全新版大学英语单词详解-Book2-Unit3

Unit 3 The Generation Gap

Text A Father Knows Better

1.(Title) know better: behave in a more sensible and acceptable way

* He is old enough to know better.

* 他很明事理，不至于以貌取人。

(=He knows better than to judge by appearances.)

Pattern:

know better than sb.

know better than to do sth.

2.(L.3) location: n. a place or position

* This is a suitable location for a camp.

* 目击者向警察指出事故的确切地点。

(=Witnesses showed the police the exact location of the accident.)

3.(L.10) embarrass: vt. make (sb.) feel awkward or ashamed

* It embarrassed him that he had to give a talk in front of a lot of people.

* I don’t like making speeches in public. It’s so embarrassing.

* I was really embarrassed when I couldn’t answer the teacher’s question.

4.(L.16) dumb: adj.

1)foolish

* That was a dumb thing to do.

* He was so dumb that he left his keys at home again.

2)unable to speak

* The terrible news struck us all dumb.

* 他生来不能说话，但是他设法找到一个好工作。

(=He was born dumb, but he has still managed to get a good job.)

5.(L.18) in unison: acting in the same way at the same time

* All the babies cried in unison.

* 国际社会准备一致反对恐怖主义。

(=The international community is ready to work in unison against terrorism.)

6.(L.20) consist of: be made up of

* The city of New York consists of five boroughs.

* The committee consists of scientists and engineers.

Collocation:

consist in 等于；在于

CF: consist, compose, comprise & constitute

这几个词都是动词，都有“组成”的意思。

consist 是个不及物动词，与介词of一起连用，不可用于被动语态。consist的主语表示事物的整体，of后的宾语表示事物的组成部分。例如：

* Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen. 水由氢和氧组成。

* North America consists of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 北美

洲包括美国、加拿大和墨西哥。

compose的主语表示事物的组成部分，宾语表示事物的整体。但在被动语态中正好相反。

例如：

* The United States, Canada, and Mexico compose North America. 美国、加

拿大和墨西哥合起来构成北美洲。

* Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. 水由氢和氧组成。

Comprise用作及物动词，有两种用法：传统规则认为其主语应当为事物的整体，宾语应当为事物的组成部分，词义为“由……组成，由……构成”；另一种趋势是用

comprise表达“组成，构成”的意思，此时其主语为事物的组成部分，宾语为事物

的整体。

* North America comprises the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 北美洲

包括美国、加拿大和墨西哥。

* Ten stories comprise the book. 十个故事组成了这本书。

constitute的主语表示事物的组成部分，宾语表示事物的整体。例如：

* The United States, Canada, and Mexico constitute North America. 美国、

加拿大和墨西哥合起来构成北美洲。

* Seven days constitute a week. 七天为一周。

7.(L.57) fade: vi.

1)lose color or brightness