Unit 4 Understanding animals
I. Vocabulary
Passage 1 When we abu animals we deba ourlves
1. deba: v. to lower in rank, dignity, or significance
● Sport is being debad by commercialism.
体育运动的价值受商业化的影响而逐渐下降。
● You deba yourlf by telling such lies.
你说这些谎话就降低了身份。
2. slaughterhou: n. a building or place where animals are butchered for food; abattoir
● He got work in a slaughterhou, then switched to a job at leather - processing factory.
他先在屠宰场找到了工作, 后来又转到皮革加工厂上班。
● Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of nding pigs to a slaughterhou in Bonn Germany.
两个动物权力保护者正在抗议将猪送到德国波恩的一个屠宰。
3. make the rounds
1） (of information, rumor, etc) to be pasd around, so as to be generally known; to be reported or told; circulate
● The news quickly made the rounds.
消息很快就传了开来。
2） to go from one place to another, as in making deliveries, paying social visits, or eking employment
● The guards caught a thief while making the rounds in the department store.
警卫在百货商店巡逻时,抓到一个小偷。
4. take to heart：to take / regard riously; be upt about
● Still, there were some red flags and lessons that we should all take to heart.
尽管如此, 还是有一些我们应该牢记在心的警示和教训。
● Don't take to heart what happened just now.
方才的事你不要放在心上。
5. degrade：v. to lower in dignity or estimation; bring into contempt
● Do you think it degrades a woman to marry a man, not becau she loves him, but becau he is rich?
一个女人嫁给一个男人,不是因为爱他,而是因为他有钱。你觉得她是堕落吗?
● He was degraded for being drunk and disorderly.
他因酗酒和妨碍治安而受到降级处分。
6. bully
1） n. a person who us his strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people
● The bully whacked my brother with a stick.
那恶棍用棒头狠揍我兄弟。
2） v. discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
● The manager tried to bully his men into working harder by threatening them with dismissal.
经理企图以解雇来威胁，迫使职工更卖力气。
7. demoralize
1） v. to corrupt or undermine the morals of
● Constant criticism is enough to demoralize anybody.
频繁的批评足以使任何人意志消沉。
2）v. to weaken the courage or lf-confidence of somebody
● Each attack is designed to demoralize our people and divide us from one another.
每一起袭击事件都妄想摧毁我们的士气，在我们中间制造隔阂。
8. to ride roughshod over：to treat harshly; to act with complete disregard for
● The laws allow the curity forces to continue to ride roughshod over the human rights of the people.
这些法律允许安全部队继续践踏人权。
● Tom ems to ride roughshod over the friends.
汤姆对待自己的朋友好像总是盛气凌人。
9. meek：a. spineless or spiritless; compliant
● His wife is a very meek woman, like clay in the hands of the potter.
他的妻子是一个很柔和的女人，百依百顺。
● Maidens should/ must be mild and meek, swift to hear and slow to speak.
少女应该温良谦恭，敏于听而慎于言。
10. commission：n. the act of committing a crime
● The prisoner pleaded that he was drawn in to the commission of the crime.
囚犯辩解说他是受人而犯罪的。
● If a person us a gun in the commission of a crime, then he should be given an additional penalty.
● 如果使用枪支进行犯罪，就应该受到额外的惩罚。
11. catch up (in)：to become involved or entangled with
● We were so caught up in the movie that we forgot what time it was.
我们被那电影吸引住了, 简直忘了时间。
12. transcend：v. go beyond; overpass
● The scene is so beautiful that it transcends my powers of description.
这风景之美非我的笔墨所能描绘。
● His latest symphony transcends anything he has ever compod before.
他最近的一首交响曲胜过他过去所有的作品。
13. immune：a. (usually followed by `to') not affected by a given influence; cure against;
● We are not immune to the influences around us.
我们不能不受周围环境的影响。
● Being the only son in the family, the young man was immune from military rvice.
由于是独子,那个年轻人免于服兵役。
14. vandalize: v. to damage on purpo
● The phone box was vandalized by a gang of youths.
那电话亭被一群少年歹徒故意破坏了。
● Some young heathen has vandalized the bus shelter.
有几个坏小子故意损坏了公共汽车候车亭。
15. abound: v. to occur or exist in great quantities or numbers
● The countryside abounds in wild life of every kind.
乡间有各种野生生物。
● Questions abound as to the reasons for the president's decision.
关于总裁作出这一决定的理由,人们提出了各种各样的疑问。
16. discipline： v. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training
● The boy was often disciplined for staying away from school.
那孩子常因为逃学而受到处罚。
● She must have been well disciplined for her orderliness.
她有条不紊,一定受过良好的训练。
17. inexplicably: ad. not able to be dintangled
● His wartime experiences were inexplicably abnt from the diaries.
他的战时经历莫名其妙地从日记中缺失了。
● Living in bustling cities, people often feelinexplicably depresd.
