现代大学英语精读lesson共25页

• tune: suggests the succession of note forming a melody (of a song), used often in opposition to the words of a song
industry, but I took that with a pinch of salt. • feel the pinch • E.g. It’s six months since he lost his job, and he is
beginning to feel the pinch.
plunge
(2)
• Having lost her passport, she is now in deep water.
• He has got himself in hot water by quarrelling with his boss.
• If you don’t do a good job, you will be in a bind.
• E.g. • ~ at his mouth with a handkerchief • ~ some beauty cream on her face • ~ butter on a slice of bread • The artist gently ~bed paint on the canvas. • She ~bed the wound with a yellow salve.
visit my relatives in Australia in December.
More idioms with “pinch”
• at a pinch • E.g. We usually only accept 55 guests but at a
pinch we could take 60. • take sth with a pinch of salt • E.g. She told me she knew people in the film
think it needs a new gearbox, I’ll take your word for it. • You can take my word for it, I’ll never let you down.
dab: to touch lightly, usu. several times
of pollution. • The social services are inquiring about the
missing girl. • The police probed into his financial affairs.
• The team went to the desert to prospect for oil.
• We scoured the market for fresh aubergines.
• We discovered that our neighbors had been spying on us.
silverware
• -ware: manufactured goods • ironware, software, hardware, glassware,
Things are not that bad. • snap to it • E.g. Come on! Snap to it.
squeeze
• E.g. to ~ some juice from the orange • ~ many things into a day • ~ through a narrow passage • a tight ~: a situation where one does not
• E.g. If we all ~, we should get the job finished this afternoon.
Don’t take my word for it: don’t accept everything I said as true
• take sb’s word for it: believe sth that sb has said • E.g. You know more about cars than I do, so if you
imposed by foreign countries, have squeezed the economy dry.
Language points in text
• pitch in: start to work vigorously or determinedly; add one’s contribution to a general effort
• We’ll really get in Dutch if we lose the car keys. They’re the only ones our parents have.
• When we ran out of gas at two o’clock in the morning, I knew we were in a jam.
(3)
• He thought living at home was bad, but now that he is in New York, he realizes that he has jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
• We are up against it this year. We’re in urgent need of your help.
• He accused the press of prying into his private life.
• While she was out, someone had ransacked her room.
• We scanned the horizon but no ship were to be seen.
no need to snap his head off / snap at him! • be a snap • E.g. This job is a snap.
snap
• snap out of it • E.g. For heaven’s sake, Ann, snap out of it!
earthenware, ovenware
snap
• snap one’s fingers at • E.g. If you continue to snap your fingers at
your boss, you may be severely punished. • snap / bite sb’s head off • E.g. He is just making a suggestion: there’s
优秀精品课件文档资料
Lesson five
Say Yes
Words and expressions
• blur: to obscure, to make indistinct • E.g. ~ the line between art and reality • ~ the distinction between right and wrong • Tears ~red my eyes. • The alcohol didn’t blur his brain.
• When Peter was driving on the free way at midnight, his car broke down and left him up a tree.
• I was in a bad pickle when I lost my job.
P126 tone vs tune
• tone: 1) sound with reference to its quality: the sweet ~ of the violin; the shrill ~ of the factory whistle
• 2) the intonation, phrasing, choice of words etc. of a speaker or writer that expresses a particular meaning, feeling, attitude of him: speak in an angry ~ / in a ~ of contempt / disapproval;
pinch
• 1. to nip, squeeze, or compress • E.g. to ~ sb’s cheek playfully • to ~ one’s finger in the door • 2. to afflict or trouble • E.g. be ~ed with cold and hunger • 3. to give or spend sparingly; be mean • E.g. ~ and save / scrape • She ~es on food in order to spend on clothing. • pinch pennies • E.g. We’ve so that we can
take the plunge and go back to college.
rummage: to search about for sth
• She ~d change from the bottom of her purse. • He ~d about in his drawer. • ~ among back number periodicals for an
• 3) the rise or fall of the voice in speaking or pronunciation: pay attention to the rising and falling ~s in your pronunciation