【单词】

1.charter school

(in North America) a publicly funded independent school established by teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority

（北美）契约学校（根据地方或国家当局特许状由教师、家长或社区组织建立的公助私立学校）

2.microcosm [ˈmaɪkroʊkɑːzəm]

微观世界;缩影 A microcosm is a small society, place, or activity which has all the typical features of a much larger one and so seems like a smaller version of it.

Being a Model C school and not a government school, Sandringham drew kids from all over,making it a near-perfect microcosm of post-apartheid South Africa as a whole—a perfect example of what South Africa has the potential to be.

The village is a microcosm of the whole country.

The game was a microcosm of the entire season.

Kitchell says the city was a microcosm of all American culture during the '60s...

In many respects, Mahan's story is that of the Asian community in microcosm.

3.canteen [kænˈtiːn]

①a store in a camp, school, etc., in which food, drinks, and small supplies are sold

②[BRI](工厂、商店、高校的)食堂,餐厅 A canteen is a place in a factory, shop, or college where meals are served to the people who work or study there.

the school canteen [=(US)cafeteria] [ˌkæfəˈtɪriə]

4.clique  [kliːk]

派系;小集团 If you describe a group of people as a clique, you mean that they spend a lot of time together and seem unfriendly towards people who are not in the group.

Kids would break off and cluster into their cliques and groups.

high school cliques

※The students in the high school are very cliquish and unfriendly.

5.predicament  [prɪˈdɪkəmənt]

困境；艰难的处境；尴尬的境地 If you are in a predicament, you are in an unpleasant situation that is difficult to get out of.

At break, as the only mixed kid out of a thousand, I faced the same predicament I had on the playground at H. A. Jack: Where was I supposed to go? Even with so many different groups to choose from, I wasn’t a natural constituent of any particular one.

The decision will leave her in a peculiar predicament.

I don't know how to get out of the predicament I'm in.

6.affinity

a feeling of closeness and understanding that someone has for another person because of their similar qualities, ideas, or interests

The group I felt the most affinity for was the poor black kids.

They had much in common and felt a close affinity (for/to/with each other).

There's always been an affinity between us.

He never felt any affinity with the other kids in his neighborhood.

7.patron saint

①a Christian saint who is believed to protect a particular place or group of people

②a person who is known or admired as a leader or example

I was the patron saint of detention.

St Christopher, patron saint of travelers

The success of her books has made her the patron saint of a new literary movement.

8.seamlessly

无缝的;无停顿的;衔接完美的 You use seamless to describe something that has no breaks or gaps in it or which continues without stopping.

I’d found my niche. Since I belonged to no group I learned to move seamlessly between groups. I floated. I was a chameleon, still, a cultural chameleon.

The speaker moved from one subject to the next seamlessly.

He has moved seamlessly from theory to practice.

【词组】

1.along with

used for mentioning additional people or things that are also included or involved in something

Wealthy white kids—along with the few black people and colored people and Indians who had money or could get scholarships—were holed up in private schools, which were super-expensive but virtually guaranteed entry into university.

A bill came along with the merchandise.

All my cousins were there along with my aunts and uncles.

He worked along with several colleagues to finish on time.

Ramos was arrested along with eleven other men.

2.guarantee sb sth  ↑

The ticket will guarantee you free entry.

These days getting a degree doesn't guarantee you a job.

3.free/full rein

the opportunity to act freely

If you give free rein to someone, you give them a lot of freedom to do what they want.

South African schools don’t have cafeterias. At Sandringham we’d buy our lunch at what we call the tuck shop, a little canteen, and then have free rein to go wherever we wanted on the school grounds to eat—the quad, the courtyard, the playground,wherever.

The studio gave the director free rein [=complete control] over the movie.

Give full rein to your imagination.

The government continued to believe it should give free rein to the private sector in transport.

4.shade into

to slowly or gradually change into (something) or become the same as (something)

People were still grouped by color in most cases, but you could see how they all blended and shaded into one another.

Distrust of foreigners can shade into racism.

The scarlet of the wings shades into pink at the tips.

as day shades into night

5.to the extent that

到何种程度/到那种程度/到…的程度 You use expressions such as to

what extent, to that extent, or to the extent that when you are discussing how true a statement is, or in what ways it is true.

To the extent that the groupings were racial, it was because of the ways race overlapped class and geography out in the real world.

We may not be able to do it to the extent that we would like.

※He said he didn't like the president, but not to the extent of wanting to kill him...

6.adept at sth/doing

very good at doing something that is not easy

As always, I was adept enough with white kids not to get bullied by them, but the white kids were always going shopping, going to the movies, going on trips—things that required money.

He's adept in several languages.

— usually +at

She's adept at fixing flaws in the system.

He was adept at (using) computers.

7.by necessity/out of necessity

because of conditions that cannot be changed

After school I was on my own. Weekends I was on my own. Ever the outsider, I created my own strange little world. I did it out of necessity.

The process is by necessity a slow one. [=the process is necessarily slow; the slowness of the process cannot be avoided]

He works two jobs out of necessity. [=because it is necessary]

8.stop off

中途逗留 If you stop off somewhere, you stop for a short time in the middle of a journey.

Thanks to my long walk to school, I was late every single day. I’d have to stop off in the prefect’s office to write my name down for detention.

I'll stop off (at the store) to pick up some milk.

She is stopping off in Miami to visit a friend.

Could you stop off at the house to water the plants?

9.running joke

something that a group of people continue to refer to and find funny over a period of time

The names ofthe kids with detention were announced at every assembly, and I was always one of them. Always. Every single day. It was a running joke.

There is a running joke in the office about his hair.

10.erupt

to begin doing something (such as shouting or applauding) suddenly

Somebody yelled out, “Where’s Trevor?!” The prefect looked at the paper and shook his head. “Nope.” The entire hall erupted with cheers and applause.“Yay!!!!”

— usually +in, into, or with

The crowd erupted in applause when she finished her speech.

The audience erupted into/with laughter.

11.work against

Every minute you spent in the queue was working against your break time.

Your age can work against you in this job.

12.like a bat out of hell

very quickly

The second we were dismissed from assembly I would run like a bat out of hell to the tuck shop so I could be the first one there.

He ran out of the house like a bat out of hell.

She was driving like a bat out of hell.

13.come up to sb

to move towards sb, in order to talk to them

I became notorious for being that guy, so much so that people started coming up to me in line.

He came up to me and asked me the way to the station.

14.piss off

惹恼；激怒 If someone or something pisses you off, they annoy you.

“Hey, can you buy this for me?” Which would piss off the kids behind me because it was basically cutting the line.

Her superior attitude really pisses me off.

15.overnight success

[overnight]  a. happening very quickly or suddenly

The show was an overnight success.

16.turn sb away

to refuse to allow (someone) to enter a place

I had so many customers I was turning kids away. I had a rule: I would take five orders a day, high bidders only.

All the seats were sold and a large crowd had to be turned away.

The homeless shelter will not turn away people in need.

We turn away hundreds of applicants each year.

Hard times are forcing community colleges to turn away students.

17.withdraw/​retreat into your shell

to become shy and stop talking to people

As the outsider, you can retreat into a shell, be anonymous, be invisible. Or you can go the other way. You protect yourself by opening up. You don’t ask to be accepted for everything you are, just the one part of yourself that you’re willing to share.

If anyone spoke to her, she would just withdraw into her shell.

18.drop in

顺道拜访;突然拜访 If you drop in on someone, you visit them informally, usually without having arranged it.

I learned that even though I didn’t belong to one group, I could be a part of any group that was laughing. I’d drop in, pass out the snacks, tell a few jokes. I’d perform for them.

Why not drop in for a chat?...

Whenever I'm up there I always drop in...

I thought I'd drop in on you while I was passing.

Sorry we're late— we dropped into the pub on the way.

19.pass out sth

to give (something) to several or many people

They passed out [=handed out, distributed] copies of the newsletter.

The teacher hasn't finished passing out the tests yet.

She passed out flyers at the grocery store.

20.overstay your welcome

to stay at a place for longer than people want

It was time to go, before we outstayed our welcome.

21.be consumed with

沉迷的;充满…的 If you are consumed with a feeling or idea, it affects you very strongly indeed.

I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done in life, any choice that I’ve made. But I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say.

They are consumed with jealousy at her success.

【语法点】

1.后置不定式做名词修饰不熟

Then, immediately after assembly, there would be a race to the tuck shop because the queue to buy food was so long.