-
Unit1
... was seeing his world
shrink and his options narrow.
He ...
was beginning to realize that his world was
getting smaller and his choices
fewer.
r, these matters are questioned and in
some cases rebelled against
however,
people
often
have
doubts
about
these
matters
and
sometimes
oppose
them
from a variety of
ethnic backgrounds
people from many
different races
addition to affirming
personal values...
Besides
strengthening their personal values..
3. Yet, there was always in
me…… somewhere else.
Paraphrase: However, I always felt that
I should pay a visit to some other places.
6. I wandered the world through books.
Paraphrase: I learned many aspects of
the world by reading books.
13. One
poem committed to memory……in my mind.
Paraphrase: I still remember one poem I
learned in grade school.
15. Perhaps
only a truly discontented child……as I
was.
Paraphrase: Perhaps
only a child who is truly dissatisfied with the
reality can be
attracted by books as I
was.
16. Perhaps restlessness is a
necessary corollary of devoted literacy.
Paraphrase: Perhaps if a person really
devotes himself or herself to reading and
writing, he or she is bound to be
restless.
2
）
by
the lure of what……normal childhood.
Paraphrase: by the power of attracting
which was an instinctive and normal thing
to any child at my age
21.
But the best part of me……and bring them to
life.
Paraphrase: But the
best part ……at home: But my most unforgettable
memory was
always at home……
22. In books I have traveled……but into
my
own.
Paraphrase: While
reading books, I have not only traveled to
different places in
the world, but
roamed around my own inner world.
24.
There was waking, …… was never really a
stranger.
Paraphrase:
Between
the
tome
I
woke
up
and
the
tome
I
went
to
sleep,
I
just
read
books,
which
is
a
parallel
universe
to
me.
And
in
this
universe,
I
might
be
a
newcomer,
but was never a stranger.
25. My real,
true world. My perfect island.
Paraphrase:
To
me,
these
books
were
a
real,
true
world,
as
well
as
a
perfect
island
on
which I preferred to stay.
5) …as
though she was starving and the book was
bread.
Paraphrase: Jamaica
Kincaid was reading books with great eagerness, as
if the
books were her food.
27. Reading has always been my home,……
invincible companion.
Paraphrase: Reading has always given me
joy and comfort, food and drink, and
strength and companionship.
30. I realized that while my
satisfaction…… book it happened to be.
Paraphrase: I realized that while my
joy in reading had not weakened a bit, the
world was just as blind or hostile to
my joy as my girlfriends had been who had
banged
on
our
screen
door
or
had
begged
me
to
put
down
the
books
which
were
called
39. Reading for
pleasure,……from place to
place.
Paraphrase: some
people
did
not
believe
that
there
was
such
a
thing
as
reading
for
pleasure driven by a
strong
desire
from
the
heart,
They
regarded
it
as
an
idle,
aimless,
meaningless occupation just like
driving from place to place aimlessly on the
subway.
40. For many years I
worked……of problems to be addressed.
Paraphrase: I worked in the circle of
newspaper for many years. For many
journalists, reading in the latter half
of the twentieth century was usually
discussed as a lot of problems to be
resolved.
42. Had television and the
movies supplanted books?
Paraphrase:
Had books given way to televisions and the movies
? or
Had books been replaced by
televisions and the movies?
43. And in
circles devoted to……surrounding discussion of
reading.
Paraphrase: When
literary critics discussed the problem of reading
in their
circles, they sometimes showed
the terrible attitude that reading was a
right that only belonged to the elite,
not to be shared with other people.
53. We are the people who……went
out of print.
Paraphrase: We
are the people who would make sure that Pride and
Prejudice
would always be available.
54. It was still in the equivalent of
……one another.
Paraphrase:
We still found each other like we did when we were
young
56.
red I would lose
it,…… To Kill a Mockingbird.
Paraphrase: We often say that the
starving know the value of food and the man
dying of thirst knows the value of
water.
Unit2
1. I wandered the
world through books.
Paraphrase: I
learned many aspects of the world by reading
books.
2. One poem committed to
memory……in my mind.
Paraphrase: I still remember one poem I
learned in grade school.
3. Perhaps
only a truly discontented child……as I
was.
Paraphrase: Perhaps
only a child who is truly dissatisfied with the
reality can be
attracted by books as I
was.
4. Perhaps restlessness is a
necessary corollary of devoted literacy.
Paraphrase: Perhaps if a person really
devotes himself or herself to reading and
writing, he or she is bound to be
restless.
5. by the lure of
what……normal childhood.
Paraphrase: by the
power
of attracting which
was an
instinctive and normal thing
to any child at my age
6.
But the best part of me……and bring them to life.
Paraphrase:
But
the
best
part
……at
home:
But
my
most
unforgettable
memo
ry
was
always at home……
7. In books I have traveled……but into
my own.
Paraphrase: While
reading books, I have not only traveled to
different places in
the world, but
roamed around my own inner world.
8.
There was waking, …… was never really a
stranger.
Paraphrase:
Between the tome I woke up and the tome I went to
sleep, I just
read books, which is a
parallel universe to me. And in this universe, I
might be
a newcomer, but was never a
stranger.
9. My real, true world. My
perfect island.
Paraphrase: To me,
these books were a real, true world, as well as a
perfect
island on which I preferred to
stay.
10. …as though she was starving
and the book was bread.
Paraphrase: Jamaica Kincaid was reading
books with great eagerness, as if the
books were her food.
11.
Reading has always been my home,…… invincible
companion.
Paraphrase:
Reading has always given me joy and comfort, food
and drink, and
strength and
companionship.
12. and come outside ……
in their separateness.
Paraphrase: and come into contact with
the reality, who think themselves superior
to others and feel shame to be friends
with them.
13. For many years I
worked……of problems to be addressed.
Paraphrase:
I
worked
in
the
circle
of
newspaper
for
many
years.
For
many
journalists,
reading
in
the
latter
half
of
the
twentieth
century
was
usually
discussed as a lot
of problems to be resolved.
14. Reading
for pleasure,……from place to place.
Paraphrase: some people did not
believe that there was such a thing as reading
for
pleasure
driven
by
a
strong
desire
from
the
heart,
They
regarded
it
as
an
idle,
aimless, meaningless occupation just
like driving from place to place aimlessly on
the subway.
15. Had
television and the movies supplanted books?
Paraphrase: Had books given way to
televisions and the movies ? or
Had books been replaced by televisions and the
movies?
16. And in circles devoted
to……surrounding discussion of reading.
Paraphrase: When literary critics
discussed the problem of reading in their
circles,
they
sometimes
showed
the
terrible
attitude
that
reading
was
a
right
that
only
belonged to the elite, not to be shared with other
people. ( If we say some
people have
certain exclusive rights, it means these rights
are exclusive to these
people, not
shared with anybody else. )
17. We are
the people who……went out of
print.
Paraphrase: We are
the people who would make sure that Pride and
Prejudice
would always be available.
18. It was still in the equivalent of
……one another.
Paraphrase: We still found each other like we did
when we were young
Unit4
1.
…done his business like a dog at the
road side,……
Paraphrase: He had emptied his bowels or passed
water (urinated) like a dog
at the
roadside,……
2.
got scant thanks :
Paraphrase:
He
seldom
expressed
his
thanks
to
the
people
who
had
offered
him
some
food
3.
They
were not quite sure…… Now he was back at his
home.
Paraphrase: Some
were mad about wealth; some thirsted for power;
some
were crazy about sex……
4.
they amused
him
Paraphrase: These mad or
insane people made him think that they were all
ridiculous.
5.
He thought everybody
lived……anxiously.
Paraphrase: He thought that our life is too
complicated, too costly, and gives
us
too much pressure.
He
argued that we should simplify our life.
6.
He
was not the first to inhabit…out of
principle.
Paraphrase:
He was not the first to live in a cask. But he was
the first who
ever did so because he
wanted to, not by necessity, not being
forced to . He based it on aprinciple.
7.
But he taught
chief by example.
Paraphrase: Diogenes also taught by talking to
people, but he mainly taught
by setting
an example for others to learn from.
8.
They possess him. He is their slave.
Paraphrase: All those material things dominate his
life. He has to succumb to
them.
9. In order to procure a quantity
of……, his own independence.
Paraphrase: In order to get a certain amount of
material property or worldly
possessions which actually have no
value and will not last, he has
allowed
himself to be controlled by these
things
and
has
given away
his own
independence which is the only thing that is true
and can
last.
10. Not so
Diogenes
Paraphrase: However,
Diogenes was not such a person.
11. His
life's aim was clear to him:…… and to imprint it
with its true values.
Paraphrase: Diogenes is using the analogy
of
the change of human values. Human
life, in his opinion, is like clean metal, but
marked with false values, and it is his
intention to wipe out the false markings and
print true values on it.
12.
Diogenes answered
Paraphrase:
He
actually
meant
that
all
people
he
could
see
were
only
half-
men.
Here the word
13. And
so he lived……
Paraphrase: And that was how he
lived……
14. Only twenty,
Alexander was far older
and……restrained
and chivalrous.
Paraphrase:
Alexander looked far older than a man of his age
normally does,
and was much wiser
than man of his age
normally is.
15. asmazed silence: (
transferred epithet) It is of course “ the people”
who were
a
mazed, not
“silence”
Paraphrase: There
were the people who were amazed, but remained
silent.
16. But Alexander meant it
：
Paraphrase:
But Alexander really meant what he had said.
17. He knew that of all men then
alive……the beggar were free.
Paraphrase: Alexander knew that of all
the people alive at that time, he was
free
because
he
had
absolute
power
and
Diogenes
was
free
because he didn’t need any power.
Unit5
1
．
There was once
a town……in harmony with its
surroundings.
Paraphrase:
Once upon a time there was a town in the central
part of America
where
all
living
things
seemed
to
exist
peacefully
with
their
environment.
2. Then some evil spell settled on the
community:……but even among children.
Paraphrase:
Then,
as
by
some
evil
power,
disaster
struck
the
community:
strange
diseases quickly
struck down large numbers of children; the cattle
and
sheep became ill and died.
3. On the mornings that had once
throbbed with……there was now no sound….
Paraphrase:
The
morning
air
used
to
vibrate
with
the
singing
of
birds,
but
there
was now no sound….
4. … a harsh reality we all shall
know.
Paraphrase: … some
serious consequence that we all have to
face.
5.
…
the
physical
form
and
the
habits
of
the
earth’s
vegetation…by
the
environment.
Paraphrase: … the physical
features and habits
of the
living things on earth have
been
Greatly shaped by their surroundings.
6. … but it has changed in
character.
Paraphrase:
…
but
the
nature
of
this
power
to
alter
the
environment
has
changed.
7.
This pollution
is for the most irrecoverable.
Paraphrase: In most case, the polluted
air, soil, rivers and the sea cannot be
restored to their original natural
state.
8.
Or they
pass mysteriously……from once pure
wells.
Paraphrase:
Or
they
get
deeper
into
underground
streams,
undergosome
chemical
processes somewhere, and then become new
substances
that contaminate wells, kill
plants and make cattles as well as
people that drink the water sick.
9.
Given
time---
time not in years……a balance has
been reached.
Paraphrase:
When
the
environment
changes,
living
things
can
adapt
to
their
new
surroundings, but it is
a long process and it takes thousands of
years for life to be in harmony with
their modified world again.
10.
B
ut in the modern world
there is no time.
Paraphrase: But in
the modern world when man’s power
to
tamper with nature
has
become
so
great
and
he
is
so
eager
to
change
nature
for
short-term benefits, he does not think
of the long-term interest
of his own
species.
11.
T
he rapidity of change
follows…… deliberate pace of nature.
Paraphrase:
Man
is
changing
nature
rapidly
while
nature
adjusts
to
the
changes
slowly.
Therefore adjustment can never keep up
with change, and a new
balance
between living things and their
environment can hardly be reached.
12.
R
adiation is now the
unnatural creation of man’s tampering
with the atom.
Paraphrase:
In
the
past,
radiation
was
only
sent
out
from
radioactive
substances in certain rocks; today man
creates such harmful rays
by causing
the nucleus of the atom of such substances as
radium
to split
13.
T
he chemicals are the
synthetic c
reation of man’s tampering
with the atom.
Paraphrase:
Nature dose not produce such things as chemicals.
Chemicals are
man-
made and
the results of man’s creative power.
14.
A
nd even this,……in an
endless stream;….
Paraphrase: It would take some magic
power to make living things adjust to
these
chemicals
in
the
life
of
generations.
Even
if
this
were
possible,
it
would be useless, because new chemicals are
continuously being
created and
produced.
15.
…
find their way into actual
use:
Paraphrase: …manage to
enter the mar
ket and be sold to
farmers.
16.
d
escribed as “
pests”
Paraphrase: referred
to as destructive insects
17.
…
all this though the
intended target……weeds or insects.
Paraphrase: …all these serious
consequences come about perhaps just because
man wants to destroy a few weeds or
insects.
18.
C
an anyone believe it is
possible……but “ biocides”.
Paraphrase: Such number of poisons
stored on the surface of the earth will
surelly
make
it
unfit
for
all
living
things.
(This
is
a
rehtorical
question )
19.
T
hus the chemical war is
never
won,……in its violent
crossfire.
Paraphrase:
Therefore, this fight between man
and
pests wil never come to an
end, and all
living things are affected by or fall victom to
this
chemical war.
20.
b
rought the threat of
disease and death even to their own
kind…
Paraphrase: brought
the threat of disease and death even to huamn
beings
themselves…
21.
N
ature has
introduced……checks and balances.
Paraphrase: Nature keeps living things
in proportion, regulating their number
through
the
check
and
balance
mechanisms
of
itself.(In
other
words,
when
the
population
of
one
species
is
too
big/
small,
Nature
has a way of making
it decrease/ increase.)
22.
S
uch a system set the stage
for……insect population.
Paraphrase: Such a way of farming
creates favorable conditions for the rapid
increase of particular insects.
23.
I
n
new territory,……in its native land,…
Paraphrase: In new territory, since
there are no natural enemies as those that
did
not
allow
it
to
multiply
or
grow
too
rapidly
in
their
native
land,……
24.
T
hus it is no accident that
……are intr
oduced species.
Paraphrase: That’s why
the
most trouble
-making insects
in this country
are not
native but introduced, which is not
accidental at all.
25.
t
he explosive power of
outbreaks and new invasions
Paraphrase:
the power of insects to multiply/breed in large
numbers suddenly
and quickly and their
power to invade new territories
26.
W
e
have subjected enormous numbers of people
to……without their knowledge.
Paraphrase: By spraying insecticides on
food grains, vegetables and fruit, we
have caused large number of people to
absorb harmful chemicals
without asking
whether they would like to do so and often without
their knowing it.
Unit8
1.
… for children
who were now gray with age.
Paraphrase: … for children who now
became old people with gray hair.
2.
Through all
this she lay in bed but moved across time.
Paraphrase: While doing all this job,
she lay in bed but her mind wandered
across the past time.
3.
… traveling
among the dead decades…the gift of physical
science.
Paraphrase:
…traveling
among
the
past
decades
mentally
so
quickly
and
easily
that no physical
science would be able to manage to do it.
4.
She gazed at
this improbably overgrown figure ……and promptly
dismissed it.
Paraphrase: She looked steadily at me and could
not recognize me because I
was much too
big for the son in her memory. She simply could
not imagine the distant future when
her little Russel
would be that tall and big. Therefore she
immediately put that thought out of her
mind.
5. That day she was a young
cou
ntry wife…… to be her
father.
Paraphrase: That
day
she was a young country
wife
in the backyard behind the
apple orchard, from which she could see
the hazy blue Virginia
mountains. She
could not associate this stranger old enough to
be
her
father
with
her
son
who
was
only
as
tall
as
two
feet
from
the floor at that time.
6.
It was an awkward question with which to be
awakened.
Paraphrase: I was
awakened so early in the morning by such an
awkward
question.
7. “I’m
being buried today,” ……announcing an important
social event.
Paraphrase: “I’m going to be buried
today.” she said quickly, as if announcing
an important social event.
8.
I thought of a
doll with huge, fierce eyes.
Paraphrase: Her small and delicate figure reminded
me of a doll with very big
but intense
eyes.
9. There had always been a
fierceness in her.
Paraphrase:
Whatever she did, she did it determinedly, with
great and
unyielding effort.
10.
It
showed
in
that
angry
challenging
thrust
of
the
chin
when
she
issued
an opinion, and a
great one she had always been for issuing
opinions.
Paraphrase: This
character trait of her was shown when she
expressed an
would
stick
out
her
chin
in
an
angry
and
defiant
air.
Whenever she had
something to say, she would say it, never
afraid of speaking her mind out.
11. “It’s not always good policy……I
used to caution her.
Paraphrase: “It’s not always wise to
tell people your opinions.” I used to warn
her.
11.
“If
they
don’t
like
it,
that’s
too
bad,”……“because
that’s
the
way
I
am.”
Paraphrase : “If they don’t like the
way I talk, I can do nothing about it.”
That was her constant answer because it
was her usual way of
dealing with sb or
something.
12.
She had hurled herself at life……always
on the run.
Paraphrase:
Whatever she did (housework, raising children,
etc.), she did it
with great effort and
speed, so she seemed to be always
running.
13.
determined on a beheading that would
put dinner in the pot
Paraphrase:
determined to kill a chicken and cook it for
dinner
14.
For a
time I could not accept the inevitable.
Paraphrase: For a period of time I
could hardly believe such a strong and
formidable person as my mother had
become a helpless invalid, and
I simply
couldn’t face this fact.
15.
As I sat by her bed, my impulse was to argue her
back to reality.
Paraphrase: When
I sat by her hospital bed, I had a strong desire
to get her
to face her present
conditions and not to think at length about her
glories in the past.
16.
“Russell’s way out west,”
she advised
me.
Paraphrase: “
Russell’s not around. He’s far away in the west,”
she told me.
17. So it went
until a doctor came by……Then a
surprise.
Paraphrase:
The conversation went on like this until a doctor
came by to give
her
one
of
those
oral
quizzes
that
the
medical
workers
usually
apply to the
patients like her. She failed this oral quiz, or
gave wrong answers or answered none of
the quiz questions.
However, her answer
to one of the questions surprised all of
us.
18.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.
Paraphrase:
I hold that we have no reason to forget the plot
of Gunpowder
Treason.
19.
Then doctors
diagnosed an hopeless senility or hardening of the
arteries.
Paraphrase:
Then
doctors
concluded
that
my
mother
was
behaving
in
a
confused
way simply because
she was getting old, or her arteries were
becoming was an inevitable consequence
of aging, and they
could do little
about it.
20. For ten years or more
the ferocity……that too much age had brought
her.
Paraphrase: Throughout her life,
Russell Baker’s mother had fiercely fought
numerous
difficulties
she
encountered.
About
ten
years
or
more
ago,
she began to suffer physical and
psychological problems of aging,
which
she
couldn’t
tackle,
and
she
became
angry
with
this
situation.
20.
Now, after the last bad fall, she……in
which she ws needed.
Paraphrase: Now, after her last bad fall, she
seemed to have found a way
of
escaping
from
her
present
life
by
reminiscing
her
good,
old
days
when she was loved and needed.
21.
…I…had
written herwith some banal advice……with her
miseries.
Paraphrase:
In a letter I had advised her to make a special
effort to
appreciate
good
things
in
her
life
and
not
to
worry
those
who
came
to see
her by complaining about her unhappiness and
suffering.
22. I suppose what it
really amounted to was a th
reat
that…….
Paraphrase: I think
this “advice” was actually a warning
that…….
23. This one was
written out of a childish faith……to recharge a
flagging spirit.
Paraphrase: I wrote this letter naively
believing that parents’ strength would
never drain away, and aging as well as
declining health could be
overcome by a
strong will, and that words of encouragement would
fill a tired and weak person with
strength and energy again.
24. She
wrote back in an unusually cheey vein……that she
was mending her way.
Paraphrase: She answered the letter cheerfully,
which was very unusual. I
think she
wanted to show that she was acting on my advice
and was
improving.
25. I
soon stopped trying to argue her back……into the
past.
Paraphrase:
Soon
I
stopped
trying
to
persuade
her
to
accept
what
I
considered
the real world
and tried to help her to recall those marvellous
moments of happy life in the past.
26.
……and the
future stretched before it in beams of crystal
sunlight.
Paraphrase: ……and the bright future
spread out
or extended before the US./
The US would have boundless prospects.
27.
……if I had
been able to step into my mother’s time
machine.
Paraphrase:
……if
I
had
been
able
to
travel
to
all
those
past
times
together
with
my
mother.
28.
A world had lived and died,……the
w
orld of the pharaohs.
Paraphrase: The world my mother lived in when she
was young was now past.
Though I was
closely related to that world , I knew as little
about
it as I knew about the ancient
Egypt.
29. The orbits of her mind
touched the present interrogators for more than a
moment.
Paraphrase: She
could hardly respond relevantly to questions put
to her at
present because her mind
constantly wandering to certain past
phases of her life.
30.
Sitting at her bedside, forever out of touch with
her
……
Paraphrase:
Although
I
was
sitting
at
her
bedside,
very
close
to
her
physically,
I never knew
what she was thinking or talking about .
31. ……when age finally stirs their
curiosity there is no parent left to tell
them.
Paraphrase:
……when
they
become
old
and
want
to
learn
about
their
parents’past,
both their
parents are gone.
32. If a parent does lift the curtain a
bit,…… how much harder life was in the old
days.
Paraphrase: If a
parent tells the children something about his or
her past, it
often turns out to be a
moral lesson about how life was for him or
her, which does not make sense to the
children.
34. …… a son had offened me
with an inadequate report card.
Paraphrase: ……a
son
had
made
me
angr
y
because
his
report
card
showed
that
he
had not done very well at school.
35.
……he gazed at me with an expression……how it was in
your day, Dad.”
Paraphrase: ……he looked at his father
steadily, looking calm, seemingly ready
to accept what his father
wou
ld say though he knew he wouldn’t be
convinced. The boy knew what was
coming. He hated being lectured