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(???)??????????? Unit 4 American
Dream
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• I. Cultural Notes
• 1. American Dream the belief of Americans that
  their country offers opportunities for a good and
  successful life. For minorities and immigrants,
  the dream also includes freedom and equal rights.
• 2. Immigrants Apart from "Native Americans"
  Indians who were living in North America when
  people first arrived there from Europe, all
  Americans have ancestors who were immigrants. In
  the US the word immigrant is often used with a
  positive meaning. People are proud to say that
  their ancestors were immigrants who came with
  very little and built a better life for
  themselves.
• Most Americans have a clear idea of what
  life was like for the immigrants they left home
  because they were poor and thought they would
  have better opportunities in the US. For them the
  American dream was that talent and hard work
  could take them from log cabin to White House.
• Once in the US, life was not easy. Many
  immigrants had to work for little money in
  factories where conditions were hard and
  dangerous and lived in crowded buildings. But
  slowly they improved their lives and many wrote
  home to encourage others to come.

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• 3. Depression days the period of severe economic
  failure in most countries of the world that
  lasted from 1929 until World War II. It began in
  the US when the New York Stock Exchange fell on
  29 October 1929, known as Black Tuesday. Many
  businesses and banks failed and millions of
  people lost their jobs. President Franklin D.
  Roosevelt improved the situation with his New
  Deal policy. but the Great Depression was only
  ended by industrial production for the war.

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• II. Language Study
• 1. ... hard to comprehend his broken English
• If someone talks in broken English, they speak
  slowly and make a lot of mistakes because they
  only know a little of the language.
• 2. turn away refuse to help (sb.) or to allow
  (sb.) to enter a place
• Examples 1) Hes my son after all (??), I
  can't just turn him away when he is in trouble.
• 2) The lecture hall was already full and
  many of the students were turned away.
• 3. work out plan solve calculate
• Examples 1) "How will you keep in touch with
  me?" "We haven't worked that out yet.
• 2) Finally I worked out that the parcel
  had been sent to Paris by mistake.
• 3) My mother allowed me to take the trip,
  but asked me to work out the total cost first.

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• 4. weekly happening once a week or every week
• Examples His story was published in a weekly
  newspaper 21st Century English.
• 5. clean up make clean and tidy
• Examples 1) I'll go shopping with you as soon as
  I've cleaned up the kitchen.
• 2) I hate cleaning up after a
  party.
• 6. helpful useful in making a situation better
  or easier always willing to help people
• Examples 1) Sometimes it is helpful to make a
  list of everything you have to do.
• 2) Any information would be helpful
  in determining what happened to her.
• 3) She is such a pleasant
  and helpful child.

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• 7. do with (used in questions with what) deal
  with
• Examples 1) What do you do with such rude
  boys?
• 2) What are we going to do with the
  huge rock lying in the middle of the road?
• 8. determination the ability to continue trying
  to achieve what you have decided to do even when
  this is difficult (uncountable noun, often
  followed by infinitive to)
• Examples 1) He showed great determination by
  continuing to play after hurting his foot.
• 2) Her determination to do well made her keep on
  studying.

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• 9. personnel 1) the department in a large
  company or organization that deals with
  employees, keeps their records, and helps with
  any problem they might have human resources
  (uncountable noun, used with a singular or plural
  verb)
• Examples a) Personnel has/have received your
  application form.
• b) Her first job after graduation was in
  Personnel at Microsoft.
• 2) all the persons working in an organization,
  in the army, etc. (used with a plural verb)
• Examples a) All personnel in this company are
  entitled to medical insurance.
• b) A modem army needs highly skilled
  personnel.

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• 10. capacity the ability to understand or do
  sth. (often followed by for or infinitive to)
• Examples 1) Not everyone has a capacity for
  languages.
• 2) Those math problems were beyond my
  capacity.
• 3) I don't think it's within a
  five-year-old boy's capacity to spread computer
  viruses.
• 11. turn down refuse
• Examples 1) He was offered the job but he turned
  it down because it involved too much traveling.
• 2) Look, I am offering you a free meal
  you are surely not going to turn me down?
• 12. Tony took a cut in pay to become an
  apprentice. Tony had his pay reduced in order to
  be an apprentice.

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• 13. skilled having skill needing skill (often
  followed by in or at)
• Examples 1) The IT (information technology)
  industry demands skilled labor.
• 2) The personnel manager is pressing for
  skilled workers. She was skilled in dealing with
  all sorts of people.
• 14. My wife and I were delighted with what we
  felt was a satisfying end of the story. My wife
  and I were delighted with what Tony had achieved,
  and thought that the whole thing had thus been
  settled.
• 15. for sale available to be bought
• Examples 1) Reluctantly my parents put a "For
  Sale" sign on the house.
• 2) Her former home is for sale
  at 495,000.

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• 16. wreck sth. such as a ship, car, plane, or
  building which has been destroyed, usu. in an
  accident
• Examples The wreck of the plane could be
  clearly seen on the hillside.
• 17. call on visit sb. for a short time
• Examples I'd like to call on my former
  professor while I am on business in Beijing.
• 18. loan lend (sth.)
• Examples He had kindly offered to loan me all
  the books required for the examination..
• n. 1) a sum of money that you borrow
• Examples a) The president wants to make it
  easier for small businesses to get bank loans.
• b) I am trying to get a
  loan from the bank to buy a house.
• 2) the act of lending (used in singular,
  followed by of)
• Examples I asked him for a loan of his car
  to have a short trip with my family.

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• 19. character the particular collection of
  qualities that make sb. a particular kind of
  person
• Examples 1) The chief flaw in her character was
  impatience.
• 2) How can he beat his wife? I've never
  seen that cruel side of his character.
• 20. down payment an initial amount given as
  partial payment at the time of purchase
• (If you make a down payment on sth., you pay only
  a percentage of the total cost when you buy it.
  You pay the remaining amount later.)
• 21. discard (formal) throw away
• Examples I'm going to discard those magazines if
  you've finished reading them.

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• 22. confidence the quality of being certain of
  your abilities or of trusting other people,
  plans, or the future (followed by in or
  infinitive to)
• Examples 1) He would be a better speaker if
  he had more confidence.
• 2) I have every confidence in you. You
  can make a great success.
• 23. amaze surprise (sb.) very much
• Examples 1) Dave amazed his friends by
  suddenly getting married.
• 2) It amazed me that you would
  believe those lies.
• 3) It amazed me to discover how long the
  dinosaur age lasted.
• amazed / amazing adj.

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• 24. diet food and drink usu. taken by a person
  or group
• Examples 1) Poor diet and too much smoking will
  seriously damage the health of your hair.
• 2) Nowadays many people prefer a healthy
  diet rich in fruit and vegetables.
• 25. send for ask for the arrival of
• Examples 1) Don't worry about your son, I have
  sent for the doctor.
• 2) He sent for his parents to attend the
  graduation ceremony at Harvard.

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• 26. hunt 1) search thoroughly (followed by /
  for)
• Examples a) They were hunting the area for a new
  house.
• b) Many college students start hunting for a
  job in the fourth year.
• c) We have been hunting all over town for a
  new house.
• 2) chase and kill wild animals for food or as a
  sport
• Examples a) They had gone up the hill to hunt
  deer.
• b) At one time man had to hunt to
  survive.
• 27. abandon give up completely or forever
• Examples 1) My car broke down and I had to
  abandon it on the main road.
• 2) The young couple abandoned their daughter
  hoping that they would give birth to a boy.
• 3) As the plane was badly damaged, the pilot
  had to abandon it.

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• 28. property 1) land, buildings or both together
• Examples With more and more people purchasing
  houses, property prices have been on the rise .
• 2) the thing or things that sb. owns
• Examples a) Policemen searched the criminal's
  home and found weapons and stolen property in the
  basement.
• b) That's my personal
  property! Leave it alone!
• 29. sometime at a time in the past or future
  that is unknown or has not yet been fixed
• Examples 1) He saw her at the airport sometime
  last week.
• 2) Can I come and see you sometime?
• (Don't confuse sometime with sometimes which
  means "on certain occasions, rather than all the
  time".)

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• 30. sponsor support (a person, organization or
  activity) by giving money, encouragement or other
  help
• Examples 1) The old couple sponsored the
  young man who wanted to study in the United
  States for a year.
• 2) The soccer team is sponsored by
  Coco-Cola, so the players wear the letters
  Coco-Cola on their shirts.
• 31. amuse cause to laugh or smile cause to
  spend time in a pleasant manner
• Examples 1) The computer games amused the
  children for hours.
• 2) The kids amused themselves
  playing hide-and-seek.
• 3) He thought of various activities that
  might amuse the children till bedtime.
• amused /amusing

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• 32. approach come near(er) to
• Examples As they approached the wood, a rabbit
  ran out of the trees.
• 33. pass away die (You can say that sb. passed
  away if you want to avoid using the word die
  because you think it too blunt.)
• Examples 1) The old lady passed away
  peacefully in her sleep.
• 2) The teenager has lived on his own
  since his parents passed away four years ago.
• 34. handle manage, control
• Examples 1) She couldn't handle the
  pressures of her new job. She had to quit it.
• 2) The students handle the conversation in the
  Chinese way even though they speak English.

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• 35. He grew in stature in my mind He grew taller
  and greater in my mind.
• 36. above all most important of all
• Examples 1) John is fair, hardworking, and above
  all, honest.
• 2) I won't go with you, because it's too far,
  too late, and above all, too dangerous.
• 37. Tony did not begin on the bottom rung of the
  ladder. He began in the basement. Tony had
  nothing when he arrived in the United States and
  he built up from nothing.
• 38. But, after all, the balance sheets were
  exactly the same. But after all, what Tony and
  the greatest industrialists achieved was exactly
  the same.
• 39. create produce or make (esp. sth. new)
• Examples 1) Hawking created a new theory of the
  universe.
• 2) The Bible says that God
  created the world.

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• 24. brief 1) using few words concise
• Examples a) The teacher of English told the
  students to write a brief description of a
  typical problem they had recently met with.
• b) Patrick gave a brief summary of
  the last night's events.
• 2) lasting or taking a short time
• Examples a) This time their visit to
  Beijing is brief.
• b) My brother once made a brief
  appearance on television.
• 25. accurate exact
• Examples 1) On the whole the program
  provided an accurate picture of the effect of
  AIDS.
• 2) You were pretty accurate in your calculations.

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• 26. Maybe I would have sold twice as many copies
  without it. If my popular book had not included
  Einstein's equation, maybe I would have sold
  twice as many copies.
• 27. tend be likely to happen or have a
  particular characteristic or effect
• Examples 1) Some people tend to get up later at
  weekends.
• 2) The school bus tends to be early on
  Monday mornings.

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• 28. in the form of 1) having the shape of
• Examples a) The lane was in the form of a
  big "S".
• b) The trees were laid out in the
  form of the figure eight.
• 2) existing in a particular form
• Examples They received a benefit in the form
  of a tax reduction.
• 29. precise exact
• Examples We will never know the precise
  details of his death.

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• 30. grasp understanding
• Examples 1) Applied mathematics was beyond
  the grasp of most of her students.
• 2) She has a good grasp of the
  English language.
• 31. sufficient as much as is needed, enough
  (often followed by for or to infinitive)
• Examples 1) -- "Can you lend me some money
  for the journey?"
• -- "Yes, will 100
  be sufficient?
• 2) There was not sufficient evidence to prove
  that he was guilty.
• 3) His income is sufficient to keep him
  comfortable.
• 4) There is sufficient food for everyone.

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• 32. convey make (ideas, feelings, etc.) known to
  another
• Examples 1) Their bright eyes and smiling
  faces conveyed the impression that they were very
  excited.
• 2) Words cannot convey how delighted I am
  that you'll come and spend the weekend with us.
• 33. put across cause to be understood
• Examples 1) Good teachers are the ones who
  are able to put things across well.
• 2) I'm not putting my meaning across very
  well.
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• 34. proportion 1) a part of a group or an amount
  (usu. singular)
• Example A large proportion of the city's
  population is aged over 50.
• 2) the relationship between the amounts,
  numbers, or sizes of different things that go
  together to form a whole (usu. singular)
• Examples a) The proportion of men to women
  in the medical profession has changed in recent
  years.
• b) A large proportion of the
  dolphins in that area will eventually die because
  of the water pollution.
• 35. Only television can reach a truly mass
  audience. Unlike popular books and magazine
  articles, television science programs have a
  really large audience.

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• 36. fit into be part of a situation, system, or
  plan
• Examples The new college courses fit into a
  national education plan.
• 37. educate teach or train
• Examples 1) How can our children be educated
  if schools are not properly funded?
• 2) The organization launched a campaign to
  educate teenagers about the dangers of smoking.
• well-educated

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• 39. ... hence the sick joke that... ...
  therefore the sick joke spreads that
• sick joke sick jokes deal with death and
  suffering in a cruel and unpleasant way
• hence 1) as a result, therefore (a formal
  use, followed by a clause/noun group/a./ad./prepos
  itional phrase)
• Examples a) He's an extremely private
  person hence his reluctance to give interviews.
  b) The Democratic Party was divided
  and hence very weak. C) The trade
  imbalance is likely to rise again in the 2000s.
  Hence a new set of policy actions will be
  required soon.
• 2) from this time
• Examples a) I don't know where I will be six
  months hence.
• b) The annual conference of APEC
  will be held in Shanghai seven months hence.

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• 40. contact get in touch with
• Examples 1) Feel free to contact me if you
  need my help.
• 2) I will contact the Tourist
  Information Bureau for further details.

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• Translation
• After graduating from college, Tony decided to
  start his own business. At the beginning, many a
  bank turned down his request for a loan. But he
  was not discouraged, and continued to call on one
  banker after another seeking help. Impressed by
  his determination and optimism, one banker
  finally agreed to loan him the money. Now he has
  become a wealthy businessman. Talking about his
  amazing achievement, Tony puts great emphasis on
  the importance of creating, rather than waiting
  for opportunities.

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