Dealing with unfamiliar words
5 Match the words in the box with their definitions.
1 achieving good results (productive)
2 the fact of being present at an event, or of going regularly to school, church etc (attendance)
3 the refusal to accept something new, such as a plan, idea, or change (resistance)
4 determined to be successful, rich, famous etc (ambitious)
5 agreement to a plan, offer, or suggestion (acceptance)
6 the written words of a play, film, television programme, speech etc (script)
7 very good, large, or showing great skill (impressive)
6 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 5.
To be a successful film scriptwriter takes more than training although (1) attendance on a screenwriting
course will definitely help you learn the skills. You also need to be very (2) ambitious – the film business
is very competitive. You have to be prepared to work hard and be very (3) productive because it takes
more than just one good idea to make it big. No matter how (4) impressive your idea is, there will
always be (5) resistance from producers because it’s too expensive. So make sure you have plenty of
others to show them. What are you waiting for? Get on with writing that brilliant (6) script and plan your
(7) acceptance speech for when you win your first Oscar!
7 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box.
1 We’ve seen a place we like and we’re applying for a loan to buy a house. (mortgage)
2 We stood on the top floor of the boat and watched the coast disappear into the horizon. (deck)
3 I love to walk along the beach and watch the waves breaking, and the white water hitting the shore. (surf)
4 In seaside areas in the north-east of the country, life is hard and fishermen have to go against the forces
of nature every time they go to work. (coastal; defy)
5 Agreement was finally reached after a long and heated discussion. (lengthy)
Active reading (2)
2 Work in pairs. Look at the title of the passage and choose the best way to complete the sentences.
1 The passage will be (c) .
(a) a newspaper article about life expectancy
(b) a sad story about death
(c) advice about how to make the most of your life
(d) a warning that modern lifestyles are bad for health
Unit 1 Discovering yourself
12
2 The passage is likely to be (d) .
(a) serious
(b) funny
(c) depressing
(d) a mixture of all three
3 The passage is likely to say (b) .
(a) young people don’t think enough about death
(b) life is short
(c) people are dying unnecessarily
(d) people don’t enjoy life enough
Reading and understanding
3 Choose the best summary of the passage.
3 Life is short. So there’s no point in planning for a future which may never come. Now is the time to do
what we want to do. There’s no time to lose.
Dealing with unfamiliar words
4 Match the words in the box with their definitions.
1 involving three things of the same kind (triple)
2 an area of ground where dead people are buried (cemetery)
Discovering yourself Unit 1
15
3 the part of a place or thing that is at the back (rear)
4 a book that someone writes about someone else’s life (biography)
5 to put people or things into a space that is too small (cram)
6 at the very beginning of a career and likely to be successful at it (budding)
7 continuing only for a limited time or distance (finite)
8 to pass (elapse)
5 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in Activity 4.
1 About two hours elapsed before we reached the cemetery where the war dead were buried.
2 I sat in the rear seat behind the driver. My three sisters were all crammed in the front.
3 The entrance to the car park was blocked, so the road was full of cars which had been triple-parked one
against another, making it almost impossible to get past.
4 We have a number of budding authors in our class this year, one of whom has written a fascinating
biography of his grandmother.
5 The time we have on this earth may be finite, but there are no limits to the human imagination.
Language in use
word formation: compound words
1 Find more examples of each use of hyphens in the passage We are all dying .
• I’ve double- and triple-checked it. (compound verb)
• budding crypt-kickers (compound noun)
• a rear-view mirror (compound adjective)
• the once-a-year holiday to Florida or Spain (compound adjective)
• back-burner stuff (compound adjective)
• standing at the corner of the Co-op (compound noun)
• a sepia-coloured relative that no one can put a name to (compound adjective)
2 Rewrite the phrases using compound adjectives.
1 a party which is held late at night (a late-night party)
2 a library which is well stocked (a well-stocked library)
3 a professor who is world famous (a world-famous professor)
4 some advice which is well timed (some well-timed advice)
5 a population which is growing rapidly (a rapidly-growing population)
6 an economy which is based on free market (a free-market economy)
7 a boat trip which lasts for half an hour (a half-hour boat trip)
It’s what / how … that …
3 Rewrite the sentences using It’s what / how … that …
1 What other people think of us is determined by how we behave.
It’s how we behave that determines what other people think of us.
Unit 1 Discovering yourself
20
2 What sort of job we are going to end up doing is usually determined by our character.
It’s what our character is that usually determines what sort of job we are going to end up doing.
3 What we do as a career isn’t always determined by the marks we get at university.
It isn’t always what marks we get at university that determine what we do as a career.
4 How we react to life’s problems is often determined by our childhood experiences.
It is often what we experienced in our childhood that determines how we react to life’s problems.
5 When we die is determined by our genetic clock, and the changes we make to it.
It’s what our genetic clock is and what changes we make to it that determine when we die.
It is / was not just that … but …
4 Rewrite the sentences using It is / was not just that … but …
1 Not only were the shops all closed for Thanksgiving, there was also no one in the streets.
It wasn’t just that the shops were all closed for Thanksgiving, but there was no one in the streets.
2 Not only did she spend all her time at college going to parties, she also took the time to gain a first-class
degree.
It wasn’t just that she spent all her time at college going to parties, but she took the time to gain a firstclass
degree.
3 Not only were they not listening to what he said, it also seemed as if they weren’t at all interested.
It wasn’t just that they weren’t listening to what he said, but it seemed as if they weren’t at all interested.
4 Not only was I upset, I also felt as if I was going to burst out crying.
It wasn’t just that I was upset, but I felt as if I was going to burst out crying.
5 Not only was the Grim Reaper intended to frighten people, it was also a figure of fun.
It wasn’t just that the Grim Reaper was intended to frighten people, but it was also a figure of fun.
collocations
5 Read the explanations of the words. Answer the questions.
1 settle When you settle somewhere you go there to stay.
(a) Where is dust likely to settle in a room?
On the surfaces that aren’t used very often or aren’t cleaned.
(b) If you settle an argument, is the conclusion satisfactory?
Yes, it is, because the disagreement is solved and each party is satisfied with the outcome.
(c) If you settle the bill, what is there left to pay?
Nothing, because you have paid everything that is owed.
(d) What do you do when you settle back to watch a film?
We relax in a comfortable chair and enjoy it.
2 smooth This word can mean flat or soft, comfortable, easy or confident.
(a) If the sea is smooth, are you likely to feel seasick?
No, because the sea is calm. We will feel seasick if it is rough.
Discovering yourself Unit 1
21
(b) If a changeover from one government to the next is smooth, are there lots of problems?
No, because the changeover has gone well, without difficulties.
(c) Is it a good idea to trust a smooth talker?
Not necessarily, because some people who talk confidently like that do so to trick you, like a
confidence trickster or conman.
3 offer This word can refer to something you would like someone to take, something someone gives, or
something that is for sale.
(a) If you decline an offer, do you say “yes” or “no”?
We say “no”, because we are refusing it.
(b) If you offer an apology to someone for something you have done, what do you say?
We should say, “I apologize” or “I’m sorry”.
(c) Where are you likely to see special offer?
In a shop, because the shop is offering a special price or reduction for something.
(d) If someone has a lot to offer, what kind of person are they?
They are intelligent, talented, gifted or creative and they will bring these kinds of qualities to their work.
4 bear If you bear something you carry or bring it. If you cannot bear something, you dislike it or cannot
accept it.
(a) If you bear something in mind, do you forget it?
No, we will remember it and consider it for a particular occasion in future.
(b) If you bear a resemblance to someone, in what way are you like them?
We look similar in certain physical features.
(c) Is there anything you can’t bear to think about?
I can’t bear to think too much about some of the problems in the world, famine, war, poverty etc. In
the modern world, why don’t we just solve them?
5 resistance This word can refer to the refusal to accept something new, the ability not to be harmed by
something, or opposition to someone or something.
(a) If there is resistance to an idea, do people accept it?
No, not easily. They refuse to accept the idea maybe because it’s just a bad idea, or they may change
their mind if they understand it better.
(b) If the soldiers met with resistance, what happened?
The soldiers met opposition from those they were fighting against.
(c) Is there a way to build up your resistance to cold?
Yes, we can keep ourselves as healthy as possible with a good diet and getting enough exercise so
that we are less likely to catch a cold, or if we do get one, we won’t suffer so badly.
6 Translate the paragraphs into Chinese.
1 We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this
again, and we became determined not to waste it. Most important of course were the final exams in
April and May in the following year. No one wanted the humiliation of finishing last in class, so the
peer group pressure to work hard was strong. Libraries which were once empty after five o’clock in the
afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under
their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride, like medals proving their diligence. (☞ and guys wore
the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride … 这句的动词wear 后面带两个宾语，中
7 Translate the paragraphs into English.
1 对于是否应该在大学期间详细规划自己的未来，学生们意见不一。有的人认为对未来应该有一个明
确的目标和详细的计划，为日后可能遇到的挑战做好充分的准备；有的人则认为不用过多考虑未
来，因为未来难以预料。(map out; brace oneself for; uncertainty)
Students differ about whether they should have their future mapped out when they are still at university.
Some think they should have a definite goal and detailed plan, so as to brace themselves for any
challenges, whereas some others think they don’t have to think much about the future, because future is
full of uncertainties.
2 经过仔细检查，这位科学家得知自己患了绝症。虽然知道自己将不久于人世，他并没有抱怨命运的
不公，而是准备好好利用剩下的日子，争取加速推进由他和同事们共同发起的那个研究项目，以提
前结项。(tick away; make the best of; have a shot at)
After a very careful check-up, the scientist was told he had got a fatal disease. Although he knew that
his life was ticking away, instead of complaining about the fate, the scientist decided to make the best of
the remaining days, and speed up the research project he and his colleagues initiated, and have a shot at
completing it ahead of schedule.
Unit2
Reading and understanding
3 Answer the questions.
1 What were Sylvia Plath’s most important memories?
She remembered winning a prize, Paula Brown’s new suit and the view from her window.
2 Where did she live and what could she see from her bedroom window?
She lived on the bay side of town, on Johnson Avenue, and she could see the lights of Boston and Logan
Airport from her bedroom window.
3 What did the view make her want to do?
It made her want to fly in her dreams.
4 Why did she have such vivid dreams?
Because she was rarely tired when she went to bed.
5 Who appeared in her dreams?
Superman appeared and taught her to fly.
6 Why did she enjoy the radio adventures of Superman?
Because she loved the sheer poetry of flight.
7 Where did her friend and she play Superman?
At the dingy back entrance to the school, an alcove in a long passageway.
Unit 2 Childhood memories
46
8 Why do you think they chose Sheldon to be the villain?
Because he was a mamma’s boy and was left out of the other boys’ games.
9 How did she feel about her Uncle Frank?
She admired him as she thought he bore an extraodinary resemblance to Superman incognito.
4 Choose the best summary of the passage.
3 Sylvia Plath wrote about her real and imaginary life as a child.
Dealing with unfamiliar words
5 Match the words in the box with their definitions.
1 accurate and true (definite)
2 continuing all the time (perpetual)
3 to spin quickly in circles (whirl)
4 to shine very brightly (blaze)
5 to laugh in a nervous, excited or silly way that is difficult to control (giggle)
6 to encourage someone to speak or continue speaking (prompt)
7 to fall to the ground (tumble)
6 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 5.
Plath never needed to be (1) prompted to talk about her childhood memories. They were very (2) definite
and still real to her as an adult. She imagined she could fly and (3) whirl through the air like Superman.
Coming from the highways around Boston was the (4) perpetual sound of traffic. In the distance a plane
was taking off, its lights (5) blazing into the night sky. She remembered the sound of (6) giggling which
came from the group of girls. Sadly in her later life it seemed as if Superman had (7) tumbled to earth.
7 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box.
1 The lights at the airport went on and off all day and night. (blinked)
2 The playground was like a desert. It was without any interesting or positive features and unfriendly.
(barren)
3 The boys were playing a children’s game in which the players chase and try to touch each other and the
girls were gossiping and giggling. (tag)
4 Pulling the legs off insects is a form of action causing extreme physical pain by someone as a
punishment, and is extremely cruel. (torture)
5 The similarity in appearance between the twins was striking. (resemblance)
6 He would cover candy with a piece of cloth used for cleaning lips and hands, and make it disappear.
(napkin)
Culture / Ethnic group Characteristics of childhood
American colonial expected to be good and industrious
Inuit develop a process of acquiring thought, reason and understanding
Tonga
regularly beaten and told off by parents and older siblings, seen as being very
naughty, until they develop social competence
Beng
treated with great care and reverence, believed that they are in contact with the
spirit world
Childhood memories Unit 2
55
Culture / Ethnic group Characteristics of childhood
Western world today
seen as incompetent and irresponsible; playing not working, going to school not
labouring, consumption instead of production
Fulani competent and responsible; expected to work
Yanamamö
competent and responsible; girls expected to work from a young age, be married
and have children at 12 or 13; boys having fewer responsibilities and getting
married later
4 Choose the best way to complete the sentences.
1 The characteristics of childhood a hundred years ago (d) .
(a) would have interfered in their education
(b) are similar to those of today
(c) would be illegal today
(d) meant that children were treated more like adults
2 The idea that childhood is a social construction suggests that (a) .
(a) children experience childhood in different ways according to the society in which they live
(b) enormous transformations have taken place within a relatively short time
(c) children in the past worked harder
(d) all children are different from adults
3 Both Inuit and Tongan parents understand that (b) .
(a) their children need to be treated in a way which would be considered harsh by outsiders
(b) their children don’t yet possess certain prized qualities, such as reasoning and social competence
(c) growing up is a process of acquiring thought, not social skills
(d) bringing up their children requires tolerance and discipline
4 Parents of Beng children treat them with great care because they (d) .
(a) think children know all human languages and understand all cultures
(b) think life in the earthly world is unpleasant
(c) believe the children still live in a spirit world
(d) fear the children may choose to return to the spirit world where they lived before they were born
5 Western childcare practices (c) .
(a) include allowing eight-year-old girls to work and 12-year-old girls to marry
(b) treat the child in a bizarre and possibly harmful way
(c) see the child as being incompetent, dependent on the parents, and incapable of looking after other children
(d) are only similar to Yanamamö childcare practices in that girls help out at home, and boys are allowed
to play well into their teens
6 The main idea of the passage is that (c) .
(a) history shows us how our perception of childhood has changed
(b) childhood is viewed in different ways according to the child’s cultural and social upbringing
(c) both history and society can affect our perception of childhood
(d) Western notions of childhood are outdated and not informed
(continued)
6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words and expressions in the box.
Our (1) knowledge and understanding of childhood is undergoing a process of (2) nonstop change. In
the West we see children as being (3) in need of adult control. However, among other (4) socio-cultural
groups with similar traditions children are (5) mainly considered to be capable of assuming greater
responsibilities. So there is a (6) strong desire for (7) someone who does not belong to this group to
think that such practices might be odd or even harmful. But while most ethnic groups may at first show
(8) hesitation about integrating other traditions and customs with their own, (9) outside pressures usually
make them change their traditional view of childhood.
Key: (1) notion (2) continual (3) dependent on (4) ethnic (5) largely
(6) temptation (7) an outsider (8) reluctance (9) external
Language in use
unpacking complex sentences
1 Look at the sentences from the passage Superman and answer the questions.
1 My flying dreams were believable as a landscape by Dali, so real that I would awake with a sudden
shock, a breathless sense of having tumbled like Icarus from the sky and caught myself on the soft bed
just in time.
(a) What were believable?
Her dreams about flying were believable.
(b) How real were they?
They were very real.
Unit 2 Childhood memories
60
(c) Who had the sense of having tumbled like Icarus?
The writer, Sylvia Plath.
(d) Why would she wake up with a breathless sense?
Because she felt she was really flying.
(e) What did the breathless sense feel like?
It felt like a sudden shock.
(f) Why did she catch herself on the soft bed just in time?
Because she felt she was falling.
2 We even found a stand-in for a villain in Sheldon Fein, the sallow mamma’s boy on our block who was
left out of the boys’ games because he cried whenever anybody tagged him and always managed to fall
down and skin his fat knees.
(a) What did we find?
We found someone who could be a villain.
(b) Who was the stand-in for a villain?
Sheldon Fein.
(c) What was he like?
He was sallow and a mamma’s boy.
(d) Where did he come from?
He came from their block.
(e) Why was he left out of the boys’ games?
Because he always cried and fell over.
(f) What happened when he always managed to fall down?
He skinned his knees.
3 Complete the sentences with the correct form of suitable expressions from the collocation box.
Sometimes more than one collocation is possible.
1 The Australian bush fires blazed for several days before they were brought under control.
2 As a child Ruth’s long dark hair tumbled down her back.
3 He comes from a very close-knit / tight-knit family with three brothers and two sisters.
4 I remember my father used to knit his brows / eyebrows together when he was thinking hard about
something.
5 It was extremely hot and the sun was blazing.
6 Did you knit that jumper / hat yourself? It’s really beautiful!
7 I’m watching the financial markets – I think the prices of stocks will tumble quite soon.
4 Translate the paragraphs into Chinese.
1 My flying dreams were believable as a landscape by Dali, so real that I would awake with a sudden
shock, a breathless sense of having tumbled like Icarus from the sky and caught myself on the soft
bed just in time. These nightly adventures in space began when Superman started invading my
dreams and teaching me how to fly. He used to come roaring by in his shining blue suit with his cape
whistling in the wind, looking remarkably like my Uncle Frank who was living with mother and
me. In the magic whirling of his cape I could hear the wings of a hundred seagulls, the motors of a
thousand planes.
我的飞行梦像达利的风景画那么真实可信，以致于自己常常会在一阵惊吓中醒来，好像伊卡罗斯那
样从空中摔下来，虽然发现自己刚好掉到软软的床上，但也被吓得喘不过气来。当超人开始侵入我
的梦乡，并教给我飞行的技巧之后，我每夜的太空冒险便开始了。超人身着耀眼的蓝色衣服，肩披
随风飕飕作响的斗篷，经常从我身边呼啸而过。他长得太像我的舅舅弗兰克了，舅舅那会儿正跟
妈妈和我住在一起。当超人的斗篷神奇地旋转时，我好像能听见上百只海鸥的振翅声，上千架飞
机的马达轰鸣声。
2 In contrast, children on the Pacific island of Tonga, studied by Helen Morton, are regularly beaten by
their parents and older siblings. They are seen as being closer to mad people than adults because they
lack the highly prized quality of social competence (or poto as the Tongans call it). They are regularly
told off for being clumsy and a child who falls over may be laughed at, shouted at, or beaten.
Children are thought of as mischievous; they cry or want to feed simply because they are naughty,
and beatings are at their most severe between the ages of three and five when children are seen as
particularly wilful. Parents believe that social competence can only be achieved through discipline
and physical punishment, and treat their children in ways that have seemed very harsh to outsiders.
(☞ 这段话里有多处被动用法，有些译成中文时仍保留被动态，有些则应该变成主动，否则译文就
不通顺。)
相反，根据海伦·莫顿的研究，太平洋岛国汤加的儿童经常挨父母和哥哥姐姐的打。人们认为儿童
和成年人相比更像疯子，因为他们缺乏被大家看重的社会能力（汤加人称之为poto）。小孩子经常
因为笨手笨脚而挨骂，他们连摔跤都会被嘲笑、呵斥，甚至被打。人们认为儿童很顽皮，都是因为
淘气他们才哭闹，或者要东西吃。在大人看来，三至五岁的儿童尤其任性，因此他们打这个年龄段
的孩子也打得最狠。父母们相信，只有靠训导和体罚才能使孩子获得社会能力，所以他们用一种在
外人看来非常严厉的方式对待孩子。
5 Translate the paragraphs into English.
1 在火车站上，有一位老人给我讲述了他参加战争的经历，那些战斗故事对我有着极大的吸引力。
后来他上了车，列车从我身边隆隆地开走了。可那些故事仍然是那么清晰可见，对于英雄们的壮举，
我钦佩不已。(fascination; roar; marvel at)
At the railway station, an old man told me his experience in the Liberation War, the fighting stories of
which were of great fascination to me. Then he got up on the train and it roared past me. But the stories
were so real and definite that I greatly marvelled at the courageous deeds of those war heroes.
Unit 2 Childhood memories
62
2 行之有效的环保不仅能创造良好的生态环境，还能大大降低能源消耗。回顾这个地区近年来的
发展情况，我们惊喜地发现地区强制实行的环保不但没有受到任何批评，还促使居民增强
了环保意识，尽其所能节约能源。(consumption; impose; take exception to; prompt)
Effective environmental policy might bring about a good environment, as well as reducing energy
consumption. Looking back on the recent development of this region, we find, to our pleasant surprise,
that little exception has been taken to the environmental policy of the local government, and the policy
has also raised the environmental awareness of the local residents and prompted them to save energy as
possible as they could.__
Handout and Key to
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