Enhance Your Language Awareness
Words in Action
▇ Working with Words and Expressions
1. In the boxes below are some of the words you have learned in this unit. Complete the following sentences with the words given. Change the form where necessary.
■Answers:
1) objective
2) current
3) adopt
4) exhibit
5) capture
6) integrated
7) outstanding
8) strategies
9) convince
10) striving/strive
11) diagnosed
12) side
13) spaced
14) thick
15) painful
16) eventually
17) fascinating
18) confidence
19)label
20) creations
2. In the boxes below are some of the expressions you have learned in this unit. Do you understand their meanings? Do you know how to use them in the proper context? Now check for yourself by doing the blank-filling exercise. Change the form where necessary.
■Answers:
1) at rest
2) dropped out
3) drying out
4) drop in
5) dawned on
6) falls away
7) drowned out
8) on the sidelines
9) falling out
10) start over
11) lose faith
12) sign off
▆ Increasing Your Word Power
Fill in each blank in the following sentences with a proper preposition given in the box.
▆ Answers:
1) with
2) to
3) with
4) on
5) at
6) with
7) from
8) beyond
9) from
10) on
11) for
12）to
1.Study the use of but in different contexts and then do the task that follows.
▆ Answers for reference:
1) What can we do but sit and wait for a passing car to bring us to a city nearby?
2)He lied to the court not just once, but on several occasions.
3)「Gone with the Wind」 was/is a great movie, but it was/is a little long.
4) I had/have no choice but to accept the challenge.
5) The situation looked/looks desperate, but they didn’t/don’t want to give up.
6） But for these interruptions, the meeting would have finished earlier.
7） Who else but John would have played a trick like that?
8） She was the best singer in China at that time. I could not but admire her.
9） The machines we bought were cheap, but they went quite well.
10）Because he had/has a sore throat he was/is unable to swallow anything but liquids.
2.Word Building
Match each of the English words in Column A with its Chinese meaning in Column B. You may consult a dictionary if necessary.
▆ Answers:
1) j
2) k
3) g
4) h
5) i
6) b
7) n
8) l
9) f
10) c
11) m
12) d
13) a
14) e
Grammar in Context
Task 1: Fill in each blank in the following sentences with the proper form of the verb given in brackets, paying special attention to the use of the active voice and the passive voice.
▆ Answers:
1) be done away with
2) is / gets punished
3) being erected
4) Having been ignored
5) believing
6) to have sent
7) be looked up
8) speak / speaking
9) being interviewed
10) taken
Task 2. Translate the following sentences into Chinese, paying special attention to the differences in the choice of the verb voice.
▆ Answers for Reference:
1）傑克，有你的電話。
2）賀卡上印有「新年快樂」的字樣，在下面還有一條附言。
3）給了他們兩天的時間來為會議作必要的準備。
4）物體受熱時膨脹。
5）你的筆寫起來很流暢。
Cloze
Complete the following passage with words chosen from Text A. The initial letter of each is given.
■ Answers
(1) connecting
(2) advance
(3) significance
(4) backwards
(5) path
(6) well-worn
(7) true
(8) satisfied
(9) believe
(10) what
(11) settle
(12) devastating
(13) stumbled
(14) destination
(15) trapped
(16) drown
Translation
▆Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in brackets.
▇ Answers for Reference:
1)I just can’t figure her out, she’s a mystery to me.
2)He travelled from one village to another, dropping in on families and listening to their complaints and problems.
3)Jim always sides with John in an argument.
4)Then it dawned on me that they were speaking Spanish.
5)They have to live with the consequences of their wrong decision.
6)His words were drowned out by loud cheers from the crowd.
7)I looked at the printed page but the words made no sense.
8)We must awaken people to the need to protect our environment.
THEME-RELATED WRITING
Choose one of the following writing tasks and complete it after class.
1) Based on Text A and what you』ve discussed in 「Voicing Your Views」, write a short essay (of about 150 words) entitled 「A Creative Person」 in accordance with the following outline:
a. A creative person I know
b. The traits that can be found in him / her
▆ Sample Essay:
My physics professor is a very creative person. His research project for his doctoral dissertation dealt with a very complicated physics problem at a time when many others thought it was impossible to solve it. But he creatively introduced a new concept and finally resolved the theoretical and experimental contradiction.
He possesses many unique traits. He is very energetic and hard-working. He chairs the Physics Department and teaches many hours a week. Meanwhile, he is in charge of the university’s technology research. Obviously he is a quick efficient worker. My professor can be eccentric, once he shocked the whole class by saying 「Good physics, everyone」 instead of 「Good morning, everyone」. But above all, my professor has a sincere interest and a strong passion in his research field. No wonder he is highly respected by both his colleagues and his students.
2) Some sayings in our life sound so familiar and natural to us that we take them for granted without a second thought. Do you realize that when you take them as 「absolute truths」, you are locking your mind and creativity?
Write a brief comment on such a saying in about 150 words.
▇ Sample Essay:
Popular Sayings May Become 「Mental Locks」
To cultivate a creative mind, one needs to chip away at one’s 「mental locks」. Some of the 「mental locks」 are shaped by popular sayings, which sound so familiar to us that we tend to take them for granted. Instructive as they may be, these common statements may restrict our freedom to think.
「Look before you leap!」 We make this remark to caution someone to think carefully before making a decision or taking an action. It may seem sound advice, but it may also put him or her in a passive position. He or she may just keep 「looking」 round and without making a 「leap」. Similarly, we may say to the same person, 「Don’t let the chance slip through your fingers!」 Then, the person may be motivated to act promptly, regardless of the consequences.
In either case, the personal may fall victim to popular sayings. So, if we want to come up with a new idea, we must break up the 「mental locks」 that close our minds.