Unit 5

Section A

Comprehension o f the text

I.

1. Because 22 million people live alone, which suggests that it is an overwhelming

phenomenon in the

United States.

2. Because they can find inspiration in solitude.

3. The more positive one is toward oneself, the less the need for staying with others.

4. It depends. If they live with their friends, the friends' temporary leaving will be

received as a

welcome change. However, if they live alone, the temporary absence of friends may

leave them

with a feeling of emptiness.

5. Because the need to talk is the most basic need of a solitary person.

6. They may call friends to tell them important things, or talk to themselves, their pets,

the television,

or even to strangers.

7. To stay rational, settle down in a comfortable way and find pleasure from the current

life,. wait for

anything happy that may happen.

8. The writer thinks that as ordinary people's solitary life differs from that of great

minds (like poets

and philosophers), they should cherish the thought that "since we are here, we may as

well accept it

and make the best of it".

Vocabulary

III.

1. humble 2. slippery 3. tame 4. inspiration 5. crept

6. apology 7. observation 8. dictate 9. inadequate 10. solitary

Exercises on Web course only:

1l. choked 12. waterproof 13. poetry 14. commodity

IV

1. cast out 2. all by himself 3. stay up late 4. was fond of 5. at one sitting

6. filled up with 7. speaks highly of 8. set forth 9. at length 10. for the time being

V.

1.K 2.H 3.M 4.B 5.A 6.0 7.J 8.D 9.F 10.1

Collocation

VI.

1. efficiency 2. status 3. performance 4. standard 5. coordination

6. sense 7. career 8. quality 9. supply 10. accuracy

Word Cjuifdin8

VIl.

1. underestimated 2. underpaid 3. overslept 4. Underdeveloped

5. overestimated 6. overcharged 7. underweight 8. overloaded

VIll.

1. simplified 2. electrician 3. recovery 4. childlike

5. autobiography 6. underline 7. terrorist 8. overreact

sentence structure

IX.

1. The distance between them is not so great as to be unbridgeable.

2. The unity of the masses with the party is never so strong as it is now.

3. The punishment was harsh because Maggie would lose her position, but it was not so

bad as losing

her pay.

4. I've heard the terrible noise once or twice before, but never so loud as this one.

5. Men are never so peaceful, so graceful with each other as they are now.

X.

1. You might as well go there to see whether there is the information you need.

2. We might as well call it freedom.

3.You might as well ring and tell them you're going to visit them.

4. We might as well walk home.

5. We might as well find an easier one to read.

Translation

XI.

1. This little man is not so innocent as he appears.

2. There's nothing I can do about the problem, so you might as well turn to Professor

Wang for help.

3. Both sides speak highly of the fruits in their cooperation in different areas, and hope

that the

cooperation can be furthered.

4. On the one hand, an image of being close to the people can get a new policy more

easily accepted.

On the other hand, it will "encourage people to speak their minds and come up with

constructive

suggestions".

5. His sense of loneliness rose and fell and he sometimes would talk at length to himself

and his pets

and the television.

6. After all, money is not everything. The richest people are not necessarily the happiest.

XII

1.新的机制并不像他们预期的那样有效，因为数月过去了，但管理效率并没有明显改进。

2.我不想不必要地吓唬你，可你最好还是面对事实，看看一些数字吧。

3.孤独的特点是一种与世隔绝感，而独居则是独自一人却不感到寂寞的状态，它能引发

自我

意识。

4.孤独是一种消极的状态，你会感到失去了某种东西。你可能与别人在一起仍然感到孤

独—

这也许是孤独最痛苦的形式。

5.独居是一种与自我相约的积极的状态。独居是值得向往的，是独自一人、享受自我愉

快而又

充实的陪伴的一种状态。

6.梭罗说，一个人即使身处同伴之中，如果不对他们敞开心扉，仍会感到孤独。

Cloze

XIII.

1 ．B 2.D 3.A 4.B 5．C 6.C 7．D 8．D 9. B 10. A

11 ．C 12. B 13．A 14.C 15.D 16.B 17.C 18.A 19.D 20.C

Structured Writing

XV. Some people prefer to live alone whereas some others have to live alone for one

reason or another.

Those people believing in inspirational solitude argue that no companion is more

companionable than

solitude. Literary giants such as William Wordsworth, John Milton and Henry Thoreau

enjoyed living

alone on purpose. Hunters or explorers enjoy themselves as they venture out to tame

the great wild

areas. On the other hand, there are some other people who have to live alone due to

various reasons:

being divorced, widowed or never married. Many of them feel bitter to live in solitude.

They have no

one to talk to and as a result they talk at length to themselves and to their pets and to

the television.

Section B

Reading skills

1.A 2.C 3.B 4.C

Comprehension o f the text

II.1.F 2.T 3.T 4.F 5.F 6.T 7.T 8.F

Vocabulary

III.

1. abstract 2. holy 3. Nevertheless 4. odds 5. complicate

6. tolerate 7. depression 8. resorting 9. exclaimed 10. disorder

Exercises on Web course only:

11. chew 12. vibrate 13. stale 14. jury

IV

1. When he received the admission notice from the university, he knew it was time he

struck out on his own.

2. I had to keep the video camera readily accessible in case I saw something that needed

to be filmed.

3. Every time she tried to argue with her identical twin Katie, she would end up crying

her eyes out.

4. Serious violence has sprung from the conflict over insignificant, irritating differences.

5. There are many people who believe sincerely that you can train children for life

without resorting

to punishment.

6. Alan signed a dorm contract with his roommate to head off possible conflicts.

7. He was required to fill in a form before the job interview.

8. Her major concern is how she will make sure the people on the teams get along with

one another.

9. Against all the odds, it has worked, and this is a measure of just how strong they both

were as

individuals when they came to the marriage ten years ago.

10. What I'd like to do is to help them to see that they don't need to give up on the

computer, that they

can actually be the master of it.