Book_One精读英语一.doc

Unit 1 The English Language Text 1 English Is a Queer Language I. Questions about the understanding of the text Why does the author say English is queer? Do you think English is queer? 3. How does the author demonstrate that English is a queer language? II. Close Reading of the Text 1. queer (adj.): strange or difficult to explain奇怪的, 奇妙的,古怪的 e.g. act in a queer way行为古怪have queer ideas有古怪的想法 That's queer indeed! 真奇怪! (vt.): to ruin or thwart把...弄糟, 损坏, 破坏 e.g. queer sb.'s plans破坏某人的计划 His cheating on the final queered his chances of graduation. 他在大考中作弊影响了他的毕业。 2. phrasal verb : a group of words that act like a verb and consist usually of a verb with an adv. and/or a prep 动词词组 e.g. see (sth.) through/ look for (sth.) 3. defy (v.) : to refuse to obey or behave in the usual or expected way 不服从, 公然反抗, 违抗 e.g. defy the law 违法 So the plague defied all medicines (Daniel Defoe) “所有药物都无法治愈的瘟疫”(丹尼尔·迪福) 4. essay (n.): a usually short piece of writing on a particular subject, esp. as part of a course of study散文, 小品文, 随笔 e.g. The other day I came across an interesting essay on the war with Napoleon.前几天我偶然地读到一篇关于同拿破仑作战的有趣文章。 political essay政论文 essay question(与填充题、是非题相对而言的)问答题 5. Linguistically oriented as it is, the essay does not make heavy reading. Paraphrase: Although the essay discusses language maters, it is not difficult to read and understand. 本文虽属语言学范畴，但读起来并不难懂。 1) oriented (v. + -ed) : giving a great deal of time, effort, or attention to something e.g. export-oriented industries 出口型企业 democratically-oriented votes 民主投票 a poor but education-oriented family 重视教育的 2) as (conj.): introduces an inverted structure for emphasis e.g. Cold as it was, John went swimming. = Although it was cold … Rich as she is, she counts every penny. = Although she is rich... 6. anecdotal (adj.) : containing short, interesting or amusing stories about particular persons or events轶话的,多轶事趣闻的 anecdotal approach: a way of talking about something by employing interesting or amusing stories