Unit one

Paraphrase:

1.       the most trivial chore can prove rewarding if approached with zest.

The most unimportant light task may turn out to be worthwhile if it is dealt with eagerly and enthusiastically.

 

2.       I struck up a conversation with Kit, trying to establish some kind of rapport.

I started to have a conversation with kit in a friendly way and tried my best to achieve close agreement and understanding between us.

 

Translation:

1.       每当他午夜下班回家，他总是蹑手蹑脚的上楼，以免吵醒邻居。

Every time he returned home from work at mid-night, he would tiptoe upstairs, trying not to disturb his neighbors.

 

2.       他在大厅里候机时与两名美国旅行者攀谈起来，谈到了很多有趣的跨文化方面的问题。

While waiting in the lounge for the flight, he struck up a conversation with two American travelers and touched on many interesting cross-cultural issues.

 

Unit two

Paraphrase:

1.       “bags of fun” is no more a lazy substitute for thought in its appropriate setting than is “extremely gracious” in the setting that is appropriate for this expression.

Neither “bags of fun” nor “extremely gracious” in its suitable context is a careless expression of one’s ideas.

 

2.       To support the argument by using the clichés which pour from the lips of trade union leaders would be too much like shooting sitting birds.

Supporting the argument made by using the outdated and stereotyped phrases that are often used by trade union leaders would be as easy as shooting birds that never fly away.

 

Translation：

1.       聚集在法院外进行抗议的人群并未对这个太平洋岛国的法官和陪审团产生任何影响。

The protesting crowds outside the courthouse had no effect at all on the judges and the jury of this Pacific island country。

 

2.       作文课的老师认为这些话是陈词滥调，可它们对学生却有很大的吸引力。

Although the composition teacher considers those expressions nothing but clichés, they appeal very much to the students.

 

Unit three

Paraphrase:

1.       And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.

And the whole building shook with all the praying and singing.

2.       The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices.

All the people attending church service prayed only for me, their praying become one strong and powerful sound of pain and suffering.

 

Translation：

1.       当若贝尔奖得主由主席陪同走上讲台时，整个大厅顿时爆发出一阵欢呼声和鼓掌声。

As the Nobel prize winner went onto the platform escorted by the chairman, the whole hall rocked with cheers and clapping.

2.       不知是何原因，许多大学生表现出对中国传统戏剧如京剧和越剧的浓厚兴趣。

For reasons that are not quite understood, there has been a revival of strong interest in traditional Chinese drama, such as Beijing opera and ShaoXing opera, among the college students.

 

Unit four

Paraphrase:

1.       But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession.

Getting the book by payment is merely a preparatory step on the way to ownership.

2.       Understanding is a two way operation; learning doesn’t consist in being an empty receptacle.

Comprehension is a process involving both reception and production. If you remain a container ready only to receive, you cannot expect to learn very much.

 

Translation：

1.       我不认为幸福在于获取自己所需；我认为幸福在于为社会尽责任 。

I don’t think happiness consists in obtaining what you need, I believe happiness consists in doing what you can for society.

2.       他宁愿把所观察到的东西，无论大事小事都用笔记下来，也不愿用脑记，因为他相信这么一句话；“好记性不如烂笔头。”

He would rather set down what he has observed, important or trivial, in his notebook than commit it to his memory, because he believes in the remark that “the worst pen is better than the best memory.”

 

Unit five

Paraphrase:

1.       Who knew then that from this modest hack would flow the civilization-altering, millionaire-spawning, information suckhole known as the world wide web?

Who knew at the time that this humble software consultant would create the world wide web which would change our civilization, and a rich source of information.

2.       In 1991 the world wide web debuted, instantly bringing order and clarify to the chaos that was cyberspace.

In 1991 the world wide web made its first appearance to the world, and thereafter what used to be chaotic on the computer screen began to be orderly and clear.

 

Translation：

1.       我真弄不懂他为什么整天在摆弄那台老掉牙的电脑。

I really don’t understand why he noodles around that antiquated/outmoded computer all day long.

 

2.       这个小伙子的与众不同之处在于，他喜欢以非常规的方式进行思考，不愿同传统观念作妥协。

What distinguishes this young man from others is that he is inclined to think conventionally, and would make no compromise with traditional ideas.

 

Unit six

Paraphrase:

1.       People usually believe that predators have an easy time of it, killing defenseless prey.

People usually think that predators do not have to make an effort to kill the prey animals, since they have no means of protecting themselves.

2.       Fish called remoras attach themselves to sharks. They get a free ride and eat fragments of the sharks’ food.

Remoras, a type of fish, cling themselves to sharks, go where the sharks go and eat bits of sharks’ food.

 

Translation：

1.       激动的孩子们度过了一个未眠之夜，于次日拂晓前便起身去海边，满怀希望能见到日出。

After a sleepless night, the excited children got up before draw the next day and headed for the sea in the hope that they could see the sunrise.

2.       许多人对他们所居住的城市里雨后春笋般的冒出摩天大厦而深感自豪，他们还误以为摩天大楼是现代化的同义词呢。

Many people are very pound of the skyscrapers that have mushroomed in their cities, which the mistaken idea that skyscrapers are the synonym of modernization.

 

Unit seven

Paraphrase:

1.       It might have been lying there years, except that on the white bone there were pink fragments of flesh

People might think the buck had been lying there for years, if there had not been scraps of pink meat on the white bone

 

Translation：

1.       他们一直在痛苦中等待，直到警察就出来他们被绑架的女儿的消息传来

They had been waiting in anguish until the news came that the police had rescued their kid napped daughter

 

2.       当大夫告诉他这只是一个小手术，时间不会超过一个小时时，他脸上露出了将信将疑的神色

When the doctor told him that it was only a minor operation that would take no more an hour, there was an incredulous look on his face.