Unit12（第35讲—第37讲）

　　2. Few people ask by what authority the writers of dictionaries and grammars say what they say.

　　句子中的few表示否定，意思是“很少的，几乎没有的”，如果用a few则表示肯定，意思是“有些，几个”。如：

　　1） Very few people survived the explosion.（在爆炸中幸存的人很少。）

　　2） Many of us tried but very few succeeded .（我们许多人都试了，但成功者甚少。）

　　3） He will try it a few more times.（他会再试几次。）

　　4） A few of my friends speak English.（我的朋友中有几个人能讲英语。）

　　by在本句中的意思相当于according to （根据）。如：

　　1） Never judge a person by his appearance.（千万别以貌取人。）

　　2） He would be classified as rich by Chinese standards.（依照中国的标准，他会被归于富有一类。）

　　authority这个词在词汇部分已做过讲解，我们在此再巩固一下。Authorities常指“当局，官方”，用作不可数名词时，常指“权力，管辖权”，用作可数名词时，常指“专家，权威”。如：

　　1）The labor union continued to seek dialogue with the authorities.（工会继续寻求与当局对话的机会。）

　　2）Police have the authority to arrest law-breakers.（警察有权逮捕犯法的人。）

　　3）He had made efforts to exercise his authority over those young people（他已努力对那些年轻人行使管辖权。）

　　4）A good dictionary is an authority on the meanings of words.（一本好的词典是词义方面的权威。）

　　5）He is now an authority on American literature.（现在他成了美国文学方面的专家。）

　　本句中what是一个关系代词，引导宾语从句，如：

　　1）We always mean what we say.（我们向来说话算数。）

　　2）Let him do what he wants to do.（让他去做他想做的事。）

　　3）I don't know what they know.（他们知道的事我并不知道。）

　　3.I once got into a dispute with an English woman over the pronunciation of a word and offered to look it up in the dictionary.

　　once在本句中的意思是“一次，曾经”。在某些语言环境中，once也可以表示：一旦……（就……）。请看下面的例句，注意，once的不同意思：

　　1）He once lived in Shanghai.（他曾经在上海住过。）

　　2）Even if you only do it once， you will forever remember it.（即使你只做一次，你会永远记得。）

　　3）It once belonged to my father.（这个曾经属于我父亲。）

　　4）Once the sun had set， the air turned cold.（太阳一落，空气就变冷了。）

　　5）Once you show any fear， he will attack you.（你一直露出恐惧，他就会攻击你。）

　　6）Once published， the book will be very popular.（这本书一旦出版就会大受欢迎。）

　　get into a dispute with sb. over sth.与某人就某问题进行争论，over 也可用about 替换。如：

　　1） They had a dispute about where to go.（他们为了去哪里而争论。）

　　2） The workers and the management got into a dispute over pay.（工人和厂方由于工资问题产生争端。）

　　3） It was a dispute over economic policy.（这是一场关于经济政策的争论。）

　　4. …anyone who is willing to quarrel with the dictionary is regarded as either eccentric or mad.

　　who引导的是一个定语从句，修饰anyone.

　　be willing to意思是：愿意做……，如：

　　1）He is willing to help us.（他愿意帮助我们。）

　　2）No one is willing to pay so much money for this old bike.（谁也不愿意付这么多钱买这辆旧自行车。）

　　quarrel with sb.意思是“与某人争吵”。如：

　　1） He quarreled with his brother yesterday.（他昨天跟他兄弟吵架了。）

　　2） I don't want to quarrel with you about it.（我不想为此事跟你争吵。）

　　regard as 意思是“把……看作为”，在其后可以跟名词（或名词短语，动名词短语）；形容词等。如：

　　1） He regarded the book as one of his masterpieces.（他把这本书看作是他的杰作之一。）

　　2） He was regarded as an important figure in history.（他被看作为历史上的重要人物。）

　　3） Nobody would regard this as important.（没人会认为这件事很重要。）

　　4） Many people regard parents as being responsible for the control of their children.（许多人认为父母应负责管教子女。）

　　either…or…。意思是为“不是……就是……”，“要么……要么……”。如：

　　1）He is either drunk or mad.（他不是醉了就是疯了。）

　　2）Tell them that they can either stay or leave immediately.（告诉他们，他们要么留下，要么现在就离开。）

　　3）Either my brother or I am going to see my father off.（不是我兄弟就是我去为父亲送行。）

　　5. The task of writing a dictionary begins with the reading of vast amounts of the literature of the period or subject that the dictionary is to cover.

　　begin with 在本句中的意思是“以……开始；以……为起点”。如：

　　1）I shall begin with this book today.（我打算今天先读这本书。）

　　2）The drought began with that dry and hot summer.（干旱是从那个干热的夏季开始的。）

　　3）The teacher began the class with a story.（老师以一个故事开始了讲课。）

　　amount可以做可数名词用，也可以做不可数名词用，意思是“数量，数额”。amount的谓词动词的数与amount的数一致，而与所修饰的名词的数无关。如：

　　1） A large amount of money was spent on this project.

　　2） Large amounts of money were spent on this project.

　　That引导的是一个定语从句，修饰the dictionary

　　在be动词的后面加动词不定式，表示“安排、命令、职责、目的、用途、可能性等”。如：

　　1）We are to meet at the station at 5：00 （我们约定5点钟在车站碰头。）

　　2）You are to be back by 9：00.（你得在9点钟前回来。）

　　3）The report is to be found in today's papers.（那个报道可在今天的报上找到。）

　　Cover在本句中的意思是“涉及”。如：

　　1） His researches covered a wide field .（他的研究涉及范围很广。）

　　2） They covered many topics in their conversation.（他们谈话时讨论了许多问题。）

　　6. The writing of a dictionary is not a task of setting up authoritative statements about the “true meanings” of words， but a task of recording to the best of one's ability， that various words have meant to authors in the distant or immediate past.

　　Not…but在本句中的意思是“不是……而是”。如：

　　1）What he needs is not money but some understanding. （他所需要的不是钱，而是一些理解。）

　　2）The story I have read is not a comedy but a tragedy.（我读的那个故事不是个喜剧而是个悲剧。）

　　To the best of one's ability 意思是“尽某人的更大努力”。如：

　　1） I'll put the article into Chinese to the best of my ability.（我将尽更大努力把这篇文章翻成中文。）

　　2） He promised to do the work to the best of his ability.（他许诺说他会尽更大努力做这个工作。）

　　a task of recording what various words have meant to authors…。，what引导宾语从句，做recording 的宾语。Mean意思是“表示……的意思”，“意指”等。如：

　　1） What he said means nothing to me.（他所说的对我来说毫无意义。）

　　2） What does this word mean？（这个词的意思是什么？）

　　我们曾经对mean这个单词做详细讲解，再请看几个例句：

　　1）What do you mean by saying that to him？（你对他说那话的意思是什么？）

　　2）I didn't mean to make you unhappy.（我不是故事要使你不开心的。）

　　3）You know what I meant to say.（你知道我想说的是什么。）

　　4）He criticism is meant for all of us.（他的批评是针对我们大家的。）

　　7. … but we cannot be bound by it…。

　　Bound是动词bind是过去分词，be bound by sth.意思是“受……束缚”，也可用be bound to sth.

　　1） We should not be bound by conventions.（我们不应该受习俗的束缚。）

　　2） Housework kept her bound to the house.（家务把她束缚在家里。）

　　3） The term papers kept him bound to his desk.（学期论文使他终日厌案。）

　　本课主要词组

　　1. learn…。from

　　2. in matters of

　　3. get into a dispute

　　4. dispute over

　　5. offer to do sth.

　　6. look up

　　7. be willing to

　　8. quarrel with

　　9. be regarded as

　　10. arrive at

　　11. apply to

　　12. go on

　　13. begin with

　　14. vast amounts of

　　15. a large number of

　　16. along with

　　17. such as

　　18. from…to…

　　19. stack of

　　20. sccording to

　　21. hard-and-fast rule

　　22. be based on

　　23. in front of

　　24. be influenced by

　　25. ought to

　　26. not at all

　　27. set up

　　28. to the best of one's ability

　　29. in the past

　　30. send out

　　31. force sb. to do sth.

　　32. be bound by

　　Text B  reading provides necessary survival skills

　　短语表达

　　1. emphasis on

　　The emphasis on education would certainly bring great changes to the people and the country.

　　2. be the case

　　He said he was the best tennis player in his school， but it was not the case.

　　3. involve sth. / doing sth.

　　Accepting the job would involve working at weekends.

　　4. get an idea about sth.

　　Have you got any idea about the whole incident？

　　5. expect from

　　Don't expect too much from others. You have to learn to depend on yourself.

　　6. cue in

　　Remember to cue in the headmaster on what happened during his absence.

　　7. apply to

　　It will be great if we can apply what we have learned in books to practical work.

　　8. out of

　　The boy opened his sister's mail out of curiosity.

　　9. keep up with

　　What do you think a scientist has to do to keep up with the latest development in his field？

　　10. at top speed

　　If you run at top speed， you may get there in 10 minutes.

　　11. concentrate on

　　You will find it easier to concentrate on the reading material if you read in a quiet place.

　　12. be familiar with

　　I am mot familiar with the person you mentioned just now.

　　13. be aware of

　　He was not aware of the danger when he was walking toward the building.

　　14. look up

　　If you look up the word in the dictionary you will find it has two different pronunciations.

　　15. slow down

　　You have to slow down or you may get a fine.

　　16. be alert to

　　Be alert to new words and you will enlarge your vocabulary.

　　17. add to

　　His explanation added to my confusion.