大学英语4 第一单元

Unit 1 (Book IV)

Section A Tail of Fame

I. Notes to the Text—Active Expressions

A. Focus Study

1. Most would be hard-pressed to tell you how they even got there.

be hard-pressed to do sth. 做某事有困难

今年这家航空公司要赢利困难重重。

This year the airline will be hard-pressed to make a profit.

你很难找到更好的人做这项工作。

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone better for the job.

2. The public simply discounts styles other than those for which the artist has become

famous.

…other than…除了……

他只提到了自己的贡献，而没有提其他任何人的。

He didn’t mention anyone else’s contributions other than his own.

我们错过了最后一班公交车，所以除了走回家别无选择。

We missed the last bus so there was no choice other than to walk home.

3. It takes you out of yourself: You must be what the public thinks you are, not what

you really are or could be.

It takes sb. out of …使得某人缺乏……

这使得我丧失了理智，从而做出了错误的决定。

It takes me out of mind to make wrong decisions.

我失去了自我，再也做不回当初的自己。

It takes me out of myself: I can’t come back to what I used to be.

B. Creative Application of Typical Expressions

1 .丢掉有固定收入的工作: to quit / give up/ leave one’s day job

某事干得漂亮: do a good job of sth.

没有做到: fall down on the job

尽力而为: make the best of a bad job

他答应使他们的生活衣食无忧，但没有做到。

keep one’s life fre e from sth. / worry about clothing and food

He promised to keep their life free from worry about clothing and food, but he

has fallen down on the job.

2. 激励某人向前: to spur sb. on

促使某人采取行动:spur sb. to action

鼓励某人更努力: spur sb. on to greater efforts

激励某人夺取胜利: spur sb. to victory

解决他消极态度的最佳方案不是一味地指责，而是鼓励他更努力。

the best solution to sth. / one’s passive attitude / find endless fault with sb.

The best solution to his passive attitude is not to find endless fault with him, but

to spur him on to greater efforts.

3. 沉浸在成功后的无上荣光中: to drown in fame’s imperial glory

专心于；埋头于: be absorbed in

深陷: be immersed / stuck in

沉浸于；迷恋于: be drowned / bathed in

由于深陷金融危机，国际市场近期不太可能复苏。

immersed in the financial crisis / in the near future / be less likely to do sth. / come back to life

Immersed in the financial crisis, the world market is less likely to come back to life in the near future.

4. 忠于: to remain / be true to sth. (form / type / life / one’s word / oneself)

某事属实: It is true about sth.

坚持原则: to s tay true to one’s principles

某事会······：It is true of sth. that …

一般说来，人生不是去分辨远处模糊的东西，而是去从事摆在眼前的工作。

see what lies dimly at a distance / do what lies clearly at hand

It is generally true of one’s life that one needs to do what lies clearly at hand instead of seeing what lies dimly at a distance.

5. 被开除／驱逐: to be expelled from

使某人感动得落泪：compel tears from sb.

觉得不得不做某事：feel impelled to do sth.

相互排斥：repel each other

他们的性格如同水火，互不相容。

As …, so … / repel each other

As water and fire repel each other, so do their characters.

C. Further Application of Typical Patterns

1. 用于表述“事物之间的类比”。

Sb. who do sth. be like sb. else doing sth. else who, when／once …, …

搞科研的人如同正登山的运动员，到达一个顶峰后，发现还有更高的山峰要爬。

Anyone who does science is like an alpinist climbing mountains who, when he gets to one top, will find a new peak for him to reach.

2. 用于表述“事物的因果关系”。

When one becomes bored (with sth. / sb.), sth. or sb. begin to show a lack of continuity in … and it becomes difficult to do sth. else.

若你对爱情生活感到厌烦，你的恋人就难以继续保持魅力，新的爱情火花也就难以迸发。

When you become bored with your romantic life, your sweetheart begins to show

a lack of continuity in his/her charm and it becomes difficult to burst forth new

sparks of romance.

3. 用于表述“某人自我安慰的方式”。

Sb. find comfort in k nowing / thinking that … or in knowing / thinking that …

失恋者寻求安慰时，要这样想：人生何处无芳草。

The failed lovers can find comfort in thinking that there is nowhere in life barren of fragrant grass.

D. Word Using

1. chase v.to run after someone or something in order to catch them

Police chased the thief and eventually recovered the missing money.

The kids chased each other in the garden.