Unit 1

The Expensive Fantasy of Lord

Williams

Background Information （ 1 ）

Scotland Scotland is one of four constituent nations which form the United Kingdom (the other three are England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Forming the northern part of the island of Great Britain, Scotland is 31,510 square miles in area, 274 miles long from North to South, and varies in breadth between 24 and 154 miles. The official language is English, although Gaelic is spoken, primarily in the North and West of Scotland.

Background Information （ 1 ）

Scotland is divided into three main regions: the highlands, the Midland valley and the Southern Uplands. Most of the population and the majority of Scotland’s industry is located within the Midland Valley.

Scotland includes 787 islands, of which most belong to groups known as the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. Only 62 exceed three square miles in area.

Background Information （ 2 ）

Scotland Yard The headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. The term is often used, popularly, to refer to one branch, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Named after a short street in London, the site of a palace used in the 12th century as a residence of visiting Scottish kings, it became London’s police center in 1829. New and separate headquarters for the Metropolitan Police were built in 1890 along the Thames embankment and were referred to as New Scotland Yard.

Background Information （ 2 ）

In 1967, New Scotland Yard moved to new headquarters, also in the Westminster area.

To read more about how London’s Scotland Yard gets its name, please visit http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20001122.html

Text Structure Analysis:

Part One (Para 1-5): General background of the story. Part Two (Para 6-7): The villagers’ response to Mr. Williams. Part Three (Para 9): Major crimes committed by Mr. Williams. Part Four (Para 10-14): The ways that Mr. Williams spent the money. Part Five (Para 15-16): The fate of Mr Williams. Part Six (Para 17): The reason Mr. Williams committed the crime.

From the beginning “Lord Williams” clearly had a great amount of wealth. A few villagers were suspicious of him but most saw nothing that aroused doubts until later. All agreed that he injected a great amount of money into the village. His money was used to restore many properties. Many people thought him charming and considerate and did not suspect he was misleading them. Where did this money come from? He told everyone that he had inherited the money from a rich uncle. Certainly he was happy pouring nearly 5 million pounds into the village this was a beautiful village with a fantastic view which disappears over the horizon. He was satisfied to sink money into this village with its rolling views. This was his glorious village.

Summary of the Text:

prompt suspicion arouse deputy fall upon dark days stick by considerate sink into capture one’s heart with run-down inherit supervise bulk pay off justify

Words and Expressions

A noise prompted the guard to go back and investigate.

嘈杂声促使卫兵回头调查

The accident prompted a review of school safety policy.

这场事故引起对学校安全制度的反思 The sight of the ships prompted thoughts of his

distant home. 注视着那些船使他想起了遥远的家乡。

1. L

1. prompt: be the cause of （ para 1 ）

2. suspicion: the state of suspecting or being suspected (para 3)

I have a suspicion that she is not telling me the truth. 我怀疑她告诉我的不是实情。 His strange behavior raised his neighbor's suspicion

s.他的奇怪举动引起了邻居的怀疑。

He was caught on suspicion of having stolen the money. 他因涉嫌盗窃那笔钱而被捕。

3. arouse: make active, excite (Para3)

He aroused her mother instincts.他激起了她的母性。

It’s good to have some pepper to arouse the appetite.吃点辣椒来激起食欲也未尝不可。

The odd sight aroused our curiosity. 奇怪的景象激起了我们的好奇心。

4. deputy : the second most important person (Para5)

She‘s the deputy head of a school in the East End of London. 她是伦敦东区一所学校的副校长。

While the manager was ill, his deputy ran the office very successfully. 经理患病期间，他的代理人很成功地履行了职责。

a deputy to the sheriff. 代理治安长官

5. fall upon dark days: experience a difficult period (Para 6)

We are very sorry to hear that the famous poet has fallen upon dark days.听说这个著名的歌手境况不佳，这让我们感到很遗憾。

He fell upon dark days after his father died.在他父亲死后，他处境困难。

6. stick by: continue to give help or support (Para6)

I’d like to thank my friends who stuck by me during the difficult times.我想感谢我的朋友们，在我困能的时候一直在帮扶我。

She stuck by Bob when he was in trouble.鲍勃在困难的时候，她都支持他。

7. considerate: thoughtful (Para7)

I think he’s the most charming and most considerate man I’ve ever known.

他是我见过的最有魅力、最体贴的男人。

How does a How does a considerateconsiderate person behave? person behave?

一个体贴的人会怎么做呢？

He is a considerate husband.他是一个体贴的丈夫。

8. sink into: invest; put, or force into (Para12)

I’ve sunk into all my money into buying a new house.

我把所有的钱都投到新房子上了。

I’m hungry. I’d like to sink my teeth into a hot meal right now! 我饿了。我现想吃顿热腾腾的饭菜。

9. capture one’s heart with: fascinate someone with sth (Para16)

The book captured the little boy’s heart with its beautiful illustrations. 小男孩被这本书的美丽插图吸引住了。

The campus captured my heart with its fantastic scenery. 校园的美丽景色吸引了我。

10. run-down: old and broken (Para13)

They lived in an old run-down hotel by the railway bridge.

他们住在铁路桥拜边一所破旧的旅馆。

They have put substantial funds into rebuilding one of the most run-down areas in the city.

他们投入巨资重建城市里的旧区。

11. inherit ： receive from an ancestor by legal succession or will (Para15)

She inherited the land from her grandfather. 她从她祖父那里继承了这块地。

If he dies without making a will, his closest relative will inherit. 如果他过世的时候没有留下遗嘱，财产就由最亲的亲属继承。

12.supervise : keep watch over as the person in charge (Para16)

He supervised and trained more than 400 workers.

他管理和培训了 400 多工人。

One of his jobs was supervising the dinning room. 他的工作之一就是管理食堂。

13. bulk : the main or greater part (para16)

The bulk of the work has already been done.

大部分的，都对有难的人伸出了援助的手。

The bulk of the text is essentially a review of these original documents.

文章的大部分内容主要是回顾原始文件。

14. pay off : pay the whole of (a debt); settle the account (Para17).

It’s a good feeling to pay off the house after all these years.

这么些年过后，终于把房款付清了，感觉很好。

Once we have paid off the debt, we would have no money to buy a car.

一旦我们把债务还清，我们就没钱买车。

15. justify : give and be a good reason for… (Para17)

How can you justify your rude behavior.你怎么为你粗鲁的行为辩解？

Nothing can justify such rudeness. 这样粗鲁的行为是无法原谅的。

Questions for discussion

1. Who is (are) the main character(s) in the article?

2. What happened in the article?3. Why does the Scottish village still stick by

Williams ？4. How did Williams describe his own motive f

or stealing the money?

Writing

Topic: Computer Work Wonders

Specific details: a list of computer wonders

taking over many boring and dangerous jobs; freeing a lot of people for more creative work; enabling people to share information with others all around the world; tracking down criminals more quickly

Writing: (sample)

Computers Work Wonders

Computers are working wonders for our age with speed and efficiency.

computer-controlled machinery is taking over many boring and dangerous jobs. Computers are working more reliably and efficiently and freeing a lot of people for more creative work! Computers enable people to share informatio9n with others all around the world. This helps track down criminals more quickly.

Writing(sample)

In addition, computers can instantly send and receive messages thousands of miles away so that we can hear or see what is happening on the other side of the world. Computers never get tired and they can work 24 hours a day. Computers are making our life much easier than before. All we have to do is just CLICK and computers will do many things for us.

Writing(sample)

However, will there be a time when computers do not just do mechanical things for us but also think and make decisions for us, thereby becoming a threat to us?