Unit Six Women, Half the

Sky

Language studyLanguage study

vocabulary

bulletin item draft undo incredible

devour consume

Swiss rarely decorate

reproach harmony sophisticated investment

Phrases and Expressions

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• hit/strike home

• care for

• by nature

• get one's act together

• put pencil to paper

• at intervals (of)

• set aside

• race the clock

• achieve one’s heart’s desire

• move on to

Phrases and Expressions

vocabulary

bulletin

a short printed newspaper or leaflet, esp. one produced regularly by a group or organization

Examples: alumni bulletin

news bulletin

　　　　　　 bulletin board （ noticeboard 　 BE ）

The club mails club ______ to its members every month.

A. reports B. bulletins C. notices D. boards

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item

1) a single piece of news

There is a fascinating news item in today's

China Daily.

2) a single article or unit on a list or among a set

There are at least 50 items on her Christmas

shopping list.

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draft

a rough outline or version

Examples:

This is only the first draft of my speech, but

what do you think of it?

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undo1) (fml) disturb or upset greatly

Examples:

My daughter‘s idea about wealth undid me.

The sight of the animal's suffering undid me.

2) untie, open

Examples:

It's so warm inside. He undid his coat and took it off.

His buttons were undone.

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incredible that can't be believed

Examples:

It seemed incredible that people would still

want to play soccer during a war.

The film star has an incredible car in addition

to a large house.

fight with incredible bravery

synonym: unbelievable

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devour 1) vt. eat quickly and in large quantities

The lion devoured the deer.

devour one’s dinner

2) To take in eagerly

devour a novel.

3) To destroy, consume, or waste

The fire devoured the forest.

be devoured by jealousy/guilt/curiosity

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consume1). eat or drink up He consumed four eggs.

2). use up

a project that consumed most of my time and energy

His old car consumed much gasoline.

This is time-consuming work.

3). to destroy totally

The fire soon consumed whole forests

4). to purchase (goods or services) for direct use or

ownership People often consume more than they

need.

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consume 常用搭配：用于成语： be consumed with 充满某种感

情： He was consumed with envy. ( 他充满妒忌心。 )

同根词： consumer 消费者，用户。 consumption n.

消耗；消耗量。consume away 　

典型考题： Never read such an interesting story, he _

_____ Harry Potter in one night.

A. swallowed B. devoured

C. consumed D. digested

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assume, consume, presume,resume

assume vt. 认为，假定；装出…样子；开始担任，承担（职务、任务等）：

1)We assumed that you understood the situation. 我们认为，你了解形势。

2)He assumed a well-informed manner but in fact he knows very little. 他装出一副见多识广的样子，而实际上他知之甚少。

3) You will assume your new duties tomorrow. 你明天将开始担任新的任务。

4) 4 ） The prince assumed power when he was only fifteen. 王子掌权时只有 15 岁。

同根词： assumption 假定，设想；担任（职务）；装出…样子：

1) His assumption proved to be wrong. 他的假定证明是错误的。

2) His assumption of power is not liked by many. 多人并不喜欢他掌权。

3) He appeared with an assumption of authority. 他带着一副权威的样子出现。

assumed adj. 假装的，假的： He lived under an assumed name. 他使用

假名活着。

• resume vt. （停顿以后）继续（进行某项活动） vt. vi.

• 1) Directly after, they resumed their journey. 接着，他们又继续他们的行程。

• 2) We’ll stop now and resume working at 2 o’clock. 我们现在停下来，二点继续开始工作。同根词： resumption 重新开始：

• We all hate the resumption of work after a holiday.

• resume n. 简历。

presume vt. 揣想，认为，估计；竟敢冒昧（做某事）：• I presume that you will be at the meeting. • She presumed to write to him in his daughter’s name.

她竟敢冒昧地以他女儿的名字给他写信。• I won’t presume to disturb you. 我不敢冒昧地打扰你。 同根词： presumption n. 假定；大胆，冒昧，放肆：• As his mouth was sticky, the presumption was that he

had eaten the cake. 由于他的嘴发粘，可以假定，他刚把这个蛋糕吃了。

• It took a great deal of presumption to insult the ambassador at his own party. 在他自己的聚会上污辱大使是要有很大胆量的。

• presumptuous adj. 大胆的，傲慢的：• It was presumptuous for the young senator to

challenge the leadership so soon. 这位年轻参议员那么快就向领导挑战是十分大胆的。

• presumably 大概，或许：• Presumably there’s a good reason for her abs

ence, as she doesn’t usually stay away from work. 很可能她有充分理由缺席，因为她通常不在工作的地方。

• presumptive a. 假定的，依据推定的。

Swiss

Switzerland ～ Swiss

Sweden ～ Swedish

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decorate

add (sth.) in order to make a thing more attrac

tive to look at

Examples:

The boy decorated his room with picture

s of his favorite sports figures.

They are going to decorate the classroo

m for Christmas.

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reproach criticize (sb.) for failing to do sth. (reproach sb. for sth.)

Examples:

She loved her boyfriend so much that she didn't reproach

him for breaking his promise.

He reproached himself constantly for not having visited hi

s sick mother before she died.

典型考题： His manners are beyond _____, and I have never

met anyone so polite.

A. reproach B. reproaching C. approach D. blame

比较： blame, criticize, reproach 责备，批评

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harmony

Examples:

The kids are singing in harmony.

Since they moved to this community they have li

ved in harmony with their neighbors. 　　　　　　 My cat and dog live in perfect harmony.

常用搭配： be in harmony with

be out of harmony with 　扩展 : harmonious 　 adj.

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sophisticated

1) worldly-wise; showing knowledge of the world

a sophisticated girl

Richard was still young, but he was sophisticated

enough to know when people were not telling the

truth.

2) advanced or complicated

the latest and most sophisticated technology.

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investment

putting money in sth. (followed by in)

Examples:

Total foreign investment in America still cons

titutes only a small portion of US assets.

扩展： invest v.

e.g. invest in real estate

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hit/strike home

(of remarks, etc.) have the intended effect

Examples:

His criticism hit home. I was really selfish.

I could see from her expression that his

comments had hit home.

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care for

1). 喜欢 I don't care for tea.

My wife doesn't really care for tea; she likes c

offee better.

2). 照顾；照料；抚养 He's good at caring for sick animals.

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by nature

as a result of inborn or inherent qualities; innately

Examples:

I am not by nature a violent man, but these i

nsults were more than I could bear.

　 She is polite by nature. 　

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get one's act together

(infml) organize oneself and one's activities

so that one does things in an effective way

Examples: 　　 Steve will have to get his act together if he is g

oing to pass the exam. He can't just sit about

doing nothing all day.

"Come on, you two, get your act together or w

e'll miss the bus," she shouted at the children

as they slowly put on their coats.

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put pencil to paper

start to write

Examples:

When I put pencil to paper yesterday, vivid

memories came flooding back of my first day in

school.

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at intervals (of)

每隔……时间（或距离）；不时Examples:

Trees have been planted at intervals along the st

reet.

It snowed at intervals this week.

典型考题： They will come and check ______ interv

als of two hours.

A. in B. on C. at D. with

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set aside

put (time or money) away for a special purpose

Examples:

Please set aside a little time and money each

week.

扩展：与 set 相关的一些词组 set about set back

set down set off

set up

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race the clock

争分夺秒地工作Examples:

With the approaching of deadline, we have t

o race the clock.

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achieve one’s heart’s desire

得到心中最渴望的东西Examples:

In order to achieve his heart’s desire, he

would like to do anything.

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move on to

stop doing one thing and begin dealing with the next

Examples:

We're about to move on to the second stage of

the project.

We have talked a lot about this, let’s move on to

another topic.

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Barbara has dreamed of becoming a CEO for a long time. To achieve her heart’s desire, she applied for a job in many a multi-national corporation, but failed to get it. However, nothing seems to be able to undo her. With a loan from a local bank she opened a restaurant not long ago. While doing business she is having two young children to care for. Also, she is working at/studying for an MBA degree. Despite all this she manages to get her act together. Nevertheless, even to her, racing the clock is by no means a piece of cake. It’s a very exhausting job.