-
Lesson
Nine
The trouble with
Television
一、
Words and expressions
1. absorb
–
absorbable
v.
—
adj.
v. take in
吸收
absorb heat
吸热
Plants absorb oxygen.
植物吸收氧气。
absorb knowledge
吸收知识
absorbing
吸引人的
attractive
absorptionn.
吸收,专心致志
2. allot
vt.
分配,分派
(-tt-)
allot sth. to
sb.
把——分配给某人
Who will she allot the easy
job to?
她把轻活分给谁了?
allotmentn.
分配,拨款
3. apt
adj.
–
aptlyadv.
apt
适当的,恰当的
suitable,
appropriate
an
apt quotation
恰当的引用
Ⅰ. be apt at
doing sth. = be good at sth.
He is very apt
at programming a computer.
他善于编电脑程序
Ⅱ. be apt to do sth. = have
a tendency to do sth.
易于做什么事情,有做某事的倾
向性
My
pen is rather apt to leak.
我的钢笔爱漏水。
aptly: suitably,
appropriately
4. august
adj.
常作定语,令人敬畏的,威严的
full of respect, awe, majestic and
imposing
5.
bequeath:
v. bequeath sth.
to sb.
把某物遗赠给某人
He bequeathed 1000 pounds
to charity.
他把
1000
英镑遗赠给慈善事业。
bequestn.
遗赠,遗产,遗物
6. coherent
—
coherenceadj.
—
n.
有条理的,前后一致的
coherent analysis, argument,
description
The government lacks a
coherent economic policy.
政府的经济政策缺乏一致性。
7. condense:
se sth. to/into sth.
把——浓缩成——,凝结
简缩,摘要
condense a
long report into a brief summary
condensation
n.
8.
civilize
—
decivilize
9. dismiss:
v.
Ⅰ.
解雇,免除
Ⅱ.
对某事不予理会
dismiss a suggestion
Ⅲ. reject
驳回
dismiss a
case/an appeal
驳回一个诉案
/
上诉
dismissal
n.
dismissible
adj.
10. divert:
v.Ⅰ. divert sb.
from sth. to sth.
转移某人的注意力
divert
one's attention, energies
转移某人的注意力,精力
Ⅱ.
entertain, amuse
消遣或娱乐
divertingadj.
消遣的,娱乐的
divertingly
ion
n.
11. gratify
v. esp. passive
常用于被动语态
be
gratified at/by/with sth. = be satisfied
gratify one's curiosity
满足某人的好奇心
gratification
n.
gratifying
gratifying to do sth./that
gratifyingly
adv.
12.
illiterate
—
illiteracy
adj.
—
n.
13. imperative:
adj.
紧急的,必须服从的
It is imperative that we make a quick
decision.
我们要尽快做出决定。
imperative
作“必须服从的、必要的”时用虚拟语
气,
should
可省略。
n.
必要的事,必须履行的责任
Survival is our first imperative.
当务之急的事是生存。
a
moral imperative
道德上的责任
14. effect
—
effici
ent
—
effective
inefficient
15. inherent:
adj.
内在的,固有的,与生俱来的
be
inherent in sb./sth.
an inherent
distrust of strangers
对陌生人天生的不信任
inherently
adv.
16. miracle = wonder
奇迹,美妙
miraculous
= wonderful
17. perpetual: adj.
永久的,永恒的,不间断的,连续的,反复的
permanent, continuous, repeated,
continual, incessant
perpetually
adv.
18.
pervade
–
invade
—<
/p>
evade
v.
弥漫,渗透
spread
The smell pervades
the house.
Her work is pervaded by
nostalgia for the past.
她的作品充满了怀旧之情。
pervasion
ive
adj. = pervading
无处不在的,遍布的
19.
scrape
—
scrap
v.
—
n.
20. a series of = a chain of
serial
adj./n.
21. usurp:
篡夺,夺取
usurp the throne
篡夺王位
usurpation
n.
usurper
二、
Text
Title: A prominent anchorman warns of
TV's adverse effect on America's culture
by Robert MacNeil
prominent:
突出的,杰出的
projecting,
distinguished, outstanding, well-known
prominent cheek-bones
突出的颧骨
hollowed
play a
prominent part in the public life
在公共事务中起突出作用
杰出的政治人物
a prominent political figure
adv.
prominently
n. prominence
近来崭露头角的青年作家
a
young writer who has recently come to/into
prominence
warn
sb. of sth. = admonish
adverse: adj.
相反的,不利的,敌对的,有害的
contrary, hostile,
opposing, harmful
the adverse effects of drugs
药品的副作用
adverse weather conditions,
circumstances
不利的天气,逆境
adversely
adv.
Structure of the text:
Paragraph Ⅰ, Ⅱ:
the influence of television—
dominate
people's life
—
work on
bachelor's degree, astronomer or
engineer, learning languages, reading, walking and
writing.
It is difficult to escape the influence
of television. If you fit the statistical
averages,
by
the
age
of
20
you
will
have
been
exposed
to
at
least
20,000
hours
of
television.
You can add
10,000 hours for each decade you have lived after
the age of 20. The only
things
Americans do more than watch television are work
and sleep.
fit
适合,适当
be
exposed to
暴露于
Calculate
for
a
moment
what
could
be
done
with
even
a
part
of
those
hours.
Five
thousand
hours,
I
am
told,
are
what
a
typical
college
undergraduate
spends
working
on
a
bachelor's
degree.
In
10,000
hours
you
could
have
learned
enough
to
become
an
astronomer
or
engineer.
You could have
learned several languages fluently. If it appealed
to you, you could be
reading Homer in
the original Greek or Dostoyevsky in Russian. If
it didn't, you could
have walked around
the world and written a book about it.
教材
P134
2.
What
other
things
could
a
person
possibly
have
done
in
those
hours
spent
on watching TV?
calculate: count
fluently
流利地
appeal to
恳求,呼吁;吸引某人;投诉、起诉某人
Paragraph Ⅲ:
the trouble—
to discourage
concentration, apply no effort, instant
gratification, divert, distract
The trouble
with television is that it discourages
concentration. Almost anything
interesting
and
rewarding
in
life
requires
some
constructive,
consistently
applied
effort
(付出努力)
.
The
dullest,
the
least
gifted
of
us
can
achieve
things
that
seem
miraculous
to those who
never concentrate on anything. But television
encourages us to apply no
effort.
It
sells
us
instant
gratification.
It
diverts
us
only
to
divert,
to
make
the
time
pass without pain.
concentration
注意力
教材
P134 3. In what way does
TV discourage concentration?
It sells us instant
gratification. It diverts us only to divert, to
make the time
pass without pain.
Paragraph Ⅳ:
narcotic—
following its
lead
—
guided
tour
—
passively surrender