【英语趣味课堂】中国-China

 Todd: OK, Phil, you just got back from living in China.

 

Phil: Yeah, I lived in China about two years ago.

 

Todd: Wow. What was China like?

 

Phil: China was an eye-opener. It's a very old culture, but there's not many new, there's not many old things around in China, through wars, through the cultural revolution, a lot of stuff¹'s been burnt, a lot of stuff just's been knocked down. One of the few old things that is there is the Great Wall of China. It's very famous this wall, very big. They are doing some efforts to try and build the wall up again, but when I was there, I believe it was August, 2002 it was still mostly old stuff.

 

Todd: Yeah, what else did you see in China?

 

Phil: Ah, I went to Xian and I saw the Terra-cotta warriors². Terra-cotta warriors were discovered shortly after Mao died in the late 70's by a farmer who was digging a well, and he was digging this well and he found all these stone warriors,literally hundreds of them, and it's a national treasure now.

 

Todd: Wow! That's fascinating.

 

Phil: Yeah, it's really an impressive³ thing to see. Those are the two really old man-made things that I saw in China.

 

Todd: Was there anything else that was really spectacular⁴?

 

Phil: The Three Gorges⁵ tour was really good. Sadly they are all under water now because of the dam project, but I was able to go shortly before it was flooded and really, really enjoyed it. Saw a lot of beautiful things. Surprisingly enough the water was a lot cleaner than I thought and I actually went swimming in it.

 

Todd: Oh, cool.

 

Phil: Yeah, for, this is the Yangzhe River in China and if you've ever seen the Yangzhe, most parts of it, you certainly wouldn't want to swim in it, but these parts were pristine⁶.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

eye-opener

 

China was an eye-opener.

 

An 'eye-opener' is a surprising or shocking⁷ experience.  The phrase refers to when you open your eyes really wide if you are surprised.  Notice the following:

 

Living with him was an eye-opener to his real personality.

Although the vacation was relaxing, it was also an eye-opener.

knock down

 

A lot has been knocked down.

 

To 'knock something down' is to destroy it until there is nothing left.  This is when construction companies hit a building with a big heavy ball.  Notice the following:

 

My brother knocked down my sand castle.

The office building was almost completely knocked down by the hurricane.

fascinating

 

Wow! That's fascinating.

 

Something that is very interesting is 'fascinating.'  Notice the following:

 

This book that I'm reading is absolutely fascinating.

Don't you think that archaeology⁸ is fascinating?

man-made

 

Those are the two really old man-made things I saw in China.

 

Something that is 'man-made' is not natural and has been built or constructed by humans.  Notice the following:

 

The man-made bridge was very difficult engineering⁹ accomplishment¹⁰.

Is the lake natural or man-made?

pristine

 

These parts of the Yangtze were pristine.

 

If a place is 'pristine' it is pure, natural and people have not changed it.  Notice the following:

 

The scenery was so pristine that you felt like you were in a painting.

Behind the house there is a huge pristine woods.

 

 

 

1 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

2 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

3 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

4 spectacular   

adj.引人注目的，出色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• This is a spectacular film.这是一部场面壮观的电影。
• This is the most spectacular financial crash of the decade.这是10年里最引人注目的金融破产事件。

5 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

6 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

7 shocking   

adj.令人气愤的；令人震惊的

参考例句：

• His attitude was shocking to her.他的态度令她感到震惊。
• Such behaviour is really shocking.这种行为真不像话。

8 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

9 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

10 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。