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2023年度21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(全文完整)

发布时间:2023-04-03 20:20:06 来源:网友投稿

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析1  Listening  FirstListening  Beforelisteningtothetape,haveaquicklookatthefol下面是小编为大家整理的2023年度21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(全文完整),供大家参考。

2023年度21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(全文完整)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析1

  Listening

  First Listening

  Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

  conversation

  谈话

  comment on

  评论

  bowling

  保龄球

  lane

  球道

  connect

  联系

  converse

  交谈

  switch

  转换

  Second Listening

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. What was the main cause of the problem discussed in the listening?

  A) She was using a Western style in conversations among the Japanese.

  B) She insisted on speaking English even though she was in Japan.

  C) She spoke the Japanese language poorly.

  D) She was an American woman married to a Japanese man.

  2. Which of the following comparisons does the listening make about Japanese and Western conversational styles?

  A) The Japanese style is like tennis and the Western style is like volleyball.

  B) The Western style is more athletic than the Japanese style.

  C) The Japanese style is like bowling and the Western style is like tennis.

  D) The Japanese style is like singles tennis and the Western style is like doubles.

  3. The author considers the Western conversational style to be ____________.

  A) more interactive (互动的)

  B) louder

  C) more personal

  D) better

  4.The author considers the Japanese conversational style to be ____________.

  A) easier to adjust to(适应)

  B) more strictly (严谨地) organized

  C) more traditional

  D) better

  5.The author concludes that ____________.

  A) once you know the differences, it is easy to adjust to them

  B) because she is American, she will never really understand Japan

  C) life will be much easier for her students than it was for her

  D) it remains difficult to switch from one style to another

  Pre-reading Questions

  1.Look at the title and guess what this passage is about.

  2. Go over the first paragraph quickly and find out who the author is. Is she a Japanese born and educated in the United States or an American married to a Japanese?

  3. Have you ever talked with a native speaker of English? What problems have you encountered in talking with a foreigner?

  Conversational Ballgames

  Nancy Masterson Sakamoto

  After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband, his friends, and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversation would come to a halt. After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn"t know what it was.

  Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation in a Western way.

  Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn"t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so were my English students trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.

  A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis. If I introduce a topic, a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don"t expect you sim* to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something — a reason for agreeing, another example, or a remark to carry the idea further. But I don"t expect you always to agree. I am just as happy if you question me, or challenge me, or completely disagree with me. Whether you agree or disagree, your response will return the ball to me.

  And then it is my turn again. I don"t serve a new ball from my original starting line. I hit your ball back again from where it has bounced. I carry your idea further, or answer your questions or objections, or challenge or question you. And so the ball goes back and forth.

  If there are more than two people in the conversation, then it is like doubles in tennis, or like volleyball. There"s no waiting in line. Whoever is nearest and quickest hits the ball, and if you step back, someone else will hit it. No one stops the game to give you a turn. You"re responsible for taking your own turn and no one person has the ball for very long.

  A Japanese-style conversation, however, is not at all like tennis or volleyball, it"s like bowling. You wait for your turn, and you always know your place in line. It depends on such things as whether you are older or younger, a close friend or a relative stranger to the previous speaker, in a senior or junior position, and so on.

  The first thing is to wait for your turn, patiently and politely. When your moment comes, you step up to the starting line with your bowling ball, and carefully bowl it. Everyone else stands back, making sounds of polite encouragement. Everyone waits until your ball has reached the end of the lane, and watches to see if it knocks down all the pins, or only some of them, or none of them. Then there is a pause, while everyone registers your score.

  Then, after everyone is sure that you are done, the next person in line steps up to the same starting line, with a different ball. He doesn"t return your ball. There is no back and forth at all. And there is always a suitable pause between turns. There is no rush, no impatience.

  No wonder everyone looked startled when I took part in Japanese conversations. I paid no attention to whose turn it was, and kept snatching the ball halfway down the alley and throwing it back at the bowler. Of course the conversation fell apart, I was playing the wrong game.

  This explains why it can be so difficult to get a western-style discussion going with Japanese students of English. Whenever I serve a volleyball, everyone just stands back and watches it fall. No one hits it back. Everyone waits until I call on someone to take a turn. And when that person speaks, he doesn"t hit my ball back. He serves a new ball. Again, everyone just watches it fall. So I call on someone else. This person does not refer to what the previous speaker has said. He also serves a new ball. Everyone begins again from the same starting line, and all the balls run parallel. There is never any back and forth.

  Now that you know about the difference in the conversational ballgames, you may think that all your troubles are over. But if you have been trained all your life to play one game, it is no simple matter to switch to another, even if you know the rules. Tennis, after all, is different from bowling.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析2

  conversational

  a. 会话的,交谈的

  conversation

  n. an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts 谈话; 会谈

  ballgame

  n. any game played with a ball 球类活动

  gradually

  ad. in a way that happens or develops slowly over a long period of time 逐渐

  startle

  vt. make suddenly surprised or slightly shocked 使惊吓,使惊奇

  halt

  n. a stop or pause 停住,停止

  v. stop (使)停住,(使)停止

  handle

  vt. deal with 处理,应付

  unconsciously

  ad. not consciously 无意识地,不知不觉地

  challenge

  vt. 向…挑战;对…质疑

  n. 挑战;质疑

  disagree

  vi. (with) have or express a different opinion from sb. else 有分歧,不同意

  response

  n. an answer; (an) action done in answer 回答;回应;反应

  original

  a. first; earliest 起初的;原来的

  bounce

  vi. (of a ball) spring back or up again from the ground or another surface (球)弹起,(球)反弹

  objection

  n. sth. that one says to show that he /she opposes or disapproves of an action, idea, etc. 反对,异议

  forth

  ad. forward; out 向前;向外

  responsible

  a. having the job or duty of looking after sb. or sth., so that one can be blamed if things go wrong 须负责的,有责任的

  bowling

  n. 保龄球

  relative

  a. having a particular quality when compared with sth. else 相对的,比较的

  n. a member of one"s family; relation 亲属;亲戚

  previous

  a. coming before in time or order 先前的,以前的

  junior

  a. of lower rank or position; younger 级别或地位较低的`,年资较浅的;年少的,较年幼的

  bowl

  vt. 把(球)投向球瓶

  lane

  n. 球道;车道;胡同,小巷

  pin

  n. 球瓶;大头针,别针

  register

  vt. record 记录,登记

  suitable

  a. 合适的;适当的

  impatience

  n. 不耐烦;急躁

  *snatch

  vt. get hold of (sth.) hastily; take in a hurry, esp. forcefully 抓住;夺,夺得

  alley

  n. 小巷,小街,胡同;球道

  bowler

  n. 投球手

  apart

  ad. into pieces 成碎片

  parallel

  a. running side by side but never getting nearer to or further away from each other *行的,并列的

  switch

  vi. change 改变,转移

  Phrases and Expressions

  Join in

  take part in (an activity) 参加,参与

  come to a halt

  stop 停住,停止;停顿

  even if/though

  in spite of the fact that; no matter whether 即使;尽管

  just as

  正如;同样地

  back and forth

  来回地,反复地

  and so on

  and other things of this kind 等等

  knock down

  make (sth.) fall by hitting or pushing it 击倒;撞倒

  fall apart

  break; fall to pieces; end in failure 破裂;破碎;以失败告终

  call on /upon

  formally ask (sb.) to do sth. 号召;请求

  refer to

  mention; speak about 谈到,提及

  after all

  when all is said or done 毕竟

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析3

  Listening

  First Listening

  Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

  conversation

  谈话

  comment on

  评论

  bowling

  保龄球

  lane

  球道

  connect

  联系

  converse

  交谈

  switch

  转换

  Second Listening

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. What was the main cause of the problem discussed in the listening?

  A) She was using a Western style in conversations among the Japanese.

  B) She insisted on speaking English even though she was in Japan.

  C) She spoke the Japanese language poorly.

  D) She was an American woman married to a Japanese man.

  2. Which of the following comparisons does the listening make about Japanese and Western conversational styles?

  A) The Japanese style is like tennis and the Western style is like volleyball.

  B) The Western style is more athletic than the Japanese style.

  C) The Japanese style is like bowling and the Western style is like tennis.

  D) The Japanese style is like singles tennis and the Western style is like doubles.

  3. The author considers the Western conversational style to be ____________.

  A) more interactive (互动的)

  B) louder

  C) more personal

  D) better

  4.The author considers the Japanese conversational style to be ____________.

  A) easier to adjust to(适应)

  B) more strictly (严谨地) organized

  C) more traditional

  D) better

  5.The author concludes that ____________.

  A) once you know the differences, it is easy to adjust to them

  B) because she is American, she will never really understand Japan

  C) life will be much easier for her students than it was for her

  D) it remains difficult to switch from one style to another

  Pre-reading Questions

  1.Look at the title and guess what this passage is about.

  2. Go over the first paragraph quickly and find out who the author is. Is she a Japanese born and educated in the United States or an American married to a Japanese?

  3. Have you ever talked with a native speaker of English? What problems have you encountered in talking with a foreigner?

  Conversational Ballgames

  Nancy Masterson Sakamoto

  After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband, his friends, and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversation would come to a halt. After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn"t know what it was.

  Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation in a Western way.

  Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn"t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so were my English students trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.

  A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis. If I introduce a topic, a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don"t expect you sim* to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something — a reason for agreeing, another example, or a remark to carry the idea further. But I don"t expect you always to agree. I am just as happy if you question me, or challenge me, or completely disagree with me. Whether you agree or disagree, your response will return the ball to me.

  And then it is my turn again. I don"t serve a new ball from my original starting line. I hit your ball back again from where it has bounced. I carry your idea further, or answer your questions or objections, or challenge or question you. And so the ball goes back and forth.

  If there are more than two people in the conversation, then it is like doubles in tennis, or like volleyball. There"s no waiting in line. Whoever is nearest and quickest hits the ball, and if you step back, someone else will hit it. No one stops the game to give you a turn. You"re responsible for taking your own turn and no one person has the ball for very long.

  A Japanese-style conversation, however, is not at all like tennis or volleyball, it"s like bowling. You wait for your turn, and you always know your place in line. It depends on such things as whether you are older or younger, a close friend or a relative stranger to the previous speaker, in a senior or junior position, and so on.

  The first thing is to wait for your turn, patiently and politely. When your moment comes, you step up to the starting line with your bowling ball, and carefully bowl it. Everyone else stands back, making sounds of polite encouragement. Everyone waits until your ball has reached the end of the lane, and watches to see if it knocks down all the pins, or only some of them, or none of them. Then there is a pause, while everyone registers your score.

  Then, after everyone is sure that you are done, the next person in line steps up to the same starting line, with a different ball. He doesn"t return your ball. There is no back and forth at all. And there is always a suitable pause between turns. There is no rush, no impatience.

  No wonder everyone looked startled when I took part in Japanese conversations. I paid no attention to whose turn it was, and kept snatching the ball halfway down the alley and throwing it back at the bowler. Of course the conversation fell apart, I was playing the wrong game.

  This explains why it can be so difficult to get a western-style discussion going with Japanese students of English. Whenever I serve a volleyball, everyone just stands back and watches it fall. No one hits it back. Everyone waits until I call on someone to take a turn. And when that person speaks, he doesn"t hit my ball back. He serves a new ball. Again, everyone just watches it fall. So I call on someone else. This person does not refer to what the previous speaker has said. He also serves a new ball. Everyone begins again from the same starting line, and all the balls run parallel. There is never any back and forth.

  Now that you know about the difference in the conversational ballgames, you may think that all your troubles are over. But if you have been trained all your life to play one game, it is no simple matter to switch to another, even if you know the rules. Tennis, after all, is different from bowling.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析4

  conversational

  a. 会话的,交谈的

  conversation

  n. an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts 谈话; 会谈

  ballgame

  n. any game played with a ball 球类活动

  gradually

  ad. in a way that happens or develops slowly over a long period of time 逐渐

  startle

  vt. make suddenly surprised or slightly shocked 使惊吓,使惊奇

  halt

  n. a stop or pause 停住,停止

  v. stop (使)停住,(使)停止

  handle

  vt. deal with 处理,应付

  unconsciously

  ad. not consciously 无意识地,不知不觉地

  challenge

  vt. 向…挑战;对…质疑

  n. 挑战;质疑

  disagree

  vi. (with) have or express a different opinion from sb. else 有分歧,不同意

  response

  n. an answer; (an) action done in answer 回答;回应;反应

  original

  a. first; earliest 起初的;原来的

  bounce

  vi. (of a ball) spring back or up again from the ground or another surface (球)弹起,(球)反弹

  objection

  n. sth. that one says to show that he /she opposes or disapproves of an action, idea, etc. 反对,异议

  forth

  ad. forward; out 向前;向外

  responsible

  a. having the job or duty of looking after sb. or sth., so that one can be blamed if things go wrong 须负责的,有责任的

  bowling

  n. 保龄球

  relative

  a. having a particular quality when compared with sth. else 相对的,比较的

  n. a member of one"s family; relation 亲属;亲戚

  previous

  a. coming before in time or order 先前的,以前的

  junior

  a. of lower rank or position; younger 级别或地位较低的.,年资较浅的;年少的,较年幼的

  bowl

  vt. 把(球)投向球瓶

  lane

  n. 球道;车道;胡同,小巷

  pin

  n. 球瓶;大头针,别针

  register

  vt. record 记录,登记

  suitable

  a. 合适的;适当的

  impatience

  n. 不耐烦;急躁

  *snatch

  vt. get hold of (sth.) hastily; take in a hurry, esp. forcefully 抓住;夺,夺得

  alley

  n. 小巷,小街,胡同;球道

  bowler

  n. 投球手

  apart

  ad. into pieces 成碎片

  parallel

  a. running side by side but never getting nearer to or further away from each other *行的,并列的

  switch

  vi. change 改变,转移

  Phrases and Expressions

  Join in

  take part in (an activity) 参加,参与

  come to a halt

  stop 停住,停止;停顿

  even if/though

  in spite of the fact that; no matter whether 即使;尽管

  just as

  正如;同样地

  back and forth

  来回地,反复地

  and so on

  and other things of this kind 等等

  knock down

  make (sth.) fall by hitting or pushing it 击倒;撞倒

  fall apart

  break; fall to pieces; end in failure 破裂;破碎;以失败告终

  call on /upon

  formally ask (sb.) to do sth. 号召;请求

  refer to

  mention; speak about 谈到,提及

  after all

  when all is said or done 毕竟


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇扩展阅读


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展1)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课程6内容详解60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课程6内容详解1

  Leonid Fridman

  There is something very wrong with the system of values in a society that has only unkind terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically serious.

  We all know what a nerd is: someone who wears thick glasses and ugly clothes; someone who knows all the answers to the chemistry or math homework but can never get a date on a Saturday night. And a geek, according to "Webster"s New World Dictionary," is a street performer who shocks the public by biting off heads of live chickens. It is a revealing fact about our language and our culture that someone dedicated to pursuit of knowledge is compared to such a freak.

  Even at a prestigious educational institution like Harvard, anti-intellectualism is widespread: Many students are ashamed to admit, even to their friends, how much they study.

  Although most students try to keep up their grades, there is but a small group of undergraduates for whom pursuing knowledge is the most important thing during their years at Harvard. Nerds are looked down upon while athletes are made heroes of.

  The same thing happens in U.S. elementary and high schools. Children who prefer to read books rather than play football, prefer to build model airplanes rather than idle away their time at parties with their classmates, become social outcasts. Because of their intelligence and refusal to conform to society"s anti-intellectual values, many are deprived of a chance to learn adequate social skills and acquire good communication tools.

  Enough is enough.

  Nerds and geeks must stop being ashamed of what they are. Those who don"t study hard must stop teasing those who do, the bright kids with thick glasses. The anti-intellectual values that have spread throughout American society must be fought.

  There are very few countries in the world where anti-intellectualism runs as high in popular culture as it does in the U.S.. In most industrialized nations, not least of all our economic rivals in East Asia, a kid who studies hard is praised and held up as an example to other students.

  In many parts of the world, university professorships are the most prestigious and materially rewarding positions. But not in America, where average professional ballplayers are much more respected and better paid than professors of the best universities.

  How can a country where typical parents are ashamed of their daughter studying mathematics instead of going dancing, or of their son reading Weber while his friends play baseball be expected to compete in the technology race with Japan? How long can America remain a world-class power if we constantly put social skills and physical strength over academic achievement and intellectual ability?

  Do we really expect to stay afloat largely by importing our scientists and intellectuals from abroad, as we have done for a major portion of this century without making an effort to also cultivate a pro-intellectual culture at home? Even if we have the political will to spend a lot more money on education than we do now, do we think we can improve our schools if we laugh at our hardworking pupils and fail to respect their impoverished teachers?

  Our fault lies not so much with our economy or with our politics as within ourselves, our values and our image of a good life. America"s culture has not adapted to the demands of our times, to the economic realities that demand a highly educated workforce and innovative intelligent leadership.

  If we are to succeed as a society in the 21 st century, we had better do away with our anti-intellectualism and teach our children that a good life depends on exercising one"s mind and pursuing knowledge to the full extent of one"s abilities.

  Not until the words "nerd" and "geek" become terms of praise rather than insults do we stand a chance.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课程6内容详解2

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. The main purpose of this listening passage is to_________.

  A) argue against higher salaries for athletes

  B) offer solutions to current economic problems

  C) complain about the lack of respect for intellectuals

  D) describe changes in the English language

  2. What is the meaning of the words "nerd" and "geek"?

  A) They are insulting terms which are applied to smart students.

  B) They are used in the U.S. to describe students from other countries.

  C) A nerd is a good student and a geek is a poor student.

  D) A nerd is a poor student and a geek is a good student.

  3. The passage says that in nations other than the U.S.,_________.

  A) hardworking students are praised

  B) professors are paid better salaries

  C) more respect is given to intellectuals

  D) all of the above

  4. The passage suggests that the words "nerd" and "geek" should_________.

  A) be made illegal

  B) become words of praise, rather than insults

  C) be used to describe athletes instead of students

  D) all of the above


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展2)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第5单元内容解读60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第5单元内容解读1

  Leslie Dunkling

  "Let me give you one piece of advice," I said to Ted and Mary just before they got married a few years ago. "If you want to stay happily married, always be prepared to compromise. When you have different opinions about something, you each give way a little. You take the middle course. That is compromise." And I"m glad to say that the young couple seemed to take that advice.

  I remember when they took their first holiday together. Ted wanted to do something energetic, because he didn"t usually get much exercise during the year. Mary"s job meant that she was on her feet most of the time. All she wanted to do was lie in the sun. Ted hated the idea of lying on a beach; Mary hated the idea of being too active. They compromised, and took their holiday in mid-summer, high in the Alps. Mary was able to lie in the sun by the hotel swimming pool, while Ted went off for long walks in the mountains with a group of hikers. In the evening they met at the hotel, both content with their day, happy to eat a leisurely meal together and dance a little afterwards.

  They compromised over everything and they were very happy.

  To complete their happiness, they had a baby when they had been married for three years—a son. But that, strangely, was when the problem arose. They had to name their son, of course, and each had a name in mind; not the same name, unfortunately. It seemed that a situation had arisen where compromise was impossible. Ted wanted to call their son Robert, Mary wanted to call him Lawrence. How can you compromise with names like that? No, this time one of them would have to give way, it seemed. There would have to be a winner, and a loser. That was how they saw things, at least.

  Mary told me all about it when I called at the hospital two days after the baby"s birth.

  "Ted wants to call him Robert," Mary said, "because there"s a tradition in his family. The eldest son is always Robert or Edward. His father was Robert, his grandfather Edward, his great-grandfather Robert, and so on."

  "That seems reasonable," I said.

  "I don"t want my son to be named after someone in the family," Mary said. "He"s a unique individual, and I want him to have a name that no one else in the family has had. I want to call my son Lawrence."

  "That seems reasonable, too," I said.

  "Everyone"s been giving me advice," Mary said. Then she told me who had given her advice, and what advice she had been given, (but not in the same order). I had to guess who gave what advice. Maybe you"d like to try to do that as well?

  These were the people:

  1) Uncle Fred, who was a painter, and liked vivid colours.

  2) Aunt Sybil, who spent every spare minute in her garden.

  3) Cousin John, who spent far too much of his time at horse races and sim* couldn"t resist a gamble.

  4) Mary"s friend, Sue, who was very active in the Women"s Liberation Movement.

  5) Ted"s brother David, an actor with a high opinion of himself.

  6) Mary"s father, a music professor.

  7) Mary"s mother, who loved Shakespeare.

  8) Mary"s friend, Catherine, known to be rather snobbish.

  Here, in a different order, is the advice they gave Mary:

  a) "Spin a coin, and decide that way."

  b) "David"s rather a nice name. That would be a good compromise."

  c) "Tell your husband that you had the child so you have the right to choose his name."

  d) "I"ve always liked the names Johann Sebastian."

  e) "Call him William. He"ll be a sweet William. What a pity you didn"t have a girl. There are such lovely names for girls — Heather, Rosemary, Lily, Fern, Daisy."

  f) "He"s got blond hair. You could call him Boyd — which means yellow."

  g) "Charles is rather a refined name, don"t you think? Not Robert, though, or Lawrence. Too ordinary, my dear."

  h) "Hamlet would make an unusual, but attractive name."

  Well, I soon sorted out who suggested what, then I gave my own advice, "Compromise!"

  "How?" said Mary.

  "In the same way as my parents," I said. "My father felt that I should be named after his father, and my mother felt the same way about naming me after her father. So, I"m named after both of them."

  "You mean, they were both called Samuel?" said Mary.

  "No. One was George, the other was Albert. Samuel is the compromise. I"m named George Albert Samuel, but called Samuel."

  And so it was that my nephew was named Robert William Lawrence, but is called Lawrence.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第5单元内容解读2

  *energetic

  a. full of energy 精力旺盛的,充满活力的

  hiker

  n. a person who travels about the country, esp. on foot 徒步旅行者

  content

  a. (with) satisfied with what one has; not wanting more 满意的;满足的

  leisurely

  a. relaxed; without hurrying 从容的;不慌不忙的

  arise(arose,arisen)

  vi. happen; appear 出现;呈现

  tradition

  n. a custom or belief that the people in a particular group or society have practiced or held for a long time 传统

  unique

  a. considered unusual; being the only one of its type 独特的,独一无二的

  individual

  n. a person 个人;个体

  a. single; separate 个人的;个别的;单独的"

  painter

  n. a person who paints pictures 画家

  *gamble

  n. a risky action or decision that one takes in the hope of gaining money, success, etc. 赌博

  v. play cards or other games for money 赌博;打赌

  snobbish

  a. 势利的

  spin(spun)

  vt. turn round and round fast 使旋转

  blond

  a. 1. (of hair) light-coloured (头发)金黄色的;

  2.(人)白肤金发碧眼的

  refined

  a. (of a person, his behaviour, etc.) having or showing education, gentleness of manners 文雅的,优美的

  nephew

  n. the son of one"s brother or sister 侄,甥

  Phrases and Expressions

  give way

  yield 让步,屈服

  take the middle course

  take a course of action which is a compromise between two extremes 采取折中办法

  be on one"s feet

  be standing or walking 站立着

  go off

  leave; set off 离开;出发

  have ... in mind

  想到,考虑到;记得

  call at

  make a short visit at 短访,访问

  name after

  give sb. the same name as 以…的名字(为…)取名

  with a high /low /good /bad opinion of

  thinking well /badly of 对…评价高 / 低(好 / 不好)

  sort out

  separate from a large group; put in good order; set straight, make clear 拣出;整理;弄清楚


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展3)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析 (菁选3篇)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析1

  Listening

  First Listening

  Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

  conversation

  谈话

  comment on

  评论

  bowling

  保龄球

  lane

  球道

  connect

  联系

  converse

  交谈

  switch

  转换

  Second Listening

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. What was the main cause of the problem discussed in the listening?

  A) She was using a Western style in conversations among the Japanese.

  B) She insisted on speaking English even though she was in Japan.

  C) She spoke the Japanese language poorly.

  D) She was an American woman married to a Japanese man.

  2. Which of the following comparisons does the listening make about Japanese and Western conversational styles?

  A) The Japanese style is like tennis and the Western style is like volleyball.

  B) The Western style is more athletic than the Japanese style.

  C) The Japanese style is like bowling and the Western style is like tennis.

  D) The Japanese style is like singles tennis and the Western style is like doubles.

  3. The author considers the Western conversational style to be ____________.

  A) more interactive (互动的)

  B) louder

  C) more personal

  D) better

  4.The author considers the Japanese conversational style to be ____________.

  A) easier to adjust to(适应)

  B) more strictly (严谨地) organized

  C) more traditional

  D) better

  5.The author concludes that ____________.

  A) once you know the differences, it is easy to adjust to them

  B) because she is American, she will never really understand Japan

  C) life will be much easier for her students than it was for her

  D) it remains difficult to switch from one style to another

  Pre-reading Questions

  1.Look at the title and guess what this passage is about.

  2. Go over the first paragraph quickly and find out who the author is. Is she a Japanese born and educated in the United States or an American married to a Japanese?

  3. Have you ever talked with a native speaker of English? What problems have you encountered in talking with a foreigner?

  Conversational Ballgames

  Nancy Masterson Sakamoto

  After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband, his friends, and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversation would come to a halt. After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn"t know what it was.

  Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation in a Western way.

  Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn"t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so were my English students trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.

  A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis. If I introduce a topic, a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don"t expect you sim* to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something — a reason for agreeing, another example, or a remark to carry the idea further. But I don"t expect you always to agree. I am just as happy if you question me, or challenge me, or completely disagree with me. Whether you agree or disagree, your response will return the ball to me.

  And then it is my turn again. I don"t serve a new ball from my original starting line. I hit your ball back again from where it has bounced. I carry your idea further, or answer your questions or objections, or challenge or question you. And so the ball goes back and forth.

  If there are more than two people in the conversation, then it is like doubles in tennis, or like volleyball. There"s no waiting in line. Whoever is nearest and quickest hits the ball, and if you step back, someone else will hit it. No one stops the game to give you a turn. You"re responsible for taking your own turn and no one person has the ball for very long.

  A Japanese-style conversation, however, is not at all like tennis or volleyball, it"s like bowling. You wait for your turn, and you always know your place in line. It depends on such things as whether you are older or younger, a close friend or a relative stranger to the previous speaker, in a senior or junior position, and so on.

  The first thing is to wait for your turn, patiently and politely. When your moment comes, you step up to the starting line with your bowling ball, and carefully bowl it. Everyone else stands back, making sounds of polite encouragement. Everyone waits until your ball has reached the end of the lane, and watches to see if it knocks down all the pins, or only some of them, or none of them. Then there is a pause, while everyone registers your score.

  Then, after everyone is sure that you are done, the next person in line steps up to the same starting line, with a different ball. He doesn"t return your ball. There is no back and forth at all. And there is always a suitable pause between turns. There is no rush, no impatience.

  No wonder everyone looked startled when I took part in Japanese conversations. I paid no attention to whose turn it was, and kept snatching the ball halfway down the alley and throwing it back at the bowler. Of course the conversation fell apart, I was playing the wrong game.

  This explains why it can be so difficult to get a western-style discussion going with Japanese students of English. Whenever I serve a volleyball, everyone just stands back and watches it fall. No one hits it back. Everyone waits until I call on someone to take a turn. And when that person speaks, he doesn"t hit my ball back. He serves a new ball. Again, everyone just watches it fall. So I call on someone else. This person does not refer to what the previous speaker has said. He also serves a new ball. Everyone begins again from the same starting line, and all the balls run parallel. There is never any back and forth.

  Now that you know about the difference in the conversational ballgames, you may think that all your troubles are over. But if you have been trained all your life to play one game, it is no simple matter to switch to another, even if you know the rules. Tennis, after all, is different from bowling.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析2

  Listening

  First Listening

  Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

  conversation

  谈话

  comment on

  评论

  bowling

  保龄球

  lane

  球道

  connect

  联系

  converse

  交谈

  switch

  转换

  Second Listening

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. What was the main cause of the problem discussed in the listening?

  A) She was using a Western style in conversations among the Japanese.

  B) She insisted on speaking English even though she was in Japan.

  C) She spoke the Japanese language poorly.

  D) She was an American woman married to a Japanese man.

  2. Which of the following comparisons does the listening make about Japanese and Western conversational styles?

  A) The Japanese style is like tennis and the Western style is like volleyball.

  B) The Western style is more athletic than the Japanese style.

  C) The Japanese style is like bowling and the Western style is like tennis.

  D) The Japanese style is like singles tennis and the Western style is like doubles.

  3. The author considers the Western conversational style to be ____________.

  A) more interactive (互动的)

  B) louder

  C) more personal

  D) better

  4.The author considers the Japanese conversational style to be ____________.

  A) easier to adjust to(适应)

  B) more strictly (严谨地) organized

  C) more traditional

  D) better

  5.The author concludes that ____________.

  A) once you know the differences, it is easy to adjust to them

  B) because she is American, she will never really understand Japan

  C) life will be much easier for her students than it was for her

  D) it remains difficult to switch from one style to another

  Pre-reading Questions

  1.Look at the title and guess what this passage is about.

  2. Go over the first paragraph quickly and find out who the author is. Is she a Japanese born and educated in the United States or an American married to a Japanese?

  3. Have you ever talked with a native speaker of English? What problems have you encountered in talking with a foreigner?

  Conversational Ballgames

  Nancy Masterson Sakamoto

  After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband, his friends, and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversation would come to a halt. After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn"t know what it was.

  Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation in a Western way.

  Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn"t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so were my English students trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.

  A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis. If I introduce a topic, a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don"t expect you sim* to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something — a reason for agreeing, another example, or a remark to carry the idea further. But I don"t expect you always to agree. I am just as happy if you question me, or challenge me, or completely disagree with me. Whether you agree or disagree, your response will return the ball to me.

  And then it is my turn again. I don"t serve a new ball from my original starting line. I hit your ball back again from where it has bounced. I carry your idea further, or answer your questions or objections, or challenge or question you. And so the ball goes back and forth.

  If there are more than two people in the conversation, then it is like doubles in tennis, or like volleyball. There"s no waiting in line. Whoever is nearest and quickest hits the ball, and if you step back, someone else will hit it. No one stops the game to give you a turn. You"re responsible for taking your own turn and no one person has the ball for very long.

  A Japanese-style conversation, however, is not at all like tennis or volleyball, it"s like bowling. You wait for your turn, and you always know your place in line. It depends on such things as whether you are older or younger, a close friend or a relative stranger to the previous speaker, in a senior or junior position, and so on.

  The first thing is to wait for your turn, patiently and politely. When your moment comes, you step up to the starting line with your bowling ball, and carefully bowl it. Everyone else stands back, making sounds of polite encouragement. Everyone waits until your ball has reached the end of the lane, and watches to see if it knocks down all the pins, or only some of them, or none of them. Then there is a pause, while everyone registers your score.

  Then, after everyone is sure that you are done, the next person in line steps up to the same starting line, with a different ball. He doesn"t return your ball. There is no back and forth at all. And there is always a suitable pause between turns. There is no rush, no impatience.

  No wonder everyone looked startled when I took part in Japanese conversations. I paid no attention to whose turn it was, and kept snatching the ball halfway down the alley and throwing it back at the bowler. Of course the conversation fell apart, I was playing the wrong game.

  This explains why it can be so difficult to get a western-style discussion going with Japanese students of English. Whenever I serve a volleyball, everyone just stands back and watches it fall. No one hits it back. Everyone waits until I call on someone to take a turn. And when that person speaks, he doesn"t hit my ball back. He serves a new ball. Again, everyone just watches it fall. So I call on someone else. This person does not refer to what the previous speaker has said. He also serves a new ball. Everyone begins again from the same starting line, and all the balls run parallel. There is never any back and forth.

  Now that you know about the difference in the conversational ballgames, you may think that all your troubles are over. But if you have been trained all your life to play one game, it is no simple matter to switch to another, even if you know the rules. Tennis, after all, is different from bowling.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析3

  conversational

  a. 会话的,交谈的

  conversation

  n. an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts 谈话; 会谈

  ballgame

  n. any game played with a ball 球类活动

  gradually

  ad. in a way that happens or develops slowly over a long period of time 逐渐

  startle

  vt. make suddenly surprised or slightly shocked 使惊吓,使惊奇

  halt

  n. a stop or pause 停住,停止

  v. stop (使)停住,(使)停止

  handle

  vt. deal with 处理,应付

  unconsciously

  ad. not consciously 无意识地,不知不觉地

  challenge

  vt. 向…挑战;对…质疑

  n. 挑战;质疑

  disagree

  vi. (with) have or express a different opinion from sb. else 有分歧,不同意

  response

  n. an answer; (an) action done in answer 回答;回应;反应

  original

  a. first; earliest 起初的;原来的

  bounce

  vi. (of a ball) spring back or up again from the ground or another surface (球)弹起,(球)反弹

  objection

  n. sth. that one says to show that he /she opposes or disapproves of an action, idea, etc. 反对,异议

  forth

  ad. forward; out 向前;向外

  responsible

  a. having the job or duty of looking after sb. or sth., so that one can be blamed if things go wrong 须负责的,有责任的

  bowling

  n. 保龄球

  relative

  a. having a particular quality when compared with sth. else 相对的,比较的

  n. a member of one"s family; relation 亲属;亲戚

  previous

  a. coming before in time or order 先前的,以前的

  junior

  a. of lower rank or position; younger 级别或地位较低的.,年资较浅的;年少的,较年幼的

  bowl

  vt. 把(球)投向球瓶

  lane

  n. 球道;车道;胡同,小巷

  pin

  n. 球瓶;大头针,别针

  register

  vt. record 记录,登记

  suitable

  a. 合适的;适当的

  impatience

  n. 不耐烦;急躁

  *snatch

  vt. get hold of (sth.) hastily; take in a hurry, esp. forcefully 抓住;夺,夺得

  alley

  n. 小巷,小街,胡同;球道

  bowler

  n. 投球手

  apart

  ad. into pieces 成碎片

  parallel

  a. running side by side but never getting nearer to or further away from each other *行的,并列的

  switch

  vi. change 改变,转移

  Phrases and Expressions

  Join in

  take part in (an activity) 参加,参与

  come to a halt

  stop 停住,停止;停顿

  even if/though

  in spite of the fact that; no matter whether 即使;尽管

  just as

  正如;同样地

  back and forth

  来回地,反复地

  and so on

  and other things of this kind 等等

  knock down

  make (sth.) fall by hitting or pushing it 击倒;撞倒

  fall apart

  break; fall to pieces; end in failure 破裂;破碎;以失败告终

  call on /upon

  formally ask (sb.) to do sth. 号召;请求

  refer to

  mention; speak about 谈到,提及

  after all

  when all is said or done 毕竟


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展4)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第4册单元2课文详析60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第4册单元2课文详析1

  First Listening

  Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

  fare

  乘客

  buck

  (俚)(一)元

  trace

  找到

  glare

  盯视

  gratitude

  感激

  gracefully

  得体地

  Second Listening

  Listen to the tape again and choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. How did the man who had lost his wallet react to it being returned?

  A) He acted hostile towards the cabdriver.

  B) He took it without a word, but smiled his thanks.

  C) He gave the driver some money, but no thanks.

  D) He thanked the driver, but gave him no reward.

  2. What does the story of the cabdriver show?

  A) Cabdrivers are usually honest people.

  B) People need to be shown gratitude.

  C) You should always give a tip for good service.

  D) It"s not worthwhile to help other people.

  3. Which of the following is NOT an example of expressing gratitude?

  A) returning a wallet someone has left behind

  B) gracefully receiving an act of kindness from another person

  C) thanking and praising coworkers, family, and friends

  D) making a small gesture of appreciation

  4. Why does the author consider gratitude so important?

  A) It keeps people from getting angry.

  B) It helps you to get what you want.

  C) It makes others like you more.

  D) It makes the world a more pleasant place to live.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第4册单元2课文详析2

  A.J. Cronin

  On a fine afternoon in New York, I got into a taxi. From the driver"s expression and the way he slammed in his gears, I could tell that he was upset. I asked him what was the trouble. "I"ve got good reason to be sore," he growled. "One of my fares left a wallet in my cab this morning. Nearly three hundred bucks in it. I spent more than an hour trying to trace the guy. Finally I found him at his hotel. He took the wallet without a word and glared at me as though I"d meant to steal it."

  "He didn"t give you a reward?" I exclaimed.

  "Not a cent. But it wasn"t the dough I wanted..." he fumbled, then exploded, "If the guy had only said something..."

  Because his helpful, honest act had not been appreciated, that cabdriver"s day was poisoned, and I knew he would think twice before rendering a similar service. The need for gratitude is something we all feel, and denial of it can do much to harm the spirit of kindness and cooperation.

  During World War II a mother in Cincinnati received a letter from her son in the army in which he spoke of a woman in a village in Normandy who had taken him into her home when he was wounded and hungry, and hidden him from the Germans. Later on, unhappily, the boy was killed in the Ardennes offensive. Yet the mother was moved by an irresistible intention. She saved up for two years, crossed the Atlantic and located the village referred to by her son. After many inquiries, she found the woman who had sheltered her son—the wife of an impoverished farmer—and pressed a package into her hand. It was the gold wristwatch her son had received on his graduation, the only object of real value the boy had ever possessed. The mother"s act of gratitude so touched people"s hearts that it has become something of a legend in and around the village. It has done more than fine speeches to foster good feeling toward Americans.

  Gratitude is the art of receiving gracefully, of showing appreciation for every kindness, great and small. Most of us do not fail to show our pleasure when we receive hospitality, gifts and obvious benefits, but even here we can perfect our manner of showing gratitude by making it as personal and sincere as possible. Recently, when touring in southern Italy with my wife, I sent to a friend in Connecticut several bottles of a local wine which had taken our fancy. It was a trifling gift, yet to our surprise, instead of the conventional letter of thanks, we receive a phonograph record. When we played it, we heard our friend"s voice speaking after dinner, describing how he and his guests had enjoyed the wine and thanking us for our thoughtfulness. It was pleasant to have this unusual proof that our gift had been appreciated.

  Gratitude is sometimes more than a personal affair. My son, studying medicine at McGill University, told me of a patient brought into hospital in Montreal whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. When he was well again he asked: "Isn"t there any way I can discover the name of the donor and thank him?" He was told that names of donors are never revealed. A few weeks after his discharge he came back to give a pint of his own blood. Since then he has returned again and again for the same purpose. When a surgeon commented on this splendid record of anonymous service, he answered sim*: "Someone I never knew did it for me. I"m just saying "thanks"".

  It is a comforting thought that gratitude can be not merely a passing sentiment but a renewal which can, in some instances, persist for a lifetime. A husband who recalls appreciatively some generous or unselfish act on his wife"s part, or a wife who never forgets the gifts her husband has given her, does much to keep the domestic wheels spinning smoothly. W.H. Hudson, British author and naturalist, has written: "One evening I brought home a friend to share our usual evening meal. Afterward he said to me:‘You are fortunate to have a wife who, despite ill health and children to look after, cooks such excellent meals." That tribute opened my eyes and taught me to show gratitude for my wife"s day-to-day heroism, which I had hitherto taken for granted."

  It is, above all, in the little things that the grace of gratitude should be most employed. The boy who delivers our paper, the milkman, the mailman, the barber, the waitress at a restaurant, the elevator operator—all oblige us in one way or another. By showing our gratitude we make routine relationships human and render monotonous tasks more agreeable.

  A patient of mine in London who worked as a bus conductor once confided to me, "I get fed up with my job sometimes. People grumble, bother you, haven"t got the right change for their tickets. But there"s one lady on my bus morning and evening, and she always thanks me in a particularly friendly way when I take her ticket. I like to think she"s speaking for all the passengers. It helps me to keep smiling."

  Arnold Bennett had a publisher who boasted about the extraordinary efficiency of his secretary. One day Bennett said to her, "Your employer claims that you are extremely efficient. What is your secret?" "It"s not my secret," the secretary replied. "It"s his." Each time she performed a service, no matter how small, he never failed to acknowledge it. Because of that she took infinite pains with her work.

  Some persons refrain from expressing their gratitude because they feel it will not be welcome. A patient of mine, a few weeks after his discharge from the hospital, came back to thank his nurse. "I didn"t come back sooner," he explained, "because I imagined you must be bored to death with people thanking you."

  "On the contrary," she replied, "I am delighted you came. Few realize how much we need encouragement and how much we are helped by those who give it."

  Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build up their philosophy of life.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第4册单元2课文详析3

  gratitude

  n. being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness 感激;感谢的心情

  slam

  vt. shut loudly and with force; push, move, etc., hurriedly and with great force 猛然关上;猛力推移

  sore

  a. painful or aching; angry, esp. from feeling unjustly treated 疼痛的;恼怒的"

  growl

  v. make a deep, angry sound; complain angrily 咆哮;怒冲冲地抱怨

  fare

  n. a paying passenger (esp. in a taxi) (尤指出租车)乘客

  trace

  vt. find or discover 查出,找到

  glare

  vi. look fiercely or fixedly 瞪着眼看

  dough

  n. (sl.) money (俚语)钱

  fumble

  v. speak in a clumsy and unclear way支支吾吾地说,笨嘴拙舌地说

  render

  vt. 1. give (esp. help) 给予;提供(帮助等)

  2. cause to be 使得;使成为

  denial

  n. the act of denying 否认;否定;拒绝

  offensive

  n. a planned military attack involving large forces over a long period 军事进攻;攻势

  intention

  n. sth. one proposes or plans to do 意图;目的;打算

  inquiry

  n. the act of inquiring; an investigation or examination 查询;调查

  wristwatch

  n. a small watch worn on a strap around the wrist 手表

  foster

  vt. help the growth and development of; encourage or promote 培养,促进;鼓励,助长

  gracefully

  ad. in a graceful way 优雅地;优美地;得体地

  appreciation

  n. gratefulness; gratitude 感激;感谢

  hospitality

  n. friendly reception; generous treatment of guests or strangers 款待;好客

  sincere

  a. free from pretense or deceit; genuine 真诚的;真挚的

  trifling

  a. of slight importance; of little value 微不足道的;没什么价值的

  conventional

  a. of the usual type; commonly used or seen 惯常的;通常的

  phonograph

  n. an instrument that reproduces the sounds from records 留声机;电唱机

  thoughtfulness

  n. the quality of being careful or considerate of others 关心;体贴

  proof

  n. 1. (piece of) evidence that shows that something is true or is a fact 证据; 证物

  2. testing of whether something is true or a fact; demonstration or proving 验证;证明;证实

  transfusion

  n. the transfer of blood from one person or animal to another 输血

  discharge

  n. act of giving somebody permission to leave the army, hospital, etc. 允许离开;退伍;出院

  pint

  n. a measure for liquids (and some dry goods) equal to about 0.57 of a litre 品脱

  surgeon

  n. a doctor who performs operations 外科医生

  sentiment

  n. a mixture of thought and feeling 感情;情绪

  renewal

  n. the act of renewing or fact of being renewed 更新;恢复;重新开始;(中断后的)继续

  appreciatively

  ad. gratefully; thankfully 感激地

  generous

  a. showing readiness to give money, help, kindness, etc. 慷慨的,大方的

  unselfish

  a. not selfish; caring for others 无私的;为他人着想的

  naturalist

  n. a person who studies plants or animals, esp. outdoors 博物学家

  tribute

  n. a thing said or done or given as a mark of respect or affection, etc. 表示尊敬或赞美的言辞或举止;称赞;礼物

  hitherto

  ad. until this/that time 迄今;至今

  barber

  n. a person whose work is cutting men"s hair and shaving them 理发师

  elevator

  n. a moving platform or cage to carry people and things; up and down in a building, mine, or the like 电梯

  elevate

  vt. lift up; raise to a higher place or rank; improve (the mind, morals, etc.) 举起,提高;提升…的职位;提高(思想修养、道德品质等)

  operator

  n. a person who works a machine, apparatus, etc. 操作人员

  monotonous

  a. lacking in variety; boring through sameness 单调的;乏味的

  agreeable

  a. giving pleasure, pleasant 愉悦的;愉快的

  confide

  vt. tell (a secret) to sb. 吐露(秘密)

  boast

  vi. talk too proudly 吹牛,自夸

  employer

  n. a person or firm that employs others 雇主

21世纪大学英语读写教程第4册单元2课文详析4

  think twice

  think carefully; reconsider; hesitate 仔细考虑;重新考虑;踌躇,犹豫

  save up

  put aside (money) for future use 储蓄;存(钱)

  refer to

  mention 提及

  something of a

  rather a; to some degree 有点儿;有几分;可以说是一个

  take /catch sb."s fancy

  attract or please sb. 吸引住某人;令某人喜欢

  on sb."s part/on the part of sb.

  made or done by sb. 某人所做的;某人有责任的

  in one way or another

  by some means or method 以某种方式(或方法)

  be /get fed up with /about

  be(come) tired or bored; be(come) unhappy or depressed 厌倦;厌烦;沮丧

  boast about /of

  talk too proudly about /of 自吹;夸耀

  take pains with

  make an effort to do 努力;下功夫

  refrain from

  hold oneself back from; avoid 克制;避免


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展5)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解1

  When Stevie Morris was born, on May 13, 1950, the doctors shook their heads and told the mother that her son was born blind and likely would always be that way. She broke into tears.

  Blind and black and poor — what kind of life could this new infant have? In her wildest dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a famous musician called Stevie Wonder. At the time, all she could do was pray — and worry.

  Stevie himself didn"t worry at all. Life was too full. He was brought up among church-going people whose faith helped them bear the poverty. He loved music and would pound spoons or forks on any surface that faintly resembled a drum.

  He even ran and played with sighted children. "I didn"t realize I was blind until I was about four," he says. That might sound strange. To a small child just learning about the world, it wasn"t strange at all. Stevie heard and smelled and touched. As far as he knew, that was all anyone could do. That was life.

  When Stevie"s mother got tired of her tables being used for drums, she bought him a toy set. He played so hard that he had actually worn the toy out within a few weeks. Other toy sets followed; then an uncle added a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed.

  Stevie taught himself to play the piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began playing rock and roll music. They performed on the front porch of Stevie"s apartment building, drawing crowds of neighbors to watch and listen and clap time to the beat.

  "I loved that beat," Stevie says. He not only loved the beat, he was very good at making it.

  Ronnie White, of the Miracles singing group, heard Stevie and promptly took him down to his recording company, Motown Records.

  "Give him an audition," Ronnie said. They did. All the top people at Motown got together to hear a little blind boy who wasn"t even ten years old yet. At first, they were being nice. Poor kid. They didn"t want to hurt his feelings.

  Then they heard Stevie sing and play, and nobody said "poor kid" anymore. They were too busy congratulating themselves on finding a youngster who could be the musical talent of the decade. "He"s a wonder boy," somebody said as they watched little Stevie dart from one instrument to the next, playing each one with ease.

  "Wonder," somebody else said, "Little Stevie Wonder."

  The new name stuck and Stevie Morris became Little Stevie Wonder. He had his first hit when he was twelve years old. It was called "Fingertips" and it was a smash.

  Over the following years, Little Stevie Wonder became one of the top recording artists at Motown, producing one hit after another. But as he grew into *hood, Stevie began to get tired of the way the Motown company controlled all aspects of his career. He wanted to write and produce his own songs, but the Motown company thought it was unwise to change a winning formula.

  When he turned 21, Stevie finally got his freedom. Against Motown"s wishes he started exploring: he made records that combined gospel, rock and roll, and jazz and which used African and Latin American rhythms. To the record company"s surprise, Stevie"s new albums such as "Music of My Mind" and "Innervisions" were even more popular than his early ones. Stevie Wonder had become a mature man and an independent musical artist.

  Just after this success, however, tragedy struck. In August of 1973, Stevie was involved in a serious car accident. For nearly a week he lay in a coma, unable to speak or walk. "We don"t know when he"ll be out of danger," the doctor said. Everyone waited and prayed. Suddenly, it didn"t matter that Stevie was a musical genius or that he had conquered blindness and poverty. All he had left was his faith and strong will.

  That turned out to be enough. Stevie fought back from the shadow of death as he had once fought out from the shadow of blindness. He went on to give more performances, make more hit records.

  The car accident changed Stevie by making him reevaluate his goals in life. He still loved to make music, but he also started to pay more attention to the world outside. He worked to create a national holiday to honor the civil rights leader Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.. He recorded songs urging racial harmony and raised money to end world hunger. Recently, Stevie was honored by South African president Nelson Mandela for his work against that country"s system of racial apartheid.

  Stevie Wonder has faith and fame, wealth and love. He has not only conquered his own darkness, but through his music and his social activities he has been able to bring sunshine to the shadow of many other lives.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解2

  sunshine

  n. the light and heat of the sun 阳光

  infant

  n. a very young child 婴儿

  musician

  n. a person who performs on a musical instrument, or who writes music 乐师,作曲家

  pray

  vi. (for, to) speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help 祈祷,祈求

  spoon

  n. 匙,调羹

  faintlh

  ad. slightly; mildly 轻微地;微弱地

  resemble

  vt. look or be like 像,类似

  drum

  n. 鼓

  tire

  v. (使)感到疲劳;(使)厌倦,(使)厌烦

  harmonica

  n. 口琴

  amaze

  vt. fill with great surprise; cause wonder in 使惊奇;使惊羡

  *porch

  n. (建筑物前有顶的)门廊,入口处

  apartment

  n. 公寓大楼;一套公寓房间

  clap

  vi. applaud 拍手

  miracle

  n. 奇迹

  promptly

  ad. immediately and without any delay 迅速地,及时地

  audition

  n. (对志愿艺人等的.)面试(指试读、试唱、试奏等)

  kid

  n. a child 小孩

  congratulate

  vt. speak to (a person) with praise and admiration for a happy event or sth. successfully done 祝贺

  youngster

  n. a young person, esp. a boy 年轻人;男孩

  talent

  n. 1. a special ability or skill 天才,天资;超常智能

  2. people of such ability 人才

  decade

  n. a period of 10 years 十年(期)

  *dart

  vi. move suddenly and quickly 猛冲,飞奔

  instrument

  n. 乐器;仪器;器具;器械

  ease

  n. 1. freedom from difficulty 容易

  2. freedom from discomfort, pain or worry 安适;悠闲;无痛苦;无忧虑

  fingertip

  n. the end of a finger 指尖

  smash

  n. 轰动的演出,巨大的成功

  v. (cause to) break into pieces violently 打碎,粉碎

  *hood

  n. 成年

  aspect

  n. a particular part or feature of sth. being considered 方面

  career

  n. a profession or occupation with opportunities for advancement or promotion 职业;生涯

  formula

  n. 公式,程式;准则,方案

  explore

  v. 探索;探测;勘探

  gospel

  n. (= gospel music) 福音音乐(美国黑人的一种宗教音乐,具有爵士音乐和美国黑人伤感歌曲色彩)

  jazz

  n. 爵士音乐

  rhythm

  n. 节奏;韵律

  *album

  n. 1. a long-playing record with several items by the same performer (同一表演者的)集锦密纹唱片

  2. a book with blank pages for stamps, photographs, etc. 集邮册,相册

  mature

  a. fully grown or developed mentally or physically 充分发育的;(智力或体力)成熟的

  independent

  a. 独立的,自主的

  tragedy

  n. 1. a terrible event that causes great sadness 惨事,灾变

  2. a serious play with a sad ending 悲剧

  involve

  vt. 使陷入,使卷入;牵扯,连累

  coma

  n. 昏迷

  musical

  a. of or for music 音乐的

  genius

  n. 天才;创造能力;天才人物

  conquer

  vt. gain control over (sth. unfriendly or difficult) 征服;克服(困难等)

  performance

  n. the acting of a play, the playing of a piece of music, the doing of a dance, etc., in front of an audience 演出,表演,演奏

  reevaluate

  vt. 重新评价

  goal

  n. 1. an end; objective 目的;目标

  2.(足球等的)球门;得分进球

  hunger

  n. state of not having enough to eat; lack of food 饥饿

  urge

  vt. 力劝;恳求;敦促

  racial

  a. characteristic of race; due to or resulting from race 种族的;由种族引起的

  harmony

  n. agreement (of feelings, interests, opinions, etc.) 和睦,融洽,一致

  apartheid

  n. (南非的)种族隔离

  fame

  n. the condition of being known or talked about a lot 名声,名望

  activity

  n. 活动;行动

  Phrases and Exgressions

  break into

  begin suddenly (to cry, sing, laugh, etc.) 突然(哭、唱、笑)起来

  bring up

  take care of during infancy and childhood; nurse and educate 抚养;养育

  as far as

  to the degree that 就…;尽…;至于

  get tired of

  be no longer interested in 厌倦,厌烦

  wear out

  make useless by use 把…用坏;把…穿破

  with ease

  without difficulty 容易地,无困难地

  grow into

  become gradually with the passage of time 成长的

  congratulate oneself on /that ...

  因…而暗自庆幸

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解3

  When Stevie Morris was born, on May 13, 1950, the doctors shook their heads and told the mother that her son was born blind and likely would always be that way. She broke into tears.

  Blind and black and poor — what kind of life could this new infant have? In her wildest dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a famous musician called Stevie Wonder. At the time, all she could do was pray — and worry.

  Stevie himself didn"t worry at all. Life was too full. He was brought up among church-going people whose faith helped them bear the poverty. He loved music and would pound spoons or forks on any surface that faintly resembled a drum.

  He even ran and played with sighted children. "I didn"t realize I was blind until I was about four," he says. That might sound strange. To a small child just learning about the world, it wasn"t strange at all. Stevie heard and smelled and touched. As far as he knew, that was all anyone could do. That was life.

  When Stevie"s mother got tired of her tables being used for drums, she bought him a toy set. He played so hard that he had actually worn the toy out within a few weeks. Other toy sets followed; then an uncle added a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed.

  Stevie taught himself to play the piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began playing rock and roll music. They performed on the front porch of Stevie"s apartment building, drawing crowds of neighbors to watch and listen and clap time to the beat.

  "I loved that beat," Stevie says. He not only loved the beat, he was very good at making it.

  Ronnie White, of the Miracles singing group, heard Stevie and promptly took him down to his recording company, Motown Records.

  "Give him an audition," Ronnie said. They did. All the top people at Motown got together to hear a little blind boy who wasn"t even ten years old yet. At first, they were being nice. Poor kid. They didn"t want to hurt his feelings.

  Then they heard Stevie sing and play, and nobody said "poor kid" anymore. They were too busy congratulating themselves on finding a youngster who could be the musical talent of the decade. "He"s a wonder boy," somebody said as they watched little Stevie dart from one instrument to the next, playing each one with ease.

  "Wonder," somebody else said, "Little Stevie Wonder."

  The new name stuck and Stevie Morris became Little Stevie Wonder. He had his first hit when he was twelve years old. It was called "Fingertips" and it was a smash.

  Over the following years, Little Stevie Wonder became one of the top recording artists at Motown, producing one hit after another. But as he grew into *hood, Stevie began to get tired of the way the Motown company controlled all aspects of his career. He wanted to write and produce his own songs, but the Motown company thought it was unwise to change a winning formula.

  When he turned 21, Stevie finally got his freedom. Against Motown"s wishes he started exploring: he made records that combined gospel, rock and roll, and jazz and which used African and Latin American rhythms. To the record company"s surprise, Stevie"s new albums such as "Music of My Mind" and "Innervisions" were even more popular than his early ones. Stevie Wonder had become a mature man and an independent musical artist.

  Just after this success, however, tragedy struck. In August of 1973, Stevie was involved in a serious car accident. For nearly a week he lay in a coma, unable to speak or walk. "We don"t know when he"ll be out of danger," the doctor said. Everyone waited and prayed. Suddenly, it didn"t matter that Stevie was a musical genius or that he had conquered blindness and poverty. All he had left was his faith and strong will.

  That turned out to be enough. Stevie fought back from the shadow of death as he had once fought out from the shadow of blindness. He went on to give more performances, make more hit records.

  The car accident changed Stevie by making him reevaluate his goals in life. He still loved to make music, but he also started to pay more attention to the world outside. He worked to create a national holiday to honor the civil rights leader Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.. He recorded songs urging racial harmony and raised money to end world hunger. Recently, Stevie was honored by South African president Nelson Mandela for his work against that country"s system of racial apartheid.

  Stevie Wonder has faith and fame, wealth and love. He has not only conquered his own darkness, but through his music and his social activities he has been able to bring sunshine to the shadow of many other lives.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解4

  sunshine

  n. the light and heat of the sun 阳光

  infant

  n. a very young child 婴儿

  musician

  n. a person who performs on a musical instrument, or who writes music 乐师,作曲家

  pray

  vi. (for, to) speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help 祈祷,祈求

  spoon

  n. 匙,调羹

  faintlh

  ad. slightly; mildly 轻微地;微弱地

  resemble

  vt. look or be like 像,类似

  drum

  n. 鼓

  tire

  v. (使)感到疲劳;(使)厌倦,(使)厌烦

  harmonica

  n. 口琴

  amaze

  vt. fill with great surprise; cause wonder in 使惊奇;使惊羡

  *porch

  n. (建筑物前有顶的)门廊,入口处

  apartment

  n. 公寓大楼;一套公寓房间

  clap

  vi. applaud 拍手

  miracle

  n. 奇迹

  promptly

  ad. immediately and without any delay 迅速地,及时地

  audition

  n. (对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱、试奏等)

  kid

  n. a child 小孩

  congratulate

  vt. speak to (a person) with praise and admiration for a happy event or sth. successfully done 祝贺

  youngster

  n. a young person, esp. a boy 年轻人;男孩

  talent

  n. 1. a special ability or skill 天才,天资;超常智能

  2. people of such ability 人才

  decade

  n. a period of 10 years 十年(期)

  *dart

  vi. move suddenly and quickly 猛冲,飞奔

  instrument

  n. 乐器;仪器;器具;器械

  ease

  n. 1. freedom from difficulty 容易

  2. freedom from discomfort, pain or worry 安适;悠闲;无痛苦;无忧虑

  fingertip

  n. the end of a finger 指尖

  smash

  n. 轰动的演出,巨大的成功

  v. (cause to) break into pieces violently 打碎,粉碎

  *hood

  n. 成年

  aspect

  n. a particular part or feature of sth. being considered 方面

  career

  n. a profession or occupation with opportunities for advancement or promotion 职业;生涯

  formula

  n. 公式,程式;准则,方案

  explore

  v. 探索;探测;勘探

  gospel

  n. (= gospel music) 福音音乐(美国黑人的一种宗教音乐,具有爵士音乐和美国黑人伤感歌曲色彩)

  jazz

  n. 爵士音乐

  rhythm

  n. 节奏;韵律

  *album

  n. 1. a long-playing record with several items by the same performer (同一表演者的)集锦密纹唱片

  2. a book with blank pages for stamps, photographs, etc. 集邮册,相册

  mature

  a. fully grown or developed mentally or physically 充分发育的;(智力或体力)成熟的

  independent

  a. 独立的,自主的

  tragedy

  n. 1. a terrible event that causes great sadness 惨事,灾变

  2. a serious play with a sad ending 悲剧

  involve

  vt. 使陷入,使卷入;牵扯,连累

  coma

  n. 昏迷

  musical

  a. of or for music 音乐的

  genius

  n. 天才;创造能力;天才人物

  conquer

  vt. gain control over (sth. unfriendly or difficult) 征服;克服(困难等)

  performance

  n. the acting of a play, the playing of a piece of music, the doing of a dance, etc., in front of an audience 演出,表演,演奏

  reevaluate

  vt. 重新评价

  goal

  n. 1. an end; objective 目的";目标

  2.(足球等的)球门;得分进球

  hunger

  n. state of not having enough to eat; lack of food 饥饿

  urge

  vt. 力劝;恳求;敦促

  racial

  a. characteristic of race; due to or resulting from race 种族的;由种族引起的

  harmony

  n. agreement (of feelings, interests, opinions, etc.) 和睦,融洽,一致

  apartheid

  n. (南非的)种族隔离

  fame

  n. the condition of being known or talked about a lot 名声,名望

  activity

  n. 活动;行动

  Phrases and Exgressions

  break into

  begin suddenly (to cry, sing, laugh, etc.) 突然(哭、唱、笑)起来

  bring up

  take care of during infancy and childhood; nurse and educate 抚养;养育

  as far as

  to the degree that 就…;尽…;至于

  get tired of

  be no longer interested in 厌倦,厌烦

  wear out

  make useless by use 把…用坏;把…穿破

  with ease

  without difficulty 容易地,无困难地

  grow into

  become gradually with the passage of time 成长的

  congratulate oneself on /that ...

  因…而暗自庆幸


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展6)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword1

  Bill Gates

  The past twenty years have been an incredible adventure for me. It started on a day when, as a college sophomore, l stood in Harvard Square with my friend Paul Allen and pored over the description of a kit com*r in Popular Electronics magazine. As we read excitedly about the first truly personal com*r, Paul and I didn"t know exactly how it would be used, but we were sure it would change us and the world of computing. We were right. The personal com*r revolution happened and it has affected millions of lives. It has led us to places we had barely imagined.

  We are all beginning another great journey. We aren"t sure where this one will lead us either, but again I am certain this revolution will touch even more lives and take us all farther. The major changes coming will be in the way people communicate with each other. The benefits and problems arising from this upcoming communications revolution will be much greater than those brought about by the PC revolution.

  There is never a reliable map for unexplored territory, but we can learn important lessons from the creation and evolution of the $120-billion personal-com*r industry. The PC — its evolving hardware, business applications, on-line systems. Internet connections, electronic mail, multimedia titles, authoring tools, and games — is the foundation for the next revolution.

  During the PC industry"s infancy, the mass media paid little attention to what was going on in the brand-new business. Those of us who were attracted by com*rs and the possibilities they promised were unnoticed outside our own circles.

  But this next journey, to the so-called information highway, is the topic of endless newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio broadcasts, conferences, and widespread speculation. There has been an unbelievable amount of interest in this subject during the last few years, both inside and outside the com*r industry. The interest is not confined only to developed countries, and it goes well beyond the large numbers of personal-com*r users.

  Thousands of informed and uninformed people are now speculating publicly about the information highway. The amount of misunderstanding about the technology and its possible dangers surprises me. Some people think the highway is sim* today"s Internet or the delivery of 500 simultaneous channels of television. Others hope or fear it will create com*rs as smart as human beings. Those developments will come, but they are not the highway.

  The revolution in communications is just beginning. It will take place over several decades, and will be driven by new "applications" — new tools, often meeting currently unforeseen needs. During the next few years, major decisions will have to be made. It is crucial that a broad set of people — not just technologists or those who happen to be in the com*r industry — participate in the debate about how this technology should be shaped. If that can be done, the highway will serve the purposes users want. Then it will gain broad acceptance and become a reality.

  I"m writing this book The Road Ahead as part of my contribution to the debate and, although it"s a tall order, I hope it can serve as a travel guide for the forthcoming journey. I do this with some misgivings. We"ve all smiled at predictions from the past that look silly today. History is full of now ironic examples — the Oxford professor who in 1878 dismissed the electric light as a gimmick; the commissioner of U.S. patents who in 1899 asked that his office be abolished because "everything that can be invented has been invented." This is meant to be a serious book, although ten years from now it may not appear that way. What I"ve said that turned out to be right will be considered obvious and what was wrong will be humorous.

  Anyone expecting an autobiography or a treatise on what it"s like to have been as lucky as I have been will be disappointed. Perhaps when I"ve retired I will get around to writing that book. This book looks primarily to the future.

  Anyone hoping for a technological treatise will be disappointed, too. Everyone will be touched by the information highway, and everyone ought to be able to understand its implications. That"s why my goal from the very beginning was to write a book that as many people as possible could understand.

  The process of thinking about and writing the present book took longer than I expected. Indeed, estimating the time it would take proved to be as difficult as projecting the development schedule of a major software project. The only part that was easy was the cover photo which we finished well ahead of schedule. I enjoy writing speeches and had thought writing a book would be like writing them. I imagined writing a chapter would be the equivalent of writing a speech. The error in my thinking was similar to the one software developers often run into — a program ten times as long is about one hundred times more complicated to write. I should have known better.

  And here it is. I hope it stimulates understanding, debate, and creative ideas about how we can take advantage of all that"s sure to be happening in the decade ahead.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword2

  foreword

  n. a short introduction at the beginning of a book 序言,前言

  incredible

  a. unbelievable; extraordinary 难以置信的;了不起的

  sophomore

  n. a student in the second year of college or high school(中学、大学)二年级学生

  pore

  vi. (over) study with close attention 专心阅读;钻研

  description

  n. saying in words what sb. or sth. is like 描写,描述

  kit

  n. a set of all the parts needed to assemble sth. 配套元件

  *com*

  v. calculate ( a result, answer, sum, etc.) esp. with a com*r(尤指用计算机)计算

  barely

  ad. only just; hardly 仅仅;几乎不

  upcoming

  a. about to happen 即将来临的

  PC (abbr.)

  personal com*r 个人计算机

  reliable

  a. that can be relied on; dependable 可靠的; 确实的

  territory

  n. (an area of) land, esp. ruled by one government 领土

  *creation

  n. the act or process of creating sth. 创造; 创作

  evolution

  n. 1. the gradual change and development 演变,发展

  2. (the theory of) the development of the various types of plants, animals, etc., from earlier and simpler forms 进化(论)

  evolve

  vt. 演化,发展,逐步形成;进化

  application

  n. 1. (an instance of) putting to practical use 应用,运用

  2. a com*r software program 应用软件程序

  on-line

  a. 联机的,联线的

  Internet

  n. 因特网,国际互联网

  connection

  n. 连接,连结;联系,关系

  electronic

  a. 电子的

  multimedia

  n.& a. 多媒体(的)

  title

  n. (多媒体)题标;标题;题目

  author

  vt. 写作;创造

  n. 作者

  foundation

  n. 基础

  infancy

  n. 婴儿期;幼儿期;初期

  attract

  vt. cause to like, admire, notice, or turn towards; arouse (interest, etc.); prompt 引起…的注意(或兴趣等),吸引;引起(兴趣等);激起

  possibility

  n. 1. (often pi.) power of developing, growing, or being used or useful in the future [常用复数] 发展前途,潜在价值

  2. the state of being possible; likelihood 可能;可能性

  so-called

  a. called or named thus but perhaps wrongly or doubtfully 所谓的,号称的

  endless

  a. without end, or seeming to be without end(似乎)无穷尽的;没完没了的

  conference

  n. a meeting for discussion 会议,讨论会

  confine

  vt. (to) restrict or keep within certain limits 限制,使局限

  speculate

  vi. 猜测;投机

  amount

  n. 量,数量;总数,总额

  misunderstanding

  n. 误解,曲解

  misunderstand

  v. 误解,误会

  delivery

  n. 传送;投递;运载

  *simultaneous

  a. happening or being done at the same time 同时发生的,同时进行的

  channel

  n. 频道;水道;海峡

  create

  vt. cause (sth. new) to exist; produce (sth. new) 创造;创作

  unforeseen

  a. not known in advance; unexpected 未预见到的;意料之外的

  crucial

  a. (to, for) of deciding importance 决定性的;至关重要的

  technologist

  n. an expert in technology 技术专家

  contribution

  n. 捐款;捐献;贡献

  debate

  n. a formal argument or discussion(就…)进行辩论

  v. have a debate about; take part in a debate 辩论;讨论

  purpose

  n. that which one means to do, get, be, etc.; intention 目的;意图

  acceptance

  n. 接受

  *forthcoming

  a. happening or appearing in the near future 即将到来的,即将出现的

  misgiving

  n. [复数] 疑虑,担忧

  prediction

  n. sth. that is said or described in advance 预言

  gimmick

  n. (骗人的)玩意儿

  *commissioner

  n. (*厅、局、处等部门的)长官;委员;专员

  *patent

  n. 专利;专利权

  *abolish

  vt. put an end to, do away with 取消,废除

  humorous

  a. funny and amusing; having or showing a sense of humour 幽默的;滑稽的`;富有幽默感的

  autobiography

  n. a book written by oneself about one"s own life 自传

  treatise

  n. 专著;(专题)论文

  retire

  vi. stop working at one"s job, profession, etc., usu. because of age 退休,退职

  primarily

  ad. mainly; chiefly 主要地;首要地

  technological

  a. of or related to technology 技术的;工艺(学)的

  implication

  n. 含意,暗示

  process

  n. 过程;进程

  estimate

  vt. 估计,估量

  n. 估计

  project

  vt. make plans for 设计,规划

  n. 规划,计划;(工程)项目

  chapter

  n. (书的)章,回

  equivalent

  n. sth. that is equal in meaning, amount, value 相等物;等值物;等量物

  a. 相等的;等值的;等量的

  complicated

  a. very difficult to understand 复杂的;难解的;难懂的

  stimulate

  vt. excite (the body or mind), encourage 刺激;激发;促使

  advantage

  n. 有利条件,优势;好处;利益

  Phrases and Expressions

  communicate with

  share or exchange opinions, news, information, etc. with 与…交流

  arise from

  result from 由 … 产生,由 … 引起

  bring about

  cause to happen 带来,造成

  go on

  take place or happen 发生

  go beyond

  exceed 超过;越过

  tall order

  a task difficult to perform 难以完成的任务,过高要求

  get around to /get round to

  find time for (sth. or doing sth.) 抽出时间去做

  look to

  give one"s attention to 展望

  ahead of schedule

  before the planned or expected time 提前

  run into

  1. meet (difficulties, etc.) 遭遇(困难等)

  2. meet by chance 偶然碰见,撞见

  take advantage of

  make use of 利用


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展7)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册1

  Malcolm X

  Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I"ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.

  It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn"t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did.

  I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary—to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn"t even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.

  I spent two days just thumbing uncertainly through the dictionary"s pages. I"ve never realized so many words existed! I didn"t know which words I needed to learn. Finally, to start some kind of action, I began copying.

  In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

  I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I"ve written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.

  I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words—immensely proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I"ve written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn"t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary"s first page right now, that "aardvark" springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.

  I was so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary"s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary"s A section had filled a whole tablet—and I went on into the B"s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. I went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.

  I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something; from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn"t have got me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad"s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors, and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life...

  As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand.

  I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room.

  When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about ten p.m. I would be outraged with the "lights out." It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing.

  Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when "lights out" came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.

  At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.

  I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn"t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, "What"s your alma mater?" I told him, "Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I"m not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man...

  Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to read—and that"s a lot of books these days. If I weren"t out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I"m not curious about. I don"t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions. Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册2

  emulate

  vt. imitate, especially from respect 仿效,模仿

  penmanship

  n. the skill or style of handwriting 书写的技巧(或风格),书法

  tablet

  n. 1. a pad of writing paper glued together along one edge 便笺簿,拍纸簿

  2. 药片

  thumb

  vi. (through) turn the pages of (a book, etc.) quickly 迅速翻阅(书等)

  painstaking

  a. done with, requiring or taking great care or trouble 刻苦的,下苦功的;煞费苦心的

  punctuation

  n. 标点符号 (=punctuation mark)

  burrow

  vt. dig (a hole, etc.) 挖(洞等)

  mammal

  n. 哺乳动物

  termite

  n. 白蚁

  anteater

  n. any of several mammals that feed largely or entirely on ants or termites 食蚁动物

  miniature

  a. very much smaller in size than is usual or normal 微型的,小型的

  inevitable

  a. incapable of being avoided or evaded 不可避免的`

  word-base

  n. the vocabulary one commands 词汇量

  broaden

  v. (cause to) become broad(er) (使)变宽,(使)变阔,扩大

  bunk

  n. a narrow bed built into a wall like a shelf (倚壁而设的)床铺

  wedge

  n. 1. 楔子

  2.(打高尔夫球用的)楔形铁头球棒

  correspondence

  n. communication by letters 通信

  correspond

  vi. 1. (with) 通信

  2. (to, with) 相符合;成一致

  3. (to) 相当,相类似

  imprison

  vt. put or keep (sb.) in or as if in prison 监禁,关押;禁锢

  rehabilitation

  n. restoration to a condition of health or useful and constructive activity 康复;(罪犯的)改造

  inmate

  n. a person confined (as in a prison or hospital) 囚徒;被收容者;住院者

  intense

  a. existing in an extreme degree 强烈的,极度的

  well-read

  a. well informed or dee* versed through reading 博学的,博览群书的

  debater

  n. 辩论家,好辩论者

  devour

  vt. enjoy avidly 贪婪地看(或听、读等)

  literature

  n. 文学,文学作品

  maximum

  n. the greatest quality or value attainable or attained 最大值,最大限度

  a. as high, great, intense, etc. as possible 最高的;最大的;最强的

  isolation

  n. solitude 隔离;孤立

  outrage

  vt. make very angry and shocked 激怒;激起…的义愤

  n. 1. a feeling of great anger and shock 义愤,愤怒

  2. a very cruel, violent, and shocking action or event 暴行;骇人听闻的事件

  engrossing

  a. taking up sb."s attention completely 使人全神贯注的

  corridor

  n. a passageway into which compartments or rooms open 走廊,过道

  interval

  n. a space of time between events; a space between objects, points or states (时间的)间隔;间歇;(空间的)间隔;空隙

  footstep

  n. 脚步,脚步声

  feign

  vt. give a false appearance of 假装,佯作

  light-glow

  n. 灯光

  vista

  n. 远景;前景

  dormant

  a. temporarily inactive 暂停活动的;休眠的;潜伏的

  confer

  vt. give or grant (a degree or title) to sb. 授予(某人)(学位或头衔)

  vi. discuss, talk together 讨论,商谈

  sensitivity

  n. the quality or state of being sensitive 敏感(性)

  dumbness

  n. lack of power of speech 哑

  alma mater

  n. a school, college, or university which one has attended or from which one has graduated 母校

  intensively

  ad. 加强地;集中地;密集地;透彻地

  ignorance

  n. the state or fact of lacking knowledge 无知,愚昧

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册3

  in person

  physically present亲身,亲自

  take charge of

  take control of; become responsible for 控制;掌管

  go through the motions (of doing sth.)

  pretend to do sth.; do sth. without sincerity or serious intention 装出(做某事的)样子;敷衍

  get hold of

  take in the hands; manage to find 抓住;得到,找到

  along with

  together with 与…一起

  thumb through

  turn over (pages, etc.) quickly with one"s thumb 用拇指迅速地翻阅(书页等)

  down to

  下至,直到

  live off

  have as food; depend upon for support 以…为食;靠…生活

  stick out (cause to) project, stand out 伸出,突出

  pick up

  gain (speed) 增加(速度)

  up to

  up until 直到

  smile upon

  direct a smile towards; approve of or favor 对…微笑;赞许;惠及

  check out

  have the removal (of sth.) recorded 登记借出

  adjust to

  become used to 适应于

  reflect upon /on

  think dee* about; consider carefully 沉思;仔细考虑

  confer on /upon

  give (an honor, etc.) to (sb.) formally 把(某种荣誉等)授予(某人)


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展8)

——21世纪大学英语读写基础教程单元七内容讲解60篇

21世纪大学英语读写基础教程单元七内容讲解1

  "Why do I have to learn math? I"ll never use this again in my whole life." This kind of complaining can often be heard among students. Is it true that nobody needs math? Well, the author is going to tell you the story...

  Math, Who Needs It?

  Carlie Vanwilligen

  "That"ll be $6.52," the cashier said. I handed her a $10 bill. She looked at it, then looked at me. As I waited, she started writing on a pad of paper. After what seemed like several minutes, she handed me the change. "$4.52 is your change," she smiled.

  I stared at the change, then at her. "That"s not right," I said. She looked at me, confused. "I gave you a $10, the change would be $3.48." I handed the money back to her.

  "I"m sorry," she replied. "Our com*r is down, and I have to do this by hand. I"m not very good at math." She counted out my change, and I left.

  As I think back on this exchange, I feel sad, sad because it wasn"t the first time it had happened, sad because I know it won"t be the last. I taught high school math for years, and every year, the conversation was the same: "Why do I have to learn this? This isn"t important. I"ll never use this again in my whole life."

  Unfortunately, students don"t see the eventual impact of studying a subject. And when that subject is math, they see the value even less. I no longer teach full-time, but I look back on those conversations and think about how my reactions changed each year. The first year I taught, the question caught me off guard. "Because" was my standard answer. The second year, my response was similar, "If you want to graduate, you learn this stuff." It took me until my third year of teaching to realize that, if I genuinely wanted students to learn, they needed motivation. So, instead of my standard "because" and "if you want to pass" answers, I asked them what they"d like to do when they graduate—or when they "grow up". For each career path, I had "math" that they needed to know in order to be successful. For the construction workers, architects, and engineers, there was the geometry involved in getting a building to stand solidly. For the prospective teacher, it was the statistics involved in seeing if your tests were fair to the students. For the prospective "I want to be a stay-at-home mom", there was the calculating involved in maintaining a household. For the financial wizard wanna-be, there was the understanding of economics that comes with being a successful investor or accountant. For the stubborn, who insisted they didn"t want to be anything, and didn"t need math, a simple role-play involving them being "ripped-off" when they couldn"t make change drove my point home.

  Who needs math? We all do! We use it every day. Not only that, but the problem solving we learned during the days of "if one train leaves Springfield at 6:00pm travelling east at 75mph", can now help us with a myriad of "*" crises. Do I have enough gas to get to work and back without filling the tank? Which bills do I pay and when in order to have enough money in the bank? How much grass seed do I need to cover that 10"×10" bare patch in the front yard?

  For those still teaching, it is using these examples, and developing activities for students that bring the reality of math into their worlds. For parents, the same holds true. When your child complains that he or she "doesn"t get" math, give your child an example. Take your child to the grocery store. Give your child $10. Tell your child to provide a dinner for the family, complete with the four basic food groups and dessert, for that $10. Show your child the importance of thinking mathematically. It will do your child some good—who knows, you might learn something too!

21世纪大学英语读写基础教程单元七内容讲解2

  cashier

  n. a person whose job is to receive and pay out money in a shop, hotel, etc. 出纳员

  pad

  n. 便笺本;拍纸簿

  confused

  a. unable to think clearly; bewildered 糊涂的,迷惑的

  com*r

  n. a machine that stores information and works out answers 计算机;电脑

  conversation

  n. informal talk 交谈;谈话

  eventual

  a. happening at last as a result 最后的;最终的

  full-time

  ad. 全日地;作为专职

  a. 全日的;专任的

  reaction

  n. behavior, a feeling or an action that is a direct result of sth. else 反应,回应

  similar

  a. having a likeness or resemblance 相似的;类似的

  genuinely

  ad. really 真正地

  motivation

  n. 动机,动力,诱因

  construction

  n. the act or process of constructing 建筑

  architect

  n. a (qualified) person who designs buildings 建筑师

  geometry

  n. 几何(学)

  involve

  vt. 1. cause (sb.) to be connected with 牵涉

  2. include or use (sth.) as a necessary part, etc. 包含,含有

  solidly

  ad. firmly 牢固地,坚固地

  * prospective

  a. possible, likely, expected; probable 预期的;未来的;可能的

  statistics

  n. 统计学

  calculate

  vt. determine by mathematics or by reckoning 计算

  maintain

  vt. 1. support (sb.) financially 赡养

  2. continue to have; keep in existence 保持;维持

  financial

  a. concerning money and finance 财务的

  wizard

  n. a person with extraordinary abilities; genius 有非凡才能的人;奇才

  wanna

  v. (口)= want to

  economics

  n. 经济学

  investor

  n. a person who invests money 投资者

  accountant

  n. 会计师;会计员

  * stubborn

  a. unreasonably unwilling to change 顽固的,执拗的

  ripped-off

  a. (俚语)(人)遭劫的;受剥削的;被欺诈的

  pm

  (缩)= afternoon 下午(源于拉丁文 post meridiem)

  mph

  (缩)= miles per hour 英里/小时

  tank

  n. a large container, usu. for liquid or gas (通常盛液体或气体的.)大桶;箱;大容器;油箱

  solve

  vt. find an answer to (a problem, etc.); explain or make clear 解决;阐明;解释

  bare

  a. without covering; empty 光秃的,无遮的;空的

  patch

  n. a small piece of land, esp. one used for growing vegetables (尤指种菜用的)小块土地

  complain

  vt. & vi. speak in an unhappy, annoyed, dissatisfied way 抱怨;发牢骚

  grocery

  n. 食品杂货店

  basic

  a. most simple in nature or level 基本的

  dessert

  n. any sweet dish, (eg. pie, ice-cream) eaten at the end of a meal (饭后的)甜食(如馅饼,冰激凌)

  importance

  n. the quality or state of being important 重要性

  mathematically

  ad. 从数学上

  Phrases and Expressions

  a pad of

  一本(便笺本)

  by hand

  by a person, not a machine 用手

  count out

  count (sth.) one by one, esp. slowly 逐一数出

  think back on

  recall and reconsider (sth. in the past) 回想,回忆

  catch sb. off guard

  surprise sb. by doing sth. that he or she is not expecting and is not ready for 乘某人不备;使某人措手不及

  be involved in

  be part of, included in, mixed with 参与;卷入;牵涉进

  rip off

  cheat (sb.), esp. financially (尤指在钱财上)欺骗

  drive sth. home

  make sth. clearly understood 把…讲得透彻明白,使充分理解

  a myriad of

  an extremely large number of 无数;极多

  do sb. good

  benefit sb. 有益于某人


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元2内容解析60篇(扩展9)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解 (菁选3篇)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解1

  When Stevie Morris was born, on May 13, 1950, the doctors shook their heads and told the mother that her son was born blind and likely would always be that way. She broke into tears.

  Blind and black and poor — what kind of life could this new infant have? In her wildest dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a famous musician called Stevie Wonder. At the time, all she could do was pray — and worry.

  Stevie himself didn"t worry at all. Life was too full. He was brought up among church-going people whose faith helped them bear the poverty. He loved music and would pound spoons or forks on any surface that faintly resembled a drum.

  He even ran and played with sighted children. "I didn"t realize I was blind until I was about four," he says. That might sound strange. To a small child just learning about the world, it wasn"t strange at all. Stevie heard and smelled and touched. As far as he knew, that was all anyone could do. That was life.

  When Stevie"s mother got tired of her tables being used for drums, she bought him a toy set. He played so hard that he had actually worn the toy out within a few weeks. Other toy sets followed; then an uncle added a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed.

  Stevie taught himself to play the piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began playing rock and roll music. They performed on the front porch of Stevie"s apartment building, drawing crowds of neighbors to watch and listen and clap time to the beat.

  "I loved that beat," Stevie says. He not only loved the beat, he was very good at making it.

  Ronnie White, of the Miracles singing group, heard Stevie and promptly took him down to his recording company, Motown Records.

  "Give him an audition," Ronnie said. They did. All the top people at Motown got together to hear a little blind boy who wasn"t even ten years old yet. At first, they were being nice. Poor kid. They didn"t want to hurt his feelings.

  Then they heard Stevie sing and play, and nobody said "poor kid" anymore. They were too busy congratulating themselves on finding a youngster who could be the musical talent of the decade. "He"s a wonder boy," somebody said as they watched little Stevie dart from one instrument to the next, playing each one with ease.

  "Wonder," somebody else said, "Little Stevie Wonder."

  The new name stuck and Stevie Morris became Little Stevie Wonder. He had his first hit when he was twelve years old. It was called "Fingertips" and it was a smash.

  Over the following years, Little Stevie Wonder became one of the top recording artists at Motown, producing one hit after another. But as he grew into adulthood, Stevie began to get tired of the way the Motown company controlled all aspects of his career. He wanted to write and produce his own songs, but the Motown company thought it was unwise to change a winning formula.

  When he turned 21, Stevie finally got his freedom. Against Motown"s wishes he started exploring: he made records that combined gospel, rock and roll, and jazz and which used African and Latin American rhythms. To the record company"s surprise, Stevie"s new albums such as "Music of My Mind" and "Innervisions" were even more popular than his early ones. Stevie Wonder had become a mature man and an independent musical artist.

  Just after this success, however, tragedy struck. In August of 1973, Stevie was involved in a serious car accident. For nearly a week he lay in a coma, unable to speak or walk. "We don"t know when he"ll be out of danger," the doctor said. Everyone waited and prayed. Suddenly, it didn"t matter that Stevie was a musical genius or that he had conquered blindness and poverty. All he had left was his faith and strong will.

  That turned out to be enough. Stevie fought back from the shadow of death as he had once fought out from the shadow of blindness. He went on to give more performances, make more hit records.

  The car accident changed Stevie by making him reevaluate his goals in life. He still loved to make music, but he also started to pay more attention to the world outside. He worked to create a national holiday to honor the civil rights leader Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.. He recorded songs urging racial harmony and raised money to end world hunger. Recently, Stevie was honored by South African president Nelson Mandela for his work against that country"s system of racial apartheid.

  Stevie Wonder has faith and fame, wealth and love. He has not only conquered his own darkness, but through his music and his social activities he has been able to bring sunshine to the shadow of many other lives.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解2

  sunshine

  n. the light and heat of the sun 阳光

  infant

  n. a very young child 婴儿

  musician

  n. a person who performs on a musical instrument, or who writes music 乐师,作曲家

  pray

  vi. (for, to) speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help 祈祷,祈求

  spoon

  n. 匙,调羹

  faintlh

  ad. slightly; mildly 轻微地;微弱地

  resemble

  vt. look or be like 像,类似

  drum

  n. 鼓

  tire

  v. (使)感到疲劳;(使)厌倦,(使)厌烦

  harmonica

  n. 口琴

  amaze

  vt. fill with great surprise; cause wonder in 使惊奇;使惊羡

  *porch

  n. (建筑物前有顶的)门廊,入口处

  apartment

  n. 公寓大楼;一套公寓房间

  clap

  vi. applaud 拍手

  miracle

  n. 奇迹

  promptly

  ad. immediately and without any delay 迅速地,及时地

  audition

  n. (对志愿艺人等的.)面试(指试读、试唱、试奏等)

  kid

  n. a child 小孩

  congratulate

  vt. speak to (a person) with praise and admiration for a happy event or sth. successfully done 祝贺

  youngster

  n. a young person, esp. a boy 年轻人;男孩

  talent

  n. 1. a special ability or skill 天才,天资;超常智能

  2. people of such ability 人才

  decade

  n. a period of 10 years 十年(期)

  *dart

  vi. move suddenly and quickly 猛冲,飞奔

  instrument

  n. 乐器;仪器;器具;器械

  ease

  n. 1. freedom from difficulty 容易

  2. freedom from discomfort, pain or worry 安适;悠闲;无痛苦;无忧虑

  fingertip

  n. the end of a finger 指尖

  smash

  n. 轰动的演出,巨大的成功

  v. (cause to) break into pieces violently 打碎,粉碎

  adulthood

  n. 成年

  aspect

  n. a particular part or feature of sth. being considered 方面

  career

  n. a profession or occupation with opportunities for advancement or promotion 职业;生涯

  formula

  n. 公式,程式;准则,方案

  explore

  v. 探索;探测;勘探

  gospel

  n. (= gospel music) 福音音乐(美国黑人的一种宗教音乐,具有爵士音乐和美国黑人伤感歌曲色彩)

  jazz

  n. 爵士音乐

  rhythm

  n. 节奏;韵律

  *album

  n. 1. a long-playing record with several items by the same performer (同一表演者的)集锦密纹唱片

  2. a book with blank pages for stamps, photographs, etc. 集邮册,相册

  mature

  a. fully grown or developed mentally or physically 充分发育的;(智力或体力)成熟的

  independent

  a. 独立的,自主的

  tragedy

  n. 1. a terrible event that causes great sadness 惨事,灾变

  2. a serious play with a sad ending 悲剧

  involve

  vt. 使陷入,使卷入;牵扯,连累

  coma

  n. 昏迷

  musical

  a. of or for music 音乐的

  genius

  n. 天才;创造能力;天才人物

  conquer

  vt. gain control over (sth. unfriendly or difficult) 征服;克服(困难等)

  performance

  n. the acting of a play, the playing of a piece of music, the doing of a dance, etc., in front of an audience 演出,表演,演奏

  reevaluate

  vt. 重新评价

  goal

  n. 1. an end; objective 目的;目标

  2.(足球等的)球门;得分进球

  hunger

  n. state of not having enough to eat; lack of food 饥饿

  urge

  vt. 力劝;恳求;敦促

  racial

  a. characteristic of race; due to or resulting from race 种族的;由种族引起的

  harmony

  n. agreement (of feelings, interests, opinions, etc.) 和睦,融洽,一致

  apartheid

  n. (南非的)种族隔离

  fame

  n. the condition of being known or talked about a lot 名声,名望

  activity

  n. 活动;行动

  Phrases and Exgressions

  break into

  begin suddenly (to cry, sing, laugh, etc.) 突然(哭、唱、笑)起来

  bring up

  take care of during infancy and childhood; nurse and educate 抚养;养育

  as far as

  to the degree that 就…;尽…;至于

  get tired of

  be no longer interested in 厌倦,厌烦

  wear out

  make useless by use 把…用坏;把…穿破

  with ease

  without difficulty 容易地,无困难地

  grow into

  become gradually with the passage of time 成长的

  congratulate oneself on /that ...

  因…而暗自庆幸

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册第3课内容讲解3

  When Stevie Morris was born, on May 13, 1950, the doctors shook their heads and told the mother that her son was born blind and likely would always be that way. She broke into tears.

  Blind and black and poor — what kind of life could this new infant have? In her wildest dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a famous musician called Stevie Wonder. At the time, all she could do was pray — and worry.

  Stevie himself didn"t worry at all. Life was too full. He was brought up among church-going people whose faith helped them bear the poverty. He loved music and would pound spoons or forks on any surface that faintly resembled a drum.

  He even ran and played with sighted children. "I didn"t realize I was blind until I was about four," he says. That might sound strange. To a small child just learning about the world, it wasn"t strange at all. Stevie heard and smelled and touched. As far as he knew, that was all anyone could do. That was life.

  When Stevie"s mother got tired of her tables being used for drums, she bought him a toy set. He played so hard that he had actually worn the toy out within a few weeks. Other toy sets followed; then an uncle added a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed.

  Stevie taught himself to play the piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began playing rock and roll music. They performed on the front porch of Stevie"s apartment building, drawing crowds of neighbors to watch and listen and clap time to the beat.

  "I loved that beat," Stevie says. He not only loved the beat, he was very good at making it.

  Ronnie White, of the Miracles singing group, heard Stevie and promptly took him down to his recording company, Motown Records.

  "Give him an audition," Ronnie said. They did. All the top people at Motown got together to hear a little blind boy who wasn"t even ten years old yet. At first, they were being nice. Poor kid. They didn"t want to hurt his feelings.

  Then they heard Stevie sing and play, and nobody said "poor kid" anymore. They were too busy congratulating themselves on finding a youngster who could be the musical talent of the decade. "He"s a wonder boy," somebody said as they watched little Stevie dart from one instrument to the next, playing each one with ease.

  "Wonder," somebody else said, "Little Stevie Wonder."

  The new name stuck and Stevie Morris became Little Stevie Wonder. He had his first hit when he was twelve years old. It was called "Fingertips" and it was a smash.

  Over the following years, Little Stevie Wonder became one of the top recording artists at Motown, producing one hit after another. But as he grew into *hood, Stevie began to get tired of the way the Motown company controlled all aspects of his career. He wanted to write and produce his own songs, but the Motown company thought it was unwise to change a winning formula.

  When he turned 21, Stevie finally got his freedom. Against Motown"s wishes he started exploring: he made records that combined gospel, rock and roll, and jazz and which used African and Latin American rhythms. To the record company"s surprise, Stevie"s new albums such as "Music of My Mind" and "Innervisions" were even more popular than his early ones. Stevie Wonder had become a mature man and an independent musical artist.

  Just after this success, however, tragedy struck. In August of 1973, Stevie was involved in a serious car accident. For nearly a week he lay in a coma, unable to speak or walk. "We don"t know when he"ll be out of danger," the doctor said. Everyone waited and prayed. Suddenly, it didn"t matter that Stevie was a musical genius or that he had conquered blindness and poverty. All he had left was his faith and strong will.

  That turned out to be enough. Stevie fought back from the shadow of death as he had once fought out from the shadow of blindness. He went on to give more performances, make more hit records.

  The car accident changed Stevie by making him reevaluate his goals in life. He still loved to make music, but he also started to pay more attention to the world outside. He worked to create a national holiday to honor the civil rights leader Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.. He recorded songs urging racial harmony and raised money to end world hunger. Recently, Stevie was honored by South African president Nelson Mandela for his work against that country"s system of racial apartheid.

  Stevie Wonder has faith and fame, wealth and love. He has not only conquered his own darkness, but through his music and his social activities he has been able to bring sunshine to the shadow of many other lives.

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