Unit 3 Parents and Children
Enhance Your Language Awareness
Words in Action
2 In the box below are some of the words you have learned in this unit. Completethe following sentences with them. Change the form where necessary.
1) There was a(n) awkward moment when she didn’t know whether to shake his hand or kiss his cheek.
2) She breathed a sigh of relief when she found out she had passed her exam.
3) Parents should really take extra care of their babies as many accidents actually occur at home.
4) The government has two options; to reduce spending or to increase tax.
5) The following program contains scenes that may be disturbing to some viewers.
6) When the doctor told her that it was only a minor case, she released her husband’s arm.
7) The woman felt panicky and she spoke almost without pausing for breath.
8) The policeman blew his whistle and the protesters scattered in all directions.
9) He put a grape into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
10) Don’t wipe your nose on your sleeve, kid — that’s what your handkerchief’s for!
11) I took my son to the zoo as a birthday treat.
12) As I recall, it was you who suggested this idea in the first place.
3 In the boxes below are some of the expressions you have learned in this unit. Do you understand their meanings? Do you know how to use them in the proper context? Now check for yourself by doing the blank-filling exercise. Change the form where necessary.
1) In just a few days he became well acquainted with all his new classmates.
2) Jane has locked herself up in her room for the whole day. She took us by surprise when she came out with her hair dyed red.
3) Let’s sit down quietly and gather our thoughts first before the discussion.
4) To my surprise, the stranger turned out to be an old friend of my mother’s.
5) Seeing Jim wearing a funny hat, Maggie tried hard to fight back adesire to laugh.
6) Don’t hang up on me — I need to talk to you.
7) After quarrelling with his step-father, Colin ran away and hasn’t been heard of ever since.
8) They’ve hired someone to take care of the children for a week.
9) When I asked him how he was doing, he hemmed and hawed before telling me that he had just lost his job.
10) Once a very shy boy from a small mountainous village, he turned into a competent engineer in a matter of six years.
11) The newspaper refused to keep the facts from the public.
12) As we sat on the beach soaking up the sunshine, she started to tell me her childhood stories.
●Increasing Your Word Power
1 Complete the multiple choice exercise by choosing the right answer.
1) All the following verbs can form acceptable collocations with the noun
RELATIONSHIP except ________.
a. make b. create c. acknowledged. deepen e. build
2) All the following adjectives can form acceptable collocations with the
noun RELATIONSHIP except ________.
a. close b. mutual c. intimated. potential e. fluent
3) All the following adjectives can form acceptable collocations with the
noun PANIC except ________.
a. blind b. sudden c. sturdyd. growing e. total
4) All the following verbs can go with the noun PANIC except ________.
a. feel b. cause c. created. spread e. throw
5) All the following verbs can go with the noun RELIEF except ________.
a. seek b. create c. experienced. express e. offer
6) All the following adjectives can form acceptable collocations with the
noun RELIEF except ________.
a. deep b. sheer c. temporary d. desperate e. obvious
7) All the following verbs can go with the noun MEMORY except ________.
a. lose b. arouse c. refresh d. survive e. cherish
8) All the following adjectives can form acceptable collocations with the
noun MEMORY except ________.
a. early b. sociable c. lasting d. fond e. vivid
2 Many words in English can be used both as nouns and as verbs. Complete all the sentences using either the noun form or the verb form of the words given in the box. Change the form where necessary.
1) Please focus your minds on the following problem.
2) She has constant fears that her husband will abandon(抛弃)her and the kids.
3) The focus of recent research has been on environmental issues.
4) Her father died of a heart attack when there was no one else at home.
5) She fears that the child may have got a blood problem.
6) This kind of disease attacks the central nervous system.
7) She paid frequent visits to her parents and they were so happy to see her every time she visited them.
8) The blind man touched the elephant’s ear and concluded that the elephant is in the shape of a huge fan.
9) My long chat with my mother over the phone every day has relieved a lot of my stress.
10) He has got a strange skin problem. Even a light touch on his face hurts.
11) The colour of the curtains and the paint on the wall do not match.
12) My husband often chats with me over dinner so I know very well what is happening at his workplace.
13) The young couple are a perfect match.
14) Experts fear that the disease will spread far and wide.
3 Did you notice the suffixes -y, -able in words such as panicky and portable in this unit? The suffix -able can be added to a noun or a verb to form an adjective, and -y can be put after a noun to form an adjective. Now form adjectives by adding -y or -able to the words given in the table and write down the Chinese meaning for each adjective.
Nouns/Verbs Suffixes Adjectives Chinese Meanings
faultfaulty有错误的；有缺点的；不完善的
guiltguilty有罪的；有过失的
handhandy 手边的；方便的
panicpanicky惊恐的；易恐慌的
pickpicky吹毛求疵的；爱挑剔的
adapt-y/-ableadaptable能适应新环境的；适应性强的
imagineimaginable可想象的；想得到的
portportable便于携带的；轻便的
predictpredictable可预言的；可预料的
relyreliable可靠的；可信赖的
Complete each of the following sentences with a proper word you have thusformed.
1) He pleaded guilty to charges of theft (盗窃) and robbery in court.
2) I’m sure she’ll cope with the changes very well; she’s very adaptable.
3) Keep your pills handy just in case you feel carsick.
4) The doctor tried every means imaginable to save the patient, but invain.
5) Considering the great disparity (悬殊)in strength between the twoteams, the result is predictable .
6) Many people feel panicky when speaking before the public.
7) If the product you bought turns out to be faulty , you may request arepair or a replacement.
8) He is such a picky eater that he won’t eat anything but fresh vegetable.
9) He’s not very reliable . You’d better not count on him to help you out.
10) A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from
one location to another.
Grammar in Context
Observe the following sentences from both Text A and Text B, paying special attention to the use of the past perfective aspect of the verb. Then do the following two tasks.
Task 1: Combine each pair of sentences into one by making use of the past perfect aspect of the verb.
1) a. We rushed to the railway station.
b. We found the train left already.
We rushed to the railway station, but found the train had left.
2) a. I learnt some English at high school in China.
b. I became an English Major at an American college after I finished highschool in China.
Before I became an English major at an American college, I had learnt someEnglish at high school in China.
3) a. I got to the cinema by bike.
b. Kathy got there even earlier and picked up the tickets.
Kathy had already picked up the tickets by the time I got to the cinema by bike.
4) a. I shut the door.
b. Immediately afterwards the telephone rang.
No sooner had I shut the door than the telephone rang.
or: I had no sooner shut the door than the telephone rang.
5) a. The teacher explained the theory in detail.
b. Then the students understood.
The students did not understand until the teacher had explained the theory indetail.
Task 2: A theft happened in a company last Saturday. John, the person who was onduty, was telling a friend what had happened. Imagine you are John andyour partner his friend. Tell him what happened using the following clues.You need to add what is missing and make use of the past perfect aspect ofverbs whenever necessary to indicate the sequence of the events.
Before I left the office at 5 o’clock, I had locked the office door. When I passed bythe office an hour later, 1) I saw the door open. I felt a bit surprised, so I stoppedand went in to take a look. When I saw the mess in the office, I knew 2) the office had been broken into. I took a quick look around and found that 3) quite a few things had been stolen. I called the police immediately. By the time the police arrived, my boss and my colleagues 4) had already come back to the office. Tom said that 5) the 200 dollars he had locked in his drawer was gone. Dylan’s camera, which he 6) had just bought, was also gone. My boss suffered the heaviest loss.7) A few computers in the office had been stolen. The police searched the office, but
were unable to find any clues.
Cloze
Complete the following passage with words chosen from this unit. The initial letter of each is given.
My mother and I always enjoyed our chat together under a pine tree in the
park. At our recent (1) meeting, however, her pale face took me by surprise (2).
I asked her what was wrong, and her sad / solemn (3) look and silence made
me believe that she was keeping (4) something bad from me. Apparently,
something serious was disturbing (5) her. At first, she remained silent. Finally,
after my persistent inquiries (6), she could not hold it any longer and admitted (7)
to me that she had a very serious heart disease. It suddenly occurred (8) to me
that three years ago, she had heart surgery (9) but her condition did not improve
afterwards and now there were hardly any options (10) left. I reached over and
wrapped my arms tightly (11) around my mother and cried. As we sat there that
cool April afternoon soaking (12) up the sun and smelling the fresh scent (13) of
the grass, I had one wish in my heart that I could have more gatherings (14) with
my mother in the days to come.
Translation
Translate the following sentences into English, using the words and expressionsgiven in brackets.
1) 我们是好朋友，可他居然将这么大的一件事瞒着我，实在令我吃惊。(keepsth. from, take sb. by surprise)
We are good friends; however, he kept such an important matter from me, whichtook me by surprise.
2) 在毕业典礼(commencement)上，她感到喉头哽咽，但她仍然忍住了泪水。(a lump in one’s throat, fight back)
At the commencement, she felt a lump in her throat but fought back her tears.
3) 汤姆昨晚和我聊天，他告诉我他的病已经得到控制，不需做外科手术。(chatwith, under control)
Tom chatted with me last night. He told me that his disease had been broughtunder control, and there was no need for surgery.
4) 听说她的车驶离了公路，她的父母担心得要命。(run off, be worried sick)
Her parents were worried sick when they knew that she had run off the highway.
5) 她满面愁容，不知有何心事。(on one’s mind)
She looks very worried; I wonder what’s on her mind.
6) 他是个害羞和安静的男孩，在走上讲台叙述自己的经历之前，他悄悄地坐在
礼堂(auditorium)的一角整理着思绪。(gather one’s thoughts)
He is a shy and silent boy. Before he went onto the stage to share his experiences,he sat quietly in a corner of the auditorium, gathering his thoughts.
7) 在乐队干了几年后，他又做回了独立音乐人(solo musician)，于是他的事业
又回到了原点。(come full circle, career)
After several years of working in a band, he has now gone back to being a solomusician, so his career has come full circle.
8) 自己的儿子长成了一个能干的生意人，他总算放心了。(turn into, to one’s relief)
To his relief his son has turned into a capable businessman.
