完型:人类的嗅觉
The human nose is an underrated tool. Humans are often thought to be insensitive smellers compared with animals, but this is largely because, unlike animals, we stand upright. This means that our noses are limited to perceiving those smells which float through the air, missing the majority of smells which stick to surfaces. In fact, though, we are extremely sensitive to smells, even if we do not generally realize it. Our noses are capable of detecting human smells even when these are diluted to far below one part in one million.
Strangely, some people find that they can smell one type of flower but not another, whereas others are sensitive to the smells of both flowers. This may be because some people do not have the genes necessary to generate particular smell receptors in the nose. These receptors are the cells which sense smells and send messages to the brain. However, it has been found that even people insensitive to a certain smell at first can suddenly become sensitive to it when exposed to it often enough.
The explanation for insensitivity to smell seems to be the brain finds it inefficient to keep all smell receptors working all the time but can create new receptors if necessary. This may also explain why we are not usually sensitive to to our own smells-- we simply do not need to be. We are not aware of the usual smell of our own house, but we notice new smells when we visit someone else's. The brain finds it best to keep smell receptors available for unfamiliar and emergency signals such as the smell of smoke, which might indicate the danger of fire.
1. limited & confined
limited: restricted to a particular limit of time, numbers, etc 受 (...的)限制 *limited to sth
not very great in amount or extent 有限的 *limited resources available有限资源
confined: (usually before n) (of a space or an area) small and enclosed by walls or sides狭窄受限的
confine (v): (usually passive) to keep a person or an animal in a small or closed space监禁
虽都能表示空间、面积、时间、活动等方面的限制,而文中重在介绍是鼻子功能、能力方面的局限性
2. ignore & miss
ignore: to pay no attention to sth 忽视,不予理会 (主观上)
miss: to fail to see, hear, or notice sth未见到,听到,觉察到 (客观上)
3. though & instead
though: used to add a fact or an opinion that makes the previous statement less strong or less important
不过,可是,然而= however
They are very different, though they did seem to get on well when they met.
instead: in the place of sb/sth 代替,反而
He didn't reply. Instead, he turned on his heel and left the room.
4. dilute 稀释(液体);降低(品质),削弱(信念)
dissolve 溶解;解除;(情绪)笑起来/哭起来 *dissolve into laughter/tears
disperse 驱散,消散
diffuse 扩散,渗透,弥漫;(信息)传播;(不良情绪/局面)平息
diffuse stress 缓解压力
5. ineffective & inefficient
ineffective: not having any effect 不起作用的
inefficient: not doing a job well 效率低的
阅读 Text 1 动物的公平意识 Fair and Square
1.pleasure at your own 你的快乐
2.vanish
to disappear suddenly in a way that you cannot explain (莫名其妙地)突然消失
*vanish without trace 消失得无影无踪
to stop existing 濒临灭绝;不复存在
3. have a reputation for 有...的名声
4. slack
(v) to work less hard than you usually do or should do 懈怠懒散
*slack off (on sth)
He's gone from success to success in his movie career, and there's no sign of him slacking off.
(adj) not stretched tight 松弛的;
(生意)not having many customers or sales; not busy 冷清的,萧条的
*slack demand for 需求不旺
(人)懈怠的,吊儿郎当的
He's been very slack in his work lately. 工作不认真
5. underlying
important in a situation but not always easily noticed or stated clearly 根本的,潜在的
The underlying assumption is that the amount of money available is limited. 隐含的假定
Such behaviour is regarded as "all too human", with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance.
这样的行为被认为是“人之常情”,其潜在的假设是其他动物不具有这种高度发达的委屈意识。
6. grievance
sth that you think is unfair and that you complain or protest about 委屈;牢骚
Parents were invited to air their grievances at the meeting. 诉说苦衷
He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months. 对..心怀不满
grievance procedure 投诉程序
7. readily
in a way that shows you do not object to sth 欣然地,乐意地
*readily accept/share
quickly and without difficulty 轻而易举地
All ingredients are readily available from your local store. 方便地
8.temperament (n); temperamental (a)
a person's or an animal's nature as shown in the way they behave or react to situations or people
She's a dreamer and a romantic by temperament. 她生性异想天开,浪漫多情。
the tendency to get emotional and excited very easily and behave in an unreasonable way
an actor given to displays of temperament 性情喜怒无常的演员
9. temperance
the practice of controlling your behaviour, the amount you eat, so that it is always reasonable 自我克制;节食= moderation in diet
temperate 温带的;温和的,自我克制的
10.token 金属代币 *exchange tokens for
11. adjoining=adjacent to 相邻的
12. chamber 作特殊用途的房间;会议室
13. perfect candidate 理想人选
14. markedly different 明显不同
15. preferable more attractive or more suitable; preferably 最好是
* preferable to sth/doing
He finds country life infinitely preferable to living in the city. 称心得多
* preferable to do
It would be preferable to employ two people, not one. 做...更好
16. preference
a great interest in or desire for sb/sth than sb/sth else 偏好
*personal preference 个人爱好
*express a strong preference for 表示喜欢
a thing that is liked better or best 偏爱的事物
*give (a) preference to sb/sth 优待,给...优惠
*in preference to sb/sth 而不是=rather than
17. prefecture 地方行政区域; preferment 晋升
18. The second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber.
19. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber.
He tossed the ball to Anna.= He tossed Anna the ball. 扔
20. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber was enough to induce resentment in a femal capuchin. 引起愤恨
induce 劝说;导致;催生
21. Feelings of righteous indignation, it seems, are not the preserve of people alone. 义愤;(某群体)的专有活动
22. stem
*stem from 源于;由...引起
However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an answered question.
to stop sth from happening 阻止,遏制
Text 2 全球气候变暖问题 Warming to the Task
1. inconclusive
not leading to a definite decision or result 无定论的,不确定的
*inconclusive evidence 没有说服力的证据
2. antismoking lobby 反对吸烟的游说者/团体;lobbyist 说客
3. That the antismoking lobby was out to destroy our way of life and the government should stay out of the way? 是为了;置身事外
4. correlation between A and B...之间有关联
5. There are upsetting parallels today, as scientists in one wave after another try to awaken us to the growing threat of global warming. 如今,在科学家们前赴后继努力唤醒我们关注全球变暖这一与日俱增的威胁之时,令人不安的类似情形再次出现。
6. enlist : 谋求(帮助);入伍(当兵)
They hoped to enlist the help of the public in solving the crime.
7. Just as on smoking, voices now come from many quarters insisting that the science about global warming is incomplete, that it's OK to keep pouring fumes into the air until we know for sure. 就像在吸烟问题上一样,现在来自多方面的声音坚持认为有关全球变暖的科学研究还不完善,在我们证实这件事之前可以继续向大气中排放废气。
8. This is a dangerous game: by the time 100 percent of the evidence is in, it may be too late.
9. With the risks obvious and growing, a prudent people would take out an insurance policy now. 谨慎明智的;投保(采取防范措施)
10. Instead of a plan of action, they continue to press for more research-- a classic case of "paralysis by analysis". 敦促,不断要求做;“分析导致瘫痪”
11. hinder 阻碍
*hinder sb/sth from doing
A former injury was hindering him from playing his best.
Some teachers felt hindered by a lack of resources. 因...感到困难重重
12. steward 乘务员;管家;组织者
13. To serve as responsible stewards of the planet, we must press forward on deeper atmospheric and oceanic research.为了担负好地球保护者的责任,我们必须加紧推进对于大气和海洋的深入研究。
14. fashion (手工)制造,塑造
Congress should help to begin fashioning conservation measures. 国会应当开始帮助制定保护措施(议案)
15. be environmentally sound 有益环境
16. negligence过失,疏忽
negligent 疏忽的;relaxed 放松随便的(人及其举止)
The school had been negligent in not informing the child's parents about the accident.
17. applicable to sb/sth 适用于
18. aggravate 使严重 *aggravated crime 加重罪行
19. aggregate 总计
The scores were aggregated with the first round totals to decide the winner.
Text 3 梦可以被控制
1. suspend
to officially stop sth for a time 暂停
In the theatre we willingly suspend disbelief. 暂不质疑
使暂时停职,停学(被动)
*suspend sb from sth
2. formulate
to create or prepare sth carefully 制定,构想
*formulate a policy/theory/plan/proposal 制定政策;创立理论;构想计划;准备建议
to express your ideas in carefully chosen words 字斟句酌
3. Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and fears; by the 1970s, neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just "mental noise"-- the byproducts of neural-repair work that goes on during sleep.
unconscious 无意识的;consciousness 意识
conscience 良心;内疚;conscientious 勤勉认真
4. thermostat 恒温器
5. harness
(v) to control and use the force or strength of sth to produce power or to achieve sth 控制,利用
And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control, to help us sleep and feel better.
We must harness the skill and creativity of our workforce. 发挥技能和创造力
(v) 给...上套
In some areas, the poor feel harnessed to their jobs. (修辞)套在工作上
(n) 马具;保护带
*a safety harness 安全带
*in harness (with sb) 密切合作
6. susceptible susceptibility 某人的敏感心理
very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected 易受影响
*susceptible to sth/sb
Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men.
easily influenced by feelings and emotions 善感的
allowing sth; capable of sth 可以...的
*susceptible of sth
Working conditions are susceptible of improvement by legislation. 通过立法加以改善
Text 4 The Evolution of EnglishTalking down 越说越俗的英语
1. command
(v) command the English language with skill and gift
(n) *have (a) good command of English 精通英语
*at your command: use sth well and completely 可自由使用,支配
*be at sb's command 听候某人的吩咐
2. Americans no longer expect public figures to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves.
3. degradation 堕落;恶化
*environmental degradation 环境恶化
*the degradation of
4. Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. 纵容放任的
5. academic speciality 学术专长
6. no more... than 与...一样不
He sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case- endings of Old English.
举例来说,他认为"whom"一词的逐渐消失是自然的,和古英语中词格尾缀的消失一样根本没什么遗憾的。
7. But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music.
然而,对真实和个性的狂热推崇,即“做我们自己的事”,已经导致了正式的演讲,写作,诗歌及音乐的消亡。
8. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. 在20世纪60年代以前,就算是受教育不太多的人在下笔时都会寻求一种高格调;而在那之后,即使是最受好评的文章也力求在书面上体现口语化。
9. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. 极具表现力的风格 体现
10. In both oral and written English, talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.
随意言谈胜过了正式讲话,即兴发挥也胜过了精雕细琢。
11. array of examples 大量例子 all varieties of 各种各样的 chunks of 大段的
12. think straight 准确地思考 talk proper 规范地表达
13. He is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one.
他其实只是为那些美好多过实用的事物的消逝而哀叹。我们现在用“纸盘“而非“瓷盘“盛着我们的英语大餐。这或许令人遗憾,但也许又是不可避免的。
网友评论