unit 2

新世纪英语专业本科生教材（修订版）综合教程

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Unit 2

Unit 2

The Virtues of Growing Older

Structural analysis

1. Divide the text into parts by completing the table.

Paragraphs

1-2

3-5

6

Main ideas

The writer airs her view about growing older.

The writer discusses three distinct advantages of growing older.

The

writer

winds

up

her

discussion

with

reference

to

her

parents’

life

to

reaffirm that growing older

would be “a better phase” of her life.

2. What techniques does the author adopt to present the advantages of growing older?

The author illustrates them with examples and by contrast (being young and being old).

Section Four Consolidation Activities

I . Vocabulary Analysis

1 Phrase practice

1.

be apt to

be likely to

易于??，有??的倾向

e.g.

Infants are apt to put their hands into their mouths.

婴儿爱把手往嘴里塞。

2.

in general

as a whole

通常，大体上；总的来说，从总体上看

e.g.

In general, this company

’

s products are very reliable.

这家公司的产品通常是很可靠的。

In general, this paper is a bit difficult for these students to finish in an hour.

总的来说，让学< /p>

生在一个小时内完成这份试卷有些困难。

3.

at the mercy of

powerless against; completely controlled by

对??无能为力；

任由??摆布

e.g.

Some people are born with the belief that they are masters of their own lives. Others feel they

are at the mercy of fate.

有些人天生相信自己是生命的主宰，

< br>另一些人则觉得他们受到命

运的支配。

I don

’

t want to put myself at the mercy of others.

我不希望任由他人摆布。

4.

no wonder

not surprising / only too natural

不足为奇，并不奇怪

e.g.

It is no wonder that it is so wet in the south.

南方这么潮湿，并不奇怪。

No wonder you

’

re so tired, you

’

ve worked three hours without a break.

难怪你这么累，

你已

经连续工作了三个小时。

It is no wonder that he failed his final exam.

他没能通过期末考试，这是不足为怪的。

2 Word derivation

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.

1. She has got this obsessive (obsess) fear of losing control, so she never shows her emotions.

2. People under a lot of stress at work will often experience moodiness (mood), irritability and a

loss of confidence.

3. They wanted a tolerable (tolerate) existence

—

more food, better shelter, and peace.

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新世纪英语专业本科生教材（修 订版）综合教程

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4. In the end, the company and its investors came to a mutually beneficial (benefit) arrangement.

5. Working with the mentally handicapped can be a satisfying (satisfy) and rewarding experience.

6. Frogs can search for food underwater, hidden (hide) from birds of prey.

7. When I asked her ab

out where she wanted the meeting to be held, she didn’t express any

particular preference (prefer).

8. The committee has made four specific criticisms (critical)

of the government’s transportation

policy.

3 Synonym / Antonym

Give

a

synonym

or

an

antonym

of

the word underlined

in

each

sentence

in

the

sense

it

is

used.

1. Advertisements convince us to buy Grecian Formula and Oil of Olay so we can hide the gray in

our hair.

Synonym:

conceal, disguise

2.

My legs were too heavy, my shoulders too broad, my waist too big.

Antonym

: narrow

3.

Their

contentment

holds

out

great

promise

for

me

as

I

move

into

the

next

—

perhaps

even

better

—

phase of my life.

Synonym

: satisfaction, happiness, joy

4. The Virtues of Growing Older

Synonym

: merits, advantages

5. My rounded

figure seems fine, and I don’t deny

myself a slice of pecan pie if I feel in the mood.

Synonym

: fat, plump

6. Dave lifted weights, took megadoses of vitamins and drank a half-dozen milk shakes a day in

order to turn his wiry adolescent frame into some muscular ideal.

Synonym

: well-built

7. The two of us enjoy wearing fashionable clothes, but we are no longer slaves to style.

Antonym

: old-fashioned, outdated

8. Obviously, I still have important choices to make about my life, but I have already made many

of the critical decisions that confront those just starting out.

Synonym

: clearly, evidently

4 Prefix

Write in each space one word that has the same prefix as underlined in each given word.

1. preface

prepare

5. periphery

perimeter

2. prologue

progress

6. dialogue

diameter

3. foresight

foresee

7. semifinal

semiconductor

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新世 纪英语专业本科生教材（修订版）综合教程

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4. paralysis

parallel

8. devaluate

decelerate

II Grammar Exercises

1. concrete nouns & abstract nouns

Practice:

Complete the following sentences with the appropriate forms of the nouns given.

1. My children are ________________ to me. (great, help)

2. The boy had ____________________ of mathematics. (good, knowledge)

3. He is looking for ____________. (work)

4. The more _____________ (difficulty) we encounter, the harder we should work.

5.

To

be

middle-class

is

to

have

license

to

indulge

more

freely

in

creating

____________

(comfort).

6. Like millions of other Americans, I often have ____________ (trouble) with insomnia.

Key:

1. a great help

2. a good knowledge

3. work

4. difficulties

5. comforts

6. trouble

2. quantifiers & determiners (every, each, everyone, every one, all)

Practice:

Complete the following with

every

,

each

,

everyone

,

every one

or

all

.

1. The pavement on ________ side was crowded with neat smiling people.

2. The girl is very popular. ____________ likes her.

3. A: He had eaten _______ the biscuits.

B: What? _____________?

A: __________ single one.

4. ___________ sex has its own physical and psychological characteristics.

5. The bus leaves ___________ hour.

6. She nursed him with ___________ her heart.

Key:

1. each

2. Everyone

3. all, Every one, Every

4. Each

5. every

6. all

3. dangling participles

3