lesson15

7. harsh
• harsh: unpleasant in causing pain to senses; physically disagreeable, lacking any comfort; severe, cruel • e.g. • ~ voice / noise (rough, jarring) • ~ daylight (too strong for the eyes) • The cloth is ~ to the touch.(with a rough surface) • He is too ~ with the childห้องสมุดไป่ตู้en. • His family couldn’t survive the ~ winter. • The prisoner suffered much ~ treatment at the hands of his jailers.
• awesome: expressing or causing feelings of ~; remarkable, outstanding, marvelous • ~struck / ~stricken: filled with, made silent or showing ~
• e.g. They sat in awestruck silence after hearing the truth at last.
4. crag
• crag : a high, steep, rough and rugged rock or mass of rocks • e.g. cragsman (a person accustomed to or skilled in climbing crags) • craggy: having many crags; steep, rugged and rough in appearance; cragged • e.g. ~ hill • I was attracted by Abraham Lincoln’s ~ face.
9. worship
• • • • • •
e. g. ~ sb as deity / God People go to the church to ~ God. His admirers ~ped at his feet. Many pilgrims ~ at the shrine. n. ancestor / book / hero / idol / nature ~ They bowed their heads in ~. (to show their respect)
2. Moon
• • • • n. a full moon a crescent moon ask/cry for the moon: demand sth. impossible • bark at the moon • promise sb. the moon
Moon v.
• Moon about/around: to move about or pass time lazily or in a dreamlike state, with no purpose, interest, etc. • e.g. Stop mooning around. • Moon over: to be in a dreamlike state of unsatisfied desire for (esp. a person) • e.g. She spent the whole day mooning over her favorite movie star.
Language points in text
• Touched by the moon: being close to nature
1. “Drive”
• Drive • 1) to move or travel in a vehicle • e.g. Shall we stop for dinner or shall we drive on ? • 2) to take (sb.) in a vehicle • e.g. Don’t worry. I’ll drive you to the airport. • 3) to force to go • e.g. we should drive the invaders from our country.
6. gigantic
• gigantic: suggests an extremely large size or amount, mostly used exaggeratedly or figuratively • big: emphasize the magnitude of weight, volume or extent • large: preferable to big in formal style, normally not used to modify such nouns as success, progress, advance, promotion, development, change, etc., for which big or great are ready choices • great: sounds emotional, suggesting attracting or surprising magnificence or giantness; it is commonly used with nouns denoting personal qualities, like courage, confidence, ability, wisdom, etc.
2. chink
• Chink: refers to a narrow opening or crack, such as that between boards in the wall of a shed, through which the wind blows or one may peep • e. g. All one could see through the ~s in our bamboo awning were a few desolate villages.
Words & expressions
• 1. awe: n. a feeling of respect mixed with fear and wonder; v. to fill with awe
• e.g. They were ~d into silence by the great man.
Lesson Fifteen
Touched by the Moon
Structure of the Text
• Part 1 (paras. 1—2 ) On the way to a friend’s house, I was awe-struck by the moonrise in Manila and mentioned the moon’s influence on my friend’s life. • Part 2 (paras. 3—4 ) During the visit to the northern India, the author witnessed the beautiful moon over mountains and the plain respectively. • Part 3 (para. 5) In the Philippines, the author watched the full moon over the sea.
8. shape
• v. form, fashion, mould in a definite shape • e. g. childhood experiences that ~ a person’s character • ~ the clay before it dries out • ~ a folktale into a narrative poem • ~ up or ship out: used to tell sb that if they don’t improve, or work harder etc., they will have to leave their job or position • e.g. He finally faced up to his drug problem when his band told him to shape up or ship out.
• 4) to force someone into a usu. unpleasant condition or undesirable course of action. • e.g. The noise is driving me out of my mind. • 5) to force to go somewhere by hitting • e.g. drive the nail into the wood
“drive” VP
• • • • Drive at: to mean or suggest indirectly; hint e.g. I see perfectly what you are driving at? Drive away e.g. The rioters fired shots in the air to drive away news photographers. • Drive off: to force away or back; repel • e.g. The army drove off the enemy with much loss of life. • Drive sb. crazy (insane, mad, out of his mind, round the bend, up the wall)