unit4 book4

in decline

in decline/ on the decline: losing strength; declining

As she was getting older, her mental

powers were on the decline.

衰落的文明

a civilization in decline/on the decline

debt

debt: n. a sum of money that you owe

He had enough money to pay off his father’s debts.

Shrinking economies mean falling tax revenues and more government debt.

go/run into debt 欠债

pay off/settle a debt 还债

in debt to sb. for …欠某人… 数目的债

out of debt 不欠债

a business/gambling/personal debt 生意上的债/赌债/私人债务

●characteristic

characteristic: n. special mark or quality

Genes determine the characteristics of every living thing.

CF: character, characteristic & feature

这三个词都有“特征”之意。

character 主要指人的性格、品质。例如：

You can read a guy’s character at the first glance.

你一眼就可以看出一个人的性格。

characteristic 意为“特性”、“特征”，指某人或某事具有的区别其他人或事物的特征或特点。例如：

A characteristic of the camel is its ability to live for a long time without water.

骆驼有一个特点：即使不喝水也能活很长时间.

●feature

feature 意为“特色”、“特征”，指显著的、引人注意的特征，尤面部表情或长相的描写。例如：

But the most important feature of our work must be parental involvement.

不过我们这项工作最大的特色应该是家长的参与。

His nose is his best feature.

他脸上最中看的部分是他的鼻子。

●paralyze

paralyze: vt. make ineffective; make (sb.) lose the ability to move part or all of the body

He had a minor stroke in 1987,which left him partly paralyzed.

The explosion killed about two hundred people and paralyzed part of the city's transportation system.

●thesis

thesis: n. 1）an idea or theory that tries to explain why sth. happens;

2）a long piece of writing about a particular subject that you do as part of a university degree such as an MA or a PhD

Their main thesis is that inflation is caused by increase in the money supply.

He was awarded his PhD for a thesis on industrial robots.

●historical

historical: adj. concerning past events; based on the study of history

Many historical documents and photographs are preserved in the provincial archives in Nanjing. CF: historic & historical

这两个词都有“历史上的”之意。

historic 泛指历史上有名的或富有历史意义的。例如：

The signing of the Declaration of Independence was a historic occasion.

《独立宣言》的签订具有历史意义。

historical 主要意思是属于历史的，历史上的，与历史有关的，真实的而不是传说中的。例如：He gave all his historical papers to the library.

他把他所有的历史资料都赠给这个图书馆。

●precedent

precedent: n. earlier happening, decision, etc. taken as an example or rule for what comes later The appointment of female commander of a navy warship is without precedent.

create/establish/set a precedent开辟先例

break (a) precedent 打破先例

a precedent for …为… 确定的先例

without precedent无先例的，空前的

●have a/the sense that:

have a/the sense that: feel/believe/realize that

As soon as we had the sense that something was wrong, we moved the children away.

We have the sense that one month’s preparation is far from enough if we want to accomplish the project.

●mentality

mentality: n. characteristic attitude of mind; way of thinking

Can you understand the mentality of someone who likes to watch animals fighting each other? Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.

●plural

1. adj. involving more than one person or thing or different kinds of people or things

His government has pledged to move the country towards a plural democracy.

A plural form of a noun is the form that is used to refer to more than one person or thing.

Data is the Latin plural form of datum.

2. n.Dogs is the plural of dog. pluralism: n.多元主义；多元文化

●immigrant

immigrant: n. a person who moves as a settler to another country

Historically, the United States has attracted vast numbers of immigrants from around the globe. Put into each gap one of the following words in its proper form.

immigrant, emigrant, migrant

1. Migrant workers move from country to country in search of work.

2. The U.S.A. has assimilated immigrant from most of the countries of Europe.

3. Canada has many immigrant from Europe.

4. He is a(n) emigrant to Britain because he hates the food there.

●network