Unit 8 Educational Problems

Words & Expressions

run out of: use up or finish a supply of (sth.)

- To our disappointment, our car ran out of gas halfway home.

- When they ran out of food, the soldiers set about hunting for more.

in amazement: with a feeling of great surprise or disbelief

- Aunt Sophia gazed at her picture in amazement: she looked like a teenage girl in it. - 当他大声地与他的朋友交谈时，报告厅里所有的人都吃惊地盯着他看。(All the people in the lecture hall stared at him in amazement when he talked loudly with his friend.)

upset: vt.

1) make (sb.) worry or feel unhappy. Pattern:

be upset by / about

- They are terribly upset by the break-up of their parents’ marriage.

- 他为与他妻子争吵而感到烦恼。(He was upset about the argument he had with his wife.) 2) make ill in the stomach

- The foreign food upset me / my stomach. 3) knock over, causing confusion - The boy upset the glass of milk.

- Her plans were upset by the change in the weather.

ignorant: adj. knowing little or nothing

- She was ignorant of her husband’s illegal activities. Otherwise she would have done everything possible to stop him. Collocation:

ignorant about / of 在…方面无知的

- Some people are ignorant of the facts about global warming. - 我对计算机一窍不通。(I’m rather ignorant about computer.)

ability: n. power or skill to do, make, or think; talent

- We elected him monitor because he had the ability to bring out the best in others. - 虽然这翻译并不尽善尽美，但他已尽力而为了。(Although his translation is not perfect, he did it to the best of his ability.)

- He lost the ability to walk after a car accident.

CF: ability, capability & capacity

这三个词都是名词，都有“能力”的意思。 ability 含义最广，指智力（或体力）上的“能力”，主要指人， 说明他能否做一件事，后面接不定式，或介词 in，for，但不能接 of + doing。 例如：

- He shows considerable ability in / for organization. (他颇有组织能力。)

此外，该词用作复数时只能指智力方面的能力。例如：

- He has found a job more suited to his abilities. (他找到了一份更适合他能力的工作。)

capability 与 ability 互通，也指智力（或体力）上的“能力”，可指人或物，后面接 of + doing 或 for (doing) sth.。例如：

- The essay is a proof of the writer’s capability of using the right word in the right place. (这篇文章证明作者能在适当的地方用适当的字。) NB：

需要注意的是，capability of 后接含有主动意义的动作； capability for 后接含有被动意义的动作。此外，capability 常指天生或潜在的能力，而 ability 常指学到的能力。例如： - He acquired in eight hours the ability to drive a car. (他在八小时内就学会了开汽车。) capacity 主要指能够容纳或吸收的“能力”，可用于人或物。例如： - He has a capacity for mathematics. [他有学数学的能力。（着重脑中的容纳力）] - The auditorium has a seating capacity of two thousand. (礼堂能容纳二千人。)

sum up: give a brief summary (of sth.)

- My teacher would sum up the main points of the lesson before he ended the class. - Alice summed up her Christmas holidays in one word: “Terrible.”

compete: vi. try to be better than (sb. else)

- John competed for a place at the school, but he didn’t get it. Pattern:

compete with / against

- The young tennis player has often competed against famous players, but so far he has always been beaten.

- 中国正与其他国家竞争国际市场。(China is now competing with other countries for world market.)

accumulate: v. collect, or gather together, esp. over a period of time; make or become greater in quantity or size

- I have accumulated many books over the last few years. - Dust quickly accumulates if we don’t sweep our room. - 他债台高筑。(His debts accumulated.) Collocation：

accumulate a huge mass of data accumulate experience accumulate a fortune accumulate a good library

积累大量资料

积累经验 积攒一笔财富 积聚一大批藏书

CF: accumulate & amass

两者均可指积聚大量的东西。

accumulate 强调经年累月地点滴积累。例如：

- Through the years he accumulated sufficient money to buy a farm when he retired. (经过多年积攒，他有了足够的钱在退休时买下一个农场。)

amass 指在较短的时间内积聚到大量东西，尤指为自己而积聚。例如：

- He soon amassed sufficient evidence to support his case. (他不久便收集到足够的证据来为他的案子辩护。)

affect: vt.

1) have an influence on

- More than seven million people have been affected by the drought. 2) cause feelings of sorrow, anger, love, etc, in (sb.) - 马丁· 路德 · 金的讲演深深打动了听众。 (Martin Luther King’s speech deeply affected the audience.)

CF: affect , effect & influence

这里这三个词都作为动词进行比较。 affect 表示“影响”，以被影响的人或物作宾语。大致可分为两种情况：1）“使…起变化”，没有好或坏的意思；2）“对…发生不良影响”。例如：

- Nothing you say will affect my decision. (无论你说什么都不会影响我的决定。)

- The small amount of rain last year affected the growth of crops. (去年雨少影响了庄稼的生长。)

effect 表示“产生，招致”或“实现”，以“改进，变化”等类的词作宾语。例如： - The new hairdo effected a startling change in her appearance. (这新发式使她的外貌产生了惊人的变化。)

influence 指对行为、性格或观点等产生潜移默化的影响。例如： - Such films have a dangerous influence on children.

function:

1. vi. operate; act

- 你若不给机器加油，它就运转不灵。(The machine won’t function well if you don’t oil it.) - Athens (雅典) functioned as a center of trade in the thirteenth century. 2. n. a usual purpose (of a thing) or special duty (of a person)

- The function of an adjective is to describe or add to the meaning of a noun.

idle: adj.

1) lazy

- The boy is really idle; he just sits around the house all day. 2) not working

- Men are left idle when machines break down. 3) of no use

- His words were just idle threats; he can’t harm us. Collocation： stand / lie idle

break down: 1) stop working

- The elevators in this building are always breaking down. 2) fail

- Talks between the two countries broke down when the two sides failed to reach an agreement. 3) destroy; reduce or be reduced to pieces - They broke the door down.

闲着

- The machinery stood idle for a month.

Collocation： break away break in break into break out break up

逃走，逃脱

闯入，强行进入；打断；插嘴 闯入，强行进入

逃脱，逃出；突然发生，爆发 打碎；结束；解散；（学校）开始放假

break through 突破

drive home: make (sth.) clear so that people understand it Pattern:

drive sth. home (to sb.)

- He drove the point home with another quotation.

- 我们必须使他彻底明白困难在哪里。(We must drive home to him where the difficulties lie.) - Peter was lazy. His parents tried to drive home to him the importance of hard work.

humble: adj.

1) not proud; modest

- Frank strikes me as a very humble person.

- 这位医生虽然治好了许多人的病，但他对他的工作仍很谦逊。 (The doctor was humble about his work, although he cured many people.) 2) low in rank or position; unimportant

- Michael started his career as a humble fisherman.

- Many famous historical figures came from a humble background.

suggestion: n. sth. suggested NB：

该词后面经常接 by / for 和 that-clause 。在that-clause 中，动词要用虚拟语气。 - I have lots of suggestions for the park’s future.

- They didn’t like my suggestion that she share the room with her classmate. - At my suggestion we went on a picnic. CF: suggestion, advice & opinion 这三个词都可译作“意见”。

suggestion 意为“建议”或“意见”，特指为了改进或解决问题而提出的办法，常带有“不一定正确，提出供对方参考”的意味。例如：

- This is merely a suggestion. [这不过是一点（小）意见。]

advice 着重提意见的人比对方（或自认为）有更多的经验知识，因此可用于医生给病人的“劝告”，老工人讲给新手的“经验之谈”等。该词有时也用得比较广泛，凡是与己无关、纯粹为了帮助旁人而提出的“意见”都可译作 advice。例如：

- You should follow the doctor’s advice and give up smoking. (你应该遵从医生的意见，停止吸烟。)

opinion 指对事物的一般“意见，看法”。例如：

- He showed me a poem he had written and asked my opinion about it. (他给我看他写的一首诗，要我提出意见。) Collocation: