2024年2月28日发(作者：浮怀曼)
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Unit 3 Biographies of Celebrities
Text A Winston Churchill
Lead-in Activities Churchill’s Life
1. Politics
A. 1900…Conservative MP (Members of Parliament) for Oldham奥尔汉姆保守党下院议员
1906…Under-Secretary of State 副国务卿（或国务次卿）
1908…President of the Board of Trade.贸易大臣（贸易委员会主席）
Home Secretary 内政大臣
1911…First Lord of the Admiralty 英国海军大臣
1912…Royal Naval Air Service & Air Department 英国海军航空队（RNAS）
1915…Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 兰卡斯特公爵郡大臣
Minister of War and Air 战争与航空大臣
1921…Colonial Secretary 殖民地大臣
B. Defeated by E.D. Morel at Dundee(敦提，英国苏格兰东部港市)
in 1922 General Election
Successfully elected to represent Epping in the 1924 General Election
Stanley Baldwin, the leader of the new Conservative administration,
appointed Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer
In 1929, Churchill lost office
C On the outbreak of the Second World War， Churchill was
appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and on 4th April 1940 became
chairman of the Military Coordinating Committee军事协调委员会.
In May, 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and
remained in office until 1945.
After Pearl Harbor Churchill worked closely with Franklin D.
Roosevelt to ensure victory over Germany and Japan. He was also a loyal
ally of the Soviet Union after Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa巴巴罗萨行动 in June, 1941.
Churchill held important meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Joseph Stalin at Teheran德黑兰 (November, 1943) and Yalta 雅尔塔(February, 1945).
D He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of
1951 and resigned in 1955 .
He remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of
1964, when he did not seek re-election.
2. Literature
Churchill's literary career began with campaign reports: The Story of the
Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899)
1900, he published his only novel, Savrola
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1906, his first major work, the biography of his father, Lord Randolph
Churchill
1933-1938, his other famous biography, the life of his great ancestor, The
Duke of Marlborough
1923-1929, Churchill's history of the First World War The World Crisis
1930, an autobiographical account of his youth, My Early Life
1948-1953/54, his memoirs of the Second World War
1956-1958, History of the English-speaking Peoples
His magnificent oratory: The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The Dawn of
Liberation (1945), and Victory (1946).
3. Art
Churchill, a gifted amateur painter, wrote Painting as a Pastime (1948).
Before reading the text closely, scan to find the answers to the
following questions.
What did Churchill do in India and the Sudan between 1895 and 1898?
A: He was present both as a war correspondent and as a serving
officer there.
What helped Churchill win a Nobel Prize for Literature?
A: The History of the Second World War.
How old was Churchill when he entered Parliament?
A: He was 26.
What event caused America’s entry into the Second World War?
A: Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7，1941.
Who dominated the alliance after the D-day invasion?
A: The Russo-American nexus.
Notes and information related to the text
1. As a young man of undistinguished academic accomplishment — he
was admitted to Sandhurst after two failed attempts -— he entered the
army as a cavalry officer. (Para. 1)
Meaning: Having achieved nothing significant in his study, young
Churchill was finally enrolled in Sandhurst Royal Military Academy after
two failures as a cavalry officer.
Sandhurst: a town which lies some 30 miles (48 km) west-southwest of
London, best known for the nearby Royal Military Academy. Most of the
potential regular officers for the British army undergo a course of general
and military education as officer cadets at the academy, commonly called
Sandhurst.
2. He took enthusiastically to soldiering and between 1895 and 1898
managed to see three campaigns …(Para. 1)
take to:
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1) become fond of or attached to; begin to like
E.G. Two keen minds that they are, they took to each other.
2) start to do something often; develop as a habit or a steady practice
E.G. He gave up engineering and took to medicine.
3) take refuge in, use as a means of escape, run away
E.G. The escaped prisoner took to the mountain.
此句意为:他对军事显出了极大热情,在1895到1898年间，他设法见识到了三场战役。
3. Thus he revealed two other aspects of his character: a literary bent and
an interest in public affairs. (Para. 1)
bent: n. a tendency, disposition, or inclination
E.G. The natural bent of his mind was to science.
v.
1) form a curve, change direction
E.G. The branches bend in the wind.
2) make a concession; yield
E.G. Is it possible to bend nature to human will?
3) apply oneself closely; concentrate
E.G. He bent (his mind) to the research project.
此句意为:因此他显示出了性格中的另外两个方面:文学倾向和政治兴趣。
4. Writing, however, never fully engaged his energies. Politics consumed
him. (Para. 2)
consume: v.
1) expend; use up
E.G. The project consumed most of my time and energy.
2) destroy totally
E.G. The flames consumed the house.
3) purchase goods and services
E.G. The Mongolians live in a society that consumes as fast as it
produces
4) take in as food; eat or drink up
E.G. Each year Americans consume huge amounts of potatoes.
此句意为:然而写作从来没有占据他的全部精力。政治却耗尽了他的一生。
5. His disapproval surely stung, but Churchill reacted by venerating his
father’s memory. (Para. 2)
sting: v.
1) cause a sharp pain or discomfort, cause to suffer keenly in the mind or
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feelings
E. G. Her ingratitude stung him.
Those harsh words stung me bitterly.
2) pierce or wound painfully with or as if with a sharp-pointed structure
or organ
E.G. I was stung by the bee.
此句意为:父亲的不以为然确实很让他感到剌痛，但是丘吉尔却对父亲的忆力推 崇备至。
6. Winston fought to restore his father’s honor in Parliament (where it had
been dented by the Conservative Party). (Para. 2)
Parliament: legislative assembly of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. It is the sovereign power of Great Britain, whereas
the monarch remains sovereign in name only. Parliament consists,
technically, of the monarch, the House of Commons, and the House of
Lords, but the word in common usage refers to the members of the two
houses or to Commons alone. The great power of the House of Commons
lies, historically, in its control of government finances. Parliament is
housed in Westminster Palace.
the Conservative Party: British political party, formally the
Conservative and Unionist party and a continuation of the historic Tory
party.
7. Thus it was as political head of the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the
First World War in 1914 that he stepped onto the world stage. (Para. 3)
Note： This is an emphatic sentence pattern and the common sentence
order should be:
Thus he stepped onto the world stage as political head of the Royal Navy
at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
E.G. It was from Susan that he heard of the news.
It was Oxford University that he entered five years ago.
8. A passionate believer in the navy，s historic strategic role, he
immediately committed the Royal Naval Division to an intervention in
the Flanders campaign in 1914. (Para. 4)
commit to:
1) entrust
E.G. He committed us to the care of his drawings.
2) give up, hand over to
E.G. They commit the patient to a. mental hospital.
3) pledge, bind (oneself)
E.G. I won’t commit myself to that course of action.
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9. Churchill was truly a romantic, but also truly a democrat. He had
returned to the gold standard, for instance, because he cherished, for
romantic reasons, Britain’s status as a great financial power. (Para. 5)
gold standard: monetary system in which the standard unit of currency
is a fixed quantity of gold or is kept at the value of a fixed quantity of
gold. The currency is freely convertible at home or abroad into a fixed
amount of gold per unit of currency.
10. In 1935 he warned the House of Commons of the importance not only
of “self-preservation but also of the human and the world cause of the
preservation of free governments and of Western civilization against the
ever advancing sources of authority and despotism”. (Para. 5)
Meaning： In 1935，he warned the House of Commons that it was
important to protect England from invasion, and it was also important, for
the human and world cause, to maintain free and independent
governments and the Western civilization to fight against the forward
moving tyranny.
此句意为：1935年他警告下议院，不仅自我保护很重要，而且为了人类和世界的事 业，保卫自由政府和西方文明免遭曾一度强盛的独裁主义的践踏也尤为重要。
11. He nevertheless refused Hitler’s offers of peace, organized a
successful air defense that led to the victory of the Battle of Britain and
meanwhile sent most of what remained of the British army, after its
escape from the humiliation of Dunkirk, to the Middle East to oppose
HitlerV Italian ally, Mussolini. (Para. 6)
此句意为：然而，他拒绝了希特勒提出的“和平”，组织了成功的空中防御，臝得了 不列颠之战的胜利；同时，在敦刻尔克大溃退后,他把大部分英军的剩余兵力派往 中东，与希特勒的意大利同盟者墨索里尼作战。
12. Its victories against Mussolini during 1940〜1941 both humiliated
and infuriated Hitler, while its intervention in Greece, to oppose Hitler’s
invasion of the Balkans, disrupted the Nazi dictator’s plans to conclude
German conquests in Europe by defeating Russia. (Para. 7)
此句意为：1940〜1941$间，英军对墨索里尼的胜利使希特細恼羞成怒。为反对希 特勒入侵巴尔干，英军对希腊进行军事干涉,瓦解了纳粹独裁者通过打垮俄国实现德国征服欧洲的计划。
13. Defeats in 1940 had weakened it further, as had the liquidation of its
international investments to fund its early war efforts. (Para. 9)
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Meaning： To provide funding for its early war, Britain had settled its
international investment, which had weakened its position in the world;
and the defeats in 1940 had weakened its population, industry, and
finance.
14. During 1942，the prestige Britain had won as Hitler’s only enemy
allowed Churchill to sustain parity of leadership in the anti-Nazi alliance
with Roosevelt and Stalin. (Para. 9)
sustain: v. maintain
E.G. The foundations were not strong enough to sustain the weight of
the house.
The court sustained her claim that the contract was illegal.
此句意为:在l942年期间,英国被桃为希牿勒唯一的对丰所得的声望使丘吉尔在 反纳粹同盟中享有与罗斯福和斯大林平等的领导资格。
15. It was not only his own country, though，that owed him a debt. So too
did the world of free men and women to whom he had made a constant
and inclusive appeal in his magnificent speeches from embattled Britain
in 1940 and 1941. (Para. 11)
此句意为:不仅鸣自己的袓国感激他，全世界寒尚自由两人民也同样感激他。1940年 到1941年期间，大不列颠正值战争，他的精彩演讲给留下了永恒而宽广的魅力。
contempt he breathed for dictators strengthened the West’s faith in
the moral superiority of democracy and the inevitability of its triumph.
(Para. 11)
Meaning: He despised the dictators, which strengthened the westerners’
belief that democracy was superior to tyranny, and that its triumph over
fascism and dictatorship was inevitable.
此句意为:他对独裁者的蔑视使西方人更加坚信民主在道义上的优势及其胜利的 必然性。
Key to exercises
Reading for the Key Ideas in Sentences
1. He committed the Roval Naval Division to an intervention.
2. He ensured that he stood out.
3. He refused Hitler’s offers, organized a defense and sent the British
army to oppose Mussolini.
4. Its victories humiliated and infuriated Hitler.
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Text B Charles Darwin
Lead-in Activities
1. Charles Robert Darwin (1809 –1882) British scientist（naturalist）, who
laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory with his concept of the
development of all forms of life through the slow-working process of
natural selection. His work was of major influence on the life and earth
sciences and on modern thought in general.
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury什鲁斯伯里城, England. He was born on the same day as Abraham
Lincoln.
Darwin was the fifth child of a wealthy and sophisticated English family.
His maternal grandfather was the successful china and pottery
entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood; his paternal grandfather was the
well-known 18th-century physician and savant Erasmus Darwin.
2. Journey of the Beagle
In 1831, Darwin set out on H.M.S. Beagle as a self-financed gentleman
companion to the 26-year-old captain, Robert Fitzroy. The Beagle was on
a British science expedition around the world. The voyage lasted almost
five years and, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating
geology and making natural history collections
Darwin's job as naturalist aboard the Beagle gave him the opportunity to
observe the various geological formations found on different continents
and islands along the way, as well as a huge variety of fossils and living
organisms. In his geological observations, Darwin was most impressed
with the effect that natural forces had on shaping the earth's surface.
3. His Theory
Darwin's theory was first announced in 1858 in a paper presented at the
same time as one by Alfred Russell Wallace, a young naturalist who had
come independently to the theory of natural selection. Darwin's complete
theory was published in 1859, in On the Origin of Species. Often referred
to as the book that shook the world, the Origin sold out on the first day of
publication and subsequently went through six editions.
Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within
species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each
organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its
environment. He set these theories forth in his book called, On the Origin
of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored
Races in the Struggle for Life (1859) or “The Origin of Species” for short.
After publication of Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on
botany, geology, and zoology until his death in 1882.
Engels consider the "evolution" as one of the three major discoveries of
Science of 19th century
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4. His Later Years
Darwin spent the rest of his life expanding on different aspects of
problems raised in the Origin. His later books including The Variation of
Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868), The Descent of Man
(1871), and The Expression of the Emotions in Animals and Man
(1872)were detailed expositions of topics that had been confined to small
sections of the Origin. The importance of his work was well recognized
by his contemporaries; Darwin was elected to the Royal Society (1839)
and the French Academy of Sciences (1878). He was also honored by
burial in Westminster Abbey after he died in Down, Kent, on April 19,
1882.
Before reading the text closely, scan to find the answers to the
following questions.
1. Why did Darwin give up the idea of following a medical career?
A* Because of his queasiness at the sight of blood.
2. Who created the world according to most European people at that
time?
A： God.
3. Who argued that animals would continue to breed until there was not
enough food?
A: Thomas Malthus.
4. What are the conditions of evolution?
A： Heredity, variation among the offspring, and limited food.
5. What destroyed the prevailing view that the earth d by God?
A： The book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Notes and information related to the text
1. Charles Darwin initially planned to follow a medical career, but his
queasiness at the sight of blood curtailed that ambition, and instead he
went to Cambridge to study divinity. (Para. 1)
Cambridge: at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language
universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th century,
Cambridge was organized into residential colleges, like those of Oxford,
by the end of the 13th century.
2. However, he had brought Lyell，s Principles of Geology to read on the
Beagle. (Para. 2)
Lyell (1797〜1875): Scottish geologist largely responsible for the general
acceptance of the view that all features of the Earth’s surface are
produced by physical, chemical, and biological processes through long
periods of geological time. The concept was called uniformitarianism
(Initially set forth by Jame? Hutton). Lyell believed that there were
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natural explanations for all geologic phenomena，a position he supported
with many examples in his three-volume Principles of Geology
(1830^1833).
3. Upon reaching South America he observed yet more variety and began
pondering the origin of all these species. (Para. 3)
Meaning: As soon as he reached South America, he observed yet more
variety and began meditating on the origin of all these species.
E.G. Upon/On arriving at the station, we took a bus.
Upon/On seeing the teacher, the children scattered in all directions.
句意为:一到南美,他就观察到更广泛的物种，并开始思索所有这些物种的起源。
4. The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, a
collection of ten hot black volcanic lumps 500 miles west of South
America. (Para. 3)
Galapagos Islands: island group of the eastern Pacific Ocean,
admiriistratively a province of Ecuador. Galapagos is a Spanish word.
With a total land area of 3,093 .square miles (8,010 square km), the
Galapagos consists of 13 major islands (ranging in area from 5.4 to 1,771
square miles [14 to 4,588 square km]), 6 smaller islands, and scores of
islets and rocks lying athwart the Equator 600 miles (1,000 km) west of
the mainland of Ecuador.
5. The Islands were home to the Galapagos finches, a bird that was to
become famous because of its influence on Darwin’s thinking — he shot
a number of these to be kept for further study. (Para. 3)
Note： The structure abe + to ddw marks the future tense.
E.G. Hurry up. The train is to depart at 9 o’clock.
He was to enter that famous university he had dreamed of.
6. While these birds were undeniably all finches, they were also very
different from each other. (Para. 4)
Meaning： Although undoubtedly these birds were all finches, they were
also very different from each other.
Note: “While” here introduces a concessive clause, meaning “although”.
E.G. While she likes the coat, she could not afford it.
While he had a cold, he came to the class as usual.
7. On James Island, for example, he found a total of 71 species of plants,
and of these 30 were unique to that island — to the best of his knowledge
they existed nowhere else on earth. (Para. 4)
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Meaning： On James Island, for example, he found altogether 71 species
of plants, of which 30 were only found in that island i— as far as he knew,
they didn’t exist elsewhere.
8. He rejected the idea that God had created the Galapagos Island birds to
match the nuts found there, and he rejected the idea that the birds could
deliberately modify themselves to grow big beaks. (Para. 6)
Meaning： He refused to accept the idea that God had created the
Galapagos Island birds so that they could eat the large hard-shelled seeds
found there, and that the birds intentionally changed themselves to grow
big beaks so that they could eat the nuts.
9. His alternative was shocking because it relied instead on entirely
random change. (Para. 6)
rely on: be dependent on, as for support or maintenance
E.G. Charities rely on voluntary contributions.
Now that you have grown up, you should not rely on your parents
any more.
此句意为:他的不同看法令人震惊,因为他认为进化完全依赖于随机变化。
10. The implication was staggering ——as long as there was heredity,
variation among the offspring, and limited food, there had to be evolution.
(Para. 8)
Meaning: The implication was astonishing ~ so long as there was he Y
variation among the offspring, and limited food, there had to be
evolution.
staggering: adj. surprisingly impressive, astonishing
E.G. The soldier received no staggering wound from any of the three
shots.
11. He worked on this theory for 20 years, until finally kicked into action
by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, who had come to almost identical
conclusions. (Para. 8)
kick into action: (informal) cause to start operating or happening; cause
to become operative or take effect
E.G. The emergency generator was kicked into action when the power
failed.
Note： Some conjunctions can introduce an elliptical clause if the main
sentence and the clause have a common subject.
E.G. If useful, the machine will be introduced to our factory.
When crossing the road, the boy held his mother’s hand tightly.
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823〜1913): British humanist, naturalist,
geographer, and social critic. He became a public figure in England
during the second half of the 19th century, known for his courageous
views on scientific, social, and spiritualist subjects. His observations of
the Malay Archipelago Islands led to his developing a theory of the origin
of species through natural selection independently of, and simultaneously
with, Charles Darwin, though Darwin developed his own theory in much
greater detail, provided far more evidence for it, and was mainly
responsible for its acceptance.
12. The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension
of his theory was that homo sapiens was nothing special among species.
(Para. 9)
此句意为:该书引起极大争议，因为其理论的逻辑推理指出，人类相对于其他物种 来说并无任何特别之处。
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2024年2月28日发(作者：浮怀曼)
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Unit 3 Biographies of Celebrities
Text A Winston Churchill
Lead-in Activities Churchill’s Life
1. Politics
A. 1900…Conservative MP (Members of Parliament) for Oldham奥尔汉姆保守党下院议员
1906…Under-Secretary of State 副国务卿（或国务次卿）
1908…President of the Board of Trade.贸易大臣（贸易委员会主席）
Home Secretary 内政大臣
1911…First Lord of the Admiralty 英国海军大臣
1912…Royal Naval Air Service & Air Department 英国海军航空队（RNAS）
1915…Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 兰卡斯特公爵郡大臣
Minister of War and Air 战争与航空大臣
1921…Colonial Secretary 殖民地大臣
B. Defeated by E.D. Morel at Dundee(敦提，英国苏格兰东部港市)
in 1922 General Election
Successfully elected to represent Epping in the 1924 General Election
Stanley Baldwin, the leader of the new Conservative administration,
appointed Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer
In 1929, Churchill lost office
C On the outbreak of the Second World War， Churchill was
appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and on 4th April 1940 became
chairman of the Military Coordinating Committee军事协调委员会.
In May, 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and
remained in office until 1945.
After Pearl Harbor Churchill worked closely with Franklin D.
Roosevelt to ensure victory over Germany and Japan. He was also a loyal
ally of the Soviet Union after Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa巴巴罗萨行动 in June, 1941.
Churchill held important meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Joseph Stalin at Teheran德黑兰 (November, 1943) and Yalta 雅尔塔(February, 1945).
D He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of
1951 and resigned in 1955 .
He remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of
1964, when he did not seek re-election.
2. Literature
Churchill's literary career began with campaign reports: The Story of the
Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899)
1900, he published his only novel, Savrola
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1906, his first major work, the biography of his father, Lord Randolph
Churchill
1933-1938, his other famous biography, the life of his great ancestor, The
Duke of Marlborough
1923-1929, Churchill's history of the First World War The World Crisis
1930, an autobiographical account of his youth, My Early Life
1948-1953/54, his memoirs of the Second World War
1956-1958, History of the English-speaking Peoples
His magnificent oratory: The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The Dawn of
Liberation (1945), and Victory (1946).
3. Art
Churchill, a gifted amateur painter, wrote Painting as a Pastime (1948).
Before reading the text closely, scan to find the answers to the
following questions.
What did Churchill do in India and the Sudan between 1895 and 1898?
A: He was present both as a war correspondent and as a serving
officer there.
What helped Churchill win a Nobel Prize for Literature?
A: The History of the Second World War.
How old was Churchill when he entered Parliament?
A: He was 26.
What event caused America’s entry into the Second World War?
A: Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7，1941.
Who dominated the alliance after the D-day invasion?
A: The Russo-American nexus.
Notes and information related to the text
1. As a young man of undistinguished academic accomplishment — he
was admitted to Sandhurst after two failed attempts -— he entered the
army as a cavalry officer. (Para. 1)
Meaning: Having achieved nothing significant in his study, young
Churchill was finally enrolled in Sandhurst Royal Military Academy after
two failures as a cavalry officer.
Sandhurst: a town which lies some 30 miles (48 km) west-southwest of
London, best known for the nearby Royal Military Academy. Most of the
potential regular officers for the British army undergo a course of general
and military education as officer cadets at the academy, commonly called
Sandhurst.
2. He took enthusiastically to soldiering and between 1895 and 1898
managed to see three campaigns …(Para. 1)
take to:
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1) become fond of or attached to; begin to like
E.G. Two keen minds that they are, they took to each other.
2) start to do something often; develop as a habit or a steady practice
E.G. He gave up engineering and took to medicine.
3) take refuge in, use as a means of escape, run away
E.G. The escaped prisoner took to the mountain.
此句意为:他对军事显出了极大热情,在1895到1898年间，他设法见识到了三场战役。
3. Thus he revealed two other aspects of his character: a literary bent and
an interest in public affairs. (Para. 1)
bent: n. a tendency, disposition, or inclination
E.G. The natural bent of his mind was to science.
v.
1) form a curve, change direction
E.G. The branches bend in the wind.
2) make a concession; yield
E.G. Is it possible to bend nature to human will?
3) apply oneself closely; concentrate
E.G. He bent (his mind) to the research project.
此句意为:因此他显示出了性格中的另外两个方面:文学倾向和政治兴趣。
4. Writing, however, never fully engaged his energies. Politics consumed
him. (Para. 2)
consume: v.
1) expend; use up
E.G. The project consumed most of my time and energy.
2) destroy totally
E.G. The flames consumed the house.
3) purchase goods and services
E.G. The Mongolians live in a society that consumes as fast as it
produces
4) take in as food; eat or drink up
E.G. Each year Americans consume huge amounts of potatoes.
此句意为:然而写作从来没有占据他的全部精力。政治却耗尽了他的一生。
5. His disapproval surely stung, but Churchill reacted by venerating his
father’s memory. (Para. 2)
sting: v.
1) cause a sharp pain or discomfort, cause to suffer keenly in the mind or
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feelings
E. G. Her ingratitude stung him.
Those harsh words stung me bitterly.
2) pierce or wound painfully with or as if with a sharp-pointed structure
or organ
E.G. I was stung by the bee.
此句意为:父亲的不以为然确实很让他感到剌痛，但是丘吉尔却对父亲的忆力推 崇备至。
6. Winston fought to restore his father’s honor in Parliament (where it had
been dented by the Conservative Party). (Para. 2)
Parliament: legislative assembly of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. It is the sovereign power of Great Britain, whereas
the monarch remains sovereign in name only. Parliament consists,
technically, of the monarch, the House of Commons, and the House of
Lords, but the word in common usage refers to the members of the two
houses or to Commons alone. The great power of the House of Commons
lies, historically, in its control of government finances. Parliament is
housed in Westminster Palace.
the Conservative Party: British political party, formally the
Conservative and Unionist party and a continuation of the historic Tory
party.
7. Thus it was as political head of the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the
First World War in 1914 that he stepped onto the world stage. (Para. 3)
Note： This is an emphatic sentence pattern and the common sentence
order should be:
Thus he stepped onto the world stage as political head of the Royal Navy
at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
E.G. It was from Susan that he heard of the news.
It was Oxford University that he entered five years ago.
8. A passionate believer in the navy，s historic strategic role, he
immediately committed the Royal Naval Division to an intervention in
the Flanders campaign in 1914. (Para. 4)
commit to:
1) entrust
E.G. He committed us to the care of his drawings.
2) give up, hand over to
E.G. They commit the patient to a. mental hospital.
3) pledge, bind (oneself)
E.G. I won’t commit myself to that course of action.
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9. Churchill was truly a romantic, but also truly a democrat. He had
returned to the gold standard, for instance, because he cherished, for
romantic reasons, Britain’s status as a great financial power. (Para. 5)
gold standard: monetary system in which the standard unit of currency
is a fixed quantity of gold or is kept at the value of a fixed quantity of
gold. The currency is freely convertible at home or abroad into a fixed
amount of gold per unit of currency.
10. In 1935 he warned the House of Commons of the importance not only
of “self-preservation but also of the human and the world cause of the
preservation of free governments and of Western civilization against the
ever advancing sources of authority and despotism”. (Para. 5)
Meaning： In 1935，he warned the House of Commons that it was
important to protect England from invasion, and it was also important, for
the human and world cause, to maintain free and independent
governments and the Western civilization to fight against the forward
moving tyranny.
此句意为：1935年他警告下议院，不仅自我保护很重要，而且为了人类和世界的事 业，保卫自由政府和西方文明免遭曾一度强盛的独裁主义的践踏也尤为重要。
11. He nevertheless refused Hitler’s offers of peace, organized a
successful air defense that led to the victory of the Battle of Britain and
meanwhile sent most of what remained of the British army, after its
escape from the humiliation of Dunkirk, to the Middle East to oppose
HitlerV Italian ally, Mussolini. (Para. 6)
此句意为：然而，他拒绝了希特勒提出的“和平”，组织了成功的空中防御，臝得了 不列颠之战的胜利；同时，在敦刻尔克大溃退后,他把大部分英军的剩余兵力派往 中东，与希特勒的意大利同盟者墨索里尼作战。
12. Its victories against Mussolini during 1940〜1941 both humiliated
and infuriated Hitler, while its intervention in Greece, to oppose Hitler’s
invasion of the Balkans, disrupted the Nazi dictator’s plans to conclude
German conquests in Europe by defeating Russia. (Para. 7)
此句意为：1940〜1941$间，英军对墨索里尼的胜利使希特細恼羞成怒。为反对希 特勒入侵巴尔干，英军对希腊进行军事干涉,瓦解了纳粹独裁者通过打垮俄国实现德国征服欧洲的计划。
13. Defeats in 1940 had weakened it further, as had the liquidation of its
international investments to fund its early war efforts. (Para. 9)
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Meaning： To provide funding for its early war, Britain had settled its
international investment, which had weakened its position in the world;
and the defeats in 1940 had weakened its population, industry, and
finance.
14. During 1942，the prestige Britain had won as Hitler’s only enemy
allowed Churchill to sustain parity of leadership in the anti-Nazi alliance
with Roosevelt and Stalin. (Para. 9)
sustain: v. maintain
E.G. The foundations were not strong enough to sustain the weight of
the house.
The court sustained her claim that the contract was illegal.
此句意为:在l942年期间,英国被桃为希牿勒唯一的对丰所得的声望使丘吉尔在 反纳粹同盟中享有与罗斯福和斯大林平等的领导资格。
15. It was not only his own country, though，that owed him a debt. So too
did the world of free men and women to whom he had made a constant
and inclusive appeal in his magnificent speeches from embattled Britain
in 1940 and 1941. (Para. 11)
此句意为:不仅鸣自己的袓国感激他，全世界寒尚自由两人民也同样感激他。1940年 到1941年期间，大不列颠正值战争，他的精彩演讲给留下了永恒而宽广的魅力。
contempt he breathed for dictators strengthened the West’s faith in
the moral superiority of democracy and the inevitability of its triumph.
(Para. 11)
Meaning: He despised the dictators, which strengthened the westerners’
belief that democracy was superior to tyranny, and that its triumph over
fascism and dictatorship was inevitable.
此句意为:他对独裁者的蔑视使西方人更加坚信民主在道义上的优势及其胜利的 必然性。
Key to exercises
Reading for the Key Ideas in Sentences
1. He committed the Roval Naval Division to an intervention.
2. He ensured that he stood out.
3. He refused Hitler’s offers, organized a defense and sent the British
army to oppose Mussolini.
4. Its victories humiliated and infuriated Hitler.
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Text B Charles Darwin
Lead-in Activities
1. Charles Robert Darwin (1809 –1882) British scientist（naturalist）, who
laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory with his concept of the
development of all forms of life through the slow-working process of
natural selection. His work was of major influence on the life and earth
sciences and on modern thought in general.
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury什鲁斯伯里城, England. He was born on the same day as Abraham
Lincoln.
Darwin was the fifth child of a wealthy and sophisticated English family.
His maternal grandfather was the successful china and pottery
entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood; his paternal grandfather was the
well-known 18th-century physician and savant Erasmus Darwin.
2. Journey of the Beagle
In 1831, Darwin set out on H.M.S. Beagle as a self-financed gentleman
companion to the 26-year-old captain, Robert Fitzroy. The Beagle was on
a British science expedition around the world. The voyage lasted almost
five years and, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating
geology and making natural history collections
Darwin's job as naturalist aboard the Beagle gave him the opportunity to
observe the various geological formations found on different continents
and islands along the way, as well as a huge variety of fossils and living
organisms. In his geological observations, Darwin was most impressed
with the effect that natural forces had on shaping the earth's surface.
3. His Theory
Darwin's theory was first announced in 1858 in a paper presented at the
same time as one by Alfred Russell Wallace, a young naturalist who had
come independently to the theory of natural selection. Darwin's complete
theory was published in 1859, in On the Origin of Species. Often referred
to as the book that shook the world, the Origin sold out on the first day of
publication and subsequently went through six editions.
Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within
species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each
organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its
environment. He set these theories forth in his book called, On the Origin
of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored
Races in the Struggle for Life (1859) or “The Origin of Species” for short.
After publication of Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on
botany, geology, and zoology until his death in 1882.
Engels consider the "evolution" as one of the three major discoveries of
Science of 19th century
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4. His Later Years
Darwin spent the rest of his life expanding on different aspects of
problems raised in the Origin. His later books including The Variation of
Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868), The Descent of Man
(1871), and The Expression of the Emotions in Animals and Man
(1872)were detailed expositions of topics that had been confined to small
sections of the Origin. The importance of his work was well recognized
by his contemporaries; Darwin was elected to the Royal Society (1839)
and the French Academy of Sciences (1878). He was also honored by
burial in Westminster Abbey after he died in Down, Kent, on April 19,
1882.
Before reading the text closely, scan to find the answers to the
following questions.
1. Why did Darwin give up the idea of following a medical career?
A* Because of his queasiness at the sight of blood.
2. Who created the world according to most European people at that
time?
A： God.
3. Who argued that animals would continue to breed until there was not
enough food?
A: Thomas Malthus.
4. What are the conditions of evolution?
A： Heredity, variation among the offspring, and limited food.
5. What destroyed the prevailing view that the earth d by God?
A： The book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Notes and information related to the text
1. Charles Darwin initially planned to follow a medical career, but his
queasiness at the sight of blood curtailed that ambition, and instead he
went to Cambridge to study divinity. (Para. 1)
Cambridge: at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language
universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th century,
Cambridge was organized into residential colleges, like those of Oxford,
by the end of the 13th century.
2. However, he had brought Lyell，s Principles of Geology to read on the
Beagle. (Para. 2)
Lyell (1797〜1875): Scottish geologist largely responsible for the general
acceptance of the view that all features of the Earth’s surface are
produced by physical, chemical, and biological processes through long
periods of geological time. The concept was called uniformitarianism
(Initially set forth by Jame? Hutton). Lyell believed that there were
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natural explanations for all geologic phenomena，a position he supported
with many examples in his three-volume Principles of Geology
(1830^1833).
3. Upon reaching South America he observed yet more variety and began
pondering the origin of all these species. (Para. 3)
Meaning: As soon as he reached South America, he observed yet more
variety and began meditating on the origin of all these species.
E.G. Upon/On arriving at the station, we took a bus.
Upon/On seeing the teacher, the children scattered in all directions.
句意为:一到南美,他就观察到更广泛的物种，并开始思索所有这些物种的起源。
4. The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, a
collection of ten hot black volcanic lumps 500 miles west of South
America. (Para. 3)
Galapagos Islands: island group of the eastern Pacific Ocean,
admiriistratively a province of Ecuador. Galapagos is a Spanish word.
With a total land area of 3,093 .square miles (8,010 square km), the
Galapagos consists of 13 major islands (ranging in area from 5.4 to 1,771
square miles [14 to 4,588 square km]), 6 smaller islands, and scores of
islets and rocks lying athwart the Equator 600 miles (1,000 km) west of
the mainland of Ecuador.
5. The Islands were home to the Galapagos finches, a bird that was to
become famous because of its influence on Darwin’s thinking — he shot
a number of these to be kept for further study. (Para. 3)
Note： The structure abe + to ddw marks the future tense.
E.G. Hurry up. The train is to depart at 9 o’clock.
He was to enter that famous university he had dreamed of.
6. While these birds were undeniably all finches, they were also very
different from each other. (Para. 4)
Meaning： Although undoubtedly these birds were all finches, they were
also very different from each other.
Note: “While” here introduces a concessive clause, meaning “although”.
E.G. While she likes the coat, she could not afford it.
While he had a cold, he came to the class as usual.
7. On James Island, for example, he found a total of 71 species of plants,
and of these 30 were unique to that island — to the best of his knowledge
they existed nowhere else on earth. (Para. 4)
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Meaning： On James Island, for example, he found altogether 71 species
of plants, of which 30 were only found in that island i— as far as he knew,
they didn’t exist elsewhere.
8. He rejected the idea that God had created the Galapagos Island birds to
match the nuts found there, and he rejected the idea that the birds could
deliberately modify themselves to grow big beaks. (Para. 6)
Meaning： He refused to accept the idea that God had created the
Galapagos Island birds so that they could eat the large hard-shelled seeds
found there, and that the birds intentionally changed themselves to grow
big beaks so that they could eat the nuts.
9. His alternative was shocking because it relied instead on entirely
random change. (Para. 6)
rely on: be dependent on, as for support or maintenance
E.G. Charities rely on voluntary contributions.
Now that you have grown up, you should not rely on your parents
any more.
此句意为:他的不同看法令人震惊,因为他认为进化完全依赖于随机变化。
10. The implication was staggering ——as long as there was heredity,
variation among the offspring, and limited food, there had to be evolution.
(Para. 8)
Meaning: The implication was astonishing ~ so long as there was he Y
variation among the offspring, and limited food, there had to be
evolution.
staggering: adj. surprisingly impressive, astonishing
E.G. The soldier received no staggering wound from any of the three
shots.
11. He worked on this theory for 20 years, until finally kicked into action
by a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, who had come to almost identical
conclusions. (Para. 8)
kick into action: (informal) cause to start operating or happening; cause
to become operative or take effect
E.G. The emergency generator was kicked into action when the power
failed.
Note： Some conjunctions can introduce an elliptical clause if the main
sentence and the clause have a common subject.
E.G. If useful, the machine will be introduced to our factory.
When crossing the road, the boy held his mother’s hand tightly.
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823〜1913): British humanist, naturalist,
geographer, and social critic. He became a public figure in England
during the second half of the 19th century, known for his courageous
views on scientific, social, and spiritualist subjects. His observations of
the Malay Archipelago Islands led to his developing a theory of the origin
of species through natural selection independently of, and simultaneously
with, Charles Darwin, though Darwin developed his own theory in much
greater detail, provided far more evidence for it, and was mainly
responsible for its acceptance.
12. The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension
of his theory was that homo sapiens was nothing special among species.
(Para. 9)
此句意为:该书引起极大争议，因为其理论的逻辑推理指出，人类相对于其他物种 来说并无任何特别之处。
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