现代大学英语5--第六课--课后练习(精)

第六课

vocaoulary

A. Look up the following words and phrases. Select the meaning that best suits the sentence in which appears.

1. whatever occupies .space and 'is perceptible to the senses in some way

2. being from another world

3. identifying characteristics or marks

4. deteriorated; disgraceful

5. to accept sth. in place of what is hoped for

6. common or hackneyed character

7. (colloq in betting a choice that has only a slight chance of winning and hence carries great odds against it

8. a small pond. (is in a garden

9. containing formal and serious matter

10. to defeat (sb. by reaching (a goal first: lo win a competition, esp. over time

IV. Questions on Appreciation

A. Organization

1. The piece can be divided into seven sections with main idea for each section;

(1 Paras 1-2: the emergence of life

(2 Para 3: (a transitional paragraph what else is alive out there

(3 Paras 4-10: search for life

(4 Paras 11-23: search for intelligence

(5 Paras 24-42: Mars

(6 Paras 43-455: Dyson’s argument

(7 Paras 46-51: conclusion

2. Study the paragraphs carefully and point out how smooth paragraph transition is achieved.

Paragraphs 3,8,21,28,35,39

Para 3: Para 3 is a one-sentence paragraph for emphasis. It serves as a transition, leading to discusions about life beyond earth.

Para 8; Para 8 serves as another transition, moving from speculation to naming the field of research

Para 21: The first .sentence of the paragraph is a transitional sentence, leading to the Fermi parade and the four possibilities, and then to the exploration of Mars. That is, from assumption to explantion and exploration.

Para 28: This paragraph serves as a transition from the previous idea of "two-decade funk" to the change of mood. The last part of the last sentence of the paragraph begins the shift to the new topic of meteorite.

Para35: This paragraph has a double duty; one is to develop the idea put forward by Gibson; the other is to pave the way for Paras 36 and 37 by asking the two questions that will be answered in these two paragraphs.

Para 39: posing questions at the end of a paragraph serves as transition. The question posed at the end of Para 39 serves this purpose and is expected to be answered in the following paragraphs.

B. Comment on the style of writing of the following statements, paying attention to structure, diction,tone, rhetorical devices, etc.

1. The three sentences have a common contrasting pattern, by using "and yet" to introduce a contrast.

2. Note the framing of ideas in the sentence. The succinctness of the statement lies

in the way the idea is formulated which is an expression difficult to imitate by non-native speakers and yet this is what they should aim at learning. It is another example of chiasmus.

3. The author is using the phrase "full-scale invasion" in a humorous way, comparing the full-scale invasion . With one scientific instrument after another landing on the Mars,it is like the landing of an invasion army.

4. The whole idea is contained in a statement with the following pattern: they don't wonder why they are... they wonder why they aren't. The author use negative and positive element in a reversed way in the two parts of this statement, which makes the ideas stand out and the sentence more humorous.

5. This is an inverted sentence with purpose of smooth transition and emphatic effect, so that the word “evidence" which the author wants to stress comes at the end of the sentence and stands out.

6. What Lowell really said is a criticism of the wars and other conflicts among people (nations on Earth.