Lesson 12 Life on a desert island 荒岛生活

【Text】

§ Lesson 12 Life on a desert island 荒岛生活

What was exceptional about the two men’s stay on the desert island?

Most of us have formed an unrealistic picture of life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you never have to work. The other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is wretched. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a boat which never comes. Perhaps there is an element of truth in both these pictures, but few of us have had the opportunity to find out.

Two men who recently spent five days on a coral island wished they had stayed there longer. They were taking a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink. They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and tins of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not prove to be a problem. The men collected rain-water in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a spear gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day, and, as one of them put it 'ate like kings'. When a passing tanker rescued them five days later, both men were genuinely sorry that they had to leave.

参考译文

我们许多人对于荒岛生活有一种不切实际的想法。我们有时想象荒岛是阳光终日普照的天堂。在那里，生活简单又美好。成熟的水果从树上掉下来，人们根本无需劳动。另一种想法恰恰相反，认为荒岛生活很可怕，要么饿死，要么像鲁滨孙那样，天天盼船来，却总没见船影。也许，这两种都像都有可信之处。但很少有人能有机会去弄个究竟。

最近有两个人在一座珊瑚岛上呆了5天，他们真希望在那儿再多呆一些日子。他们驾着一条严重损坏的小船从维尔京群岛阿密修理。途中，船开始下沉，他们迅速把食物、火柴、罐装啤酒往一只救生筏上装。然后在加勒比海上划行了几英里，到了一座珊瑚岛上。岛上几乎没有一颗树，也没有淡水，但这不算什么问题。他们用像皮艇蓄积雨水。由于他们随身带了一支捕鱼枪，因此，吃饭不愁。他们天天捕捉龙虾和鱼，正如其中一位所说，吃得“像国王一样好”。5天后，一条油轮从那儿路过，搭救了他们。这二位不得不离开那个荒岛时，还真的感到遗憾呢！

【New words and expressions】 生词和短语 ◆ desert island 荒岛 ◆ unrealistic adj. 不真实的 ◆ Paradise n. 天堂，乐土 ◆ wretched adj. 可怜的，艰苦的

◆ Starve v. 挨饿 ◆ element n. 成分 ◆ opportunity n. 机会 ◆ coral n. 珊瑚

◆ Virgin Islands 维尔京群岛

◆ Miami n. 迈阿密 （美国最南的城市） ◆ dinghy n. 救生筏，小船 ◆ Caribbean n. 加勒比海 ◆ spear gun 捕鱼枪 ◆ lobster n. 龙虾 ◆ tanker n. 油轮 ◆ genuinely adv. 由衷地

◆ Robinson Crusoe 鲁滨逊·克鲁索 （小说《鲁滨逊漂流记》主人公）

★desert island 荒岛 desert : 沙漠 v. 背弃， 遗弃 dessert:甜点

★unrealistic adj. 不真实的 ★paradise n. 天堂，乐土

a lot of people imagine the USA as their paradise. heaven: 天堂，天国，也指死亡

★wretched adj. 可怜的，艰苦的 miserable

lead a wretched / miserable / terrible life

★starve v. 挨饿 starve to death

★element n. 成分 ★opportunity n. 机会

golden opportunity 绝佳的机会

opportunity knocks only once 千载难逢的机会

chance 表机会时可以与opportunity 互换，表可能性时则不可 I had chance / opportunity of visiting Paris. There is a chance that I will see him.

The chances are that he will be elected the president. The chances are that he will past his examination next week. + of, to

He had not opportunity to see her.

★oral n. 珊瑚

★irgin Islands 维尔京群岛

★Miami n. 迈阿密 （美国最南的城市） ★dinghy n. 救生筏，小船 ★Caribbean n. 加勒比海 ★spear gun 捕鱼枪 ★lobster n. 龙虾 ★tanker n. 油轮 ★genuinely adv. 由衷地

He is genuinely thankful to me. adj. genuine n. genuineness

★Robinson Crusoe 鲁滨逊·克鲁索 （小说《鲁滨逊漂流记》主人公）

【课文讲解】

form an unrealistic picture of sth. 对...抱有不切实际的幻想 L12-01 end 7’52”

L12-02 begin

A large number of people have formed an unrealistic picture of the job.

imagine sth. to be / imagine sth. as

Some people imagine flying to be more dangerous than traveling by train. A large number people imagin the USA as their paradise.

quite the opposite: 恰恰相反 either…or…

Either you or I am going to the party. 谓语动词和最接近的主语保持一致。

Either coming or go out don’t stand on the doorway.要么进来，要么出去，不要站在门口。

An element of truth: a bit of truth

Optimistic: 乐观的

Pessimistic: 消极的，悲观的

Wish做谓语动词，其后的宾语从句中要使用虚拟语气；虚拟语气的结构形式取决于所表达的实际情况： 1.如果表达对现在的遗憾或与现在相反的情况，that从句中的动词要采用过去时，be 动词要用were I wish you could drive a car.

2.如果表达对过去的遗憾或与过去相反的情况，that从句中的动词要采用过去完成时 I wish I hadn’t spent so much money. I wish that you had written to him.

L12-02 end 8’18”

L12-03 begin 8’09”

3. 如果表达与将来事实相反或将来不可能实现的心愿，that从句中要使用would, could等情态动词的过去时

I wish that I could go abroad tomorrow. I wish that you could come here tomorrow.

if only要比 wish 更富有戏剧性和感情色彩 If only the weather would change. I wish the weather would change.

We wish that we knew where to look for him. If only we knew to look for him.

If only we could have gone to the party. If only you hadn’t said that.

If only you would come here tomorrow.

Have sth. Repaired

load with 把?装载到?上

Eg: The workers are loading the truck with goods. Unload: 卸

hardly any: very little / few

Eg: Hardly anybody likes him becaues he is so rude. You hardly eat anything, what's wrong? prove to be===turn out to be put: express

If only we could have stayed on the desert island a little bit longer. L12-03 end 8’09”

L12-04 begin 11’11”

【Special difficulties】 wish, if only

Exercise P60

1 It was silly of me not to buy that dress. I wish I _____ . 2 You are making a lit of noise. I wish you _____ . 3 It’s a pity John’s away. If only he _____ . 4 He. I wish I _____ .

5 I never studied at all when I was at school. I wish I _____ .