Navigating the Online Dating Scene: New Words and Expressions

1. Unit 3 Internet and Lifestyle

2. New words and expressions for Reading One: • pervasive: Something, especially something bad, that is pervasive is present or felt throughout a place or thing. (FORMAL) • ...the pervasive influence of the army in national life...

3. rosy: If you say that a situation looks rosy or that the picture looks rosy, you mean that the situation seems likely to be good or successful. • The job prospects for those graduating in engineering are far less rosy now than they used to be... • = good

4. go about: The way you go about a task or problem is the way you approach it and deal with it. • I want him back, but I just don’t know how to go about it. • run into: If you run into someone, you meet them unexpectedly. • He ran into Krettner in the corridor a few minutes later. • = meet, bump into

5. fix up:If you fix something up, you arrange it. • I fixed up an appointment to see her... • blind date: A blind date is an arrangement made for you to spend a romantic evening with someone you have never met before. • take out: If you take out something such as a loan, a licence, or an insurance policy, you obtain it by fulfilling the conditions and paying the money that is necessary. • They find a house, agree on a price, and take out a mortgage through their building society.

6. profile: A profile of someone is a short article or programme in which their life and character are described. • A newspaper published profiles of the candidates’ wives. • subscriber: Subscribers to a service are the people who pay to receive the service. • China has almost 15 million subscribers to satellite and cable television.

7. correspond: If you correspond with someone, you write letters to them. You can also say that two people correspond. • She still corresponds with American friends she met in Majorca nine years ago... • We corresponded regularly.

8. screen out: If an organization or country screens out certain people, it keeps them out because it thinks they may cause problems. • The company screened out applicants motivated only by money.

9. compatibility: (of two people) being able to have a harmonious relationship; being well suited • As a result of their compatibility, Haig and Fraser were able to bring about wide-ranging reforms.

10. niche: A niche in the market is a specific area of marketing which has its own particular requirements, customers, and products. (BUSINESS) • I think we have found a niche in the toy market...

11. cater:In British English, to cater for a group of people means to provide all the things that they need or want. In American English, you say you cater to a person or group of people. • Minorca is the sort of place that caters for families... • We cater to an exclusive clientele.

12. cater to: try to satisfy (a particular need or demand) • 迎合，设法满足（需要，要求） • He catered to her every whim. • 他对她百依百顺。

13. kindred soul: a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one’s own, also called “kindred spirit”. 志趣相投的人 • odds:You refer to how likely something is to happen as the odds that it will happen. • What are the odds of finding a parking space right outside the door?... • The odds are that you are going to fail.

14. chemistry: If you say that there is chemistry between two people, you mean that is obvious they are attracted to each other or like each other very much. • Their affair was triggered by intense sexual chemistry. • 他们的风流韵事是由相互间强烈的性吸引诱发的。

15. spark: A spark of a quality or feeling, especially a desirable one, is a small but noticeable amount of it. • His music lacked that vital spark of imagination... • setting: A particular setting is a particular place or type of surroundings where something is or takes place. • Rome is the perfect setting for romance...

16. word: If there is word of something, people receive news or information about it. • There is no word from the authorities on the reported attack... • Word has been spreading fast of the incidents on the streets...

17. disillusioned: If you are disillusioned with something, you are disappointed, because it is not as good as you have expected or thought. • I’ve become very disillusioned with politics... • = disenchanted

18. Check Your Comprehension B • 1. It would take months or years to meet 100 people you find interesting, but on the Internet, you can view 100 profiles in an hour. After reading the profiles, you can decide who you want to correspond with, and have more chances of meeting your “Mr./Mrs. Right” .

19. Check Your Comprehension B • 2. Online dating sites allow you to search for people with specific qualities, interests or backgrounds. And by reading what subscribers write about themselves, you can know straight away whether their interests and goals match yours.

20. Check Your Comprehension B • 3. Psychologists say “niche” sites are practical because if you have specific requirements, there’s a greater chance of your finding the perfect person through these sites as they cater to specific tastes.

21. Check Your Comprehension B • 4. Some ways to get acquainted include exchanging photos, messages, and even videos through e-mail, chat rooms, and personal websites. • 5. There’s a stereotype attached to online dating: Some people think that this form of dating is for losers, and some others feel embarrassed to advertise for a partner online.

22. New words and expressions for Reading Two: • lug: If you lug a heavy or awkward object somewhere, you carry it there with difficulty. (INFORMAL) • I hastily packed the hamper and lugged it to the car. • She began to lug her suitcase up the stairs.

23. bungalow: A bungalow is a house which has only one level, and no stairs. • beep: a short high sound made by a piece of electronic equipment • Leave your message after the beep. • scrimp: [intransitive] to try to save as much money as you can, even though you have very little • They scrimped and saved for years to buy their own home.

24. literacy: Literacy is the ability to read and write. • Many adults have some problems with literacy and numeracy... • The literacy rate there is the highest in Central America. • meld: If two things meld, or if you meld them, they combine into one thing. • meld (something) with something • He melded country music with blues to create rock and roll. • meld into • The raindrops melded into a sheet of water.

25. Gothic: In Gothic stories, strange, mysterious adventures happen in dark and lonely places such as graveyards and old castles. • This novel is not science fiction, nor is it Gothic horror. • handle: 句柄是窗口、控件等对象的唯一标识符，即序列号，属长整型。在WINDOWS操作系统中是唯一的，它在生成该对象时由操作系统赋予。句柄是一个标识符，是拿来标识对象或者项目的，它就像我们的姓名一样，每个人都会有一个，不同的人的姓名不一样，但是也可能有一个名字和你一样的人。

26. icon: An icon is a picture on a computer screen representing a particular computer function. If you want to use it, you move the cursor onto the icon using a mouse. (COMPUTING) • blink: When a light blinks, it flashes on and off. • Green and yellow lights blinked on the surface of the harbour... • A warning light blinked on. • The light on your answering machine is blinking.

27. newbie: A newbie is someone who is new to an activity, especially in computing or on the Internet. • The program is simple to use, even for newbies. • mutter: If you mutter, you speak very quietly so that you cannot easily be heard, often because you are complaining about something. • ‘God knows what’s happening in that madman’s mind,’ she muttered... • He sat there shaking his head, muttering to himself... • Elsie muttered something I couldn’t catch and walked off.

28. chide: If you chide someone, you speak to them angrily because they have done something wicked or foolish. (OLD-FASHIONED) • She chided him for not responding to her Christmas cards. • He swiftly chided himself for such thoughts. • = scold

29. poof: n.用力吹气（如吹蜡烛时的声音） • type: 用键盘键入的文字 • moan: If you moan, you make a low sound, usually because you are unhappy or in pain. • Tony moaned in his sleep and then turned over on his side... • = groan

30. crummy: Something that is crummy is unpleasant, of very poor quality, or not good enough. (INFORMAL) • When I first came here, I had a crummy flat. • prank: A prank is a childish trick. (OLD-FASHIONED) • Those schoolboys like to play pranks on their teachers.

31. stabbing: A stabbing pain is a sudden sharp pain. • He was struck by a stabbing pain in his midriff. • heat: a burning sensation • inexorably: adv. 无法阻挡地 • Globalization proceeds inexorably. • Tracing that call of God into a neighboring church, I found myself inexorably attracted by the melody of piano. It has since become my obsession. • 我循着上帝的召唤来到附近的一所教堂。一进教堂我就被钢琴的旋律吸引住了，简直不能自拔。从此以后钢琴成为我生活中不可或却的一部分。

32. jolt: If something jolts or if something jolts it, it moves suddenly and quite violently. • They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again. • Jolt is also a noun. • We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries. • spine: [countable] • the row of bones down the centre of your back that supports your body and protects your spinal cord

33. rib cage: 胸腔 • vise: [countable] a tool that holds an object very firmly so that you can work on it • He held my arm like a vise. • spasm: [uncountable and countable] an occasion when your muscles suddenly become tight, causing you pain • Maggie felt a muscle spasm in her back.

34. limp: If a person or animal limps, they walk with difficulty or in an uneven way because one of their legs or feet is hurt. • I wasn’t badly hurt, but I injured my thigh and had to limp... • He had to limp off with a leg injury. • Moreno limped off the field with a foot injury.

35. scalding: Scalding or scalding hot liquids are extremely hot. • I tried to sip the tea but it was scalding. • clamp: To clamp something in a particular place means to put it or hold it there firmly and tightly. • Simon finished dialing and clamped the phone to his ear... • He clamped his lips together... • Peter jumped to his feet with his hand clamped to his neck.

36. asthmatic: If you are asthmatic, you suffer from asthma, an illness that causes difficulty in breathing. • in unison: If two or more people do something in unison, they do it together at the same time. • ‘Good morning!’ the kids replied in unison. • Michael and the landlady nodded in unison.

37. dutifully: If you do something dutifully, you do it because you think it is the correct way to behave. • I dutifully wrote down every word. • The inspector dutifully recorded the date in a large red book.

38. list: to lean to one side • tingling: 刺痛的 • My hands and fingers are numb and tingling. • hoax:A hoax is a trick in which someone tells people a lie, for example that there is a bomb somewhere when there is not, or that a picture is genuine when it is not. • The UFO sightings were revealed to be a hoax.

39. sheriff: In the United States, a sheriff is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county. • dispatcher: [countable] American English • someone whose job is to send out vehicles such as taxis or ambulances to places where they are needed 调度员

40. have to be: [美, 口]肯定是,毫无疑问是 • flip: If you flip a device on or off, or if you flip a switch, you turn it on or off by pressing the switch quickly. • Then he walked out, flipping the lights off... • He flipped the timer switch. • = flick • log: a record, as of the performance of a machine or the progress of an undertaking • a computer log; a trip log • 电脑日志；旅行日志

41. listen in: If you listen in to a private conversation, you secretly listen to it. 监听 • He assigned federal agents（联邦调查局人员）to listen in on Martin Luther King’s phone calls. • = eavesdrop

42. prankster: someone who plays tricks on people to make them look silly (OLD-FASHIONED) • punch up: If you punch up somebody, you give them a call. • concede: If you concede something, you admit, often unwillingly, that it is true or correct. • Bess finally conceded that Nancy was right... • I conceded that I had made a number of errors.

43. kid: If you kid someone, you tease them. • He liked to kid Ingrid a lot... • He used to kid me about being chubby. • on hold: into a state of temporary interruption without total disconnection during a telephone call • We try not to keep people on hold for more than a couple of minutes. • The agent put me on hold while she consulted a colleague.

44. reel off: If you reel off information, you repeat it from memory quickly and easily. • She reeled off the titles of a dozen or so of the novels. • Jack reeled off a list of names. • He could reel off the names of all the capitals of Europe. • She can reel off the names of all the children in the school.

45. hunch: bend down and forwards so that your back forms a curve • He had to hunch over the steering wheel to see anything. • perch: informal a high place or position, especially one where you can sit and watch something • She watched the parade from her perch on her father’s shoulders.

46. Check Your Comprehension B • Answer the following questions with the information from the text. • 1. Why did the Reddens buy their children a computer though they were not very rich? They saved the money to buy their children a computer because they knew computer skills were as important as reading and writing skills.

47. Check Your Comprehension B • 2. Did Sean take Susan seriously the first time he saw her message? No, he didn’t and he was not happy that this newcomer wasn’t following the rules in this role-playing chat room.

48. Check Your Comprehension B • 3. What happened to Susan when she was searching the Internet for information on a course project? She was struck by a familiar stabbing heat. Spasms burned up her thighs and into her hips like jolts of electrical current. She dared not move as any movement would send searing pain through her body.

49. Check Your Comprehension B • 4. What made Debbie believe Susan was not playing a game? Debbie came to the conclusion that Susan was really in need of help because she thought a person who was playing a trick would not stay on-line for so long.

50. Check Your Comprehension B • 5. Did Debbie manage to get connected to someone in Finland? Yes, she did, but it took her a while to explain the whole story to different operators before she was switched and connected to an operator in Finland, who connected her to a rescue station that could give Susan the help she was desperately in need of.