新发展研究生英语 综合教程 2 教师用书
age. Sometimes, transitions experienced in these years, such as aging in general, extramarital
affairs, menopause, the death of parents, or children leaving home, can trigger such a crisis. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day to day life or situation, such as in career, marriage, or romantic relationships. Academic research since the 1980s rejects the notion of midlife crisis as a phase that most adults go through. In one study, fewer than 10% of people in the United States had psychological crises due to their age or aging. Personality type and a history of psychological crisis are believed to predispose some people to this ―traditional‖ midlife crisis. People going through this suffer a variety of symptoms and exhibit a disparate range of behaviors. Many middle. aged adults experience major life events that can cause a period of psychological stress or depression, such as the death of a loved one, or a career setback. However, those events could have happened earlier or later in life, making them a ―crisis,‖ but not necessarily a midlife one. In the same study, 15% of middle-aged adults experienced this type of midlife turmoil. Some studies indicate that some cultures may be more sensitive to this phenomenon than others. One study found that there is little evidence that people undergo midlife crises in Japanese and Indian cultures, raising the question of whether a midlife crises is mainly a cultural construct. The authors hypothesized that the ―culture of youth‖ in Western societies accounts for the popularity of the midlife crisis concept there. Researchers have found that midlife is often a time for reflection and reassessment, but this is not always accompanied by the psychological upheaval popularly associated with ―midlife crisis.‖
4. Voice Mail: Voice mail (or voicemail mail, voice-mail, vmail or VMS, sometimes called messagebank) is a centralized system of managing telephone messages for a large group of people. The term is also used more broadly, to denote any system of conveying voice message, including the answering machine.
Voice mail‘s introduction enabled people to leave lengthy, secure and detailed messages in natural voice, working hand-in-hand with corporate phone systems. The adoption of voicemail in corporations improved the flow of communications and saved huge amounts of money.
Voicemail has two main modes of operation: telephone answering and voice messaging. Telephone answering mode answers outside calls and takes a message from any outside caller (either because the extension was busy or rang no-answer). Voice messaging enables any subscriber (someone with a mailbox number) to send messages directly to any or many
Friendship 友谊
Unit 2
subscribers‘ mailboxes without first calling them. 5. Shower: There are bridal shower and baby shower.
A bridal shower is a gift giving party given for a bride before her wedding. The custom originated in the United States. It remains a primarily U.S. and Canadian practice. Showers are usually coordinated by the bridesmaids, who invite guests to offer gifts for the home of the bride and groom (or perhaps more accurately of the bride, since the groom is very seldom invited to the shower).
The custom of the bridal shower is said to have grown out of earlier dowry practices when a poor woman‘s family might not have the money to provide a dowry for her, or when a father refused to give his daughter dowry because he did not approve of the marriage. In such situations, friends of the woman would gather together and bring gifts that would compensate for the dowry and allow her to marry the man of her choice.
Traditionally, a baby shower is held only for the mother-to-be, and only women attend. The original intent was for women to share wisdom and lessons on the art of becoming a mother. However, men are also starting to participate.
Many people choose to have baby showers for both parents, and some people have a men- only shower. In Jewish tradition and Ethiopian tradition, a celebration and gift reception is held only after the birth of a child.
Traditionally, baby showers were given only for the family‘s first child, but over time, it has become more common to hold them for subsequent or adopted children. Even when a shower is held for only the first child, it is not uncommon for a parent to have more than one baby shower, such as one with friends and another with co-workers.
6. Coffee Catch-up: The coffee catch-up corresponds with the Commonwealth terms ―elevenses‖, ―morning tea‖, ―tea break‖, or even just ―tea‖. However people outside the United States increasingly use the term ―coffee break‖. An afternoon coffee break, or afternoon tea, sometimes occurs as well. The coffee break allegedly originated in the late 19th century in Stoughton, Wisconsin with the wives of Norwegian immigrants. The city celebrates this every year with the Stoughton Coffee Break Festival. In 1951, Time noted that ―Since the war, the coffee break has been written into union contracts‖. The term subsequently became popular through a Pan-American Coffee Bureau advertisement campaign of 1952 which urged consumers, ―Give yourself a Coffee-Break — and Get What Coffee Gives to You.‖ Coffee
新发展研究生英语 综合教程 2 教师用书
breaks usually last from 10 to 20 minutes and frequently occur at the end of the first third of
the work shift. In some companies and some civil service, the coffee break may be observed formally at a set hour; in some places a ―cart‖ with hot and cold beverages and cakes, breads and pastries arrives at the same time morning and afternoon, or an employer may contract with an outside caterer for daily service. Gatherings for coffee breaks often take place away from the actual work-area in a designated cafeteria, tea room or outdoor area. As well as a chance for sustenance, the coffee break provides time for gossip and small talk, or a time to smoke a cigarette (thus the alternate term ―smoke break‖. Australians and New Zealanders may also refer to this break from work as smoko). Coffee breaks give workers a chance to wind down slightly and ―re-group‖ for the remaining work of the day.
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1. Nothing was really wrong — my family and I were healthy, my career was busy and
successful — I was just feeling vaguely down and in need of a friend who could raise
my spirits, someone who would meet me for coffee and let me rant until the clouds lifted. (Para. 1): I was in a low mood without any specific reasons: both my family life and my career are O.K. I just want to have a friend who can help me feel better, with whom I can enjoy a cup of coffee and talk freely as I wish so as to feel relieved.
rant (v.): talk or complain in a loud, excited, and rather confused way because you feel
strongly about sth.
e.g. (1) The old man ranted that nobody paid any attention to his opinion.
(2) I suppose Dad will rant and rave when he finds out about the broken window. 2. That?s when it started to dawn on me — lonesomeness was at the root of my dreari-
ness. (Para. 2): It was not until that moment that I began to realize that lonesomeness was
the primary reason for my low mood.
v.): begin to be perceived or understood
dawn (e.g. It dawned on me that I could not make her change her mind.
3. My social life had dwindled to almost nothing, but somehow until that moment
I?d been too busy to notice. (Para. 2): I had hardly had any social interaction with
Friendship 友谊
Unit 2
my friends; however, I had not realized the situation until then.
v.): gradually become less and less or smaller and smaller
dwindle (e.g. (1) Females become rare, causing fewer young dinosaurs to be born and species to dwindle to extinction. (2) His money dwindled away to nothing while traveling in Europe.
4. So I resolved to acquire new friends—women like me who had kids and enjoyed
rolling their eyes at the world a little bit just as I did. (Para. 4): So I made up my mind
to make more new friends. I am looking for women who are the same type as me: women with children and still interested in the outside world.
5. The downside, of course, was that I felt pretty intimidated. (Para. 4): The disadvan-
tage of making new friends in midlife was that I was rather frightened.
downside (n.): the negative part or disadvantage of sth.
e.g. The downside of owning your own business is working very long hours.
intimidate (v.): frighten sb. by behaving in a threatening way, esp. in order to make them
do what you want
e.g. (1) Large audiences don’t intimidate him.
(2) Managers sometimes raise their voice and pound the table to see if they can intimidate the other party into making further concessions.
6. Your college roommate becomes your best pal at least partly due to proximity. (Para. 5):
Because you and your roommate live in the same room, both of you have more chances to
interact. The nearness in space partly contributes to the result that your college roommate can become your best friend.
(n.): nearness in distance or time
proximitye.g. (1) My proximity to your office adds flexibility. (2) We chose the house for its proximity to the school.
7. “There are many people I?m comfortable around, but I wouldn?t go so far as to call them
friends. Comfort isn?t enough to sustain a real friendship,” Danzig says. (Para. 5): ―Though
I may feel comfortable to be together with some people, I don‘t think I will consider comfort so important as to call them my friends because for a real friendship there are more vital factors besides comfort.‖ Danzig says.
go so far as to
: behave in a way that seems surprising