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授课日期:2011.10.04 19:30-21:30 

 

第33课 A Day to Remember 难忘的一天

 

【课文】

    We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment. It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.

   Things can go wrong on a big scale as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rush hour one evening two cars collided and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meantime, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!

【课文翻译】

    我们大家都有过事事不顺心的日子。一天开始时，可能还不错，但突然间似乎一切都失去了控制。情况经常是这样的，许许多多的事情都偏偏赶在同一时刻出问题，好像是一件无关紧要的小事引起了一连串的连锁反应。假设你在做饭，同时又在照看孩子。这时电话铃响了。它预示着一连串意想不到的灾难的来临。就在你接电话时，孩子把桌布从桌子上扯下来，将家中最好的陶瓷餐具半数摔碎，同时也弄伤了他自己。你急急忙忙挂上电话，赶去照看孩子和餐具。这时，饭又烧糊了。好像这一切还不足以使你急得掉泪，你的丈夫接着回来了，事先没打招呼就带来3个客人吃饭。

    就像许多人最近在悉尼郊区帕拉马塔发现的那样，有时乱子会闹得很大。一天傍晚交通最拥挤时，一辆汽车撞上前面一辆汽车，两个司机争吵起来。紧跟其后的一辆车上的司机碰巧是个初学者，她一惊之下突然把车停了下来。她这一停使得跟在后头的司机也来个急刹车。司机妻子正坐在他身边，手里托着块大蛋糕。她往前一冲，蛋糕从挡风玻璃飞了出去掉到马路上。此时，一辆卡车正好从后边开到那辆汽车边上，司机看见一块蛋糕从天而降，紧急刹车。卡车上装着空啤酒瓶。成百只瓶子顺势从卡车后面滑出车外落在马路上。这又引起一场唇枪舌剑的争吵。与此同时，后面的车辆排成了长龙，警察花了将近一个小时才使车辆又开起来。在这段时间里，卡车司机不得不清扫那几百只破瓶子。只有两只野狗从这一片混乱中得到好处，它们贪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。这就是事事不顺心的那么一天！

 

 

【生词和短语】

1 prelude [ˈprelju:d] n. 序幕，前奏
2 unforeseen ['ʌnfɔ:'si:n] adj. 意料之外的
3 series [ˈsiəri:z] n. 系列
4 catastrophe [kəˈtæstrəfi] n. 大祸，灾难
5 crockery ['krɔkəri] n. 陶器，瓦器
6 suburb ['sʌbə:b] n. 郊区
7 collide [kəˈlaid] v. 猛撞
8 learner [ˈlə:nə] n. 初学者
9 panic [ˈpænik] n. 惊慌，恐慌
10 windscreen ['windskri:n] n. （汽车的）挡风玻璃
11 alongside [əlɔŋˈsaid] prep. 在……的旁边，与……并排
12 slide [slaid] v. 滑
13 stray [strei] adj. 离群的
14 confusion [kənˈfju:ʒən] n. 混乱
15 greedily [ˈgri:dili] adv. 贪婪地
16 devour [diˈvauə] v. 狼吞虎咽地吃

 

【词汇】

1.【unforeseen】 ['ʌnfɔ:'si:n] adj. 意料之外的
构词：foresee→foreseen→unforeseen

例句：
1.This turn of fortune was unforeseen.
这时来运转是没有预见到的。
2. You must make a liberal allowance for unforeseen circumstances.
你必须充分考虑到预料不到的情况。

2.【collide】 [kəˈlaid] v. 猛撞
英英：crash together with violent impact

例句：
1. If the aims of two countries collide , there may be war.
如果两国的目的冲突，就可能发生战争。
2. The jade accouterments on her collide with each other, and give out a tinkling sound.
她身上的玉石饰物互相碰撞发出玲玎的响声。
3. When a meddlesome mother enrolls in university with her son, old and new worlds collide.
当一个爱管闲事的母亲和儿子注册同一间大学后，新世界和旧世界两种价值观就开始碰撞了。

3.【alongside】 [əlɔŋˈsaid] prep. 在……的旁边，与……并排
例句：
1. Alongside the mathematical story is an equally fascinating personal one.
除了数学还有一个引人入胜的个人的故事。
2. Local languages still exist alongside the Caribbean English dialect, too, but they are mostly the patois of the marketplace and home.
当地的语言也仍然和加勒比海式英语方言并存着，但它们大都是在市场和家里所用的土话。

alongside of 在旁边，与……并肩

4.【slide】 [slaid] v. 滑
英英：move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner

例句：
1.He felt some of the snow slide in, penetrate his shirt.
他感到有些雪片溜进大衣，透过衬衫。
2. Our assumption at this stage is the demand and yield will continue to slide in the coming months.
目前阶段我们的设想是，未来几个月市场需求和收益将继续下滑。
3. The stock market crash started America's slide into despair.
从股票市场崩溃开始，美国不知不觉陷入了绝望的境地。

5.【stray】 [strei] adj. 离群的
例句：
1.Don't tell me about any more stray animals, ok?
不要再跟我说什么流浪动物了，好吗？
2. Find your special purpose in this world so full of choices and help lead those who stray.
在充满机会的世界中寻找你的特殊才华，帮助迷路的人领航。

6.【confusion】 [kənˈfju:ʒən] n. 混乱
例句：
1. They would prefer certainty to the current confusion.
他们宁愿确定性而不是当前的混乱。
2. Women suffrage will not, to say the truth. add to the political confusion.
说真的，妇女拥有选举权并不会增加政治上的混乱。

7.【devour】 [diˈvauə] v. 狼吞虎咽地吃
英英：eat immoderately and greedily

例句：
1. We watched the flames devour the entire building.
我们看着火苗吞噬整座大楼。
2. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers.
或者你可以选择加速自己的成长，主动地消化生活以及它带来的一切。
3. Foreigners devour American cultural exports, from "Desperate Housewives" to the Harvard Business Review.
外国人贪婪地吸收着美国的文化输出，从《绝望的主妇》到《哈佛商业评论》。

 

【课文详解】

1.We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. 我们大家都有过事事不顺心的日子。一天开始时，可能还不错，但突然间似乎一切都失去了控制。

get out of control 变得无法控制

例：Inflaction has got out of control. 通货膨胀已经失去控制。

get out of control = be out of hand = be unmanageable

 

2. What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment. 情况经常是这样的，许许多多的事情都偏偏赶在同一时刻出问题。

(1) choose通常用来指人做出的动作。这里用来指示物作出的动作，为拟人手法，使文章显得更为生动。

(2) go wrong 为“出岔子”、“出问题”之意。

(3) what在此引导主语从句，并在从句中作主语；that引导一个表语从句。

What invariably happen is that = Such is the case that

 

3. It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. 好像是一件无关紧要的小事引起了一连串的连锁反应。

(1) as if 在这里引导一个方式状语从句，从句用虚拟语气，故set up是过去式。

(2) a chain of reactions 一连串的连锁反应，a chain of…一连串的……

   a chain of coincidence/ chemical reactions 一连串的巧合/一系列化学反应

   Domino effect 多米诺效应，连锁反应

(3) set up 表示“引起，造成，引发”

   She ste up a new world record time in the 100 metres. 她创下了新的百米世界纪录。

   The slump on Wall Street set up a chain reaction in stock markets around the world, 华尔街金融滑坡引起了世界股票市场连锁反应。

 

4. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. 假设你在做饭，同时又在照看孩子。

keep an eye on sb. = look after sb. / make sure sb. is safe 照看，照顾

 

5. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. 这时电话铃响了。它预示着一连串意想不到的灾难的来临。

【词汇】 prelude n.

(1)    序曲，前奏曲：prelude to a musical composition 大型乐曲的序曲；the organ prelude to a church service 礼拜仪式前的风琴序奏；Chopin’s preludes 肖邦的序曲

(2)    开场戏，序幕，序言：the prelude to a revolution 革命的序幕

(3)    前兆，预兆：This border raid is the prelude to more scrious attacks.这场边境冲突时更为严重的进攻的先兆。

【辨析】disaster,calamity,catastrophe,misfortune 这些词均有“灾难”“不幸”之意。

disaster 普通用词，之大破坏，痛苦或伤亡。

calamity 多指个人的不幸，比disaster严重，强调灾难引起的悲痛以及对于损失的感觉。

catastrophe 语气最强，指可怕的灾难，强调最终的结局。

misfortune 普通用词，多只较为严重的不幸，强调不幸多由外界因素所致。

没赶上火车：oh,it’s a catastophe

咖啡糊了：oh,it’s a catastophe

【联想】foresee派生的几个形容词：foreseen,foreseeable,unforeseeable, unforeseen.

        foresee的同义词：foretell,predict

 

6.While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc. 就在你接电话时，孩子把桌布从桌子上扯下来，将家中最好的陶瓷餐具半数摔碎，同时也弄伤了他自己。你急急忙忙挂上电话，赶去照看孩子和餐具。

 (1) and attend to… 意即“去照料孩子、收拾餐具”等。

attend to… 处理，料理，专心于

Could you attend to this matter immediately? 你能不能立即处理这件事情？

A nurse attends to his needs. 有个护士照顾他。

(2) hang up(on sb.)挂电话，一般用于非正式场合口语中。

 

7. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner. 这时，饭又烧糊了。好像这一切还不足以使你急得掉泪，你的丈夫接着回来了，事先没打招呼就带来3个客人吃饭。

(1) as if 在这里为从属连词，引导方式状语从句，气候的 this were 表明该句使用了虚拟语气。

(2) reduce you to tears 使你流泪。

   这里reduce表达“迫使”之意，此时reduce to + n./ing为常用结构。 如：Overwork has reduced him to a physical wreck. 他过度劳累而损害了健康。The fire reduces the house to ashes.这场火灾把那房子化为灰烬。

reduce…to 使陷入（窘境，更坏的境地）

She was reduced to tears by their criticisms.他们的批评使她留下了眼泪。

The bombs reduced the city to ruins.炸弹使这座城市化为废墟。

They were reduced to begging in the streets.他们被迫乞讨为生。

【联想】enough

oddly/strangely/curiously/interestingly enough 修饰整个句子 = it seems especially odd/strange/interesting.

He’s lived in France for years,but strangely enough,he can’t speak a word of French.

他在法国生活了多年，但奇怪的是他竟然连一句法语也不会说。

Interestingly enough,America is now dependent on Africa for 40% of its oil imports.

说来挺有意思的是，如今美国的石油有40%是从非洲进口的。

 

8.Things can go wrong on a big scale as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. 就像许多人最近在悉尼郊区帕拉马塔发现的那样，有时乱子会闹得很大。

(1) on a big/large/vast/grand/moderate scale 以大规模/适度的规模

on a nationwide/worldwide scale 在全国、世界范围内

(2) He caught the last bus,as I told him. 就像我告诉他的那样，他赶上了末班的公交车。

 

 

9. During the rush hour one evening two cars collided and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. 一天傍晚交通最拥挤时，一辆汽车撞上前面一辆汽车，两个司机争吵起来。紧跟其后的一辆车上的司机碰巧是个初学者，她一惊之下突然把车停了下来。

Get into a panic 变得惊慌失措

【词汇】panic

n. 惊恐，惊慌：

Panic-striken/get into a panic/be thrown into a panic 惊慌失措的

The audience were thrown into a panic when the fire started. 起火时观众陷入一片恐慌。

vi. （使）惊慌：

The crowd panicked at the sound of the explosion.听到爆炸声，人群惊慌失措。

 

10. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. 她这一停使得跟在后头的司机也来个急刹车。司机妻子正坐在他身边，手里托着块大蛋糕。

 

11. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. 她往前一冲，蛋糕从挡风玻璃飞了出去掉到马路上。

(1) as 在此为一从属连词，引导时间状语，表示“正当……的时候”、“正值……之际”之意。

(2)went right… 中的right 为副词，表示“刚好”、“正好”之意，如：I fell right to the bottom of the stairs. 我从楼梯上面一直摔到楼梯下面。

 

12. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. 此时，一辆卡车正好从后边开到那辆汽车边上，司机看见一块蛋糕从天而降，紧急刹车。

(1) draw up 追上

(2) pull up 停车

 

13. The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road. 卡车上装着空啤酒瓶。成百只瓶子顺势从卡车后面滑出车外落在马路上。

【词汇】 slide v. 滑

sl-滑：sled = sledge 雪橇； sleek 有光泽的，整洁而光滑的；sleigh 马拉雪橇；slick 原画的，花言巧语的；slicker 油头滑脑的人；a city slicker 油头滑脑的城里人；slip 滑倒；slippery 滑的，不可靠的，狡猾的；slope 斜坡；sly 狡猾的

 

14. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. 这又引起一场唇枪舌剑的争吵。与此同时，后面的车辆排成了长龙。

Pile up 积累，越积越多，堆积。如：He piled up the old furniture in the shed.他把旧家具堆放到棚子里。 Evidence was piling up against them. 不利于他们的证据越来越多。

 

15. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. 警察花了将近一个小时才使车辆又开起来。

(1) 在 get(…)on the move 这一结构中，get做及物动词，表示“使……开始移动”、“使……开始走动”之意。

(2) on the move 在移动中：Don’t jump off a train when it is on the move.火车未停稳时不要往下跳。

(3) “on+名词”结构表示处于某种状态或某种动作正在进行之中。

Be on show / strick / holiday / trip 在上演/罢工/度假/旅行

 

16. In the meantime, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days! 在这段时间里，卡车司机不得不清扫那几百只破瓶子。只有两只野狗从这一片混乱中得到好处，它们贪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。这就是事事不顺心的那么一天！

(1) benefit from 从……之重获益，得益于，如：He hasn’t benefited from the experience.他虽有经验，却无长进。 Who stands to benefit most from the new tax laws? 什么人可能从新的税法中得到最大的好处？

(2) greedy for power / fame / women 渴望权力/名声/美色

【词汇】stray sdj. 迷失的，离群的；零落的

A stray cat 一只野猫

He was hit by a stray bullet. 他被流弹击中。

str-偏，离，斜：

astray adv.迷路，歧途：go astray 误入歧途地； lead sb. astray 使某人误入歧途；strange 陌生的；stranger 陌生人；straggle 掉队，离队单行；straggler 掉队的人：We have to wait for the stragglers to catch up.我们只好等着掉队的人跟上。