Unit Three The Present

Designed by Shi Yuan

BookⅠ

The Second Two Periods

Reading and Translation

Reading and Translation

• Review—Memorize the new words • Comprehension of the text• Chinese and English phrases • Words and expressions • Difficult sentences • Assignments

Comprehension of the text Questions

• 1.What was the special occasion? How old was the old lady?

• It was the old lady’s birthday. She was 80.

• 2.Did Myra and her husband often come to see the old lady?

• No. She came to see her mother only three times within two years and her husband never.

• 3.What had happened to Enid?• She died on the operating table.

• 4.Whom did the old lady love more, Myra or Enid? Why?

• Enid was the daughter the old lady loved more, because she was content to live with her mother.

• 5.Why was the old lady proud of Myra?

• Because her husband had been made mayor and Myra herself had got a medal for her work for the aged.

• 6.Who was Jim? Was he still alive?

• Jim was the old lady’s husband. He died years ago.

Group discussion

• Direction: read the story and discuss the following questions.

• 1. Why did the old lady feel so hurt when she got the check from her daughter?

• 2. How do you understand that blood is thicker than water?

Suggested answers

• 1. A check is impersonal. It symbolizes obligation but with no sincere feelings. Myra regarded her work with strangers as more important than the happiness of her own old mother. It seems that everyone in the neighborhood was aware that the old woman’s 80th birthday fell on that day. They regarded it as an important occasion.

• 2. By saying “Blood is thicker than water”, we mean that family members or our relatives are more important than others (friends, neighbors, etc.). Not only should we be always considerate and helpful to our family members but also we should take the responsibility or obligation to make them happy.

Words and expressions

• present:• n. gift • I’d like to send Mary a wedding present.

• v. give; introduce• 那个小女孩把一束花献给女王。 The little girl presented a

bouquet to the Queen (=presented the Queen with a bouquet).

• Collocation: • at present 现在• for the present 暂时

• ready for sth.: prepared and fit for use

• Are you ready for class?• Get ready for dictation.

• be ready to do sth.: be willing to do something, e.g. 准备好做某事

• Friends should be always ready to help others.

• post:• n. letters, parcel, etc.• There is always a lot of post at Christmas. 圣诞

节时信件很多。

• v. take (a letter, parcel) to a post office or put into a collection box for sending

• Please post this letter at the post office, don’t post it in the box at the corner.

• rare: adj.

• ① unusual; not often happening or seen• It is rare for her to go out at night.• ② (of a substance, esp. atmosphere) thin, not dense• The Tibetans are used to the rare air around the Himalayas.

• CF: rare, occasional & scarce 这些形容词均含“稀罕的，很少发生的”之意。

• occasional 指偶然、间或发生的事，侧重无规律可循。• scarce 指暂时不易发现、不存在或数量不足，供不应求的东西。• rare 指难得发生的事或难遇见的人或事，侧重特殊性。

• occasion: n. special event; time when sth. happens

• Prof. Smith is not a stranger to us. We’ve met him on several occasions.

• Collocation: • on the occasion of 在…场合下• on occasion （ = sometimes ）有时• have an occasion to do sth. 有机会做某事• on rare occasion 很少有机会

• even if : in spite of the possibility that; though (even is used to emphasize two contrasting conditions and the clause introduced by “even if” may be conditional or concessive), e.g.

• -I'll come even if it rains. (conditional) • -I'll finish the work even if it takes me the whole night. (co

nditional) • -Sir Francis was determined to carry out his plan even if/t

hough he had lung cancer. (concessive)

• make: (followed by an object and complement) cause to be or become

• They made him Chairman of the Student’s Union.• 他把他的含意说明白。 He made himself understood.

• Collocation: • make for 走向，向…前进• make fun of 取笑• make it 办成功，做到• make out 填写，开列，理解，辨认出• make use of 利用• Make up 弥补

• content to (do sth.): pleased to (do sth.); satisfied to (do sth.)

• Will you be content to wait till tomorrow?• 那对老年夫妇似乎对整晚坐在电视机前看电视感到满意。

The old couple seem content to sit in front of the television all evening.

• Pattern:• be content with 满足于• to one’s heart’s content 心满意足

• primary: adj.• ① first, as in order, time or place• Primary education is compulsory in our country.• ② main; first in importance• Our history professor explained the primary cause of the

First World War.

• Note: • for a “primary school”, American people say as “element

ary school”.

• round (around) the corner: very near; nearby

• The teaching building is just round the corner.

• 春节就要到了。• The Spring Festival is just round the corne

r.

• arrange for: make plans in advance about (sth. for sb.); organize for (sth. to be done)

• We have arranged for the car to come at nine.• 他去英国安排儿子的教育事宜。• He went to England to arrange for his boy’s education.

• minor: adj. smaller; less important or serious

• The house is in good condition; it needs just a few minor repairs.

• Jim had a minor problem with his car, but he fixed it himself.

• operate: v• ① perform surgery; work• He has his left knee operated on last Monday. • ② manage; make…work• Do you know how to operate this machine?

• NB:• 以上第一条词义中 operate 作为不及物动词使用；

第二条词义中作为及物动词使用。

• efficient: adj. capable• Our organization is a simple and efficient structure.• 既然你如此的忙，你确实需要一个很能干的秘书。 Since

you are so busy, you do need a very efficient secretary.

• CF: • effective & efficient 这两个形容词均有“有效的”之意。• effective 侧重产生实际的效果或具有取得预期效果的能力，

指人指物都适用。• efficient 侧重指积极有效，效率高，效果好。指人时，强

调其能干、熟练的技巧。

• after all: when everything has been considered; nevertheless

• Bob thought he couldn’t go to the party because he had too much homework, but he went after all.

• I think we should let Mary go camping with her classmates. After all, she is a big girl now.

• 我想我们应该让玛丽与她的同学去野营。毕竟她现在是个大女孩了。

• Collocation: • all but 几乎，差一点• all in all 总的说来• for all 尽管• above all 首先• all at once 突然

• endure: v. suffer; bear; put up with

• The company had to endure heavy financial losses.

• Give me a painkiller. I can't endure any longer.• 作为一名消防队员，你必须准备忍受困苦，甚至

牺牲自己。• As a fireman, you must be ready to endure hard

ships and even suffer death.

• choose to: decide to; prefer to

• You may do just as you choose to.• You can improve your listening comprehension if

you choose to.

• spot

• (n.) • ①mark different in color from what it is on; stain, e.g.

-It is difficult to get rid of spots of ink, blood or grease. a particular place, e.g. ②

on the spot 在现场• -He happened to be on the spot when the robbery took p

lace.

• (vt.) recognize; discover; locate, e.g. -He is a tall man easy to spot in a crowd.

• extra:• (a.) additional --

~~ pay for ~~ work --Students do not welcome ~~ homework.

• (ad.) especially --Mr. Johnson wears ~~ large clothes.

• (n.) additional thing --Her income includes salary, investment returns, and ~~s.

• In blue:• The preposition “in” is used to express the meani

ng of “wearing” or “dressed in”.• Similarly:• a woman in white• a soldier in uniform

• Pang: a sudden sharp mental or emotional pain

• a pang of sadness

• a pang of remorse

• disappoint • (vt.) fail to fulfill the hope of (a person) 使失望• e.g. Work hard. Don’t disappoint your parents.• He was disappointed to hear / at hearing that the fo

otball star would not play that day.

• Collocation: • feel/express disappointment 感到 / 表达失望• to one’s disappointment 令某人失望的是• be disappointed about/at/with sth. 对某事失望• be disappointed in/with sb. 对某人失望

• reluctantly • (ad.) unwillingly 不情愿地，勉强地• • e.g. The child turned off the TV reluctantly. • Almost reluctantly he picked up the phone.

• fold: v. bend into two or more parts

• After writing the letter, Mary folded it and put it in an envelope.

• Collocation: • folding doors/chairs/beds/boats 折叠门 / 椅 /

床 / 船

• pick up:• ① take hold of and lift• Please pick up all these pieces of paper. • ②catch• Where did you pick up that cold?• ③gain; acquire• He picked up English while he was staying in London.• ④give sb. a ride in a vehicle (ask the students to match )• I’ll pick you up at your college gate at three; don’t be late.• Her performance in school picked up recently.

• tremble: shake; move to and fro

--- The old man’s hand trembled when he signed his name.

--- The house trembled when the earthquake took place.

• tear: pull apart or into pieces by force

--- to tear a letter into pieces

--- to tear a sheet of paper in two

--- to tear a page out of one’s book

--- to tear a button off a coat

Difficult sentences

• 1. From the second floor flat she could see the postman when he came down the street, and the little boy from the ground floor brought up her letters on the rare occasions when anything came.

• 邮差从马路那头过来的时候，他从三楼的公寓套间里就可以看得见。他难得有信，偶尔有的话，一楼的小男孩总会给她送上来。

• 2. Myra wouldn’t forget her mother’s birthday, even if she seldom wrote at other times.

• 麦拉不会忘记母亲的生日，尽管其他时间她很少写信。

• 3. Her husband had been made Mayor, and Myra herself had got a medal for her work for the aged.

• 丈夫当上了市长，麦拉本人也由于为老年人服务而获得了一枚奖章。

• 4. After all, eighty was a special birthday, another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at it.

• 八十大寿毕竟非同一般，又活了十年，或者说又熬过了十年，是活是熬，全在于你怎么看了。

• 5. The little boy, Johnnie, had been up with a packet of mints, and said he wouldn’t go out to play until the post had come.

• 约翰尼也上楼送来了一套薄荷糖，说要等信来了再出去玩。

• 6. Maybe the parcel was too large to come by letter post.

• 也许是包裹太大了，没法随信件邮寄来。

Assignments

• Read the new words by heart after class, next time we’ll have a dictation.

• Read the phrases again and again.• Translate the sentences into English.• Do the rest exercises.• Preview Writing.