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2）continue to do sth., although this is difficult, or other people oppose it 坚持，执意 Students must persist in their efforts if they wish to do well. 学生如果想取得好成绩就必须坚持努力。

persist, insist

1 persist可用于表示“继续存在；持续”,尤其用于不好的事情，而insist没有此意。 Contact your doctor if the cough persists.如果咳嗽持续，请联系您的医生。 2 persist和 insist容易混淆主要是当两者均表示“坚持”时。

persist用于表示“坚持” 时，表示“坚持反复做同一件事”，后接介词 in，多用于褒义，指“坚持继续做某事”，有时用于贬义，指“不听劝告；顽固坚持”。

Her mother tried to persuade her to go to bed early, but she persisted in working until the

small hours.她的母亲劝她早点睡，但她仍坚持工作到凌晨。

insist用于表示“坚持”时，表示“坚持做某件事（尤指麻烦或令人讨厌的事）”，后接介词 on。

She insisted on washing her hair just when I wanted to have a bath.当我想泡个澡时，她

还在那洗头。

3 insist还可用于表示“对意见、主张等的坚持”。insist用于此意时，后可接介词on，也可以接 that引导的从句（是否用虚拟语气，视情况而定，即看从句内容是否为事实），而persist 无此意。

The doctor insisted that she (should) take the medicine, but she insisted that she was not

ill.医生坚持让她服此药，但她坚持自己没病。 6. succession： 一连串，一系列

After graduation, he took a succession of low-paid jobs. In succession: 持续发生地，接连发生地

She is an accomplished athlete and won the championship four times in succession. 7. liberal: a. 1) ~ arts 文科

The liberal arts are college or university subjects such as history, languages and literature but not sciences. 文科是学院或大学的如历史、语言和文学之类的学习科目，而不是理科学科。 2）心胸开朗的，开明的

She is known to have liberal views on divorce. 人们知道她对离婚持有开明的观点。

8. compel: vt. force sb. To do sth,

As a school boy, he was compelled to wear shorts even in winter. 当他还是一个在校的小男孩时，即使在冬天他也被迫穿短裤。

compelling：interesting or exciting enough to keep your attention completely 有吸引

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力的

Steven Jobs’ life makes a compelling story.

9. speculate: v. consider or discuss why sth. has happened 思索，推测 Archeologists speculate that people first reached the islands over 1,000 years ago. 考古学家们推测人类第一次到达这些岛屿是在一千多年前。 speculate about/on: 猜测，推测

It is too early to speculate about the relationship between Mary and George. 现在推测玛丽和乔治的关系，还为时过早。 10. fertile：a.

1) able to produce good ideas or results 富有成果的，富有想象力的 A poet must have a fertile imagination. 诗人必须有丰富的想象力。 2）able to produce good crops or plants 肥沃的，富饶的

Fertile soil helps Canada rank among the world’s leading wheat producers. 肥沃的土壤帮助加拿大跻身世界主要小麦生产国。 11. elegant：a.

1) very intelligent yet simple 巧妙的，简洁的

the document impressed me with its elegant simplicity. 该文件给我留下了精辟简明的深刻印象。

2）beautiful, attractive and graceful 优美的，高雅的

Patricia looked beautiful and elegant as always. 帕特里夏看上去总是那么美丽优雅。

12. undertake： vt. (undertook, undertaken) agree to be responsible for a job or project and do it承担，着手做

Dr. Johnson undertook the task of writing a comprehensive English dictionary. 约翰逊博士着手写一本详尽的英语词典。

13. liable：(be ~ to do sth.) likely to do sth. in a particular way because of a fault or tendency 可能（易于）做某事

Many parts of the country are liable to suffer from flooding. 该国的许多地方易遭水灾。

14. reservoir：n.[C]

1) a large quantity of sth. that can be used 积蓄；储备

Colleges are a reservoir of talents for companies. 大学是企业的人才库。 2）an artificial or natural lake where water is stored so that it can be supplied to the houses in an area （人造的）水库；（天然）蓄水湖

If it rains heavily, the reservoir will overflow. 如果下大雨，水库里的水就会溢出来。

15. in the company of: in sb’s company; with sb. 和某人在一起

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She caught sight of her grandson, in the company of three other boys of similar age, going into the narrow alley which led to the railway.

她看见她的孙子与其他三个年龄相仿的男孩一起，进入了那条通向铁路的狭窄小巷。

16. outstanding：a. extremely good or impressive 杰出的；出众的；显著的 His performance in charitable activities was outstanding. 在公益活动方面，他的表现非常出色。

Difficult sentences:

1. The data show that as students have increasingly shouldered the ever-rising cost of tuition, they have defected from the study of the humanities and toward applied science and “hard” skills that they bet will lead to employment. (Para. 2) Meaning: The facts and information show that as students have spent increasingly more money on tuition, they have turned away from studying the humanities to some practical courses that they believe will enable them to get a job more easily.

2. In other words, a college education is more and more seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment. (Para. 2) Meaning: In other words, a college education is more considered as a method to improve students’ future economic status rather than improve human nature or behavior.

Meaning beyond words: The quality of a college education is increasingly questionable because the trend among many colleges is to become more like a business and less like an academic setting.

3. Once the dominant pillars of university life, the humanities now play little roles when students take their college tours. These days, labs are more vivid and compelling than libraries. (Para. 3)

Meaning: The humanities that once dominated university life now play a trivial role when students have their college visits; nowadays, labs are more eye-catching and fascinating than libraries.

Meaning beyond words: Libraries were once the only place where students spent much time reading materials, doing research and writing papers. However, as more students are taking science courses, labs where students do scientific experiments play a more important role for learning than traditional libraries.

Note: A “college tour” is a series of campus visits to a number of colleges or

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universities by a prospective student. College tours may be taken individually or by school groups and educational programs as a way for a large number of people to visit several schools over a short period of time. In addition, many colleges now offer virtual tours on the Internet.

4. Historians, architects, authors, philosophers and artists have captured the words, images and meanings of this inner struggle in the form of story, music, myth, painting, architecture, sculpture, landscape and traditions. (Para.5) Meaning: Our historians, architects, authors, philosophers and artists have successfully caught the words, images and meanings of this mysterious inner force by way of story, music, myth, painting, architecture, sculpture, landscape and traditions.

5. Most importantly, studying the humanities invests us with great insight and self-awareness, thereby releasing our creative energy and talent in a positive and constructive manner. (Para. 7)

Meaning: The most important advantage for us to study the humanities is that it enables us to become more analytical and self-aware; therefore, our creativeness and talent are brought out in a positive and constructive way.

6. Famous people who studied the humanities make a long list indeed. It’s easy to see that the humanities can prepare us for many different careers and jobs we can undertake, whether medicine, business, science or entertainment.(Para. 8) Meaning: It is true that famous people who studied the humanities can make up a long list. Obviously, the humanities enable us to engage in many different careers and jobs, no matter whether they are medicine, business, science or entertainment. Note: “Whether medicine, business, science or entertainment” is an elliptical clause. It can be understood as “Whether they are medicine, business, science or entertainment”. In an elliptical clause some words are left out. Because it’s within a context, it is usually clear what is missing. As a rule, elliptical sentences consist of two clauses, one containing the grammar elements the other has left out. For example: 1) Jessica had five dollars while Monica (had) one. 杰西卡有五美元，而莫妮卡只有一美元。

(The verb had is dropped from the second clause, but the meaning is still clear.) 2) Leave quickly when (you are) ready.准备好就赶紧离开吧。 (In the sentence, you are is understood though omitted.)

7. If we study only mathematics, it’s likely we will be a candidate only for jobs as

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