2. from the two anecdotes related in paras.2-4, what impression of Einstein have you got?
Einstein was a very modest, never thinking himself any superior to or more authoritative than others because of his fame and achievements as a great scientist of the time.
3. what, according to the author, is Einstein’s most outstanding trait as a scientist?
Concentration. Refer to the first sentence of Paragraph 9. 4. why did Einstein insist on working hard when he was so badly shaken by his wife’s death?
Working hard requires concentration, which would help him to dispel the feeling of sorrow.
5. how do you interpret the sentence in para.11 “to help him, I steeered the discussion away from routine matters into more difficult theoretical problems”?
Tackling more difficult theoretical problems requires greater concentration and absorption. This would help him temporarily forget the sadness caused by his wife’s death..
6. what revelation is made through Einstein’s comment on Beethoven and Mozart’s works?
As a simple man, Einstein takes it that beauty exists in the Universe. Such beauty is natural, pure, and simple. Beauty found is even greater and more admirable than beauty created. 7. how did Einstein feel about the destructive effect produced as a result of the application of his E=mc2 formula?
This is something he had not expected. He was greatly dismayed by the devastating effect his formula produced once it was put into application.
8.with his favorite anecdote related in para.19, Hoffmann aims to illustrate Einstein’s whimsically. Do you think he is really a whimsical man? What personality trait other than being whimsical is revealed here?
He was not really a whimsical man. If he could be called a whimsical man, then his whimsicality came from the young heart and childlike innocence which he had managed to retain.
Translation
1. 他按了下汽车喇叭以引起路上行人的警觉。(alert)
He honked his car horn to alert the pedestrians. 2. 信息工程的迅速发展是人类努力作出尝试的一个突出事例。(endeavour)
The fast development of information technology is an outstanding example of human endeavour.
3. Mary试图找到恰当的语言来表达她对老师的感激。(grope)
Mary groped for the appropriate words to express her indebtedness to her teacher.
4.学校校长以平易的话语向年轻人传递了富有挑战性的信息。(convey)
The school principal's plain words conveyed a message of challenge to the young people.
5. 不要胡乱摆弄电线，要不然会引起电线短路。(tamper with)
Don't tamper with the wires, or you may cause a short circuit.
6. 他自以为在竞争中可以战胜任何对手，但是过分的自信使他失败了。(fail vt.)
He thought he could beat everyone at the competition, but his excessive self-confidence failed him.
7. 他说的话似乎简单明了，但是其中暗含的意思我们没能理解。(fathom)
What he said seemed simple and clear, but the meaning implied we could hardly fathom.8.
8. 他试图把小组漫无目的的谈话引导到一些有建设性的话题上去。(steer)
He tried to steer the group's random talk towards some constructive subjects.
Unit 4
1.how do you account for Harrington’s use n para.2 of the first person singular, which is not found anywhere else in the passage?
To enforce his assertion that the other America did exist though most Americans might not believe it just because they had never been there personally. What Harrington is trying to say is “I myself was once ignorant of its existence, but now I can prove to you that it does exist.”
2.what, according to Harrington, has rendered poverty less visible in rural America?
Refer to paras.4-5
Rural poverty is hidden away from tourists who normally travel on highways without penetrating into the country, and sometimes is masked by its natural beauty.
3.how has urban development contributed to the reduced awareness of the existence of the poor?
Refer to paras.8-10
Urban transformation leads to the distributional segregation of poverty, and urban renewal creates the false impression about the existence of the poor.
4.what have mass-production and age to do with the invisiblity of poverty?
Refer to paras.11-14
Mass production of garments enables even the poor to be decently dressed. Most poor people are aged; they are less mobile and thus less visible.