READING

The Roman Army’s Impact on Britain

In the wake of the Roman Empire’s conquest of Britain in the first century A.D., a large number of troops stayed in the new province, and these troops had a considerable impact on Britain with their camps, fortifications, and participation in the local economy. Assessing the impact of the army on the civilian population starts from the realization that the soldiers were always unevenly distributed across the country. Areas rapidly incorporated into the empire were not long affected by the military. Where the army remained stationed, its presence was much more influential. The imposition of a military base involved the requisition of native lands for both the fort and the territory needed to feed and exercise the soldiers’ animals. The imposition of military rule also robbed local leaders of opportunities to participate in local government, so social development was stunted and the seeds of disaffection sown. This then meant that the military had to remain to suppress rebellion and organize government.

conquest n 征服

troops n 步兵，部队

considerable adj 相当大的

fortification n 防御工事

incorporate v 纳入，收入

station n 驻军

imposition 施加，增收

requisition n/v 征用/正式要求

fort n 要塞/领土

stunt 遏制 stunted adj 发育不良的

disaffection n 不满

sow 播下/洒下 sown 被动

suppress 遏制/镇压

rebellion n 反对/叛乱

Economic exchange was clearly very important as the Roman army brought with it very substantial spending power. Locally a fort had two kinds of impact. Its large population needed food and other supplies. Some of these were certainly brought from long distances, but demands were inevitably placed on the local area. Although goods could be requisitioned, they were usually paid for, and this probably stimulated changes in the local economy. When not campaigning, soldiers needed to be occupied; otherwise they represented a potentially dangerous source of friction and disloyalty. Hence a writing tablet dated 25 April tells of 343 men at one fort engaged on tasks like shoemaking, building a bathhouse, operating kilns, digging clay, and working lead. Such activities had a major effect on the local area, in particular with the construction of infrastructure such as roads, which improved access to remote areas.

substantial adj 显著地/重要的/可观的/基本上的/真实的

inevitably adv 无可避免地

requisition n/v 征用/征收

disloyalty n 不忠心

infrastructure n 基础设施

Each soldier received his pay, but in regions without a developed economy there was initially little on which it could be spent. The pool of excess cash rapidly stimulated a thriving economy outside fort gates. Some of the demand for the services and goods was no doubt fulfilled by people drawn from far afield, but some local people certainly became entwined in this new economy. There was informal marriage with soldiers, who until AD 197 were not legally entitled to wed, and whole new communities grew up near the forts. These settlements acted like small towns, becoming centers for the artisan and trading populations.

excess adj 多余的/过量的

afield adv 在远处

entwine v 缠绕

The army also provided a mean of personal advancement for auxiliary soldiers recruited from the native peoples, as a man obtained hereditary Roman citizenship on retirement after service in an auxiliary regiment. Such units recruited on an ad hoc (as needed) basis from the area in which they were stationed, and there was evidently large-scale recruitment within Britain. The total numbers were at least 12,500 men up to the reign of the emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), with a peak around A.D. 80. Although a small proportion of the total population, this perhaps had a massive local impact when a large proportion of the young men were removed from an area. Newly raised regiments were normally transferred to another province from whence it was unlikely that individual recruits would ever return. Most units raised in Britain went elsewhere on the European continent, although one is recorded in Morocco. The reverse process brought young men to Britain, where many continued to live after their 20 to 25 years of service, and this added to the cosmopolitan Roman character of the frontier population. By the later Roman period, frontier garrisons (groups of soldiers) were only rarely transferred, service in units became effectively hereditary, and forts were no longer populated or maintained at full strength.

auxiliary adj 辅助的

recruit n 新兵 v 招募

hereditary adj 世袭

citizenship n 公民身份

regiment n 团，一大群

whence adv 从何处/由此

cosmopolitan adj 国际性的/具有世界眼光的

frontier n 边界，边疆，边远地区

garrison n 卫戍部队

This process of settling in as a community over several generations, combined with local recruitment, presumably accounts for the apparent stability of the British northern frontier in the later Roman period. It also explains why some of the forts continued in occupation long after Rome ceased to have any formal authority in Britain, at the beginning of the fifth century A.D. The circumstances that had allowed natives to become Romanized also led the self-sustaining military community of the frontier area to become effectively British.

presumably 大概地

Glacier Formation

Glaciers are slowly moving masses of ice that have accumulated on land in areas where more snowfalls during a year than melts. Snow falls as hexagonal crystals, but once on the ground, snow is soon transformed into a compacted mass of smaller, rounded grains. As the air space around them is lessened by compaction and melting, the grains become denser. With further melting, refreezing, and increased weight from newer snowfall above, the snow reaches a granular recrystallized stage intermediate between flakes and ice known as firn. With additional time, pressure, and refrozen meltwater from above, the small firn granules become larger, interlocked crystals of blue glacial ice. When the ice is thick enough, usually over 30 meters, the weight of the snow and firn will cause the ice crystals toward the bottom to become plastic and to flow outward or downward from the area of snow accumulation.

hexagonal adj 六边形的

grain n 谷物/颗粒

compacted adj 坚实的/小巧紧凑的/简洁的

granular adj 粗糙的/含颗粒的 granule n 颗粒

recrystallize 重结晶

flake n 小薄片 v 脱落

firn 雪粒

interlock v 相扣

Glaciers are open systems, with snow as the system’s input and meltwater as the system’s main output. The glacial system is governed by two basic climatic variables: precipitation and temperature. For a glacier to grow or maintain its mass, there must be sufficient snowfall to match or exceed the annual loss through melting, evaporation, and calving, which occurs when the glacier loses solid chunks as icebergs to the sea or to large lakes. If summer temperatures are high for too long, then all the snowfall from the previous winter will melt. Surplus snowfall is essential for a glacier to develop. A surplus allows snow to accumulate and for the pressure of snow accumulated over the years to transform buried snow into glacial ice with a depth great enough for the ice to flow. Glaciers are sometimes classified by temperature as faster-flowing temperate glaciers or as slower-flowing polar glaciers.

precipitation n 降雨量

exceed n 超出

chunk n 相当大的一部分

surplus adj 过剩的/剩余的 n 盈亏

Glaciers are part of Earth’s hydrologic cycle and are second only to the oceans in the total amount of water contained. About 2 percent of Earth’s water is currently frozen as ice. Two percent may be a deceiving figure, however, since over 80 percent of the world’s freshwater is locked up as ice in glaciers, with the majority of it in Antarctica. The total amount of ice is even more awesome if we estimate the water released upon the hypothetical melting of the world’s glaciers. Sea level would rise about 60 meters. This would change the geography of the planet considerably. In contrast, should another ice age occur, sea level would drop drastically. During the last ice age, sea level dropped about 120 meters.

deceiving adj 误人相信 deceive 欺骗//对…不忠实

When snowfalls on high mountains or in polar regions, it may become part of the glacial system. Unlike rain, which returns rapidly to the sea or atmosphere, the snow that becomes part of a glacier is involved in a much more slowly cycling system. Here water may be stored in ice form for hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of years before being released again into the liquid water system as meltwater. In the meantime, however, this ice is not static. Glaciers move slowly across the land with tremendous energy, carving into even the hardest rock formations and thereby reshaping the landscape as they engulf, push, drag, and finally deposit rock debris in places far from its original location. As a result, glaciers create a great variety of landforms that remain long after the surface is released from its icy covering.

engulf v 淹没/吞没/严重影响

deposit v 放下/存放/使.存积 / n 存款/定金/保证金

landform n 地貌

Throughout most of Earth’s history, glaciers did not exist, but at the present time about 10 percent of Earth’s land surface is covered by glaciers. Present-day glaciers are found in Antarctica, in Greenland, and at high elevations on all the continents except Australia. In the recent past, from about 2.4 million to about 10,000 years ago, nearly a third of Earth’s land area was periodically covered by ice thousands of meters thick. In the much more distant past, other ice ages have occurred.

Trade and the Ancient Middle East

Trade was the mainstay of the urban economy in the Middle East, as caravans negotiated the surrounding desert, restricted only by access to water and by mountain ranges. This has been so since ancient times, partly due to the geology of the area, which is mostly limestone and sandstone, with few deposits of metallic ore and other useful materials. Ancient demands for obsidian (a black volcanic rock useful for making mirrors and tools) led to trade with Armenia to the north, while jade for cutting tools was brought from Turkistan, and the precious stone lapis lazuli was imported from Afghanistan. One can trace such expeditions back to ancient Sumeria, the earliest known Middle Eastern civilization. Records show merchant caravans and trading posts set up by the Sumerians in the surrounding mountains and deserts of Persia and Arabia, where they traded grain for raw materials, such as timber and stones, as well as for metals and gems.

Mainstay 主要支柱

caravans 沙漠旅行部队/大篷车

negotiate 谈判/顺利通过/解决

metallic adj 金属的

obsidian 黑曜岩

jade 玉

expedition 远征/短途出行

Reliance on trade had several important consequences. Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner. In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships. The worker was bound to the master by a mutual contract that either one could repudiate, and the relationship was conceptualized as one of partnership.

tutelage n 托管/监控/辅导

blurred adj 模糊不清的

sect 教派

kinship 亲属关系/密切关系

mutual adj 相互的/双边的

repudiate v 否认/拒绝/承认

conceptualize v 概念化

This mode of craft production favored the growth of self-governing and ideologically egalitarian craft guilds everywhere in the Middle Eastern city. These were essentially professional associations that provided for the mutual aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards. The growth of independent guilds was furthered by the fact that surplus was not a result of domestic craft production but resulted primarily from international trading; the government left working people to govern themselves, much as shepherds of tribal confederacies were left alone by their leaders. In the multiplicity of small-scale local egalitarian or quasi-egalitarian organizations for fellowship, worship, and production that flourished in this laissez-faire environment, individuals could interact with one another within a community of harmony and ideological equality, following their own popularly elected leaders and governing themselves by shared consensus while minimizing distinctions of wealth and power.

ideologically 意识形态方面

egalitarian 平等主义者

guild 同业公会/协会

shepherd 牧羊人

tribal confederacy 部落联盟

laissez-faire 自由放任

consensus 共识

The mercantile economy was also characterized by a peculiar moral stance that is typical of people who live by trade—an attitude that is individualistic, calculating, risk taking, and adaptive to circumstances. As among tribespeople, personal relationships and a careful weighing of character have always been crucial in a mercantile economy with little regulation, where one’s word is one’s bond and where informal ties of trust cement together an international trade network. Nor have merchants and artisans ever had much tolerance for aristocratic professions of moral superiority, favoring instead an egalitarian ethic of the open market, where steady hard work, the loyalty of one’s fellows, and entrepreneurial skill make all the difference. And, like the pastoralists, Middle Eastern merchants and artisans unhappy with their environment could simply pack up and leave for greener pastures—an act of self-assertion wholly impossible in most other civilizations throughout history.

mercantile adj 商业的

peculiar adj 奇怪的/特有的

stance n 态度/姿势

individualistic adj 我行我素的

calculating adj 工于心计的

cement n 巩固

entrepreneurial adj 企业家的

pasture n 大草原

wholly adv 完全地

Dependence on long-distance trade also meant that the great empires of the Middle East were built both literally and figuratively on shifting sand. The central state, though often very rich and very populous, was intrinsically fragile, since the development of new international trade routes could undermine the monetary base and erode state power, as occurred when European seafarers circumvented Middle Eastern merchants after Vasco da Gama’s voyage around Africa in the late fifteenth-century opened up a southern route. The ecology of the region also permitted armed predators to prowl the surrounding barrens, which were almost impossible for a state to control. Peripheral peoples therefore had a great advantage in their dealings with the center, making government authority insecure and anxious.

figuratively adv 比喻上来说

undermine v 暗中颠覆/暗中破坏

monetary 货币的

circumvent v 避开/智胜/绕过

prowl v 潜行

barren adj 贫瘠的 n 荒野

Peripheral adj 次要的/外围的

Symbiotic Relationships

A symbiotic relationship is an interaction between two or more species in which one species lives in or on another species. There are three main types of symbiotic relationships: parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism. The first and the third can be key factors in the structure of a biological community; that is, all the populations of organisms living together and potentially interacting in a particular area.

symbiotic adj 共生的

Parasitism n 寄生现象，寄生行为

commensalism n 共栖

mutualism n 共生行为

Parasitism is a kind of predator-prey relationship in which one organism, the parasite, derives its food at the expense of its symbiotic associate, the host. Parasites are usually smaller than their hosts. An example of a parasite is a tapeworm that lives inside the intestines of a larger animal and absorbs nutrients from its host. Natural selection favors the parasites that are best able to find and feed on hosts. At the same time, defensive abilities of hosts are also selected for. As an example, plants make chemicals toxic to fungal and bacterial parasites, along with ones toxic to predatory animals (sometimes they are the same chemicals). In vertebrates, the immune system provides a multiple defense against internal parasites.

Parasite n 寄生生物/寄生虫

derive v 起源于/获得/衍生

intestine n 肠

At times, it is actually possible to watch the effects of natural selection in host-parasite relationships. For example, Australia during the 1940 s was overrun by hundreds of millions of European rabbits. The rabbits destroyed huge expanses of Australia and threatened the sheep and cattle industries. In 1950, myxoma virus, a parasite that affects rabbits, was deliberately introduced into Australia to control the rabbit population. Spread rapidly by mosquitoes, the virus devastated the rabbit population. The virus was less deadly to the offspring of surviving rabbits, however, and it caused less and less harm over the years. Apparently, genotypes (the genetic make-up of an organism) in the rabbit population were selected that were better able to resist the parasite. Meanwhile, the deadliest strains of the virus perished with their hosts as natural selection favored strains that could infect hosts but not kill them. Thus, natural selection stabilized this host-parasite relationship.

overrun v 横行/大批出没/超时/蔓延

Expanse n 广阔区域/延伸部分

devastate v 毁灭/使荒芜/使极其悲伤

strain n 压力/紧张/作用力/劳损/种类

perish v 死亡 perished adj 冷的

In contrast to parasitism, in commensalism, one partner benefits without significantly affecting the other. Few cases of absolute commensalism probably exist, because it is unlikely that one of the partners will be completely unaffected. Commensal associations sometimes involve one species’ obtaining food that is inadvertently exposed by another. For instance, several kinds of birds feed on insects flushed out of the grass by grazing cattle. It is difficult to imagine how this could affect the cattle, but the relationship may help or hinder them in some way not yet recognized.

inadvertently adv 不经意地

flush v 把。。从隐蔽处赶出

hinder v 妨碍/阻挡

yet adv 即可/还/仍然/到目前为止/甚至/再/不过。 conj yet 然而

The third type of symbiosis, mutualism, benefits both partners in the relationship Legume plants and their nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and the interactions between flowering plants and their pollinators, are examples of mutualistic association. In the first case, the plants provide the bacteria with carbohydrates and other organic compounds, and the bacteria have enzymes that act as catalysts that eventually add nitrogen to the soil, enriching it. In the second case, pollinators (insects, birds) obtain food from the flowering plant, and the plant has its pollen distributed and seeds dispersed much more efficiently than they would be if they were carried by the wind only. Another example of mutualism would be the bull’s horn acacia tree, which grows in Central and South America. The tree provides a place to live for ants of the genus Pseudomyrmex. The ants live in large, hollow thorns and eat sugar secreted by the tree. The ants also eat yellow structures at the tip of leaflets: these are protein rich and seem to have no function for the tree except to attract ants. The ants benefit the host tree by attacking virtually anything that touches it. They sting other insects and large herbivores (animals that eat only plants) and even clip surrounding vegetation that grows near the tree. When the ants are removed, the trees usually die, probably because herbivores damage them so much that they are unable to compete with surrounding vegetation for light and growing space.

Legume 豆科植物

compound n 化合物

catalyst 催化剂/促进因素

disperse v 消散/驱散

sting v 蜇/刺

clip n 夹子 v 修剪

The complex interplay of species in symbiotic relationships highlights an important point about communities: Their structure depends on a web of diverse connections among organisms.

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Europe’s Early Sea Trade with Asia

In the fourteenth century, a number of political developments cut Europe’s overland trade routes to southern and eastern Asia, with which Europe had had important and highly profitable commercial ties since the twelfth century. This development, coming as it did when the bottom had fallen out of the European economy, provided an impetus to a long-held desire to secure direct relations with the East by establishing a sea trade. Widely reported, if somewhat distrusted, accounts by figures like the famous traveler from Venice. Marco Polo, of the willingness of people in China to trade with Europeans and of the immensity of the wealth to be gained by such contact made the idea irresistible Possibilities for trade seemed promising, but no hope existed for maintaining the traditional routes over land A new way had to be found.

overland adj 横跨大陆的

profitable adj 获利的，富有成效的

secure v 系紧，担保

impetus n 动力/推动力

imensity 巨大/无边 n

irresistible adj 及其诱人的/不可抗拒的

The chief problem was technological: How were the Europeans to reach the East? Europe’s maritime tradition had developed in the context of easily navigable seas—the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and. to a lesser extent, the North Sea between England and the Continent—not of vast oceans. New types of ships were needed, new methods of finding one’s way, new techniques for financing so vast a scheme. The sheer scale of the investment it took to begin commercial expansion at sea reflects the immensity of the profits that such East-West trade could create. Spices were the most sought-after commodities. Spices not only dramatically improved the taste of the European diet but also were used to manufacture perfumes and certain medicines. But even high-priced commodities like spices had to be transported in large bulk in order to justify the expense and trouble of sailing around the African continent all the way to India and China.

maritime adj 海洋的/海运的

navigable adj 可通航的

scheme n 计划/体系/阴谋/方案

immensity of the profit 大量的利益

Sought-after 吃香的 受欢迎的

commodity n 商品

manufacture v 大量生产

in large bulk 大量地

The principal seagoing ship used throughout the Middle Ages was the galley, a long, low ship fitted with sails but driven primarily by oars. The largest galleys had as many as 50 oarsmen Since they had relatively shallow hulls, they were unstable when driven by sail or when on rough water: hence they were unsuitable for the voyage to the East. Even if they hugged the African coastline, they had little chance of surviving a crossing of the Indian Ocean Shortly after 1400. Shipbuilders began developing a new type of vessel properly designed to operate in rough, open water: the caravel. It had a wider and deeper hull than the galley and hence could carry more cargo: increased stability made it possible to add multiple masts and sails. In the largest caravels, two main masts held large square sails that provided the bulk of the thrust driving the ship forward, while a smaller forward mast held a triangular-shaped sail, called a lateen sail, which could be moved into a variety of positions to maneuver the ship.

seagoing adj 航海的

galley n 桨帆船/厨房

fitted adj 定做的

sail n 帆 v起航，航行

oar n 桨

hull n 船体/花萼

mast n 桅杆

thrust n 推力/方向/大意/要领 v 猛的推

maneuver v 操纵/熟练操纵

The astrolabe had long been the primary instrument for navigation, having been introduced in the eleventh century. It operated by measuring the height of the Sun and the fixed stars: by calculating the angles created by these points, it determined the degree of latitude at which one stood (The problem of determining longitude, though, was not solved until the eighteenth century.) By the early thirteenth century. Western Europeans had also developed and put into use the magnetic compass, which helped when clouds obliterated both the Sun and the stars. Also beginning in the thirteenth century, there were new maps refined by precise calculations and the reports of sailors that made it possible to trace one’s path with reasonable accuracy. Certain institutional and practical norms had become established as well. A maritime code known as the Consulate of the Sea. which originated in the western Mediterranean region in the fourteenth century, won acceptance by a majority of sea goers as the normative code for maritime conduct; it defined such matters as the authority of a ship’s officers, protocols of command, pay structures, the rights of sailors, and the rules of engagement when ships met one another on the sea-lanes. Thus by about 1400 the key elements were in place to enable Europe to begin its seaward adventure.

obliterate v 清除/忘却/摧毁/掩盖

norm n 基准/规范/常态

consulate n 领事馆

protocol n 礼仪/协议/条约

pay structure 薪酬结构

engagement n 约会/订婚/雇佣/交战

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Industrialization in the Netherlands and Scandinavia

While some European countries, such as England and Germany, began to industrialize in the eighteenth century, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden developed later. All four of these countries lagged considerably behind in the early nineteenth century. However, they industrialized rapidly in the second half of the century, especially in the last two or three decades. In view of their later start and their lack of coal—undoubtedly the main reason they were not among the early industrializers—it is important to understand the sources of their success.

lag v 延搁

in view of 鉴于/考虑到

All had small populations. At the beginning of the nineteenth century，Denmark and Norway had fewer than 1 million people, while Sweden and the Netherlands had fewer than 2.5 million inhabitants. All exhibited moderate growth rates in the course of the century (Denmark the highest and Sweden the lowest), but all more than doubled in population by 1900. Density varied greatly. The Netherlands had one of the highest population densities in Europe, whereas Norway and Sweden had the lowest Denmark was in between but closer to the Netherlands.

inhabitant n 居民/七夕动物

exhibit v 展示出

moderate adj 中等的/温和的/适度的

in the course of 在。。过程中

Considering human capital as a characteristic of the population, however, all four countries were advantaged by the large percentages of their populations who could read and write. In both 1850 and 1914, the Scandinavian countries had the highest literacy rates in Europe, or in the world, and the Netherlands was well above the European average. This fact was of enormous value in helping the national economies find their niches in the evolving currents of the international economy.

Capital n 大写字母/顶柱 human capital 人力资源

Location was an important factor for all four countries. All had immediate access to the sea, and this had important implications for a significant international resource, fish, as well as for cheap transport, merchant marines, and the shipbuilding industry. Each took advantage of these opportunities in its own way. The people of the Netherlands, with a long tradition of fisheries and mercantile shipping, had difficulty in developing good harbors suitable for steamships: eventually they did so at Rotterdam and Amsterdam, with exceptional results for transit trade with Germany and central Europe and for the processing of overseas foodstuffs and raw materials (sugar, tobacco, chocolate, grain, and eventually oil). Denmark also had an admirable commercial history, particularly with respect to traffic through the Sound (the strait separating Denmark and Sweden). In 1857, in return for a payment of 63 million kronor from other commercial nations, Denmark abolished the Sound toll dues the fees it had collected since 1497 for the use of the Sound. This, along with other policy shifts toward free trade, resulted in a significant increase in traffic through the Sound and in the port of Copenhagen.

immediate adj 紧邻的/直接的/立即的

transit n 运输/通过

Overseas adj 国外的/异国的

abolish 废除

toll v 征收/收税 n 通行费/代价

Sound n 海峡

The political institutions of the four countries posed no significant barriers to industrialization or economic growth. The nineteenth century passed relatively peacefully for these countries, with progressive democratization taking place in all of them. They were reasonably well governed, without notable corruption or grandiose state projects, although in all of them the government gave some aid to railways, and in Sweden the state built the main lines. As small countries dependent on foreign markets, they followed a liberal trade policy in the main, though a protectionist movement developed in Sweden. In Denmark and Sweden agricultural reforms took place gradually from the late eighteenth century through the first half of the nineteenth, resulting in a new class of peasant landowners with a definite market orientation.

Pose barrier to 给。。设置障碍

progressive adj 逐步的/进行的

corruption n 贪污贿赂/腐化堕落

grandiose adj 壮丽雄伟的

liberal adj 宽容的/自由的

peasant n 小农/乡巴佬

definite adj 明确的/不能更改的

orientation adj 定向/态度/趋向

The key factor in the success of these countries (along with high literacy, which contributed to it) was their ability to adapt to the international division of labor determined by the early industrializers and to stake out areas of specialization in international markets for which they were especially well suited. This meant a great dependence on international commerce, which had notorious fluctuations; but it also meant high returns to those factors of production that were fortunate enough to be well placed in times of prosperity. In Sweden exports accounted for 18 percent of the national income in 1870, and in 1913, 22 percent of a much larger national income. In the early twentieth century, Denmark exported 63 percent of its agricultural production: butter, pork products, and eggs. It exported 80 percent of its butter, almost all to Great Britain, where it accounted for 40 percent of British butter imports.

stake out 监视/派警察监视

notorious adj 众人皆知的/臭名昭著的

but it also meant high returns to those factors of production that were fortunate enough to be well placed in times of prosperity.

但是这也意味着那些在繁荣时期幸运的处于有利地位的生产要素将会获得高回报

export 出口

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Lightning

Lightning is a brilliant flash of light produced by an electrical discharge from a storm cloud. The electrical discharge takes place when the attractive tension between a region of negatively charged particles and a region of positively charged particles becomes so great that the charged particles suddenly rush together. The coming together of the oppositely charged particles neutralizes the electrical tension and releases a tremendous amount of energy, which we see as lightning. The separation of positively and negatively charged particles takes place during the development of the storm cloud.

discharge v/n 释放 electrical discharge

tension n 张力

charged adj 带电的

The separation of charged particles that forms in a storm cloud has a sandwich-like structure. Concentrations of positively charged particles develop at the top and bottom of the cloud, but the middle region becomes negatively charged. Recent measurements made in the field together with laboratory simulations offer a promising explanation of how this structure of charged particles forms. What happens is that small (millimeter-to centimeter-size) pellets of ice form in the cold upper regions of the cloud. When these ice pellets fall, some of them strike much smaller ice crystals in the center of the cloud. The temperature at the center of the cloud is about -15℃ or lower. At such temperatures, the collision between the ice pellets and the ice crystals causes electrical charges to shift so that the ice pellets acquire a negative charge and the ice crystals become positively charged. Then updraft wind currents carry the light, positively charged ice crystals up to the top of the cloud. The heavier negatively charged ice pellets are left to concentrate in the center. This process explains why the top of the cloud becomes positively charged, while the center becomes negatively charged. The negatively charged region is large: several hundred meters thick and several kilometers in diameter. Below this large, cold, negatively charged region, the cloud is warmer than -15℃, and at these temperatures, collisions between ice crystals and falling ice pellets produce positively charged ice pellets that then populate a small region at the base of the cloud.

simulation n 模仿

pellet n 颗粒状/药丸

updraft n 上升气流

Most lightning takes place within a cloud when the charge separation within the cloud collapses. However, as the storm cloud develops, the ground beneath the cloud becomes positively charged and lightning can take place in the form of an electrical discharge between the negative charge of the cloud and the positively charged ground. Lightning that strikes the ground is the most likely to be destructive, so even though it represents only 20 percent of all lightning, it has received a lot of scientific attention.

collapse 崩塌/坍塌

destructive adj 有破坏性的

Using high-speed photography, scientists have determined that there are two steps to the occurrence of lightning from a cloud to the ground. First, a channel, or path, is formed that connects the cloud and the ground Then a strong current of electrons follows that path from the cloud to the ground, and it is that current that illuminates the channel as the lightning we see.

illuminate v 发光

The formation of the channel is initiated when electrons surge from the cloud base toward the ground. When a stream of these negatively charged electrons comes within 100 meters of the ground it is met by a stream of positively charged particles that comes up from the ground. When the negatively and positively charged streams meet, a complete channel connecting the cloud and the ground is formed. The channel is only a few centimeters in diameter, but that is wide enough for electrons to follow the channel to the ground in the visible form of a flash of lightning. The stream of positive particles that meets the surge of electrons from the cloud often arises from a tall pointed structure such as a metal flagpole or a tower. That is why the subsequent lightning that follows the completed channel often strikes a tall structure.

surge v 冲刺/突发/急剧上涨

Once a channel has been formed, it is usually used by several lightning discharges, each of them consisting of a stream of electrons from the cloud meeting a stream of positive particles along the established path. Sometimes, however, a stream of electrons following an established channel is met by a positive stream making a new path up from the ground. The result is a forked lightning that strikes the ground in two places.

forked adj 分叉的

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The mystery of yawning

According to conventional theory, yawning takes place when people are bored or sleepy and serves the function of increasing alertness by reversing, through deeper breathing, the drop in blood oxygen levels that are caused by the shallow breathing that accompanies lack of sleep or boredom. Unfortunately, the few scientific investigations of yawning have failed to find any connection between how often someone yawns and how much sleep they have had or how tired they are. About the closest any research has come to supporting the tiredness theory is to confirm that adults yawn more often on weekdays than at weekends, and that school children yawn more frequently in their first year at primary school than they do in kindergarten.

conventional adj 常规的

yawn 打哈欠

alertness n 谨慎/机敏

reverse v 相反

accompany v 伴随着/伴奏

Another flaw of the tiredness theory is that yawning does not raise alertness or physiological activity, as the theory would predict. When researchers measured the heart rate, muscle tension and skin conductance of people before, during and after yawning, they did detect some changes in skin conductance following yawning, indicating a slight increase in physiological activity. However, similar changes occurred when the subjects were asked simply to open their mouths or to breathe deeply. Yawning did nothing special to their state of physiological activity. Experiments have also cast serious doubt on the belief that yawning is triggered by a drop in blood oxygen or a rise in blood carbon dioxide. Volunteers were told to think about yawning while they breathed either normal air, pure oxygen, or an air mixture with an above-normal level of carbon dioxide. If the theory was correct, breathing air with extra carbon dioxide should have triggered yawning, while breathing pure oxygen should have suppressed yawning. In fact, neither condition made any difference to the frequency of yawning, which remained constant at about 24 yawns per hour Another experiment demonstrated that physical exercise, which was sufficiently vigorous to double the rate of breathing, had no effect on the frequency of yawning Again the implication is that yawning has little or nothing to do with oxygen.

conductance n 电导率

cast v 投/抛 cast doubt 产生怀疑

suppress v 镇压/封锁/阻止/克制

vigorous adj 有力地/剧烈的/强烈的/坚决的

A completely different theory holds that yawning assists in the physical development of the lungs early in life, but has no remaining biological function in adults. It has been suggested that yawning and hiccup-ping might serve to clear out the fetus s airways. The lungs of a fetus secrete a liquid that mixes with its mother’s amniotic fluid Babies with congenital blockages that prevent this fluid from escaping from their lungs are sometimes born with deformed lungs. It might be that yawning helps to clear out the lungs by periodically lowering the pressure in them. According to this theory, yawning in adults is just a developmental fossil with no biological function. But, while accepting that not everything in life can be explained by Darwinian evolution, there are sound reasons for being skeptical of theories like this one, which avoid the issue of what yawning does for adults. Yawning is distracting, consumes energy and takes time. It is almost certainly doing something significant in adults as well as in fetuses. What could it be?

hiccup-ping 打嗝

fetus 胎儿

congenital adj 先天的

blockage n 阻塞物

The empirical evidence, such as it is, suggests an altogether different function for yawning—namely, that yawning prepares us for a change in activity level. Support for this theory came from a study of yawning behavior in everyday life. Volunteers wore wrist-mounted devices that automatically recorded their physical activity for up to two weeks: the volunteers also recorded their yawns by pressing a button on the device each time they yawned. The data showed that yawning tended to occur about 15 minutes before a period of increased behavioral activity. Yawning bore no relationship to sleep patterns, however. This accords with anecdotal evidence that people often yawn in situations where they are neither tired nor bored, but are preparing for impending mental and physical activity. Such yawning is often referred to as ‘incongruous’ because it seems out of place, at least on the tiredness view: soldiers yawning before combat, musicians yawning before performing, and athletes yawning before competing. Their yawning seems to have nothing to do with sleepiness or boredom—quite the reverse—but it does precede a change in activity level.

empirical adj 以经验为依据的 == observational

Accord n 一致，协议 v 给予/与事实相符

anecdotal adj 奇闻奇事的

impending adj 即将到来的/临近的

incongruous adj 不协调的/不适宜的

out of place 不合适

precede v 先于

英文	中文
absurd	荒唐的
appliance	应用
augment	v 增加
calculate	计算
cavity	孔，胸腔
clinic	诊所
craftsman	手艺人
dedication	奉献
dinosaur	恐龙
framework	框架
guilty	内疚的，有罪的
integrate	使融入，使成为一体
liberty	自由
nap	小憩
passive	消极的
pitch	场地
position	位置，放置
radius	半径
remaining	逗留
vivid	生动的
whereby	凭此
significantly	重要地，显著地
wanna	项
Wispy	一缕缕
tangle	缠在一起

英文	中文
adhesive	粘合的/粘合剂
alchemist	炼金术师
auction	拍卖
cellist	大提琴家
complacence	自满
corps	军/团队/技术部门
glossy	有光泽的/豪华的
granite	花岗岩
graphite	石墨
hazard	危险/障碍物
Herald	传令官/预报者//预示。。来临/宣称
humid	湿热的
incongruity	不合时宜的/不协调的
intrepid	勇敢的/无畏的
intricate	错综复杂的
luster	光泽
magnesium	镁
monotonous	单调的
mythology	神话学
outfit	全套服装
outspoken	直言不讳的/公开的
pastel	蜡笔
portable	便于携带的/可移植的
refurbish	休整
resonance	回响

WRITING

仿写：

T1

Is it as important for older people to study or learn new things as it is for younger people?

As an old saying goes, you cannot teach an old dog new trick. That’s why people normally believe it is hard to change habits and acquire new skills, not to mention to elderly. But I think it is not true and the elderly have every reason to keep up with the times.

as an old saying goes, you can not teach an old dog new trick

俗话说，老狗学不会新把戏

acquire new skills 学会新的技能

Keep up with the time 跟上这个时代

For one thing, keeping open-minded to new things helps raise life quality. While technological advances have greatly simplified lives and diversified means of entertainment, older generation are actually missing out on the convenience young people take for granted. For example, if the elderly can be encouraged to use Uber, a cellphone-based cab service, they won’t have to stand by the sideway, wait on cold winter nights and leave it all up to chance. Instead, all they have to do is to type in the destination, set departure time and choose a car brand. And the online system would sift through all the cars in the neighborhood and pick the right one according to the given criterion. In this case, the nearest cab driver would pick the passenger up right on time. The same goes for household chores. With the advent of smart technology, electronic appliances like dish washer and vacuum cleaner have all come into being, which liberates the elderly from grunt work. Besides, they used to have limited recreational activities due to the constraint of physical conditions. Things won’t be the same if the old know a thing or two about computers and the virtual world. The simulation games and home theater system have taken entertainment to the next level without taking old people outdoor.

观点一：学习新的东西有助于提升生活质量

keep open-minded to new things 对新事物保持开放的态度

raise life quality 提高生活质量

Simplify lives 简化了生活

Diversify means of entertainment 增加了娱乐的方式

miss out 错过

leave it all up to chance 一切随缘

type in 输入

The same goes for 对于。。。（事情）是相同的

vaccum cleaner 真空清洁器

the constraint of 物理的限制

For another, mastering new skills helps bridge the generation gap. Young people are innately fast learners. Every day they are bombarded with all kinds of novel ideas and new inventions. This exposure will reshape their mindset and mentality. And when they incorporate the newly acquired knowledge and skills into daily lives, the way they look at the world will also start to evolve and start to differ from that of their elder generations. A retired grandpa may find it hard to understand when seeing the teenage grandson either texting or taking selfies on his cellphone, a device never far from his grasp. But if the old man knows how to download a social app and sign in to an account, he will come to realization that the photo-taking obsession is nothing but a way to seek attention and feel good about oneself. By updating homepage, posting everyday events and commenting on each other, young people feel free to socialize on the virtual network. If the grandpa could learn some tricks and check out Twitter or Facebook, he will soon get familiar with hot topics and buzzwords.

观点2: 掌握新的技巧帮助架起两辈之间的桥梁

Innately 天生地

are bombarded with 对。。应接不暇，被。。轰炸

reshape their mindset and mentality 重塑观念模式和心态

far from one’s grasp 超出某人理解

sign in to an account 登陆账号

Obsession 着迷/执念

buzzword 时髦用语

All in all, taking in new things is important not only to young people; the elderly can also be better served if they give it a shot.

Give it a shot 给一个尝试

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T2

Some people advocate students going to school for 9 months a year in a row and take a rest for 3 months, while another point of view favors three months of school with one month of rest. Which do you prefer?

When it comes to school arrangements, opinions vary from person to person. Some educators believe learning for 9 consecutive months can promote performance while others argue that students need a break every other 3 months. If I were to decide, this problem should be answered case by case.

When it comes to 当提到。。。

consecutive adj 连续的

Consider K-12 kids. They have shorter attention spans, so lengthy school years would do more harm than good. In primary and secondary education, students are mostly required to memorize facts and figures or to comprehend how the world works, all of which can be rather demanding. Studies have shown that we learn better when our brain cells are switched on and off, or with short periods of learning and breaks in between. Spaced three-month learning enables children to achieve more and retain the knowledge for longer. Besides, rest can be vital to recovery. A child would easily burn out if school is in session for so long. So it takes time for children to recover from the learning fatigue, which would otherwise take a toll on learning efficiency. When my sister was an eight grader, her mom put her on a super full schedule, piano lessons for the weekends, maths and language training for summer/winter vacations. She had to stay up late every night to get projects done and made up for schoolwork while she was away for music festivals. That crazy year went by and eventually, she ended up with falling grades and fell victim to mild depression. According to her, she felt worn out and tired of it all. So it seems to me the spaced three months of learning would serve young school kids better.

Span n 持续时间 shorter attention span 注意力储蓄时间短

switch on and off 打开关闭

enable sb to do 使。。能够

retain knowledge for longer 长时间储存知识

be vital to 对。。。很重要

burn out 精疲力尽

in session 在会议中

fatigue 疲劳

take a toll on 产生负面影响

stay up late 熬夜

be away for 离开

fell victim to mild depression 称为轻度抑郁受害者

be tired of 对。。疲劳

feel worn out / be worn out 感到筋疲力尽

As for college students, nine-month school arrangement won’t be a bad idea. Young adults need to grow not only intellectually but also emotionally. To put college years into good use, they should go on adventures, learn about the world and strengthen social relationships. In this case, travel experiences and internship opportunities would be a must. Let’s assume school days spread out for three one-month breaks in between. This time window would not be big enough for an undergraduate to land an internship. Big companies recruit on a quarterly basis, so the school arrangement would be a problem. Similarly, a college student who plans on a trip to Europe would be crunched for time if school is out for only one month. However, if students can concentrate and study non stop for nine months, they can make full use of the three months of vacation to gain working experience or to broaden their horizons abroad.

Young adults need to grow not only intellectually but also emotionally.

年轻人不仅仅需要智力上的成长，还需要情感上的成长

put sth into good use 更好的利用

Let’s assume +句子 假设

Big companies recruit on a quarterly basis

大公司按照季度招聘

be crunched for time 因为时间被取消

To sum up, the school arrangement should vary according to different age groups.

T3

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A university should focus more on its facilities, such as libraries, computers or laboratory, rather than on hiring famous teachers.

The tertiary education has long been the center of public attention. Some educators argue that compared with professors and lecturers, advanced school facilities should be given more emphasis. It may sound reasonable at first glance, but if you take a closer look, it is the quality of staff that determines a university.

tertiary adj 第三的/第三产业的/ 高等教育的/第三纪的

the center of public attention 公众焦点

be given more emphasis 被给予重视

For one thing, not only do teachers impart knowledge, but they also offer inspiration. To purely pass on knowledge, a human may be no better than a machine or high-tech equipment. The difference, however, lies in the potential inspiration and creativity stimulated by renowned teachers. Take my favorite professor Edward for instance. Apart from teaching in our business school, he also owned a famous counseling corporate. Whenever he came to class, Edward would raise tough cases for discussion and shared with the class his experience and solutions. Thanks to his real-life cases, I got the hang of many business rules and marketing strategies. That’s something a mediocre lecturer or a piece of equipment can never achieve.

Impart knowledge/ pass on knowledge 传授知识

renowned adj 著名的

apart from 除了

get the hang of 掌握

mediocre adj 普通的/平庸的

For another, universities with star teachers tend to have higher graduate employment rates. It is not hard to imagine teachers with connections can give students a competitive edge in job hunting. Recent studies have shown a strong correlation between the quality of professors and job prospects. For example of graduates. For example, a politically- connected professor can help land an intern job in the mayor’s office. Similarly, a law student would stand a better chance of making partners if his college mentor happens to be on the board. By contrast, students swamped in labs or libraries would have to realize that you need a platform to show the world what you’ve got. A well-connected professor is someone who can open up that opportunity for you.

Give sb a competitive edge in sth 给某人在某事上竞争上的优势

correlation n 相关 correlation between A and B A和B的相关性

job prospect 工作前景

Stand a better chance of 有很大的机会

open up 打开

It is not to say universities should completely ignore equipment and facilities. Spacious and bright libraries do offer students an ideal place to work on papers; computer centers also help foster a self-governed way of learning. However, such school equipment is more of a luxury than a necessity. Students managed fine before the advent of the cutting-edge technologies, but they still needed great teachers for enlightenment. If the equipment failed tomorrow, students could still learn by hearing lectures and attending discussions. But if good teachers were gone tomorrow, students would end up learning very little.

Spacious adj 宽敞的

foster v 培养

advent of sth sth的到来

for enlightenment 启迪/阐明

All in all, despite its instrumental role in facilitating learning, facilities fail to generate more practical merits to students. Recruitment of talented teachers, on the other hand, deserves more attention.

instrumental role 重要作用

merit n 价值/长处

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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A university should focus more on its facilities, such as libraries, computers or laboratory, rather than on hiring famous teachers.

I definitly disagree this statement. In my opinion, the quality of stuff is the most instrumental part of an university compared to the facilities on campus. And it give an university a competitive edge in attracting potential students.

Firstly, I wanna point out that good teachers not only can impact knowledge to their students, but they will also bring students inspirations. Although all of knowledge come from books which may update over a long time, teachers will add their own experiences and feelings in their lecture. Good teachers will combine the the current technology and his own views about certain fields with the knowledge in the books. You can not only acquire the knowledge from the learning materials, you can think of problem in your professors’ view, an experts’ view. I believe that students can get more than just reading the books alone in the library. Additionally, good mentors will not lead you to follow the opinion in the books, they will encourage students to find the drawbacks , to insist own method relatively and to make something new through thinking and experiment. It is good teachers that can take the quality of university education to next level.

Additionally, a fomous professor will increase graduate employment rate. The star teachers’ reputation will appeal to many companies to hire graduate students, which can give students great edge in job hunting. Recently study has shown that the correlation between the famous quality of teachers and job prospect dose exist. Many successful professior have their own companies to translate their theoretical research to practical projects. Their students stand a better chance of landing a internship in these firms. During internship, students have oppotunities to practice their knowledge from class and gain some social experience like how to communicate with each other and how to cooporate with teamates in a project. This internship doesn’t just improve students’ capacity of working, it can also enhance the quality of resume to make students more competitive in job hunting.

Of course, it is not to say that better facilities can not bring benefits to students. Addmittly, a comfortable and ancient library can proveide students with a suitable learning environment and various learning resources. Advanced and high-quality computers and laboratory can offer better learning equipment to students. However, if the quality of staff is not at high level, all of these are trivial. Without correct directions, no matter how struggling the students are, it is difficult for them to get a good achievement.

All in all, a good professior can give students platform to show their talents and higher graduate employment rate. Compared to the good facilities, high quality of stuff is essential for a university. So I disagree with the statement that a university should focus more on facilities, instead of hiring good teachers.

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T4

For teenagers aged between 15 to 18, what is the most important to the teacher?

1)the ability to help students plan for future

2)the ability to recognize which student needs help and offer that help

3)the ability to encourage students to learn on their own outside of the classroom

Secondary education can be one of the most formative experiences in a person’s life. What qualities make a good high school teacher? People might go for abilities like helping with future planning or encouraging academic autonomy. I, however, believe that the most important factor is the ability to recognize students in need and the willingness to lend a hand.

formative adj 形成的 the vital formative years of children’s characteristics

go for 主张/拥护

autonomy n 自治 encourage academic autonomy 激励学术自治

lend a hand 给予帮助

The first beneficiary is underachievers. More often than not, students who fall behind suffer from a low self-esteem. It is especially true for teenagers who find it a disgrace to lose face in front of their peers. In this case, they would stay under the radar and try to bury their problems in the dark. Nobody would even notice, not to mention offering any help. However, a teacher with a perceptive mind can discover the problem before it gets worse, so that the troubled kid could get proper help. Let’s say a boy whose parents are going through a nasty divorce may show up late at school or miss the deadline for science projects. If the teacher can spot his recent anomaly and reaches out to him, the boy might open up and confide to the teacher. This is the first step on the road to recovery and an attentive teacher makes all the difference.

beneficiary n 受益人/受贿人

More often than not 通常来说

Suffer from 遭受

disgrace n 羞耻/丢脸的事 v 出丑/使..蒙受耻辱

Stay under the radar 不被注意

bury problems in the dark 隐藏问题

not to mention sth 不用提

nasty adj 宁人难受的/恶意的

anomaly n 反常的现象

reach out to sb 帮助/伸出援手

confide to 倾诉

attentive adj 专心的/关心的

Moreover, this valuable quality would rub off on students as well. Instead of lecturing them about helping others, teachers set a better example by practicing what they preach. Seeing the teacher shows compassion and kindness to a kid from disadvantaged background, children are more likely to follow suit and learn to empathize. In contrast, if the teacher is always aloof, school bullies will then pick on the troubled kid. It is because when teachers don’t even bother to care, kids would pick up a wrong message that being indifferent is the best policy. What would them turn into when reaching adulthood? Self-centered. Or even worse, mean and bitter. So it takes a sharp mind to spot trouble and a warm heart to get children out of.

Moreover 另外

rub off 擦掉/显得暗淡/—>影响

set a example 做出了榜样

preach v 讲到/说教/宣扬/主张。 practice what one’s peach 实现某人主张的

compassion n 同情心

follow suit 效仿

aloof adj 冷漠的/超然的

Bully v/n 霸凌 school bullies 校园霸凌

pick up 接收到

indifferent adj 漠不关心的/平庸的/较差的

turn into 变成

Reach adulthood 长大后

Sure, it is not to say other qualities are trivial. Future career planning offers students some insight into job prospects and college majors. And students would better adjust to college life if they are trained to learn on their own outside of the classroom. But I wouldn’t say such qualities assume more power than an empathetic heart. Why? High scholars aged 15 to 18 have very vague ideas about their interests and aspiration. That’s why people even take a gap year to figure it out. So why bother planning in such early stage of life while so much remains uncovered and unexplored? As for the ability to encourage learning autonomy, let’s face it, children have been doing this all the time! Since the advent of Internet, children have been drawn to a variety of search engines and websites, which stimulate self-governed learning in a way no teacher can possibly compare to. But the ability to relate to troubled students and lead them out of the woods is in high demand and cannot be replaced.

就业前景 job prospect

专业选择 college major

vague 模糊的

aspiration n 志向

figure out 弄明白

So much remains uncovered and unexplored 太多东西未被探索发现

search engine 搜索引擎

be in high demand 急切需求

To sum up, to benefit high school students to a greater extent, the teachers have to be able to recognize what’s going wrong and what can be done to make it right. Other characters can be good to have, but also fine to live without.

T5

学校投资

If school has limited funding, which of the following three school spend money on? 1)sports 2)arts 3)volunteering.

School is a place where students prepare themselves for adult lives both intellectually and emotionally. Of course, sports, arts and volunteering all deserve financial support from the school authority. But when the funding is limited and only one of them can be funded, I’d definitely go for sports.

go for 同意

First of all, this policy can bring numerous benefits to students. Everybody knows working out is good for both body and mind. During schooldays students have been used to a sedentary lifestyle, which has been linked with an increased risk of obesity and depression. But what if they are now encouraged to attend extracurricular activities like hockey, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, karate and so on? Besides being more energetic and athletic, they can also experience the joy of cooperation and competition. Plus, sports activities provide a temporary escape, enabling children to take their mind off study for a while and then go back to schoolwork refreshed. According a recent survey, kids who exercise 30 minutes a day five times a week, enjoy better overall brain health, reduced stress, increased creativity and clearer thinking.

sedentary adj 惯于久坐的 a sendentary lifestyle 一个惯于久坐的生活习惯

be linked with

an increased risk of obesity and depression 抑郁和肥胖的概率增加

what if 如果说

extracurricular adj 课外的

experience the joy of cooperation and competition 享受竞技和合作的快乐

Provide a temporary escape from the reality

take one’s mind off sth 休息放松

And the school itself is another beneficiary. It is because athletics is a great way to draw attention to a school. When schools get attention, they also get funding. This can be a big deal for schools since private donors determines how much can be invested in scholarships, facilities, and paying top professors. Therefore, the more weight a school lays to its sports programs, the more potential athletic stars it will produce, and the more potential donors it will attract. Besides, notable alumni also lend their names to a school. Knowing that Michael Jordan went to Laney High School will encourage many other aspiring basketball players to apply there. This school will get to choose the most promising ones, thus continuing the legacy of its fame.

draw attention to 吸引目光

private donor 私人捐助

notable adj 著名的

alumni n 男校友

Sure, arts and volunteering do benefit students in their own way. Arts can promote students’ appreciation for beauty and volunteer jobs help children show more tolerance and empathy to people around. But the fact is, arts makes little sense unless it is comprehended based on a certain level of passion and interest. High schoolers who are normally drawn to pop cultures wouldn’t necessarily gain much from ancient paintings and sculptures. As for volunteering, community service has already covered such activities, which means schools can divert funds to more needed projects. So if the authority has to tighten its grip on funding the campus activities, arts and volunteering can be crossed off the priority list.

divert 转移 shift

be crossed off the priority list 不重要

crossed off 划掉

To sum up, I’m not saying arts and volunteering are less important, but with limited school funds, sports can be a more effective way to put that money into good use.

put sth into good use 更好的利用

If school has limited funding, which of the following three school spend money on? 1)sports 2)arts 3)volunteering.

When it comes to the most valuable things to invest in university, some people like the art field, some prefer the volunteering activities. My answer is sports.

Firstly, investing sports can bring numerals benefits to students. Everybody knows that excercise is good for our health and mind. Especially for students, students’ life is very stressful. Every day, they have many assignments and homework to finish. They will sit down in the class or library for a long time which will increase the risk of obesity and depression. If school provide good facilities and gym to students. In the hot summer, they can choose to swim in the new swimming pool of school. In the cold winter, they can work out in a indoor gym with good facilities. it will encourage students to attach greater importance to their own health and find it necessary to keep a balance between the study and the body. University offer students various method to strengthen thier body and to have a temporary escape from the pressure of study. After excercies, students will be more energetic and creative in doing research and writing paper.

Secondly, investing sports can bring benefits to university own. As you know, in the United States, many universities have their own sports teams. Every year, lots of money are allocated to sports teams. Why? Because a successful team can bring lots of fame to the university. More reputation will attract more bussiness men to donate money to fund the unversity. With this income, the university can invest other facilities, support scholarships and pay top professor. However, to get that level, universites should build a better gym, import advanced training facilities and employ famous coaches. Without these foundation, it is impossible to create an potential team to win the champion.

It is not to say that the arts and volanteering are not deserve support. If there are many famous paintings or sculptures offered by university, students who interest in these field will have valuable opportunities to observe and learning closely. But it brings no benefits to the students who have no interest in art, like students majoring in IT. If universities organize many volunteering activities, it will lead more people to do some meaningful things in their life and help school gain reputaion in the local area. But it can not directly improve students’ daily life. Only investing the sports does the university benefit both all the students and itself.

To sum up, with limited money, university should rank the sports higher in the priority list than the arts and volunteering.

T6

Some parents can’t stay at home full time to care for young children of preschool age. Some of these parents have the choice of sending their young children either to a child-care center, where many children will be together, or to an individual caregiver, where the child will be the only one being cared for. Which approach do you think is better for a young child, and why? (2015.11.14ML)

In my opinion, sending children to child-care center where they are surrounded by other children is the wiser thing to do.

Let’s look at the costs to begin with. It’s much cheaper to send a kid to daycare. In many countries, it’s covered by social service, which means it’s free. Young parents can save enormously by sending their kids to daycares rather than hiring individual caregiver which is costly. The money saved can be used toward other areas of early child development. For example, it’s common in China for a kid to start learning to play a musical instrument at a very young age. Instruments like pianos and cellos are very expensive to own, not to mention private tutors who charge by the hour. Money spent in such specific areas of early child development brings more value.

观点1: 花费

Second, kids can’t get enough social interactions by being kept at home with an individual care giver day in and day out. A very important part of growing up is learning to get long with others in a group through socializing, playing together, and sometimes, even by going through competitions and conflicts. Public daycares offer kids a healthy and safe environment where they spend time with kids around their own age under adult supervision. When I was a kid, I loved going to daycare because that’s where all my friends were. I still remembered one time when I got sick and I had to stay home for about a month, it was the most boring and lonely month of my life.

观点2: 社交

Last but not least, it’s only in a public daycare can kids form a team, and work together on all the fun and interesting projects. Activities like these can ready them for the road ahead. Young children gain skills and perspectives better and quicker than sponge can soak up water. It’s important that they learn from different kinds of talents at this stage of life. Individual care givers just can’t offer this no matter how good of a job they do. Imagine a kid having trouble building a LEGO starship, a care giver can only help him create a single version. But in a public daycare, with buckets of LEGO blocks and half a day, kids can build tons of starships in different forms, shapes and colors through collaborating with each other.

观点3:team projects

In conclusion, I strongly believe the benefits of kids growing up in a daycare is much greater than having a single care-giver looking after them at home.

Some parents can’t stay at home full time to care for young children of preschool age. Some of these parents have the choice of sending their young children either to a child-care center, where many children will be together, or to an individual caregiver, where the child will be the only one being cared for. Which approach do you think is better for a young child, and why? (2015.11.14ML)

Personally speaking, sending young children to a child-care center seems more reasonable. There are my reasons.

Firstly, considering the cost of caring children, sending chldren to a child-care center is quite cheaper than employing a individual caregiver. In some country, child-care centers are always covered by the governments, which means it is free for the parents. Because it is organized by the government, parents can not be concerned about the quality. Indeed, when it comes to the education of children, most of parents are willing to cost more money to get better education. However, with the quality gauranteed by the government, sending children to the center can save numerous money. Parents can use these extra money in the early children development, like the music instruments, the painting and the sports. For example, many Chinese kids in very young age will start to learn a instruments like piano and violin. Not only are the instruments very expensive, but it will also taken lots of money to employee a good teachers. Personally, money spend in these field is more valuable .

Secondly, It can enable children to interact with their peers. As you know, in China, many families only have one kid. So, if parents are not at home, children will be left home alone, without no one to talk and to play. It will be a nightmare for a little kid and have a bad influence on kids’ formative period. Kids will feel lonely and turn to be silent and shy. However, in the child-care center, there are many children with same age. Kid can make friends in the area. They can be get together to play sports, do homework and comunicate with each other. with the comptetions and conflicts, they will become more energetic and focused. Sorrounded by friends, they don’t have to cover their unhappy things. They can confide to their friends the failness and unhappiness in the school. Personally, having a close friend to confide to is a very significant part in children’s childhood.

Sure, it is not to say employing an individual caregiver is not good. Admittedly, an individual caregiver can take care of children more considerably. Parents is used to think that a caregiver is more reliable. However, if the child-care center is organize by the government or the offical institutions. The quality is not the aspects parents should be concerned about. Additionally, the advantages of the child-care center can not be taken by the individual care-giver. In child-care center, not only can children have more opportunities to learn other meaningful extra class, but they can also make new friends to train ther ability of social interaction.

Overall, I think sending children to a child-care center is more wiser.

T7

The most important thing people learnt is from families

Whenever in need, family lend a helping hand with no strings attached.So I do agree what we have learnt most should be attributed to family.

with no strings attached 没有附加条件

lend a hand 伸出援手

whenever in need, family lend a helping hand with no strings attached

无论什么时候需要，家人都会毫无条件的提供帮助

be attributed to 归功于，缘于

无论什么时候需要，家人都会毫无条件的提供帮助，所以我同意我们从家庭中学到了很多

whenever in need, parents will lend us hand without any string attached. So I do agree that the most important thing people learnt is from families.

Consider living skills. Since the first day we were born, parents have served as caregivers. They fed us, clothe us, bathe us and held us tight when we were sick. The fundamental need of living on this earth can be satisfied only because of them. And when we get older, family showed us the ropes of how things work. Thanks to my folks, now I can cook, mow the lawn and even change the tire. Not every kid in my neighborhood was asked to help with housework, but my mom believed people who couldn't even get through daily grind wouldn’t have what it takes to succeed. That’s why they asked me to wash the dishes, take out the trash or do my own laundry since I was little. As it turns out, such basic living skills can go a long way, enabling me to fend for myself and handle things well even when they are not around.

主题1: living skills

served as caregiver 作为看护人

held us tight when we were sick 当我们生病时抱紧我们。

the ropes of how things work 事件运行的线索

folk n 亲属 /民间音乐

mow the lawn 修建草坪

change the tire 换轮胎

get through daily grind 熬过每天的苦差事

what it takes to succeed 带来成功的因素

As it turns out 结果证明

go a long way 长时间存在

fend for 照料。 fend for myself 照看我自己

考虑生活技巧。从我们第一天出生，家人就作为一个看护人，他们养育我们，给我们穿衣服，为我们洗澡，抱紧我们党我们生病时。这些基本的生活需求因为他们而被满足。党我们长大了，家人们教会我们事物运行的过程。感谢我的亲人，现在我能做饭，修剪草坪，甚至换轮胎。不是邻里间的每个孩子都被要求去做家务，但是我的妈妈认为没经历过生活磨烂的人不可能拥有成功的因素。结果证明，这些基本的生活技能可以伴随我们一生，让我们能够自己找看自己，独立处理问题。

Consider the living skills. Since we were born, parents are served as a caregiver. They fed us, clothe us, bathe us and held tight us when we were sick. The fundamental requirements of living are satisfied because of them. When we got older, family showed us the ropes of how things work. Thanks to my folk, now I can cook by myself, mow the lawn and even change the tire. Not every kids in the neighborhood was asked to help the housework. But my mom believed that people who have not taken get through daily grind could not have what it takes to succeed. As it truns out, these basic living skills can go along way with us, enabling us to fend for ourselves and handle things well without them around us

The same goes for important values. Tight-fisted parents can teach children a good lesson about saving for the rainy day; and other qualities can also rub off on the younger generation. Children will follow suit only when parents can set an example. For example, a mother spotted burning mid-night oil to work on papers would show her child the importance of hard work. This would have quite a positive impact because next time when the child comes across trouble in schoolwork, the determination to get things sorted out will help the child follow through. So if parents can practice what they preach, children stand a better chance of picking it up. On the other hand, in a household where the parents are absent most of the time, children may fall victim to low self-esteem. It is because they have no role model to look up to and no moral standard to act upon, all of which cannot be achievable without family influence.

主题2:品质

the same goes for 同样的事情发生在

tight-fisted adj 吝啬的/舍不得花钱的

save for the rainy day 未雨绸缪

rub off on 影响

the qualities can also rub off on the younger generation

这些品质能影响后到年轻一代。

follow suit 效仿/跟随

Burning mid-night oil to work 熬夜工作

a mother spotted burning mid-night oil to work on papers would show her child the importance of hard work.

一个母亲熬夜写论文会教会他的孩子努力工作的重要性

come across trouble 遇到问题

get things sorted out 解决问题

follow through 跟进/坚持到底

practice what they preach 践行所说的事情

Stand a better chance 有很大的机会

pick it up 捡起/不费力的学会

Fall victim to low self-esteem 成为自卑的受害者

Act upon 按照…行事 have no moral standard to act upon 没有道德标准去遵循

look up to 尊敬

对于重要的品质来说一样。节省的父母会孩子如何去未雨绸缪，另外的一些品质也可以影响到年轻的一代。只有父母设立好了榜样孩子才能去照做。例如一个母亲熬夜写论文能够让孩子知道路里的重要性。这将会有积极的影响因为下一次当孩子遇到作业上的困难时，将事情解决的决心能够使孩子坚持到底。如果父母言出必行，孩子有很大的几率会效仿。另一方面，在父母总是缺席的家庭中，孩子可能成为自卑的牺牲品，就是因为他们没有尊敬的榜样，没有道德标准去参照，没有家庭的影响，所有的这些不会成功。

The same goes for the important value. Tight-fisted parents will teach children how to save for the rainy day. Other qualities also rub off on the young generation. Only when the parents set an example will children follow suit. For example, a mother spotted burning mid-night oil to work on paper will show kids the importance of hard work. This will raise a positive influence when next time children come across trouble in homework. The determination of dealing problems will lead children to follow through. If parents practice what they preach, children are more likely to pick it up. In the other hand, in the family where the parents are always absent, children may fall a victim to low self-esteem. It is because there is no role model that children look up to and no moral standard to act upon. Without the influence from family, all of qualities will not be achieved.

Lastly, family is also the origin where we learn how to socialize. When we were little, parents used to set ground rules for us to keep. For example, it is impolite to interrupt when someone is talking; when asking for help, do not forget to say “please”; always show respect for the senior; and remember to apologize when causing inconvenience. Such basic courtesy establishes a foundation for social skills that we need to interact with others. A well-mannered young man is more likely to win popularity in the workplace, and more often than not, such young man must come from a family with a strong rapport. So family plays a key role in fostering good manners that help people get along in both personal and professional lives.

观点3:how to socialize

set ground rules for 设立规则 set ground rules for us to keep

for example , it is impolite to interrupt when someone is talking; when asking for help, do not forget to say “Please”; always show respect for the senior; and remember to apologize when causing inconvenience.

Courtesy n 礼貌/礼数

Interact with 和某人沟通交流

Win popularity in the workplace 在工作中变得受欢迎

more often than not 通常来说

rapport n 融洽关系

forster good manners 培养好的行为方式举止态度

最后，家人也是我们学会如何去社交的源头。党我们还小，父母习惯去给我们设置一些规则让我们去遵守。例如，当别人说话时，打断别人是不礼貌的。当请求帮助时，不要忘记说请，总是给予长辈尊敬，当造成不方便时，记得道歉。这些基础的礼仪给我们社交技巧打好了基础。一个行为端庄的年轻人更有可能在工作中受到欢迎。通常来说，这些年轻人必须来自一个完整和睦的家庭。因此家庭在培养好的行为上有着重要的作用，它能帮助人们在私人和工作中和别人好好相处

Last but not least. Family is the origin where we learn how to socialize. When we are young, parents used to set some rule for us to keep. For example, It is impolite to interrupt others when people are talking; when asking for help, do not forget to say “please”; always respect the senior; remember to apologize when causing inconvenience. These basic courtesy establish foundation to our social skills. A good-mannered young man is more likely to win a popularity in workplace. More often than not, these young men with good qualities always come from a happy family with strong rapport. Thus, family has a key role in forstering good manners. It can help us to get along with others in personal and professional lifes.

To sum up, family does instill us with all kinds of skills and hacks, all of which are too important to fall by the wayside.

总的来说，家庭逐渐教会我们各种技能技巧，这些东西都太重要了不能半途而废。

Instill v 逐渐灌输/使 … 逐渐形成

instill sb with sth

All kinds of skills and hacks 各种技能和技巧

fall by the wayside 半途而废

T8

Some people believe individuals should pay for Internet while others think government should provide free access. Which do you prefer and why?(2015.12.6 ML)

Internet has become something the millennials cannot live without. Thus some people propose that government should cover the costs so that public can have free access to Internet. Sure, everybody loves free stuff, but is this proposal really as great as it first sounds? When you examine this issue closely, problems associated with feasibility and potential harms will certainly arise.

millennial 千禧一代

cover the cost 补贴花费

Is this proposal really as great as it first sounds?

这个建议真的和第一次听的那么好么

examine this issure closely 近距离的检查这个问题

problem arise 问题浮现

To begin with, public wouldn’t necessarily benefit from this seemingly good news. It is tempting to think free access to Internet can open up opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But let’s not mince words: if they cannot afford Internet access, do you really think they are financially capable of owning a computer or any other digital device? The truth is, educational facilities like libraries, computer centers and science labs are more fundamental needs. Internet can be a good thing to have, but it won’t come close to top priority on that list.

benefit from 从。。。获益

tempting adj 诱人的

mince word v 拐弯磨脚

be capable of sth/ have capacity of sth

come close to top priority on that list 在这些事物中不会成为最重要的

Plus, the so-called free connection to Internet would’t be possible without huge public tax subsidies. To establish free network on a national scale is no small task and it would take billions and billions of dollars to pull it off. So it is the taxpayers who would end up paying for the Internet coverage. Yes, there might be some free riders but for most of the citizens, free Internet access isn’t that free after all. Harmful effects that lie underneath are also worth mentioning. First, even if the government manages to raise enough money for Internet access, this would spell inadequate funding for other projects. Social issues like seeking cure for cancer, preserving endangered species and fighting terrorism are more of a matter of life and death. If government has to cut back on such areas, there could be serious consequences.

subsidy n 补贴 subsidies

pull off 关掉//圆满完成

taxpayer n 纳税人

Harmful effects that lie underneath are also worth mentioning

潜藏的有害的影响同样也值得一提

spell 拼写// 意味着

a matter of life and death 生死攸关的问题

cut back 削减/倒叙/急忙返回

Besides, from a consumer’s point of view, the user experience of a government-funded Internet would be horrible. Take a country with huge population like China for example. If everyone has free Internet access without restrictions or any kind of filtering, the network would be jammed and rendered unusable. It’s like building a toll-free highway in a densely populated city. If anyone with a car can drive on it, eventually it will be solid packed with traffic. We’ve all had the experience of dinning at a crowed restaurant with free wifi coverage, only to find out you can’t even load up a webpage because an unlimited number of devices are connected to it. Now, try to imagine a free-for-all nationwide Internet, and how slow it must be.

jam v 用塞

render v 使成为/提交/提供

be rendered unsable 被变得没用

render sth to sb 为。。提供

load up a webpage 加载网页

To sum up, the idea of Internet being free of charge can be enticing, but the public won’t get off the hook financially. So with more pressing issues to attend to, government should just leave it up to individuals.

enticing adj 有吸引力的

Get off the hook 摆脱困境 Get sb off the hook 帮助某人摆脱困境

with more pressing issues to attend to 有更加紧迫的事情要处理

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综合写作 TPO54

As for the problem that the lake’s water is being so salty, the writer puts forward three possible solutions. However, the speaker thinks all of these are unrealistic and unpractical.

Firstly, in reading material, the author suggests to remove salt from lake directly in special desalination facilities. But the speaker says that it is unhealty for people’s health. When the water evaporates into steam, in the remaining materials, there are some chemical compounds which is toxic. If the wind speads out, these materials are dissolved in the air. It is very dangerous to people’s health.

Secondly, the writer thinks diluting the salt with water from the ocean using pipeline or cannals is also a possible solution. However, the speaker points out that the pipelines or cannals which carry the water from the ocean is extremely expensive. Because there is a long distance ,approximately 100 kilometers, between the lake and the ocean. The government can not afford the fee for builidng the pipeline and cannals.

Eventually, the writer comes up with a suggestion to divide the lake into several sections through constructing walls. But, in the listening material, the speaker says that there are frequent geological activities like earthquakes around the lake. So building walls can not work long. it is possible that the wall collapses, once a major earthquake happens. In the end, all of the water still will mix up together.

TPO53

Well, in the reading materials, the author shows three social benefits of the policy of imposing high taxes on cigarettes and other unhealthy products. However, the speaker, in the listening materialsm, thinks these benefits can be challenged.

Firstly, the writer says that the taxes can prevent people from indulging in unhealthy behaviors and help reduce obesity rates. But in the listening materials, the speaker thinks the high taxes can not help. the people who can not afford the taxes will buy cheaper cigarettes which contain more unhealthy material. Additionally, people who like smoking will continue to buy the cigarettes. And the have less money to buy health food. So, it can bring greater problem to people’s health.

Secondly, the writer thinks that it is financially fair. However, in the listening material, the speaker thinks we should consider the fairness differently. If the tax is high, the cigarettes are very expensive. people who have high income may not be effected, while the people who have low income will not afford cigarettes. It will bring a great burden for those who have lower income and is unfair for them.

Eventually, the writer points out that the high rate of taxation on cigarettes can increase revenue for the government. But, the speaker thinks it also have drawbacks. Because the profit is too large, it is possible that the government will depend on this income. It may cause that the government will not publish some some policies and laws to limit the unhealthy behaviors like smoking in the public areas, because the government don’t want lose this income.

TPO40

Well, in the reading materials, the writer points out that it is impossible to maintain a human presence on Venus. However, in the listening materials, the speaker give a solution to establish a station floating in atomosphere, 50 kilometer higher than Venus’ surface. This way can better solve the problems put forward in reading materials.

Firstly, in the reading materials, the pressure at Venus’ surface is so high that people can not exist under this pressure. However, the speaker points out that the pressure of the floating station is much lower than the surface. Even if the people still can not bear the pressure, Some equipment can help people to balance the pressure and live at that situation.

Secondly, in the reading materials, the writer says that there are no reservoirs of water and oxygen. But the speaker points out that there is a kind of chemical compound which is easily obtained from the Venus. People in the station can get enough water and oxygen out of this compound.

Eventually, in the reading materials, the writer thinks that there is little sunlight can be gathered to power people’s machines and equipment because of the thick clouds. But, in the listening materials, the station is floating in the sky. The clouds above the station is not very thick. The station can make use of the reflection of their below clouds and the light directly from the sun. It is enough for people to power the whole station.

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