?
6. The author gives examples of writing by ordinary illiterates and by Straight-A illiterates. Can you rewrite the sentence and explain why the original one is inadequate?
7．The author deliberately uses quite a number of unintelligible words and expressions in place of clear and simple English. What effect is achieved through such sharp contrast?
8. Is the closing paragraph a typical concluding paragraph? Is it weak or strong?
Step 7 Homework Write a précis of Text II.