新编英语教程第一册Unit13

Unit 13

DIALOGUE I

A Trip to China

A: Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you here.
B: Oh, Ted¹. Good to see you again. How have you been?
A: Pretty good. I've just returned from China, you know.
B: Terrific! I'd really like to visit China myself one of these days, I haven't had the opportunity so far. Where did you go in China?
A: Lots of places... the world-renowned places like the capital city Beijing, the most prosperous city Shanghai, the historic city Xi'an — China's ancient capital on and off for several hundred years — and the scenic² Guilin, and yes, the "hot and spicy³" Chengdu. I've also visited many famous mountains and great rivers, and places of historical interest and scenic beauty.
B: Oh, lucky you. China's huge territory and rich cultural legacy⁴ of 5,000 years of civilization have always captured my imagination. I envy you.
A: Well, China's tourist resources are inexhaustible and all that I have seen is only the tip of the iceberg⁵.
B: Which place impressed you the most?
A: I would say the two-thousand-year-old terracotta warriors⁶ and horses in Xi'an. I was there exactly two weeks ago today.
B: I read about them somewhere, and I've seen the pictures in National Geographic⁷. Very amazing... Unbelievable, I'd say.
A: Yes, the Xi'an trip was quite an experience. I saw rows upon rows of life-size warriors and horses, so true to life. It was a breathtaking experience walking past them. Tell you what. No two warriors look alike. Each wears his own facial expression and has his own personality. And the horses... oh, they look so alive.
B: Sounds fantastic!
A: There was something even more fantastic than the terracotta army. Guess what...
B: Hot springs? Pagodas⁸? Giant pandas? I've no idea.
A: Chinese food, the authentic⁹ Chinese cooking that is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. I'll go back to China again just for those spicy-hot Sichuan dishes. There's really nothing like Sichuan food.
B: You make my eyes shine and my mouth water. I will also take a trip to China to see terracotta warriors and enjoy Chinese food.
A: But if you say you will eat Chinese food, you're taking too much for granted. As a matter of fact, there's no such thing as so-called "Chinese food."
B: I don't understand what you're saying.
A: Let me put it this way. China is such a large country that there are numerous cooking styles that are vastly different from each other. One may prefer a particular Chinese food or a particular regional way of cooking.
B: It's not easy to order food in China's restaurants, then.
A: There is an easy way. For me, that is ordering Chinese food by the names of famous dishes rather than by any prevailing¹⁰ style. For example, if you like hot and spicy food and don't want to gain extra weight, you will order Ma Po Dou Fu, a famous dish of hot and spicy bean curd¹¹.
B: Well, in that case I'll ask for your company when I've made up my mind to visit China.


DIALOGUE II

Dialogue:
Paul and Tom are students and they share a large flat in London with another student Martin. One evening, Paul and Tom start talking about Martin.
P: Where's Martin tonight?
T: He's gone to the pictures with a friend.
P: What, again?
T: Yes, I'm afraid so!
P: That's the fourth time he's been out this week in the evening and yet he complains that he's behind with his studies and getting poor results.
T: Well, it's his own fault, he shouldn't go out so much; he should stay at home more and work.
P: He should invite his friends here instead of going out.
T: No, not here! His friends are so noisy, they're always singing, dancing and playing music at any time of the day or night. It's impossible to sleep when they come round.
P: Yes, I know what you mean.
T: In fact, I couldn't sleep last night because Martin was making so much noise. He should turn his radio down at night. He's so clumsy too, he never does anything quietly. He ought to walk a little more quietly when he's upstairs and I wish he wouldn't bang the doors all the time!
P: Was it Martin's turn to cook the meal tonight?
T: Yes, it was! He should have washed the dishes last night too, but he didn't.
P: He is so lazy.
T: I'm really fed up with him. He's left all his clothes and shaving things in the bathroom again. It looks like a building-site!
P: If he cleaned his room and tidied the bathroom more often, he would be a pleasanter person to live with!


READING I

SECRET MESSAGES TO OURSELVES

Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing-machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: it seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly¹² around the needle.
Despite his exhaustion¹³, Howe slept badly. He tossed and turned. Then he had a nightmare. He dreamt that he had been captured by a tribe of terrible savages¹⁴ whose king threatened to kill and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing-machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into a rage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They advanced towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the nightmare with a start, realizing that he had just found the solution to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the centre of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally enabled Howe to design and build the first really practical sewing-machine.
Elias Howe was far from being unique in finding the answer to his problem in this way. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light bulb, said that his best ideas came to him in dreams. So did the great physicist¹⁵ Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew on her dreams in writing Jane Eyre. The composer, Igor Stravinsky, once said the only way he could solve his problems in musical composition was "to sleep on them".
To appreciate the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious, but still active, part digests your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information and details which you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part expresses itself through its own logic¹⁶ and its own language. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called "secret messages to ourselves".

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

3 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

6 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。

7 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 pagodas   

塔，宝塔( pagoda的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A dream is more romantic than scarlet pagodas by a silver sea. 梦中的风光比银白海洋旁边绯红的宝塔更加旖旎艳丽。
• Tabinshwehti placed new spires on the chief Mon pagodas. 莽瑞体在孟人的主要佛塔上加建了新的塔顶。

9 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

10 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

11 curd   

n.凝乳；凝乳状物

参考例句：

• I'd like to add some pepper to the bean curd.我想在豆腐里加一点辣椒粉。
• The next one is bean curd with crab roe.下一个是蟹黄豆腐。

12 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

13 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

14 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

15 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

16 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。