1 )afraid 是形容词, 意思是“ 害怕、恐惧”。它在句中常作表语, 不可用作定语。I ’m afraid 在很多场合相当于I ’m sorry, but .的意思。用来引出不好的结果而表示的歉意, 是一种委婉的表达法。
I’m a fraid the last bus has gone.
很遗憾, 末班公共汽车已经开走了。
be afraid of doing sth. 和be afraid to do sth. 两者都没有多大区别, 都可表示“ 害怕, 担心”。如:
He was afraid even to turn his head. 他不敢回过头去。
She wa s afra id of offending anyone. 她害怕得罪任何人。
当be afraid 后接that 引导的从句时, 意思是“恐怕, 害怕”。如:
I’m a fraid (that)you don’t see my point.
恐怕你没弄懂我的意思。
2 )would rather 宁愿；更愿。它可接动词原形, 还可接that 从句, 此时从句中的动词用过去式, 表示还不是事实, 即表示的是虚拟语气。
He would rather play outside than stay at home watching TV.
他宁愿出去玩, 而不愿呆在家里看电视。
I would rather (that)he painted the door blue.
我更愿意他把门漆成蓝色的。
He would rather (that)you went to the office right now.
他更想你立马去办公室。
3 )介词for 在这里的意思是“ 倾向于, 对于”。
We usually have milk and egg for breakfast.
我们早饭通常吃牛奶和鸡蛋。
She has a liking for music. 她爱好音乐。
9.We feel inadequate and try to hide our ignorance by avoiding discussions of insurance.
我们自知不足, 但却用避免谈论的方式隐藏我们的无知。
1 )形容词inadequate 在这里的意思是“ 不充分的”。它是由前缀in + adequate 构成。adequate 作“ 足够的、充分的”解, 后接介词to、动词不定式或“ for + 动名词”。
The food was inadequate for 14 people. 这食物14 人吃不够。
What she did was inadequate for a purpose. 她所做的达不到目的。
What she said was adequate to answer the question.
她说的足以回答这个问题了。
2 )名词ignorance 在这里意思是“ 无知、不知道”。其形容词为ig- norant, 意思是“ 无知的, 不知道的”。这两个词后面接of。其动词为ignore, 意思是“ 忽视, 不理睬。试比较下列各句关于ignore, ignorance 和ignorant 的用法和区别。
Ignorance of law excuses no one. 不懂法律不能作为免罪的口实。
The workers were kept in complete ignora nce of the company’s financial situation. 工人们完全不知道公司的财务状况。
He was driving very fast because he was ignorant of the fact that there was a speed limit.
他开车很快, 因为他完全不知晓还有速度限制这一事实。
He ignored the speed limit and drove very fast. 他根本不理睬速度限制, 而把车开得很快。(他明知有速度限制, 但他故意把车开快。)
3 )avoid 在这里是及物动词, 意思是“ 避免, 回避”, 其后接名词或动名词, 不能接不定式作宾语。
Nuclear war is to be avoided at all costs. 不惜代价避免核战争。
He tried to a void answering my questions.
他试图回避回答我的问题。
These drugs are very dangerous；I’d a void them like the plague.
这些毒品很危险；我像躲瘟疫一样躲避他们。
10. The intelligent consumer looks problems in the face.
聪明的顾客能正视问题。
1 )形容词intelligent 在这里意思是“ 聪明的”。其名词形式是intelligence,
意思是“ 聪明；才智；情报”。
Please make an intelligent guess of the word.
请好好猜猜这词的意思。
She made an intelligent answer to the question.
她对此问题作了聪明的回答。
They exchanged a look of intelligence. 他们相互递了眼色。
3 )look.in the face 正视；勇敢地面对
I was so ashamed that I couldn’t look her in the fa ce.
我觉得太丢人而不敢正视她(的脸)。
How can he look the fact in the fa ce when he is aware of it？
当他得知这一现实怎样面对呢？
11. It is better that we plan for these situations by finding means to deal with them than to just hope that they will somehow go away.
我们通过寻找对付他们的方法而有计划地对付这些可能总比只是幻想它们或许可以自行消失强得多。
1 )It is better.than.比..更好。better 是形容词good 的比较级形式, 意思是“ 较好(的), 更好(的)”, 用作表语, 也可用作定语。
It is better to say too little than to say too much. 少说总比多说好。
For patients, it is better to stay indoors than to be outdoors.
对于病人来讲, 呆在户内比在外面好些。
He is planning to write a better book. 他正打算写一本更好的书。
2 )deal with 对付；处理
Can you deal with the complex situation there？
你能处理那儿的复杂情况吗？
I’ll never deal with such dishonest persons as you again.
我再也不和你们这样不诚实的人打交道了。
3 )somehow 在这里是副词, 意思是“ 设法；不知道怎样”。
I must get it finished somehow. 我总得想法把它完成才行。
She somehow dropped behind. 她不晓得怎么落后了。
Te xt B
What Is Money and What Are Its Functions？
货币及其功能
Study of the Text
1.As a generally accepted medium of exchange, money rules out the need for barter, the direct exchange of one item for another. 作为公认的媒介, 货币的出现取代了一种货物与另一种货物的直接交换的易货交易。
1 )名词medium 在这里的意思是“ 媒介, 媒体”。其复数形式为mediums 或media 它构成介词短语by (through)the medium of, 意思是“通过, 以..为媒介”。
Television can be a medium for giving information and opinions, for amusing people, and for teaching them. 电视是给人们提供信息及观点的媒介, 也是人们娱乐和受教育的媒体。
Sound travels through (by)the medium of air.声音通过空气传播。
2 )rule out 把..排除在外；排除..的可能性
We can’t rule out the possibility that she was murdered by her husband.
我们不能排除她被她丈夫谋杀的可能性。
Bad weather ruled the picnic out for that day.
天气不好使那天野餐告吹了。
2.The value of an item is a measure of what a person will sacrifice to obtain it. 衡量一件货物的价值是由人们为得到它而付出的多少来决定的。
1 )sacrifice 在这里是名词, 意思是“ 牺牲, 献出”, 构成动词短语make sacrifice, 意为“ 做出牺牲”。当它用作动词时, 常与介词for 搭配。
Success in your job is not worth the sacrifice of your health.
事业的成功不值得你牺牲自己的健康。
His father made a lot of sacrifices to make sure he got a good education.
他父亲为确保他受到良好的教育而作出了巨大奉献。
He came to my help at the sa crifice of his life. 为了救我他牺牲了。
Many women sacrificed their own careers for their husbands.
许多妇女为了丈夫的工作而牺牲了自己的事业。
2 )obtain 在这里是及物动词, 意思是“ 获得, 得到”。
He said that the police ha d obtained this information by illegal means.
他说警察是通过非法手段得到这些情报的。
Further information can be obtained from our head office.
可以从我们总部获得这些情报。
3 )辨异: obtain, get, gain, vt.
obtain 应用范围很广, 往往含有“ 如意地达到目的”或“ 得到所希望的东西”等意义。
At last, he obta ined his father’s pardon. 他父亲终于原谅了他。
He obta ined his wish after a long period of hard labour.
经过长期艰苦工作, 他的愿望实现了。
get 是最普通的词, 有时指不一定需要主动性或很大的努力, 就能“得到”。
Did you get my note？你收到我的条子了吗？
He will get a reprimand for this. 这件事准会使他得到警告处分。
gain 有在斗争、竞争中“ 达到目的”或“ 获得优势”的意思。所得到的东西常有一定价值, 特别是物质价值。例如:
In this way they ga ined an advantage over the enemy.
这样他们就取得了对敌人的优势。
4.If you are like most people, you will probably respond to such a question by valuing the vacation in dollars-say ＄2 000-rather than in terms of other things. 如果你跟大多数人一样, 你可能根据度假两周所需的美元来回答--例如两千美元, 而不是别的东西。
1 )respond to 对..作出回响；对..作回答
He responded to my questions by crying all day.
对于我的问题她的反应是成天哭。
She wa s responding to the cheers of the crowd.
她正向欢呼的人群招手致意。
2 )rather than 而不
Rather than cause trouble, he left. 为了不引起麻烦, 他离开了。
It was what he meant ra ther tha n what he said that annoyed me.
不是他所说的话, 而是他所指的意思使我很恼火。
He insisted on staying rather than go. 他坚持留下来而不愿离去。
3 )动词say 在这里表示“ 假定；比如说”, 常用于插入语。英国英语则常用I say。