Lesson 37 The Westhaven Express 开往威斯特海温的快车 一、【Text】课文
We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. Ships may be delayed by storms; air flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services. It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong. The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs. After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven. It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes. When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well. At the time, this did not strike me as odd. I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line. Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals. But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder. It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty. One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance. I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it. I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived. Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven. When he denied the train's existence, I borrowed his copy of the timetable. There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white. Glancing at it briefly, he told me to look again. A tiny asterisk conducted me to a footnote at the bottom of the page. It said: 'This service has been suspended.'
二、【New words and expressions】生词和短语
●express n. 快车;adj. 高速的 ●punctual adj. 准时的; ●condition v. 使习惯于 ●unshakable adj. 不可动摇的 ●faith n. 信任 ●cancel v. 取消 ●exceptionally adv. 例外地 ●dislocate v. 打乱(计划等) ●blame v. 责怪 ●consult v. 请教,查阅 ●direct adv. 径直地 ●odd adj. 奇怪的,异常的 ●reflect v. 细想 ●advantage n. 优势 ●mighty adj. 强大的,有力的 ●dawdle v. 慢吞吞的动或做 ●chug v. 咔嚓咔嚓地响 ●lodge v. 提出 ●comlaint n. 抱怨 ●triumph n. 胜利 ●asterisk n. 星号(*) ●conduct v. 引向,引导
■express n. 快车;adj. 高速的 express way: 高速公路 express train快车 special express 特快 through express 直快 stopping/ local train 慢车
■punctual adj. 准时的; be punctual in doing sth. 在做……方面非常准时 be punctual to the minute 非常准时
Eg: He is a man who’s punctual to the minute. punctually adv. unpunctual ant. punctuality n.
■condition v. 使习惯于 ==form a habit in Eg: This society has conditioned each of us. be conditioned to 习惯了…… Eg: Each of us has been conditioned to the society. The plants has been conditioned to the cold weather here. The cold weather has conditioned the plants here.
condition 条件 on condition that 在……条件下如果 on no condition 在任何情况下,用在句首句子要倒装 On no condition must you be late. in good/ bad condition 情况良好/情况糟糕 change one's condition 结婚 in the interesting condition : 怀孕 pregnant
■unshakable adj. 不可动摇的 ■faith n. 信任 keep faith with sb. 对……守信用 put one's faith in sth 对……有信心 on the faith of 在……的保障下,凭……的信用 faith 深信不疑,信仰,比belief 程度重一点 belief: 可信赖,可接受 conviction 坚定的信念 trust 相信,依赖 credit 对……完全相信
■cancel v. 取消 call off == cancel 可以互相替换 abolish 废除 rescind 撤销,废止 write off 注销,勾销 cross out 划掉
■exceptionally adv. 例外地 ■dislocate v. 打乱(计划等) ■blame v. 责怪 ■consult v. 请教,查阅 ■direct adv. 径直地 ■odd adj. 奇怪的,异常的 ■reflect v. 细想 reflect on sth 细想…… reflect upon oneself 自我反省
■advantage n. 优势 take advantage of sb/sth 欺骗……并利用 of great/no advantage to sb/sth 对……有(没有)好处 to advantage 更有效地 have advantage over sb 胜过某人,比某人有优势
interest 个人的利益,好处 benefit 通过正当手段谋求的好处 profit 金钱上的获益 good 个人或集体的利益
■mighty adj. 强大的,有力的 ■dawdle v. 慢吞吞的动或做 ■chug v. 咔嚓咔嚓地响 ■lodge v. 提出 make/ lodge complaint 提出抱怨
■comlaint n. 抱怨 ■triumph n. 胜利 ■asterisk n. 星号(*) ■conduct v. 引向,引导 三、【课文精析】
Key sentence: We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. We' ve learnt to expect that …… 我们已经习惯于期盼……
Key sentence: After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. develop an unshakable faith in sth 对……产生了……样的信念
Key sentence: Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services.
It is all too easy to blame...... too...to句型中,在too前出现了all, only, but, not等词的时候,to就有肯定意义 Eg:He was but too eager to get home. One is never too old to learn.活到老,学到老
be likely to do 有可能 ... Eg: You are likely to get success if you work hard. It is likely that... It is likely that he arrived here in time. probable 不能与不定式搭配 比possible 可能性大 Eg: It is probable / possible that... Eg: It is probable / possible that he will speak to you. It is possible for us to finish the work in an hour.
strike sb as 给某人以……印象,使某人感到;as后面可以接分词、名词、形容词搭配连用。 Eg: The activity atroke me as wasting time.
hold up==hold back, hinder, prevent
dawn on sb 渐渐被某人明白 barely==only
in black and white 白纸黑字
Key structure
We' ve learnt to expect that …… 我们已经习惯于期盼…… We' ve learnt to expect that …… 我们已经习惯于期盼…… It is all too easy to blame...... too...to句型中,在too前出现了all, only, but, not等词的时候,to就有肯定意义 be likely to do 有可能 ... It is likely that... The first paragraph is important go direct from ... to ... strike sb as 给某人以……印象,使某人感到;as后面可以接分词、名词、形容词搭配连用。 hold up==hold back, hinder, prevent dawn on sb 渐渐被某人明白 in black and white 白纸黑字
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