Lesson 14 After the fire
大火之后
一、詞匯部分
1.control/kənˈtroʊl/ n. 控制
詞根學習:contr相反+ roll
擴展:roll up one’s sleeves
2.smoke/smoʊk/ n. 煙
例句:Can I bum a smoke?
擴展:lighter
擴展:smoking hot
3.desolate/ˈdes.əl.ət/ adj. 荒涼的
詞匯助記:de-+ sol- 單獨+ate
4.threaten/ˈθret.ən/ v. 威脅
例句:Don’t try to threaten me.
5.surrounding /səˈraʊnd/ adj.周圍的
6.destruction/dɪˈstrʌk.ʃən/ n. 破壞,毀滅
同源詞:construction
7.flood/flʌd/ n. 洪水,水災
擴展: flood into 涌入
8.authority/əˈθɔːr.ə.t̬i/ n. (常用復數)當局
9.grass-seed n. 草籽
10.spray/spreɪ/ v. 噴撒
擴展:sprayer
擴展:dispenser
11.quantity/ˈkwɑːn.t̬ə.t̬i/ n. 量
擴展:quality
12.root/ruːt/ n. 根
13.century/ˈsen.tʃər.i/ n. 世紀
14.patch/pætʃ/ n. 小片
15.blacken/ˈblæk.ən/ v. 變黑,發暗
文章講解
Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
文章精講:
1.Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeksbefore they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around.
1)知識點1:完成進行時
搭配:have been doing sth表示最近一段時間一直做某事
例句:I’ve learning Chinese for the past two months and if you throw me to China now, I think I’ll survive.
備注:fight for something 努力爭取
例句:If you want something, you got to fight for it. If you want it bad, you got to fight hard.
備注:have a fight 打架,吵架
例句:Laura wants to take a trip to Japan this month, but I don’t have the time to go with her. So she got angry and we had a fight.
備注:have a falling out 和某人生氣不說話了
2)知識點2:under control在控制之中
例:Don’t worry. Everything’s under control.
擴展:out of control 失控
備注: under the name +名字
例句:Hi, I’d like to check in please. I made a reservation under the name 劉奇文。
2.Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well.
Rise/raise
Rise –不及物動詞/give rise to 導致 = result in
Raise –及物動詞
Peter fell asleep while driving. His carelessness gave rise to the car accident.
1)知識點1:be + 短暫性動詞ing
例句:Our final is coming. We don’t have time to party any more. We all got to hit the books.
例句:We’re leaving for LA in a week.
備注: come up to someone 走到某人跟前
例句:I don’t like him at all. I don’t want to talk to him. But he just came up to me and said hi. So we just chatted a bit and then I made up an excuse to leave.
2)知識點2:not only…but…as well
例句:Peter is not only smart but also very rich. I think he definitely is your type.
備注:for連詞+句子
3.The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
1)知識點1:by then
by +時間點——-完成時間
2)知識點2:定語從句
In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.
課外擴展閱讀:
What is the hardest truth you had to accept that made you stronger?
Often, you have to be a jerk to get things done.
or
People will respect you more if you don’t try to spare their feelings.
I was always the nice guy while growing up. I didn’t want to argue with anyone. If I felt friction with someone, I just avoided them. I tried my best to make everyone happy.
I made it all the way to my mid-20s as a “nice guy”.
Then I got a job in management. I ended up doing everyone else’s job, because I was too nice to them. Then my boss, the district manager, who was always a real jerk, gave me some advice. It was probably the only time he was ever sincere with me. He said that people were walking all over me, and I shouldn’t care so much about making people happy. Just tell people the truth, about what they should be doing and what they’ve done wrong. Don’t try to be everyone’s friend. We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to make money.
His little “pep talk” really stuck with me. I tried it, and it worked. People respect you a lot more if you don’t try to spare their feelings and just tell them the truth, even if you think it will hurt them.
In retrospect, people had been taking advantage of my niceness throughout high school and college. People used me for rides, copied my homework, and borrowed money without returning it. Why? Because I was too nice to speak up. I was trying to avoid any friction with them, so I just said “yes” to everyone.