Unit4 Imagination and Creativity
Detailed Reading
I. Difficult Sentences
1. His hair was a mess; he had forgotten to comb it again.
What do the words “mess” and “again” suggest about Einstein?
(=The words suggest two things about Einstein:
1) Einstein paid little attention to his appearance.
2) It was more a regular practice than an accident for Einstein to go to workwith messy hair.)
Translate the ntence into Chine.
(=他的头发凌乱，他又忘了梳头了。)
2. With nothing better to do, he developed his Theory of UniversalGravitation.
What can we learn about the author’s tone from the part “With nothing better todo”?
(=The part is another vivid proof of the author’s humorous tone. In fact, it’sby no means a piece of cake for Isaac Newton to develop the Theory of UniversalGravitation.)
What do you know about the “Theory of Universal Gravitation”?
(=It is an empirical physical law developed by Isaac Newton describing thegravitational attraction between bodies with mass.)
3. All of his 1905 papers unraveled problems being worked on, with mixedsuccess, by other scientists.
Paraphra the ntence.
(=All of Einstein’s 1905 papers solved problems that other scientists had beenworking on and making some progress.)
Translate the ntence into Chine.
(=他所有发表于1905年的那些论文解决了当时其他科学家正多多少少在解决的问题。赠汪伦的意思)
4. This character flaw was to be a key ingredient in Einstein’s discoveries.
What does “this character flaw” refer to?
(=It refers to Einstein’s defiance of authority and his character traits ofalways doubting and questioning.)
Translate the ntence into Chine.
(=这种个性缺陷成为日后爱因斯坦作出种种发现的主要因素。)
5. Disdaining caution, Einstein adopted the intuitive leap as a basic tool.
Paraphra the ntence.
高校图书馆(=Although Einstein felt bewildered by the bizarre duality of light, hebelieved in his intuition and conducted scientific rearches instead of beingtoo cautious to take any actions.)
Translate the ntence into Chine.
(=爱因斯坦不屑谨小慎微，他采用直觉跳跃思维作为基本工具。)
6. Neither was Einstein’s brain.
Analyze thegrammatical structure of the ntence.
(=The ntence is in the inverted order, the predicate “was” being placedbefore the subject “Einstein’s brain”.)
What is the function of the ntence in the text?
(=The ntence rves as a transitional ntence, helping the author shift fromdiscussion on Einstein’s brainpower to discussion on the structure ofEinstein’s brain, thus achieving coherence of the text.)
II. Words & Expressions
in a row: happening a number of times, one after another
中国合伙人台词
- Bill Gates lost $6 billion last year,but that didn’t stop him from being the richest man in the world for the 8thyear in a row.
- 写天气的四字词语这是接连着第三个星期天下雨了。
(=This is the third Sunday in a row thatrains.)
strain: vt.
1) make a situation or relationship more difficult
- Relations between Tokyoand Washingtonwere further strained by the monetary crisis involving the December 1971revaluation of the Japane yen.
- 该事件使得两国关系趋于紧张。
(=The incident has strained relationsbetween the two countries.)
关于珍惜时间的诗2) stretch tightly by pulling
- They strained the wire between twoposts.
- 负载过重会把绳子拉紧到崩断的地步。
(=Too heavy a load will strain the rope toits breaking point.)
Collocation：
strain every nerve 尽力
strain at the leash 渴望挣脱束缚
strain one’s muscles 绷住劲
strain one’s authority 滥用职权
stretch:
1. vt.
1) make sth. longer, wider or tighter bypulling
- Where can I buy tho things thatstretch your shoes?
- A spider’s web can be stretchedconsiderably without weakening.
- 你如果拉橡皮带，它就会伸长。
(=If you stretch a piece of elastic, itbecomes much longer.)
2) extend or thrust out (a limb or part ofthe body) and tighten the muscles
- She went out to stretch her legs afterlunch.
- 应付抽筋最有效的方法就是轻柔缓和地去伸展肌肉抽筋的部位。
(=The most effective treatment for musclecramps is to gently stretch the cramped muscle.)
2. vi. spread out over an area or aperiod of time; extend
- The ocean stretched as far as they coulde on all sides.
- 这条道路穿过沙漠伸向远方。
(=The road stretched out across the dertinto the distance.)
Collocation：
stretch one’s legs 散步
stretch a point 做出让步
at a stretch 连续地
at full stretch 现在是十几五竭尽全力
beyond the stretch of … 超出…范围
CF: stretch, extend, lengthen &prolong 六年级上册语文第五单元作文
这四个动词均有“伸展、伸长”之意。
stretch 表示在长宽上增加，意思是“延伸、伸长”。 例如：
- I stretchedout my arm trying to reach the ball.
(=我伸手设法够到那只球。)
extend表示时空的延长，一般指延伸到某一预想的位置。还可以表示某一范围，如种类、影响、适用度的增加。例如：
- The kingdom extended as far as hundredsof miles in every direction.
(=这个王国的领土绵延方圆数百里。)
lengthen 表示时空长度的增加、伸长。例如：
- I have to ask the tailor to lengthenthis skirt.
(=我得要裁缝将这条裙子放长一些。)
prolong表示超过通常、普通的限定，使期限延长。 例如：
人像素描画- The meeting may be prolonged into theevening becau so many problems have to be solved tonight.
