Unit 4 语言点

2.Words and Expressions

globalization:n.free flows of capital, labor, technology, and personal contact

across national borders

* Some see the spread of English as an international language as just another consequence of globalization.

(=Thanks to globalization, the burger you buy in Moscow is exactly the same as the one you buy in New York.)

sweep aside:clear away or get rid of suddenly or forcefully; refuse to pay

attention to sth./ sb. says

*Anyway, by then she was sure that Julius would simply have swept any

curbs aside.

他们对所有的反对意见不予理睬。

(=They swept all the objections aside.)

Pattern:

sweep away 扫清, 迅速消灭

sweep out 扫掉; 清除

sweep over 眺望, 环视

sweep up 打扫干净, 收拾干净

strengthen: vt.become stronger or make sth. stronger

We must strengthen the weak links.

(=The President's first priority was to strengthen the economy.)

asset:n.

1) (usu. pl) money or property that a person or company owns

*Copyrights, patents, trademarks, brand names, and trade secrets are all part of a company’s intangible assets.

目前，他们的资产有623万美元。

(=Currently, they have $6,230,000 in assets.)

2) an advantage or a resource

*The most powerful asset we have is our skilled, dedicated workforce.

(=A sense of humor is an important asset for any teacher.)

Collocation:

capital/ fixed assets 资本/固定资产

cash assets 现金资产

liquid/ circulating/ current assets 流动资产

net assets 净资产

make no / little difference: have no / little effect (on), be of no / little importance (to) *That does not mean it makes no difference to social welfare which rules we settle upon. 姚明的缺席似乎对休斯顿火箭队没有太大的影响。

(=The absence of Yao Ming seemed to make little difference to the performance of the

Houston Rockets.)

identify…as: recognize and correctly name someone or sth.

*His accent identified him as a Frenchman.

(=The policeman identified him as the thief.)

elite:n. a group of people who have a lot of power and influence because they have

money, knowledge, or special skills

*Only a small elite can afford to send their children to this school.

这些人构成了有决定权的精英集团。

(=These people form an elite who have the power to make decisions. ) Collocation:

political/social/economic elite 政治/社会/经济精英

a handful of: a very small number of people or things:

*That place was of little interest. I only took a handful of pictures.

(=What counts is having a handful of young that are exceptional.)

earnest: adj. marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness *Friends described Jackson as an earnest, hard-working young man.

你可以笑，但我绝对是认真的。

(=You may laugh but I’m in deadly earnest. )

Collocation:

in earnest 郑重地；严肃认真

CF: earnest, serious, severe

这三个形容词均有“严肃的”之意。

earnest指严肃，认真，含诚恳和热情意味。例如:

* I could tell she was speaking in earnest. 我看得出来她的话是当真的。serious指具有关键、严肃或严重意义的事情。例如:

*We give serious consideration to safety recommendations. 我们认真考

虑安全建议。

severe指面孔的严肃，法律的严厉，伤病的严重。着重严厉性，无丝毫温情。

例如:

*Many people feel the punishment should have been more severe. 许多

人认为惩罚本应该更加严厉些。

considerable: adj. fairly large, especially large enough to have an effect or be

important

* Attracting tourists to the area is going to take considerable effort.

(=A considerable amount of research was done here by our science department.)

interconnect: vi. connect to or with each other

*Our operating system can now interconnect with other networks.

人们的生活是如何互相联系在一起的, 真是不可思议。

(=It’s strange how people’s lives interconnect.)

advantageous:adj.helpful and likely to make you successful

*Many bus companies provide advantageous fare tickets especially for tourists.

你会发现等几周再作答复是很有好处的。

(=You may find it advantageous to wait a few weeks before replying.)

NB:“advantageous”的名词形式为“advantage”。与其搭配常用的短语是：“have the advantage of”“有优势”; “take advantage of”“（以不正当手段）利用；占便宜”

entitle:vt.

1) give a title to给…题名，给…取名

*She was reading a poem entitled Auguries of Innocence.

(=He entitled the book The Secret Garden.)

2) give someone the official right to do or have sth.

*Full-time employees are entitled to receive health insurance.

他们有资格享有许多优惠和特权。

(=They are entitled to enjoy many advantages and privileges.)

Pattern:

be entitled 叫做, 称为

be entitled to (do) sth. 对...享有权利/有资格

vanish:vi. disappear suddenly, especially in a way that cannot be easily explained *My keys were here a minute ago but now they've vanished.

(=The plane vanished from radar screens soon after taking off.)

CF: vanish, disappear, evaporate

这三个动词均有“消失”之意。

vanish语气强，指完全、往往是神秘而突然的消失，不留任何蛛丝马迹。

disappear普通用词，强调从视线或脑海中消失。这消失可能是暂时的、突然的或永久的，视上下文而定。

evaporate指像水蒸发时那样悄然逝去，也指某人悄悄地、突然退出或离去。

(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.

1. Drugs won't make the pain _______ altogether, but they will help.

(=disappear)

2. All hopes of finding the boy alive have _____. (=vanished)

3. Hopes of achieving peace are beginning to ______. (=evaporate)

4. Before she could scream, the man had _____into the night. (=vanished)

5. 13 year-old Nicola ______ from her home on Saturday night. (=disappeared)

6. They then fan the water so that it ______ and in doing so lowers the temperature.

(=evaporates)

7. By the time of the trial, the tape had mysteriously _____. (=disappeared)

facilitate:vt. make it easier for a process or activity to happen

*Both centers are electronically linked to facilitate communication.

学校都建在同一校区内，以便资源共享。

(=Schools were located in the same campus to facilitate the sharing of resources.)

16. (Para. 4) at odds with: in conflict with; disagreeing or quarrelling with

*The government decision to raise taxes was at odds with their policies on inflation.

(=Briggs found himself at odds with his colleagues.)

Collocation:

at odds 矛盾；不一致

it makes no odds 没有关系，无关紧要

take odds 占优势

odds and ends 小事; 不要紧的东西

be committed to:promise to do (sth.); be devoted to

*A lot of money has been committed to this project.

中国承诺发展低碳经济。

(=China is committed to pursuing a low carbon economy.)

endorse:vt. express formal support or approval for someone or sth.

*The Prime Minister is unlikely to endorse this view.

(=I fully endorse the measures taken to improve safety standards.)

Collocation:

endorse a proposal/an idea/a candidate 赞成提议/想法/候选人

endorse a cheque 背书支票

erase:vt. get rid of sth. so that it has gone completely and no longer exists *Their dream is to erase poverty and injustice from the world.

没有什么东西可以使他忘记那件事。

(=Nothing can erase the incident from his memory.)

CF：erase, delete

这两个动词都有“去掉，抹去”之意。

erase 指“把写的或画的痕迹擦去或刮掉”, 用于比喻意义时, 指“从记忆中抹去”, 例如: He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误

答案, 写上了正确答案。又如：Nothing can erase the incident from his memory.

没有什么东西可以使他忘记那件事。

delete指“去掉、擦掉(字迹等)”、“勾掉、删掉(字句等)”, 例如:

If you delete several words, we can put the whole story on one

page. 如果你删去几个字, 我们可把整个故事写在一页上。

accelerate:v.(cause to) move faster or happen earlier

*Mr Henley has accelerated his sale of shares over the past year.

选手们跑过弯道时平稳地加速。(=The runners accelerated smoothly round the bend.)

forefront:n. the foremost part or area

*The company has always been at the forefront of science and technology.

(=Companies compete to stay at the forefront of research and development.) Pattern：

at/in/to the forefront (of sth) 位于最前列；成为领导力量

keep sb/sth at/in/ to 使…保持在最前列

come into/to 跃居最前列

witness:

1. vt. be present and see

* The crash was witnessed by scores of holiday weekenders along the beach.

20世纪80年代，电子传媒得到了空前的发展。

(=The 1980s witnessed an unprecedented increase in the scope of the electronic media.)

2. n.someone who sees a crime or an accident and can describe what happened

*Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

(=The witness was asked to identify the defendant in the courtroom.)

beat a path to/ beat down sb’s door: if people beat a path to your door, they are

interested in sth. you are selling, a service you are

providing etc.

* The new design was supposed to have consumers beating a path to their door.

现在她已经成名, 她家门庭若市。(=Now that she has become famous, all sorts of people will be beating a path to her door.)

Pattern:

beat a path to/ beat down sb’s door 门庭若市

beat a big drum for/about 为…鼓吹;;为…大肆宣传

beat a bargain 还价成交

remarkable: adj.unusual or surprising and therefore deserving attention or praise

* Clark did a remarkable job setting things up for the meeting.

(=She has made remarkable progress.)

CF: remarkable, outstanding, striking

这三个形容词均有“显著的，引人注意的”之意。

remarkable通常指因有与众不同的特点或优越性而引起人们注意或称道。

outstanding通常指与同行或同类的人相比显得优秀或杰出，或具有他人或别的事物所没有的特征。

striking 强调能给观察者产生强烈而深刻印象。

(Directions:) Fill in the blanks with the words above. Change the form where necessary.

1. From the outside, the most _____aspect of the building is its tall, slender tower.

(=striking)

2. It's a _____ achievement for the company. (=remarkable)

3. The lowest ranks of society showed the most ______ and significant contrasts.

(=striking)

4. With her mass of black hair and pale skin she looked very ____. (=striking)

5. The book is a series of interviews with ______ artists and writers. (=outstanding)

6. His drawings are _______ for their accuracy. (=remarkable)

7. She would create something special, something _____ for her.

(=outstanding)

landmark:n.

1) sth. that is easy to recognize, such as a tall tree or building, and that

helps you know where you are

* The Washington Monument is a popular historical landmark.

这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

(=The tower was once a landmark for ships.)

2) one of the most important events, changes, or discoveries that

influences someone or sth.

* The Reform and Open Door Policy has become a landmark in Chinese history.

小孩的出世是所有相关人生活中一件大事。

(=The birth of a child is an important landmark in the lives of all concerned.)

overtake(overtook, overtaken):

1) v. go past a moving vehicle or person because you are going faster

than them and want to get in front of them

* Before you start to overtake, make sure the road is clear ahead of you.

(=Two trucks overtaking one another brushed him to the side.)

2) vt. catch up with or pass after catching up with

*Television soon overtook the cinema as the most popular form of

entertainment.

在工业产量方面德国迅速超过了英国。

(=Germany rapidly overtook Britain in industrial output.)

NB: 前缀over可以放在名词，动词，形容词前边表达“too much 过分”的含义。例如: “overpopulation” “人口过剩”; “overwork ”“过度工作”；“overweight”“超重的”。

displace:vt. take the place of; replace

* Coal has been displaced by natural gas as a major source of energy.

(=Some of the companies that have been displaced have, in their time, displaced others.)

elsewhere:adv.in, at, or to another place

*He'll work as a freelance consultant, unless he finds a better job elsewhere.

我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了, 因此不得不改去别处

(=Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.)

patriotic:adj. having or expressing a great love of your country

* Relatives remembered him as a deeply patriotic man.

(=The presidential candidate said paying higher taxes was a patriotic act.)

let alone: much less; not to mention

* Many thousands of children had never even seen, let alone owned a pair of shoes.

他连带领保龄球队的本事都没有，更别提领导国家了。

(=He was incapable of leading a bowling team, let alone a country.)

Pattern:

let sb /sth. be 别打扰，不干预

let sth. drop/ fall 无意中说出，不经意透露

let sb./sth. go 放，释放

domestic:adj. relating to or happening in one particular country and not involving

any other countries

*Security on domestic flights in the US has been stepped up considerably.

(=History books do not tell us much about the domestic lives of our

ancestors.)

strike a balance: give the correct amount of importance or attention to two

separate things

*Effective organizations will strike a balance that allows them not only to accept uncertainty but to take advantage of it.

他发现平衡家庭和工作的关系是很困难的。

(=He was finding it difficult to strike a balance between his family and his work.)