大专英语(III)Unit3.docVIP

Book III Unit 3 Life is Full of Choices 1. Michael is no run-of-the-mill kind of guy. (Para. 1) Meaning: Michael is by no means an ordinary man. No, as a determiner (限定词), means not a or not any. But in certain circumstances no and not a cannot be used interchangeably. For example, He is no singer. (means “He can’t sing at all.” 他根本不会唱歌.) He is not a singer. (just indicates the fact that the person is not a singer by profession. 他不是个歌唱家, 但不一定不会唱歌.) Therefore, the sentence “Michael is no run-of-the-mill kind of guy.” suggests that Michael is an extraordinary (不一般的) kind of person. guy: Note that “guy” is used on informal occasions in American English. 2. run-of-the-mill: adj. ordinary; not special in any way 普通的; 不突出的 The president of our school wishes us not to be run-of-the-mill people in the future. 我们的校长希望我们将来成为了不起的人. The play was a bit run-of-the-mill. 这出戏不够精彩. 3. at work: doing sth., especially doing work 在工作中; 在干活 George was at work on his car when the accident took place. 事故发生时George在修汽车. When I was at your age, I was at work day and night in the laboratory. 我在你这个年龄时, 日夜在实验室工作. 4. … he would reply, “If I were any better, I’d be twins!” (Para. 1) Please notice the subjunctive mood (虚拟语气) used in the sentence. English people use this expression to tell others that they are in a very happy mood. By saying “I’d be twins”, the speaker means he has a maximum (最大量的) level of happiness himself and could only be MORE happy if there should be someone exactly like him. 5. If an employee had a bad day, Michael would tell him/her how to look on the positive side of the situation lest they’d continue feeling down. (Para. 2) Note that the subject “they” in this sentence refers to “him/her” in the main clause. It may seem that the pronoun concord (代词一致) is problematic (有问题的) , but in informal speech such disagreement (不一致) is very common. Everyone was clapping their hands. 大家都在鼓掌. Nobody