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21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册 Unit5

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(单词翻译)

Unit 5

Text A

Listening

First Listening
Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following worda.

compromise1
妥协

give way
让步

tradition
传统

individual
人人, 人体

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

1. A compromise is an agreement in which_________.
A) each one gives up something so that the other can be happy
B) people talk about their differences and decide on the best solution
C) people agree to disagree
D) the older person gets to decide what will be done
2. Ted2 and Mary took their first vacation in the mountains so that_________.
A) Ted could get some exercise every day
B) Mary could lie by the pool every day
C) both A) and B)
D) neither A) nor B)
3. What problem did they have with their first child?
A) Ted wanted a unique name and Mary wanted a traditional name.
B) Ted wanted a traditional name and Mary wanted a unique name.
C) Ted wanted a boy and Mary wanted a girl.
D) Ted wanted a girl and Mary wanted a boy.
4. How did Ted and Mary decide on their son's name?
A) They gave him both names.
B) They took her mother's advice and named him Hamlet.
C) Ted named this child, and Mary will name their next child.
D) They took Uncle Fred's advice and named him Boyd.

Pre-reading Questions

1. What is a compromise? Skim3 the first paragraph of the text to find it out and then give a definition4 of it in your own words.
2. What is the most difficult compromise you have ever made? First, tell your classmates what the situation was, and let them guess what you decided5 to do. Then, explain what you actually did, why you did so, and how you feel about it now.

The Language of Compromise

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 compromised6, 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 leisurely7 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 eldest8 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 simply couldn't resist a gamble9.
4) Mary's friend, Sue10, who was very active in the Women's Liberation11 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 snobbish12.

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 blond13 hair. You could call him Boyd — which means yellow."
g) "Charles is rather a refined14 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.
(796 words)

New Words

*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 risky15 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
yield16 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 standing17 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

Proper Names

Leslie Dunkling
莱斯莉·邓克林(人名)

the Alps
阿尔卑斯山脉(欧洲中南部)

Lawrence
劳伦斯(男子名)

Edward
爱德华(男子名)

Fred
弗雷德(男子名)

Sybil
西比尔(女子名)

Sue
苏(女子名)

Shakespeare
莎士比亚(1564 - 1616,英国剧作家、诗人)

Catherine
凯瑟琳(女子名)

Johann Sebastian
约翰·塞巴斯蒂安(人名)

Heather
希瑟(女子名)

Rosemary
罗斯玛丽(女子名)

Fern
弗恩(女子名)

Daisy
黛茜(女子名)

Hamlet
汉姆雷特(莎士比亚同名剧作中的男主人公)

Samuel
萨缪尔(男子名)

Albert
阿尔伯特(男子名)


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1 compromise jO0z2     
n.妥协;妥协方案;vt.损害;vi.妥协,让步
参考例句:
  • The spokesman made it clear that no compromise was yet in sight.发言人表明,目前还不会妥协。
  • The probable outcome of the talks is a compromise.会谈的结果很可能是妥协。
2 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
参考例句:
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
3 skim preyr     
vt.撇(去);掠过;浏览,略读;vi.浏览
参考例句:
  • It took me an hour to skim the book.我费了一个小时把这本书草草地读了一遍。
  • He tried to skim off the best players from the local school teams.他试图从当地学校的球队中选拔出一批最好的球员。
4 definition YxjxE     
n.定义;限定,确定;清晰度
参考例句:
  • The book attempts a definition of his role in world politics.该书要阐明的是他在世界政局中的作用。
  • I made a definition for this word.我给这个字下了定义。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 compromised 7e3ea9e12dedf3483da22f551f78ecfd     
[医]妥协,让步的,缺乏抵抗力的,缺乏免疫力的,妥协的
参考例句:
  • They compromised by going to the cinema. 他们采取折中的办法去看电影。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The government has compromised with its critics over monetary policies. 政府已经就货币政策向批评人士作出让步。 来自辞典例句
7 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
8 eldest bqkx6     
adj.最年长的,最年老的
参考例句:
  • The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
  • The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。
9 gamble 4hgxG     
n.冒险;v.赌博,孤注一掷
参考例句:
  • Setting up this business was a bit of a gamble.开办这样的公司有点冒险。
  • Drive carefully and don't gamble with your life.小心驾驶,别拿你的生命冒险。
10 sue PUAzm     
vt.控告,起诉;vi.请求,追求,起诉
参考例句:
  • If you don't pay me the money,I'll sue you.如果你不付给我钱,我就告你。
  • The war criminals sue for peace.战犯求和。
11 liberation 61SxI     
n.解放,解放运动(为获得平等权利和地位的行为)
参考例句:
  • We should help those who are still struggling for liberation.我们应当帮助那些仍在为独立而斗争的人们。
  • Many people died during famines every year before liberation.解放前每年有许多人在饥荒中死亡。
12 snobbish UhCyE     
adj.势利的,谄上欺下的
参考例句:
  • She's much too snobbish to stay at that plain hotel.她很势利,不愿住在那个普通旅馆。
  • I'd expected her to be snobbish but she was warm and friendly.我原以为她会非常势利,但她却非常热情和友好。
13 blond KRpyb     
adj.金发的;n.白肤碧眼金发的人
参考例句:
  • Her long blond hair spilled down over her shoulders.她那淡黄色的长发披垂在双肩。
  • This blond man delivers newspaper every morning.这个白肤金发碧眼的男人每天早晨送报纸。
14 refined sChyK     
adj.精炼的;精制的;经过改良的;举止优雅的v.精炼( refine的过去式和过去分词);精制;使纯净;使文雅高尚
参考例句:
  • Much of the really nutritive material actually was refined out of food. 大部分真正有营养价值的物质实际上已从食物中提炼出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They refined gold out of the ore. 他们从矿石中提炼出黄金。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 risky IXVxe     
adj.有风险的,冒险的
参考例句:
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
16 yield BMFzN     
v.生产,出产;让步,屈服;n.产量,收获量
参考例句:
  • A cow will yield several gallons of milk each day.一头母牛每天产几加仑的牛奶。
  • We shall never yield to a conqueror.我们永远不会向征服者低头。
17 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

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