考研英语名师指导：通过阅读学词汇(二)

　　考研英语名师指导-阅读学词汇(二)

　　Unit Four

　　Waiting in Line

　　The British queue up and the Americans wait in line, except for New Yorkers, who wait on line. No one seems to know the reason for this local idiom. It is

　　something to ponder while waiting in/on line.

　　Another thing to ponder: It is estimated that Americans spednd up to five years of their lives in that tedious, weary but unavoidable process known as waiting. Studies show that otherwise rational people act irrationally when forced to stand in line or wait in crowds, even becoming violent.

　　Queues are a grim reality of city life. While there seems to be no consensus onthe city's worst line, the ones mentioned most often in talks here and there were lunchtime lines at banks and post offices and, among younger people, movie lines and college-registration lines.

　　"Bank lines," said Mark Sloane, an investor. "No matter what time of day you bank, the number of tellers is inadequate to the number of patrons. Even when the bank is open you see long lines infront of the money machines outside."

　　"Supermarkets," said Ed Frantz, a graphic artist, who once abandoned a full shopping cart in the middle of a long checkout line. It was not a political act. "The line was filled with coupon clippers and check writers," he recalled. "And suddenly I had to walk away. Food no longer mattered."

　　In any line the fundamental rule is first come, first served, or what dsocial scientists call "distributive justice." Exceptions may be made, say, in fancy restaurants where the headwaiters have their favorites, but, in general, the rule prevails.

　　If misery loves company, so do sports fans. Dr. Leon Mann documented this several years ago when, as a Harvard professor, he studied the long overnight queues for tickets to ball games in his native Australia.

　　"Outside the stadium something of a carnival atmosphere prevails," he wrote in The American Journal of Sociology. "The devotees sing, sip warm drinks, play cards and huddle together."

　　Like the teams they had come to watch, the fans in line took timeouts. Some worked in shifts, with certain members leaving to take naps or eat meals, while others saved their places in line. Some staked claims in line with items of personal property such as sleeping bags and folding chairs. "During the early hours of waiting," Dr. Mann noted, "the queues often consisted of one part people to two parts inanimate objects."

　　Nobody has ever seriously studied Helen Quinn's Saturday morning line for Metropolitan Opera tickets, but perhaps someone should --Miss Quinn is not an official at the Met.

　　For 15 years standees at the opera have been doing 　just that, 　thanks to Miss Quin's ticketing system. She makes, dates and numbers her tickets-- one for each of the 175 standing room spots available-- and dispenses them to early birds. Assured of a place, ticket holders then leave and return shortly before 8 A.M. to line up for the real tickets.

　　idiom n. 1.习语,成语 2.风格,特色

　　ponder v. 思索,考虑,沉思

　　[联想词]

　　contemplate vt. 1.盘算,计议 2.思量,周密考虑 3.注视,凝视

　　weary a. 1.疲劳的,疲倦的 2.使疲劳的,令人厌倦的 vi.厌倦的,不耐烦

　　[联想词]

　　tiresome a.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的

　　grim a. 1.讨厌的,糟糕的 2.严厉的 3.严酷的,无情的

　　consensus n. [单](意见等)一致,一致同意

　　patron n. 1.资助人,赞助人 2.老主顾,顾客

　　resent vt. 对...表示忿恨,怨恨

　　graphic a. 1.生动的,形象的 2.绘画的,文字的,图表的

　　coupon n. 1.礼券,优惠券 2.配券,票证

　　clip n. 1.夹子,回形针,别针 2.弹夹,弹仓 3.剪,修剪 4.剪报,电影片断

　　vt.(clipped;clipping) 1.夹住,扣住 2.剪,修剪 3.削减,缩短

　　[联想词]

　　clamp n.夹头,夹具,夹钳 vt.(用夹具等)夹紧,固定

　　prevail vi. 1.流行,盛行 2.获胜,占优势 3.说明,劝说,诱使

　　prevalent a.流秆的,普遍的

　　misery n. 1.痛苦,苦恼,苦难 2.悲惨的境遇,贫苦

　　carnival n. 1.表演会 2.庆祝,欢宴 3.狂欢节

　　[联想词]

　　feast n. 1.盛宴,筵席 2.节日

　　sociology n. 社会学

　　sip v.(sipped,sippig)小口地喝,抿,呷 n. 小口喝

　　huddle vi. 1.聚集在一起 2.把身子蜷成一团 vt.使聚集在一起

　　n.挤在一起的人,一堆杂乱的东西

　　inanimate a. 1.无生命的,非动物的 2.无生气的,单调的

　　metropolitan a.大城市的,大都会的

　　dispense vt. 1.分配,分发 2.配(药),发(药) 3.实施,执行

　　[联想词]

　　disperse vi. 1.分散,散开 2.消散,消失 vt. 1.使分散,赶散 2.使消散,驱散

　　Unit Five

　　Aggressive Patriotism in Sports

　　Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations. Others say that the opposite is true: that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic games have done little to support the view that sports encourages international brotherhood. Not only, was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.

　　One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the users objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents' victory was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said:"This wasn't hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished." The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension of the team for at least three years.

　　The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their contest. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.

　　Incidents of this kind well continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. In the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism.

　　tragic a. 1.悲惨的,可悲的 2.悲剧(性)的

　　[联想词]

　　dreadful a. 1.糟透了的,极不合意的 2.极端的,极其大的 3.可怕的,令人畏惧的

　　pathetic a. 1.差劲的,令人生厌的 2.可悲的,可怜的,引起怜悯的

　　disastrous a. 1.灾难性的,造成灾害的 2.极坏的,很糟的

　　catastrophe n. 大灾难,灾祸

　　destructive a. 破坏(性)的,毁灭(性)的

　　comic a. 喜剧的,滑稽的

　　incident n. 1.发生的事 2.事件,事变

　　incidence n.[单]发生率

　　incidentally ad.顺便说及,顺便提一句

　　indignation n. 愤怒,愤慨,义愤

　　indignant a. 愤怒的,愤慨的,义愤的

　　[联想词]

　　fury n. 1.狂怒,暴怒 2.狂暴,猛烈

　　furious a. 1.狂怒的,暴怒的 2.强烈的,激烈的

　　dismay n. 1.失望,气馁 2.惊恐,惊愕 vt. 1.使失望,使气馁 2.使惊恐,使惊愕

　　hockey n. 曲棍球

　　[联想词]

　　versus prep. 1.以...为对手,对 2.与...相对,与...相比之下

　　federation n. 1.联合会 2.联邦

　　suspension n.1.暂停,中止 2.停止参加,暂时剥夺 3.悬架,悬置机构4.悬浮液5.悬,挂,吊

　　disturbance n. 1.扰乱,打扰 2.骚乱,混乱 3.心神不安,烦恼

　　[联想词]

　　harassment n. 1.侵扰,骚扰 2.烦恼,困苦

　　patriotism n. 爱国主义,爱国精神,爱国心patriot n. 爱国者,爱国主义者

　　patriotic a. 爱国的,有爱国心的,显示爱国精神的

　　Unit Six

　　Manners Are Practically Non-Existent

　　Manners nowadyas in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existent. It is nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her, as he ought. In fact, it is saddening to note that if a man does offer his seat to an older woman, it is nearly always a Continental man or one from the older generation.

　　This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued about by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves "First come, first served," while a greyhaired woman, a mother with a young child or a cripple stands? Yet this is all too often seen.

　　Conditions in travel are really very hard on everyone, we know, but hardship is surely no excuse. Sometimes one wonders what would have been the behaviour of these stuot young men in a packed refugee train or a train on its way to a prison-camp during the War. Would they have considered it only right and their proper due to keep the best places for themselves then?

　　Older people, tired and irritable from a day's work, are not angels, either -- far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but one does feel there is just a little more excuse.

　　If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems imperative, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistants won't bother to assist, taxi-drivers growl at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductor pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or offer the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration.

　　名人名言

　　You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.

　　----Beverly Sills

　　metropolitan a.大城市的,大都会的

　　[联想词]

　　municipal a. 市的,市政的

　　courtesy n. 1.谦恭有礼 2.有礼貌的举止(或言词)

　　cripple n. 跛子,伤残人 vt. 1.使跛,使受伤致残 2.严重削弱,使陷于瘫痪

　　stout a. 1.发胖的,胖而大的 2.结实的,牢固的 3.勇敢的,大胆的,顽强的

　　[联想词]

　　sturdy a. 1.强壮的,结实的,坚固的 2.坚定的,坚强的

　　hardy a. 1.强壮的,坚强的,能吃苦耐劳的 2.耐寒的

　　robust a. 强壮的,健康的

　　muscular a. 肌肉发达的,强壮的

　　fragile a. 1.易碎的,脆的,易损坏的 2.虚弱的,脆弱的

　　irritate vt. 1.使恼怒,使烦躁 2.使(身体某部分)不适,使疼痛

　　irritable a. 1.易怒的,急躁的 2.(器官等)过敏的

　　[联想词]

　　aggravate vt. 1.加重,加剧,使恶化 2.激怒,使恼火

　　angel n. 1.天使 2.可爱的人

　　brisk a. 1.轻快的,生气勃勃的 2.兴隆的,繁忙活跃的 3.寒冷而清新的

　　[联想词]

　　energetic a. 精力充沛的,充满活力的

　　slack a. 1.不活跃的,萧条的,清淡的 2.懈怠的,马虎的 3.松(驰)的

　　n. (绳索等)松弛部分 vi.懈怠,懒散

　　weary a. 1.疲劳的,疲倦的 2.使人疲劳的,使人厌倦的 vi.(of)厌烦,不耐烦

　　shove vt. 1.乱推,挤 2.乱塞,随意做 vi. 用力推,挤 n.猛推

　　commend vt. 1.表扬,称赞 2.推荐

　　imperative a. 1.必要的,紧急的,极重要的 2.命令的 n. 必要的事,必须完成的事

　　growl vi. 1.(动物)发狺狺声 2.低志咆哮着说话

　　[联想词]

　　howl vi.嚎叫,吼叫,(风)呼啸 n.嚎叫,吼叫,(风)呼啸

　　yell vi. 号叫,叫喊 n.号叫,叫喊

　　mutter v. n.轻声低语,小声抱怨

　　mute a. 1.缄默的,无声的 2.哑的,举说话的 3.(字母)不发声的 vt.消除(声音),减轻声音

　　murmur v. n. 小声说话,小声抱怨,咕哝

　　buzz n. 嗡嗡声 vi.发出嗡嗡声

　　deteriorate vi. 变坏,恶化

　　deterioration n. 变坏,恶化,堕落

　　[联想词]

　　crumble vt. 弄碎 vi. 崩溃,瓦解

　　perfection n. 完美,完善

　　[联想词]

　　intact a. 完整无缺的,未经触动的,未受损伤的

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