unit 7 The English Countryside part2

Which aspects were used to describe the English countryside by the author?
• • • • village in a valley homestead/farm river cottage • • • • beach brook cornfield bushes
sheltered by ample trees
small and insignificant in which a boy can bathe English rivers men lean over the weirs and watch the swallows
in which a farm-hand can tickle a trout
1. Most Englishmen, if only because of the natural formation of their island, are essentially more at home in the lowlands than on the heights.
the areas with hills and mountains Explanation: The highlands are much more barren than the valleys and are thus less desirable for habitation and more suitable for sheep farming. Translation: 如果只考虑他们这个岛国的自然地势，绝大多数 英国人感到生活在低地比生活在高地要舒适得多。
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______ ____
Explanation: a worker or laborer on a farm can catch a trout by hand occasionally Translation: 当然，它们不像莱茵河、多瑙河、伏尔加河那样， 有许多民歌为之歌唱，但至少它们能供孩子嬉水，能让农夫偶 尔在那儿抓鲑鱼。
scarcely ... when, not only, seldom, not until, nowhere
On no account must this switch be touched. Only by shouting was he able to make himself heard. Never before had I been asked to accept a bribe.
concessive clause/ clause of concession 4. Such rivers, insignificant as they may be, influence the lives of those who live near them in the most subtle and sensuous way. Translation: 这些河流虽不起眼，却在不经意地而又切切实实 地影响着周围居民的生活。
2. Second reading
• Work in groups and try to find out the answers to the following questions.
What is the popular idea of an English village?
English village
cultivated fields
lawn
bay
cliff cornfield rice pad
Book 2-Unit 7
beach bushes brook
estuary
valley
orchards
• 1. First reading • Read the text quickly and try to identify which aspects were used to describe the English countryside by the author?
hardly ever, on no account, hardly ... when, only by,
in no circumstances, only in this way, neither/nor, only then/when, never, scarcely ever, no sooner ... than,
Hardly/Scarcely ever did they manage to meet unobserved.
Important words and phrases
permit of homely occupations
on the west edge of the Cotswolds
The cottage that the author once lived
orchards and pastures to the Malvens on the one hand
Certain adverbs and adverb phrases, mostly with a restrictive or negative sense, can for emphasis be placed at the beginning of a sentence or clause and are then followed by the predicate. Some of this kind of adverbs are given as below:
restrictive adjective clause 3. Certainly they are not the kind about which national songs are composed, as in the case of the Rhine or the Danube or the Volga; but at least they are the kind in which a boy can bathe and in which (even today) a farm-hand can tickle an occasional trout.
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As can mean though/although but only in the combination of “adjective + as + subject + be/seem/appear”: Tired as he was, he offered to carry her. Strong as he was, he couldn’t lift it. Patient as he was, he had no intention of waiting for three hours. May implies “I accept the fact that … .”
inversion of the verb after certain adverbs 5. … but seldom was there a day when I could not clearly follow the course of the river down to its wide muddy estuary. Translation: 但那小河流向宽阔、多泥的河口，我总是能够 看得清清楚楚。
non-restrictive attributive clause
built around the old church
2. The popular idea of an English village is of one in a valley, where it can be overlooked from the hills, clustered about its ancient church; and similarly, the general conception of a farm in this country is of a more or less commodious homestead in a valley, sheltered by ample trees, with broad fields like open hands stretched out to receive the sun, and a river flowing not far away.
the Welsh mountains on the other.
Difficult Sentences
Important words and phrases
Activity
Difficult Sentences
prepositional phrases the fertile valleys where farms and orchards sustain the people who live there
in a valley
Popular idea of an English village
clustered about its ancient church
of a more or less commodious homestead in a valley General conception of a farm with broad fields with a river flowing not far away
______
protected from bad weather
Explanation: In the English countryside, a church is traditionally the most important building. Usually situated in the center of a village with a square in front of it, the church is not only a place for religious service but also a place for public gatherings and important activities. Villagers’ houses were generally built around the church. Translation:人们心中喜爱的英国乡村是在山谷里，从山上可以 俯瞰它的全貌，并簇拥在古老的教堂周围；同样，这个国家的人 们对农场的普遍概念也是山谷地里宽敞的家园，绿树成荫。广阔 的田野延伸开去，就像张开的双手接受阳光普照，不远处还有潺 潺流淌的小溪。