UNIT 1 DISCOVERING YOURSELF

UNIT 1 DISCOVERING YOURSELF

1 In the fall of our final year, our mood changed. The relaxed atmosphere of the preceding summer semester, the impromptu ball games, the boating on the Charles River, the late-night parties had disappeared, and we all started to get our heads down, studying late, and attendance at classes rose steeply again. We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this again, and we became determined not to waste it.

大学最后一年的秋天，我们的心情变了。刚刚过去的夏季学期的轻松氛围、即兴球赛、查尔斯河上的泛舟以及深夜晚会都不见了踪影，我们开始埋头学习，苦读到深夜，课堂出勤率再次急剧上升。我们都觉得在校时间不多了，以后再也不会有这样的学习机会了，所以都下定决心不再虚度光阴。

impromptu

a. & ad. done without being planned, prepared, or organized 即兴的（地）；无准备的（地）

1. An impromptu visit broke up the long afternoon.

突然的造访打破了漫长的午后时光。

2. I quite by chance got drawn into a kind of impromptu party downstairs.

我碰巧被拉去参加楼下那种临时组织起来的舞会。

3. A facile speaker can face any audience impromptu.

出口成章的演说家能随时面对任何观众。

boating

n. [U] the activity of travelling in a small boat on a lake or river for enjoyment （以娱乐为目的的）划船

1. We are going boating on the lake today.我们今天打算去湖上泛舟。

2. Life is like a boat. Everybody must learn to be skilled in boating. 人生犹如一艘船，人人都应该有掌舵的本领。

Charles River

an 80 mi (129 km) long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 23 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston. It is also sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles. It flows past well-known universities (Brandeis, Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) into Boston Harbor and it has featured in a number of films, songs and novels.Now, it is clean and much used for rowing and sailing.

get our heads down

Concentrate and focus on studying; In other British informal contexts, it can mens to sleep; also means to continue to do sth quietly, especially when there is trouble happening around you.

1.Better get your head down, you've got to be up early tomorrow. 你最好去睡觉，明天你还得早起呢。

2.I'll have to get my head down in order to finish all this work.

我不得不回去埋头干下去，以便做完这工作。

attendance n.

1) [U] the fact of being present at an event or of going regularly to school, church etc. 出席；参加

2) [C, U] the number of people who are present at an event or in a place such as a school or church 出席人数

Translate the following into Chinese:

1. Her attendance at church was very patchy.她去教堂的时间很不规则。

2. Despite falling attendances, the zoo will stay open. 尽管来参观的人不断减少，动物园将继续开放。

3. Should class attendance be required?是否要实行上课点名制?

4. There was a large attendance at the party. 参加聚会的人很多。

5. Several heads of state were in attendance at the funeral. 好几位国家元首参加了葬礼。

6. It was a record attendance for a midweek game. 对于一场周中期举行的比赛，有这么多人到场还是首次。

Word family: attend v. 出席，参加

steeply

ad. in a steep manner（上升或下降）急剧地，大起大落地

Word family:

steep a. a steep increase or fall in sth. is sudden and very big 急剧升降的

1. The plane climbed steeply.飞机陡直地爬升。

2. Export orders continued to fall steeply. 出口订单继续大幅下跌。

3. The price of vegetables has risen steeply. 蔬菜的价格猛涨。

Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year. No one wanted the humiliation of finishing last in class, so the peer group pressure to work hard was strong. Libraries which were once empty after five o'clock in the afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride, like medals proving their diligence.

当然，下一年四五月份的期末考试最为重要。我们谁都不想考全班倒数第一，那太丢人了，因此同学们之间的竞争压力特别大。以前每天下午五点以后，图书馆就空无一人了，现在却要等到天快亮时才会有空座，小伙子们熬夜熬出了眼袋，他们脸色苍白，睡眼惺忪，却很自豪，好像这些都是表彰他们勤奋好学的奖章。 Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year.

A conversational elliptical sentence

The most important things, of course, were ??

humiliation n.

1) [U] the unhappy and ashamed feeling that you get when sth. embarrassing happens 耻辱；丢脸

e.g. I felt humiliation at her remarks.听到她的话我感到很耻辱。

2) [C] sth. that makes you feel very embarrassed and ashamed 耻辱之事；丢脸的事 e.g. Never forget our national humiliation.勿忘国耻。

Word family: humiliate v.

peer group pressure

The pressure to conform that people, especially children and young people, often feel from the immediate group of those around them who are of the same age or status. Standing room only

There are no more seats available because the place is crowed. This expression is often used in public performance, for sports events and on public public transport. Bags under their eyes

Refer to loose, dark of skin that you get when you have not had enough sleep.

The sentence means that the students were proud that their tired appeareance showed how hard they had been studying, and the bags under their eye were like medals. diligence

n. [U] (fml) the attitude or behaviour of someone who works very hard and very carefully 勤奋；用功

e.g. Diligence leads to success while laziness results in failure. 勤奋会带来成功，而懒惰将导致失败。

Word family: diligent a.

e.g. In learning, the work of a diligent fool doubles that of a lazy wit.

在学习上，一个以勤补拙的人的实效会成倍于一个懒惰的聪明人。

2 But there was something else. At the back of everyone's mind was what we would do next, when we left university in a few months' time. It wasn't always the high flyers with the top grades who knew what they were going to do. Quite often it was the quieter, less impressive students who had the next stages of their life mapped out. One had landed a job in his brother's advertising firm in Madison Avenue, another had got a script under provisional acceptance in Hollywood.

还有别的事情让大家心情焦虑。每个人都在心里盘算着过几个月毕业离校之后该找份什么样的工作。并不总是那些心怀抱负、成绩拔尖的高材生才清楚自己将来要做什么，常常是那些平日里默默无闻的同学早早为自己下几个阶段的人生做好了规划。有位同学在位于麦迪逊大道他哥哥的广告公司得到了一份工作，另一位同学写的电影脚本已经与好莱坞草签了合约。

at / in the back of one’s mind: in the memory but not consciously thought of or immediately recalled 在脑海深处；在内心深处

1. He will stick the secret away in the back of his mind.

他会把那秘密埋在心里（而不多想）。

2. As she looked in curiosity at the two kids, an idea formed in the back of her mind. 当她好奇地盯着这两个小孩看时，心里有了一个主意

flyer n. [C]

High flyers mean someone who has achieved a lot and has the ability and determination to continue to be successful in their studies or jobs.

1) (infml) a person, animal, or vehicle that can go very fast 有雄心壮志的人；杰出的人e.g. He is acknowledged as a high flyer with high marks.

他是大家公认的心怀抱负、成绩拔尖的高材生。

2) a bird, insect, or animal that flies in a particular way 飞鸟；飞行物

This is the bluethroat, a beautiful bird and magnificent flyer. 照片上这种是蓝喉，华美的一种飞鸟。

3) an announcement or advertisement that is printed on a sheet of paper and given to people 传单，小广告

e.g. People were giving out flyers advertising the event.人们在分发传单宣传这个项目。

4) an aircraft pilot 飞行员

e.g. Even during his first ride on a broomstick, Harry was recognized as an outstanding flyer. 哈利第一次骑上飞天扫帚就被认定是一位杰出的飞行员了。 impressive

a. if sth. is impressive, you admire it, for example because it is very good, large, or shows great skill 令人钦佩的；令人印象深刻的

1. It was an impressive list of achievements. 那是份给人印象深刻的成绩单。

2. His collection of paintings is the most impressive.他的绘画收藏令人叹为观止。 Word family: impress v.

impression n.

Have sth mapped out

Means to have sth that will happen planned in detail.

map out: plan in detail how sth. will happen 详细计划

e.g.

1. I like to map out the whole week in advance.我喜欢预先把整整一周的事作出安排。

2. They held a meeting to take stock of last year's achievements and map out tasks for the new year. 他们开了一个会来盘点去年的成绩，规划新的一年的任务。 Land a job

To get a job that you wanted

script

n. [C] the written words of a play, film, television programme, speech etc. 剧本；电影剧本（尤指手稿）

e.g. They wrote some excellent comedy scripts. 他们写了一些精彩的喜剧脚本。 Cf.

alphabet: 字母表

letter: 单个字母

character: 方块字，也指字符

script: 书写或者印刷的字母

Madison Avenue

（纽约市的）麦迪逊大街（美国广告业中心）

Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It’s a fashionable shopping street. The name became famous as a synonym for the advertising industry, although many of these agencies have now relocated. Hollywood

好莱坞（美国电影业设在加利福尼亚州好莱坞的一部分，享有耗费巨资拍摄上

佳影片的名声)Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California – situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym转喻 of American cinema.

provisional

a. intended to be temporary, and likely to be changed when other arrangements are made 临时的；暂时性的；暂定的

1. They write to give their provisional acceptance of the contract.

他们写信临时接受此项合同。

2. Clive and I shook hands on a provisional agreement ten minutes ago.

10分钟前，克莱夫和我达成了一项临时协议。

acceptance

n. [U]

1) agreement to a plan, offer, or suggestion 赞同；同意

e.g. The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。

2) (~ of) general agreement that sth. is true, reasonable, or cannot be changed 接受；认可

e.g. Alternative medicines are now winning greater acceptance among doctors. 另类疗法现在越来越为医生所接受。

Word family: accept v.

Provisional acceptance: refers to an acceptance which is arranged but not yet definite, it is temporary and could be changed.

The most ambitious student among us was going to work as a party activist at a local level. We all saw him ending up in the Senate or in Congress one day. But most people were either looking to continue their studies, or to make a living with a white-collar job in a bank, local government, or anything which would pay them enough to have a comfortable time in their early twenties, and then settle down with a family, a mortgage and some hope of promotion.

我们当中野心最大的一位同学准备到地方上当一个政党活动家，我们都预料他最终会当上参议员或国会议员。但大多数同学不是准备继续深造，就是想在银行、地方政府或其他单位当个白领，希望在20出头的时候能挣到足够多的薪水，过上舒适的生活，然后就娶妻生子，贷款买房，期望升职，过安稳日子。 ambitious a.

1) determined to be successful, rich, famous etc. 有野心的有强烈欲望的；有抱负的 e.g. To some degree, only those people who are ambitious can have their own careers. 从某种程度上说，只有有雄心的人才能干出一番事业。

2) an ambitious plan, aim, or attempt is difficult and will need a lot of effort to succeed （计划、目标或企图）要求高的，需付出极大努力的

e.g. That is a very ambitious plan, and I hope it succeeds. 那是一项很宏伟的计划，我希望它会成功。

Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence.

My brother’s plans are very ________; he wants to master English, French and