Unit 6
Unit 6
Words and phrases:
(1) shelter: n. [uncountable] protection from danger or from wind, rain, hot sun, etc. e.g. They stood under the shelter of a huge tree when it poured with rain last night.
Provision of shelter was their main concern for the disaster victims.
(2) unaware: a. not noticing or realizing what is happening
e.g. She was completely unaware of there being anything extraordinary.
Mike seems unaware of the trouble he’s causing.
(3) surroundings: n. [plural] the objects, buildings, natural things, etc. that are around a person or
thing at a particular time
e.g. The policeman switched on the light and examined his surroundings.
The protective color of some plants and animals changes with their surroundings.
(4) irresistible: a. so attractive and desirable that one cannot prevent himself from wanting it; too
strong or powerful to be stopped or prevented
e.g. The striving for peace and cooperation, and the promotion of development have become
irresistible historical trends.
Both the presentation and variety of goods for sale make shopping irresistible.
(5) end up with: finish with the possession of someone or something or in the company of
someone or something
e.g. We end up with nothing after all these years, and that’s your fault. I thought my date was with Sally, but I ended up with her twin sister.
(6) engrossed: a. giving or marked by complete attention to
e.g. My father was deeply engrossed in the book for the whole night.
Students tend to neglect schoolwork once they get engrossed in activities as online gaming.
(7) dash: v. go or run somewhere very quickly
e.g. I must dash upstairs and run a comb through my hair since the party is to begin very
soon.
The secretary dashed into her office, grabbed her bag, and ran out again.
(8) wander: v. walk slowly across or around an area, usually without a clear direction or purpose e.g. Those who do not have relatives to return to are left to wander the streets and sleep
rough.
He told us that we could wander around at will.
(9) to one’s heart’s content: as much as one likes or wants, to one’s entire satisfaction and without
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limitation
e.g. She took refuge in the library, where she could read to her heart’s content.
Since we didn’t have to put on a false front, we could laugh about the incident to our
heart’s content.
(10) approach: v. move towards or nearer to, get closer to
e.g. You must approach the bird very quietly or it will fly away. As people approach old age, their energies may diminish.
(11) inevitable: a. certain to happen and impossible to avoid
e.g. Borrowing word is an inevitable linguistic phenomenon in communication between
different cultures.
Stress is inevitable and no one can ever be stress-free.
(12) remain: v. stay in the same place without moving away
e.g. To everyone’s great surprise, such a healthy person should remain in the hospital for a
solid month.
The soldiers were instructed to remain where they were.
(13) browse: v. look through the pages of a book, magazine, etc. without a particular purpose, just
looking at the most interesting parts
e.g. Why don’t you sit down at that table and browse through the paper?
People can browse the classified advertisements in the newspaper for some information.
(14) section: n. one of the parts that something such as an object or place is divided into e.g. This section of the market has slowly declined in importance. You will find that book in the historical section of the library.
(15) retire: v. go away to a quiet place
e.g. Eisenhower left the White House and retired to his farm in Gettysburg.
Nowadays more and more people retire to the country, where they can enjoy peace and
fresh air.
(16) discreetly: ad. doing or saying in a polite and careful way to avoid embarrassing or offending
someone
e.g. I took the phone, and she went discreetly into the living room.
They were all proud students, so the teacher did it discreetly.
(17) variety: n. things of the same type that are different from each other in some way
e.g. The guests from the neighbourhood are amazed by the variety of plants in the region. Man had achieved a remarkable understanding of a wide variety of natural phenomena.
(18) vaguely: ad. not clearly or exactly
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e.g. The name sounded vaguely familiar to her.
He wondered uneasily what it meant, and began to feel vaguely apprehensive.
(19) illustrate: v. make the meaning of something clearer by giving examples
e.g. Let me give an example to illustrate the point. I can cite quite a few instances to illustrate.
(20) apart from: except for
e.g. Apart from a few words, he knows nothing about Chinese.
Apart from the little infection he had caught in his hometown, his health was sound.
(21) indulgent: a. willing to allow someone, especially a child, to do or have whatever they want,
even if this is not good for them
e.g. We all think he is too indulgent with his children.
Mr. Green is indulgent of others’ shortcomings.
(22) obtain: v. get or achieve what one wants, especially through his own effort, skill, or work e.g. You will need to obtain permission from the principal.
The perfect body has always been difficult to obtain.
(23) dismayed: a. worried, disappointed, and upset when something unpleasant happens e.g. They were dismayed that the demonstration had been allowed to take place. He was astonished, but by no means dismayed.
(24) beckon: v. make a signal to someone with your hand, to show that you want them to come
towards you or to follow you
e.g. She beckoned to him and he went into her office. I could see my husband beckoning me.
(25) tuck: v. put something into a small space, especially in order to protect, hide, carry, or hold it
e.g. He took the glasses off and tucked them in his pocket.
Tuck a bag of raisins in your purse or bag for an easy snack.
(26) tempt: v. attract and make sb. want something, even though it may be wrong or harmful
e.g. Nothing can tempt me to do such a thing.
I shouldn’t have let you tempt me into talking of the old days.
(27) delighted: a. very pleased and happy
e.g. I am very delighted to hear the news of your success.
He looked at the honest parents, with their delighted children laughing and clapping
their hands.
Notes
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1. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. you might end up with a rather dull book.
... you may want to find out where a particular section is ... May is used to express possibility
e.g. They may be sitting in a public house.
But they may be on their way to the theatre.
They may never have intended to turn up at the party. They might not have, but they sounded so keen. They may not come.
They might not come, but I think they will.
End up with or in something
get something or get into some state even though one did not originally intend to get / get into it e.g. He meant to paint a portrait for her, but he ended up with only a sketch. Don’t loaf away your time, or you’ll end up in failure.
2. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings.
Whatever — It doesn’t matter what (or no matter what); I don’t care what Whatever the reason — Whatever the reason it may be e.g. Do what you think is right, whatever they may say.
Whatever the time, I am too wide awake to go to bed yet.
3. ... must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment ...
Book-sellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent. 1) Must in the above sentences expresses obligation.
e.g. These tickets are used ones. You must pay the full fare.
If you don’t pay the fine, I must write down your name and address. 2) Must can also be used to express logical probability.
e.g. People who travel first class every day must be comfortably off.
He is both competent and well-read. He must be admired by his students. 3) The past form of must in this meaning is must have + -ed participle. e.g. The ground is wet. It must have rained last night.
She must have worked very hard. Now she is one of the top students in our class. 4) The negative form of must in this meaning is expressed by can’t. e.g. She must be mistaken. That can’t be true.
He must be her brother. He can’t be the only child.
5) The negative form of must have + -ed participle is expressed by can’t have + -ed participle.
e.g. She can’t have lost her way because she has a map.
I can’t have sent the letter to the wrong address. I remember writing the correct address.
An appointment is an arrangement for a meeting at an agreed time and/or place. You may make an appointment (与人约会), keep an appointment (守约), or break an appointment (失约). long-suffering: patient in spite of difficulty 有耐心 indulgent: treating people with special kindness 宽容
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4. and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment ...
... and left the delighted student to continue his reading.
Through common usage, some -ing and -ed participles have come to be used as regular adjectives. They have all the characteristics of adjectives, thus they can be used attributively or predicatively; they can be modified by adverbs like very, too, quite; their comparative is formed by adding more and their superlative by adding most. e.g. He told us a very amusing story.
Henry is the most promising student in our class. He is too tired to fall asleep easily.
Forest fires are usually caused by some broken glass and cigarette ends.
5. escape the realities of everyday life
get away from what happens every day, both pleasant and unpleasant experiences
Escape, whose basic meaning is “get free”, “keep free from”, may be used in various contexts.
e.g. Let’s go to a quiet corner to escape the crowd.
The canary has escaped from its cage.
Jack’s telephone number escapes me for the moment (i.e., I can’t recall it).
6. You needn’t buy anything you don’t want.
1) needn’t = don’t have to, don’t need to. Needn’t expresses absence of obligation. e.g. You needn’t do the whole exercise now. You can finish it at home.
She needn’t write to him because he has already heard the news. 2) The past form of needn’t is didn’t need to.
e.g. There were plenty of empty seats on the bus so I didn’t need to stand all the way.
Since she helped with the heavy bag, I didn’t need to take a taxi.
3) The alternative past form of didn’t need to = needn’t have + -ed participle. It is used when an action has been unnecessarily done.
e.g. You needn’t have done the washing-up alone. I would have helped you gladly if you
had asked me to.
They needn’t have waited for us in the rain.
7. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing.
Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time ...
The words and phrases in italics are -ing participles used as nouns or noun phrases with which you are familiar.
Here is a summary of the principal uses of the -ing participles used as nouns and noun modifiers.
1) As the subject of a sentence
e.g. Her singing delighted the audience.
Smoking is not allowed in the reading-room. 2) As the complement of a sentence
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