大学英语备课笔记 3 册

UNIT 1 A Brush With The LawBackground Information1.Magistrates and the magistrate’s courtIn England, a magistrate is a person appointed to try minor offences. He is either an unpaid layman 外行or, in London and some other large cities, a paid judicial司法officer.In England, every district has a magistrate’s court. It is the lowest court of law. The magistrates’ court can only try people for minor, i.e. not very serious offences. It cannot give prison sentences totaling more than 12 months, nor can it order fines of more than 400 pounds for one offence.2.The sixties’ “youth counterculture”The word “counterculture” was coined in the 1960’s for the attitude and life style of many young people who rejected conventional social values and demanded more pers onal freedom. The counterculture first arose in the U. S. During the 1960’s and soon spread to Britain, France and other western countries. The young people were opposed to the Vietnam War and dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs in their society. Yet, unable to find a more constructive way of struggling against these, they indulged themselves in sex, drugs, alcohol and rock music and took great pride in wearing long hair and unusual clothes and in taking up anything that was unconventional. The counterculture declined in the late 1970’s.See the Hippies and the Beat Generation in Essentials of English Learning.3.Middle classIn Britain, the middle class refers to the class of people between the nobility and the working class. It includes professional men (doctor, lawyers, and architects), bankers owners of business and small gentry. In the United States, however, the middle class refers to the class of people between the very wealthy class of unskilled laborers and unemployed people. It includes businessmen, professional people, office workers, many skilled workers.4.Warm-up Activity1) What is the purpose of the law?We all know that the chief purpose of law are to maintain peace and order, to protect the rights of citizens, to secure justice and to punish wrong0doers. Good laws are those that are considered to serve the cause of justice for the society to which they apply. But even good laws may be unjustly applied or may be unjust in certain situations. In the story we are going to study today, the author tells us about what happened to him more than a decade ago. It was really a very unpleasant experience, yet it provides us with much food for thought精神食粮.2) True or false exercise in Teacher’s bookLanguage Points1.arbitrary: based on one’s own wishes or will rather than reason--If a leader makes decision without conducting investigations, he is being arbitrary.--The arbitrary decisions of the factory owners caused dissatisfaction among the workers.2.circumstance: conditions, facts, etc. Connected with an event or a person--We cannot expect him to continue these activities under such unfavorable circumstances.--Because of circumstances beyond our control the meeting was cancelled.3.subsequent: coming after, following--Subsequent events proved that my judgement of the situation was right.--The story will be continued in subsequent issues of the magazine.4.due: 1) expected or scheduled to arrive or be ready; supposed--The train from Beijing is due at 1:30.--The young man is due to appear in the Magistrates’ court next Monday.2) to be paid or returned--When is the rent due?--The books are due today but I want to renew some of them.5.obvious: easy to see or understand; clear--It was obvious that the policeman mistook me for a thief.--For obvious reasons, the magistrate dismissed the case after fifteen minutes.6.wander: walk around a place in casual way, often without a fixed course, aim.--After supper he would go out and wander alone in the streets for about an hour.--David wandered through the bookstore, hoping to find a good for Lily’s birthday.7.confirm: strengthen; prove to be true--What you have told me about Steve confirmed me I my suspicion that he has stolen my gold watch.--His hypothesis was later confirmed by other scientists.8.conduct: manage; direct; carry out--After failing a dozen times or so, Dr. Wilson decided to conduct 6the experiment in a different way.--The police are conducting investigations into these murders.9.given: considering, if one takes into account--Given their inexperience, they’ve done a good job.--Given his age, the performance is amazing.10.meanwhile: during the same period of time--The boy had gone back home all by himself. Meanwhile, his parents were lookingfor him in the park.--Bob wen to the post office to send a letter. Meanwhile Lily was preparing lunch at home.plain: speak in an unhappy, dissatisfied way--For my own part, I have nothing to complain about.--He is always complaining about the weather in Shanghai.12.take sb. to court: take legal action against sb.--I told him that I would take him to court if he did not repay the money in a week. --If you go on ill-treating your wife like this, you will be taken to court.13.a couple of: a small number of; a few, usually two--I’ve got a couple of tickets. Will you go with me?--Tom is quite busy now. His wife is expecting a baby in couple of weeks.14.save up: keep for future use--It took him a year to save up enough money for a computer.--They are now saving up to buy a house in the suburbs.15.take one’s time: not to hurry; do sth. In an unhurried way--Just take your time and tell me clearly what happened at the meeting yesterday.--It’s better to take your t ime over a piece of work and do it properly than to hurry and make mistakes.16.turn out: be found or discovered; prove to be--It turned out that the best student in my class is the son of a classmate of mine.--The weather turned out pretty nice that day.17.call on (up): invite; require; appeal to--The President called on his people to work hard for national unity.18.stand a chance: have a chance--I would apply for the post if I were you. I think you stand a good chance.--Do you think Mary stands a chance of being elected.19.revolve around: move in circles around--The moon revolves around the earth, and the earth revolves around the sun.--Mary has no other outside interest at all. Her whole life revolves around her husband and the children.20.turn against: oppose--He tried in vain to turn the students against their professors.--What do you think had turned Mary against her parents?UNIT 2The Woman Who Would Not TellBackground Information1.The American Civil WarThe American Civil war was a four-year armed conflict between northern and southern sections of the United States. The fighting began April 12, 1861, and lasted until May 1865.For a long time before the Civil War, the North and the South had disagreed with each other on many issues. Most people in the North wanted to abolish slavery, or at least to stop its spread to new states, while the slave owners of the South held that slavery should be allowed everywhere.Another issue that divided the North and the South was a political one. The North believed in a strong central government, that is, the federal government should have more power than the state governments. Most Southerners, however, regarded the nation as a union of separate and more or less independent states. They held that a state had the right to withdraw, or “secede”, from the Union when it felt its interests to be threatened.Language Points1.capture--In the battle they captured 30 prisoners.--The police have not captured the murderer yet.2.former: of an earlier time--Former US President Richard Nixon is well remembered in China for what he did to normalize the US-China relationship.--My uncle was proud that a former student of his had won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.3.awful: terrible; very bad--The medicine tastes awful. I feel like throwing up.--The war movie is full of awful scenes which I think are not suitable for children.4.lean: support or rest oneself in a bent or sloping position--Feeling a little dizzy, she leaned against the wall for support.--He used to lean back in his easy chair (安乐椅)after supper and enjoy some light music before going on with his writing.5.establish: find out or make certain of (a fact, answer, etc.); prove--Who established the fact the earth is round? Columbus.--John established his innocence by showing that he was travelling abroad when the murder was committed.6.identity: who a particular person is--The police were unable to establish the identity of the man killed in the accident. --Do you know the identity of the man who attacked you?--identity card 身份证7. supply: the food, equipment, etc, necessary for an army, expedition or the like--A big country like ours cannot depend on other countries for our food supplies.--We have nearly finished our supplies. How can we continue our journey through the mountains?8. bear: have; show--John is really very careless. The check he sent me yesterday bears no signature of his!--China’s 100 yuan note bears a portrait and a watermark of Mao Zedong’s head. 9. item: one of a number of things, esp. in a list or as a group--The X-ray scanner(扫描器) examines every passenger’s luggage so that no prohibited items are carried abroad.10.risk: place in danger; take the chance of--Jack risked his life in trying to save the drowning child.--You are risking your health by smoking so many cigarettes a day.--If you wait any longer you will risk missing your train.11.junior: younger; lower in rank or importance--After graduation from college my brother became a junior clerk in a foreign bank.12.disaster: a great or sudden misfortune; a terrible accident--Every year throughout the world natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions cause losses of life and property.--If pollution and the imporper use of certain chemicals continue, environmental disasters will be inevitable.13.lower: move or let down; drop--When the teacher praised her, Janet lowered her head in shyness.--He leaned forward to me and lowered his voice, as if he were going to tell me something secret.14.flare up: suddenly become angry, fierce or violent, esp. of a person, fire, battle,et --I don’t like to see you flare up so easily.--The fighting in the Middle East flare up again last Saturday with heavy losses on both sides.--Soon after he left the hospital, his lung cancer flared up again.15.or: otherwise; if not--Hurry or you will be late.--I must go now or I shall be late. (See exercise 16)16.see that / see to it that: make sure that; take care that--I promise to see that the fee is paid without delay.--See that everything is properly arranged beforehand.--See to it that the lights are turned off before you leave the office.17. brush aside: disregard, ignore--He brushed aside all our suggestions.--The doctor’s opinions cannot be brushed aside.18.bring through: save (sb.) from (an illness, etc.)--The surgeon decided that only a successful operation could bring the patient through.--It was his firm belief in the final victory that brought him through the war. Reading ActivityScanning: we only try to locate specific information and often e do not even follow the linearity of the passage to do so. We simply let our eyes wander over the text until we find what we are looking for, whether it be a name, a date or a less specific piece of information.Skimming: when skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer.Skimming is therefore a more thorough activity which requires an overall view of the text and implies a definite reading competence. Scanning, on the contrary, is far more limited since it only means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose. Yet it is usual to make use of these two activities together when reading a given text. For instance, we may well skim through an article first just to know whether it is worth reading, then read it through more carefully because we have decided that it is of interest. It is possible afterwards to scan the same article in order to note down a figure or a name which we particularly want to remember.Scanning techniques are particularly helpful when we want to consult a dictionary, look for a certain advertisement (hunting for a job, renting a house, etc.), or finding a date or a name. When we look for the amount or the number of something, we simply look at the Arabic numerals; when we want to find the name of a person or an organization, we just scan for the words beginning with a capital letter.UNIT 3Why I TeachBackground Information1.Introductory RemarksTeaching has been considered an undesirable profession in many parts of the world. Education may be respected and highly valued, but teachers are not. Their pay and prestige are low in most countries. They work long hours both during the day and in the evening and their hard work often goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Yet, there have always been people who love the teaching profession and chooseteaching as their life-long career. Here, Mr. Beidler, Professor of English at Lehigh Uni versity in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., who was named 1983’s Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, give his reasons why he teaches.2.Warm-up Activity1)Ask students whether they like teaching or not, and give their reasons.2)How do they think that the newspaper once said most university teachersbelonged to the high-salary group?3)Tell the students my choice and the reasons.4)Ask the students to go over the text very quickly and find out the reasons whyMr. Beidler chose teaching as his career.Language Points1.Puzzle:make unable to answer, solve or understand; fill with doubt and confusion --I’m puzzled why he declined our invitation.--The woman’s illness puzzled the doctor; he couldn't find the cause.2.Profession: job that needs formal qualifications after training, e.g. law, medicine, teaching, acting.--As a sophomore, I still don’t know what profession would suit me best.--Jeanne has decided on law as her profession. She wants to become a civil rights lawyer and help the poor.3.Convince:cause (sb.) to believe; persuade (sb.)--It took me a long time to convince him that he could learn English as well as anyone else in the class.--Teachers like to convince their students of the importance of study, but students are not easily convinced.pel:make (sb.) do sth. By or as if by force--He was compelled by illness to drop out of school.--Having found himself out of gas, the driver was compelled to walk several miles to the nearest village.5.opportunity: favorable occasion or chance--Do come to our party tomorrow evening! It will give you an opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people.--This conference offers us a good opportunity to learn from one another.6.stimulate: excite (the body or mind); cause to become more active, energetic, etc. --The teacher’s praise stimulated Tom to study even harder.--Exercise stimulates the circulation of the blood.7.failure: lack of success; failing; instance of failing--Without your timely help, our plans would have ended in failure.--We had many failures before finding the right method of teaching.8.loan: something lent, esp. a sum of money--It’s more and more difficult to get a bank loan now.--The World Bank has promised to make a further loan of $ 2 million for this project.9.distribute: divide among several or many; give or send out--People there often complain that wealth is not evenly distributed in their society. --New information is quickly distributed to millions of people all over the world by means of Internet.10.variety: state of varying; a number of different kinds--My job lacks variety; I am doing the same things all the time.--a variety of … (objects, shows, books, etc.)11.occasional: happening from time to time; not regular--Your writing is quite good except for a few occasional mistakes in spelling or grammar.--In these islands there are occasional earthquakes, but not very violent ones.12.switch (to): turn from one subject or activity to another--In Japan, Lu Xun started as a medical student but then witched to literature.--As the demand for tape-recorders has fallen off the factory has switched to the production of color TV sets.13.point: use; purpose--What’s the point of / in talking to her again? She’s already made up her mind.--Now that Father has made the final decision, there is no point in arguing further.14.stay up: not go to bed--He stays up reading and writing until midnight every day.--I’ll be home late, but please don’t stay up for me.15.to learn one’s lesson(s): to learn sth. Useful from the mistake(s) one has made--He has learnt his lesson, and will not repeat the mistake.--I have learned my lesson from the accident and won’t drive too fast again.16.build on: base on--The Chongqing’s economy is primarily built on its industry.--Don’t build too many hopes on h is helping you.17.leave out: fail to mention or include--You left out an important detail in your report of the accident.--Be sure not to leave anyone out in your invitation.18. catch one’s breath--The beauty of the scene made him catch his breath.这美丽的风景令人叹为观止--I had to pause halfway to catch my breath.我不得不中途停下来歇口气UNIT 4Lady Hermits Who Are Down But Not Out Background Information1. Introductory RemarksAlthough termed “lady hermits”, the shopping-bag ladies of New York City are, in a sense, neither “ladies” nor “hermits”. They live in the open, often on the stairways of bus and train stations, in the doorways of apartment buildings, or in the passages of subway stations.Homeless and lonely, these shopping-bag ladies live a poor and miserable life. They suffer from delusions and fantasies and often have been inmates in mental institutions. They live in a world of their own creation apart from the real world around them. Most New Yorkers pass them each day and grow indifferent to their presence.However, they are not totally forgotten. Efforts have been made by various kinds of people, such as priests, nuns, researchers and social workers, to improve their lot.2. Warm-up ExerciseAsk students to go over the text rapidly and find out the characteristics of the shopping-bag ladies.3.Analyze the topicHermit: has different cultural connotations in Chinese and English. In Chinese culture, hermit 隐士refers to the person who does not want to be a officer because he is dissatisfactory with or tired of the dominator or the world and lives in a lonely place. In English hermit refers to a person who lives apart from the wold for religious contemplation, just like the Chinese”居士”. The choice of hermit reflects the social status and inside world of the shopping-bah ladies. Compared with the real hermit, they have no tranquility and spiritual pursuit but unfair treatment. Thus, hermit here is the person who, although lives in a large city, lives in a solitary world of his own, detached from the real world.Lady is a respectful, cultural woman with a certain social status.Down but not out: when a boxer is knocked down, the referee counts to ten. If a boxer is unable to rise to his feet, he is out, which means he is no longer in the game. Here, those lady hermits are suffering from misfortune and are low in social position, but they refuse to accept defeat and persist in their clinging to life. Explain: Self-respected women are suffering from misfortune and having low social position, but they struggle with life and go on living.Cultural Background1.dog: The Americans have dog as their pet. It is their best friend, so they feeldisgusted with eating the meat of dog. Although “dog” in English sometimes has a derogatory sense, such as “treat someone like a dog”, it is a neutral or commendatory term in most cases as in: You lucky dog. 你是一个幸运的人Every dog has its day.凡人皆有得意日。