LECTURE 3 基本動(dòng)詞 BREAK 3
詞組講解
1. break one's heart ** 使傷心
解 習(xí)語(yǔ);詞義溯源:打碎某人的[心(heart)]
例 The children have been looking forward to this for weeks. If you don't take them to Disneyland, you'll break their hearts. Can't you delay your trip until next week? Surely your manager would understand—he has children too and he knows how terrible it is for the kids if you have to cancel something like this.
2. break sb. or sth. down / break down sb. or sth. ***制服,壓倒;毀壞,破壞;出毛病;分解,分析
解 短語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞;詞義溯源:[向下(down)]破壞(某人或某物)
例 The Egyptians had spent weeks building massive walls of sand around their positions. The Israelis took only hours to break them down with the ingenious use of water cannons. War after war, the ingenuity of the Israeli military proved to be the small nation's key to survival.
3. break sb. or sth. up / break up ***(使)捧腹大笑;打碎;崩潰;分開(kāi)(成套的物品);結(jié)束,停止
解 〈口〉短語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞;詞義溯源:[完全(up)]打碎、拆開(kāi)
例 Nobody expected the Soviet Union to break up so rapidly and thoroughly. Even NATO found the pace astonishing and tried to help the Soviets slow the dissolution to a manageable pace.
4. break the ice ** 破冰,打破沉默,打破僵局
解 習(xí)語(yǔ);詞義溯源:打碎[冰冷感、冷漠、冷淡(ice)]
例 Ilike to have everybody introduce themselves in the first class to sort of break the ice. Once everybody knows who the others are, the tension of unfamiliarity eases considerably and everyone feels free to talk.
5. break the news to sb. ** 把壞消息告訴某人
解 習(xí)語(yǔ);詞義溯源:向某人透露[消息(news)]
例 During the war, special agents were trained to visit the homes of dead and missing soldiers to break the news to the family. It was no easy task telling a mother she had lost her son in an unpopular war in some distant land. Still, somebody had to do it.
鞏固練習(xí)
(A) broke his heart
(B) break down
(C) break up
(D) breaking the ice
(E) breaking the news
1. A: The first thing we've got to do is get everybody acquainted with each other. You know, sort of get everybody relaxed and talking. B: Don't worry, I'm great at ______. I'll have everybody talking in no time at all.
2. A: Who's going to inform the boss that Miss Lee is quitting? Somebody's got to tell him before he leaves for New York. B: Not me! I'm not ______ to him. The last time I told him some bad news, he threw his pencil at me!
3. A: It might take a few days, but I think if we keep the pressure on him, Councilman Manes will stop resisting us and accept our proposal. B: I'm not so sure about that. I think he'll prove harder to ______ than you think.
4. A: We're pouring massive amounts of detergent into the water in an attempt to ______ the spilled oil before it hits the shore. B: How does the detergent destroy the oil? Is there some kind of chemical reaction? And how long does it take for the detergent to effectively eliminate the risk of the oil hitting the shore?
5. A: When the principal saw the damage the storm caused to the library, was he disappointed? B: Disappointed? Yes, deeply disappointed. It ______. The library was his pride and joy—his own personal project. I heard he went back to his office and cried.
■ ANSWER
1. (D)
2. (E)
3. (B)
4. (C)
5. (A)
參考譯文
I. 1. 幾周以來(lái),孩子們一直盼著這一天。如果你不帶他們?nèi)サ鲜磕針?lè)園,你會(huì)讓他們傷心的。你不能把出差推遲到下周嗎?你們經(jīng)理肯定會(huì)理解的——他也有孩子,他知道如果你取消這樣的活動(dòng),對(duì)于孩子來(lái)說(shuō)有多么糟糕。
2. 埃及人花費(fèi)數(shù)周時(shí)間在陣地周圍用沙子筑起厚實(shí)的防護(hù)墻。而以色列人巧妙地利用了水炮,僅用幾個(gè)小時(shí)就摧毀了防護(hù)墻。經(jīng)過(guò)一場(chǎng)場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng),以色列軍人的聰明才智成為這個(gè)小國(guó)家生存的關(guān)鍵。
3. 沒(méi)有人能預(yù)料到蘇聯(lián)會(huì)如此迅速和徹底地解體。即使北約也認(rèn)為蘇聯(lián)解體的速度太過(guò)驚人,試圖幫助蘇聯(lián)將解體的速度降低到可以控制的程度。
4. 在第一節(jié)課上,我喜歡讓大家先做自我介紹,來(lái)打破沉默。只要大家相互認(rèn)識(shí)了,因?yàn)椴皇煜?lái)的緊張就可以得到一定程度的緩解,然后大家才會(huì)隨意地談話。
5. 在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間,一些受過(guò)專業(yè)培訓(xùn)的特工會(huì)到陣亡和失蹤士兵的家中,把壞消息告訴他們的家人。告訴一位母親她的兒子在遙遠(yuǎn)的地方進(jìn)行的一場(chǎng)不受歡迎的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中陣亡,這并不是一件容易的事。但是,還是必須有人做這件事。
II. 1. A:我們首先需要做的是讓大家相互熟悉起來(lái)。你知道,就是讓大家放松地交談。B:別擔(dān)心。我非常善于打破沉默。我馬上就能讓大家開(kāi)始交流。
2. A:誰(shuí)來(lái)告訴老板李小姐要辭職的消息?必須得在他去紐約之前告訴他。B:我可不去!我不會(huì)把這個(gè)壞消息告訴他的。上次我告訴他一個(gè)壞消息的時(shí)候,他沖我扔鉛筆了!
3. A:這或許會(huì)花幾天的時(shí)間,但是我想如果我們繼續(xù)施加壓力的話,馬內(nèi)斯議員可能就不會(huì)再反對(duì)我們,進(jìn)而接受我們的提議。B:我不太肯定。我想他會(huì)比你想象的更難說(shuō)服。
4. A:為了在泄漏的石油擴(kuò)散到海岸之前將它們分解,我們?cè)谒镒⑷肓舜罅康那鍧崉?。B:清潔劑怎么分解石油呢?會(huì)發(fā)生什么化學(xué)反應(yīng)嗎?清潔劑有效地消除石油擴(kuò)散到海岸的危險(xiǎn)需要花多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間呢?
5. A:校長(zhǎng)看到暴風(fēng)對(duì)圖書(shū)館造成的破壞時(shí),他有沒(méi)有感到很失望?B:失望?是的,非常失望。他簡(jiǎn)直傷透了心。那座圖書(shū)館是他的驕傲和樂(lè)趣——是他個(gè)人的工程。我聽(tīng)說(shuō)他回到自己辦公室后,大哭了一場(chǎng)。