The Pace of Life

1. The Pace of Life

2. Brainstorming • Discussion: • What did we use to expect from technology? Has technology made our lives easier or more burdensome? • Do you agree with the author that all time-liberating techniques in relieving the widespread sense of time famine are doomed to failure?

3. Text AText Organization • Part One—(Paras 1-11) • Part Two—(Paras 12-18) • Part Three—(Paras 19-23) • Part Four —(Paras 24-28)

4. Preface • on the go: (infml) very active or busy. - I was on the go all day and went home at about 10 o’clock in the evening. • go: (n.) 1. an attempt or trial at sth. • I thought I’d give it a go. 2. a person’s turn to use sth. or to move or act in a game - Come on Tony, it’s your go. 3. a project or undertaking which has been proved - Tell them the project is a go. 4. being successful in sth. - He’s determined to make a go of his marriage.

5. Preface Cf. on the move: in the process of moving (from one place or job to another); making progress - It’s difficult to contact her because she’s always on the move. • The economy appeared to be on the move. • Science is always on the move. (发展) • It was vacation time, and the highways were full of families on the move. (驾车出游的家庭往来不绝) • As it was a very cold day, I kept on the move to stay warm.

6. Preface • cope: deal successfully (often followed by with ) • People who attempt suicide usually suffer from extreme emotional distress and feel unable to cope with the stress and their problems. • The task looks a formidable one, but I think we can cope. • In their crazy search for fulfillment, they’ve gotten themselves into situations in which they are not able to cope.

7. Preface • set about sth. / doing sth.: start doing sth, with vigor or determination • After breakfast, she set about her household duties. • The school authorities must set about finding solutions to the campus security problems. • set sb. off : cause someone to start doing sth., esp. laughing or talking • set sth. off: set off a bomb; cause an alarm to go off; cause a series of things to occur; set off a chain reaction in other financial markets. • set out to do: aim at intend to do sth. • set to: begin doing sth. vigorously

8. Preface • tangle: v. twist together into a confused mass; become involved in a conflict or fight with • Long hair tangles easily. • The wind tangled my hair. • I tangled with him over politics bitterly. • be tangled in a controversy卷入 • The power failure had tangled traffic in the city. (陷入混乱)

9. Preface • n. - a tangle of ropes / people • diplomatic tangles (外交纠纷) • His thoughts were in a tangle. (陷入混乱) • have a tangle with sb. over sth. • untangle: free from a tangled or twisted state; make sth. complicated easier to deal with - untangle the problem / a cable /the traffic jam (解开缠结的电缆/整顿交通堵塞)

10. Part I (Paras 1-11) • Main Idea: The author gives three reasons why we feel so time-pressed today.

11. Part I (Paras 1-7) • eat into (Line 6): use up (profits, resources, or time), especially when they are intended for other purposes; gradually reduce the amount of (sth. valuable); damage or destroy • His extravagances ate into his inheritances. • Responsibilities at home and work eat into his time. • Sales were hard hit by high interest rates eating into disposal income. • The fear has eaten into my bones. (感到极为恐惧)

12. Part I (Paras 1-7) • eat sth. away or eat away at sth. (syn.) • Rust was eating away the pipe. • Inflation has eaten away at the value of some of their assets.(使财产价值下跌) • I never did understand what was eating away at her. (烦扰)

13. Part I (Paras 1-7) • eat sth. up: use resources or time in very large quantities • an operating system that eats up 200 Mb of disk space • He ate up valuable minutes with long, dull answers. (浪费) • Extravagant spending ate up his savings. (花完) • She is eating up the course in algebra.如饥似渴地学.

14. Part I (Paras 1-7) • Promise (Line 11): give good grounds for expecting (a particular occurrence or situation) • The clear sky promises fine weather. • It promised to be a night that all present would long remember. • promising: giving hope of success or good result • a promising future / boy (有出息) • The weather is promising. (is likely to be fine)

15. Part I (Paras 1-7) • Deliver (Line 11): bring or hand over (a letter, parcel, or ordered goods); provide sth. promised or expected • struggle to deliver election commitments. • She’s waiting for him to deliver on his promise.

16. Part I (Paras 1-7) • toil at / on / over / through (Line 18): work extremely hard or incessantly; move slowly and with difficulty • toil at one’s task (辛苦工作) • toil through the night (彻夜辛劳) • toil with one’s hands for a living • toil up a hill / along the path • n. • a life of toil: a hard life • succeed only after years of toil

17. Part I (Paras 1-7) • multiply (Line 21): increase in number or quantity; add a number to itself a particular number of times • The weeds just multiplied, and before long the garden was a jungle. • Fear multiplies the difficulties of life. • Multiply 16 by 4, to make 64. (用16乘以4, 得64。) • 6 multiplied by 3 is 18. (6 x 3 = 18) • multiply the height with the width to determine the area • multiplication sign / table乘号/乘法表

18. Part I (Paras 1-7) • multi- : (pref) having many of • a multipolar world multiprocessing (多重处理) • a multipurpose computer (多功能的) • a multistage rocket (多节火箭) • multi-racial country

19. Part I (Paras 1-7) • burden (Line 24): a load, typically a heavy one; a duty or misfortune that causes hardship, anxiety • share the burden with sb. • burden sb. with questions/ worries / a large family • impose / lay the burden on sb. • shift the burden to sb. • alleviate / lessen / lighten the burden • relieve sb. of the burden • The room was burdened with flowers. (摆满了花) • The economy was further burdened by a flood of refugees.

20. Part I (Paras 1-7) • time-pressed (Line 28): be pressed: have barely enough of sth., esp. time - I’m terribly pressed for time. / I’m time-pressed. • be pressed to do sth.: have difficulty doing or achieving sth. - They may be hard pressed to keep their promise. • press sb. to do sth / for sth. 催促，敦促；逼迫 • press sb. into doing sth. / press sb. with questions • a world pressed by / burdened with mushrooming populations.

21. Part I (Paras 1-7) • accommodate (Line 31): provide lodging or sufficient space for; • Each flat can accommodate up to six people. • Even the most prestigious universities, such as Oxford and Harvard, are making their efforts to make their graduates accommodate to the realities of the job market. • accommodate to: adapt to

22. Part I (Paras 1-7) • proliferate (Line 35): increase rapidly in number; produce in large quantities; multiply • With the development of science, the science-fiction magazines proliferated in the 1920s. • The promise of new technology proliferates options on every hand.

23. Part I (Paras 1-7) • amount to (Line 41): add up to; be equal to • Losses amounted to over 100 million dollars. • In 1959 the combined value of U.S. imports and exports amounted to less than 9 percent of the country’s gross domestic products. • Their actions amounted to a conspiracy. • Her standards amounted to perfection. (她简直要求事事十全十美。)

24. Part I (Paras 1-7) • frontier (Line 41): part of a country bordering on another country; (fig / usu pl) extreme limit of an area of knowledge or a particular activity • armed clashes on the frontier between the two countries • Our passports were inspected at the Czech frontier. • To open up the space frontier, NASA will try to lower the cost of access to Earth orbit. • The frontiers of medical knowledge are being pushed farther outwards every year. (开拓扩大) adj. a frontier zone / town / dispute / trade

25. Part I (Paras 1-7) • border: (land near the) line dividing two states or countries; • a border town / incident • As the river changed its course, the border changed. • v. - The park borders on the shores of the lake. ( be next to) • boundary: line that marks a limit; dividing line; (fig) • This river forms a boundary between China and DPRK. • A boundary dispute is a quarrel about where a boundary should be. • If something is beyond the boundary of human knowledge, man can know nothing about it

26. Part I (Paras 1-7) • stress (Line 42): pressure or worry resulting from mental or physical distress, difficult circumstances • Not all of us can cope with the stresses of modern life. • Population growth and pollution place enormous stress on the world’s supply of usable water. • v.: - A person who is stressed typically has anxious thoughts and difficulty concentrating or remembering. • stress the point / need for sth. : attach importance to sth. • stress / tension / nervousness: see Page 210 Ex. II

27. Part I (Paras 1-7) • drive (Line 44): urge or force sb. to move in a specified direction or act in a particular way • be driven: (of a fact or feeling) compel (someone) to act in a particular way. • You’re driving yourself too hard. (You are pressing too hard.) • He drove himself working until late at night. • He was driven by ambition.

28. Part I. (Paras 1-11) • abundance (Line 46): quantity that is more than enough; plenty • Most milk consists of an abundance of the major nutrients needed by the body for good health. • She was blessed with talent and charm in abundance. • food and drink in abundance • live in abundance

29. Part I (Paras 1-11) • oblige (Line 45): do sth. for sb. as a favor or a small service (oblige sb. with sth. / by doing sth.) • Will you oblige me by closing the windows? • Tell me what you want to know and I’ll see if I can oblige. • If you can give me a few minutes of your time I’ll be much obliged. (grateful) repay an obligation n. 还人情債

30. Part II (Paras 12-18) • Main Idea: Not every one is time-stressed, and in the case of Americans they have actually gained more free time in the past decade.

31. Part II (Paras 12-18) • shorthand (Line 48): a short or simple way of expressing or referring to sth. - Poetry for him is simply a shorthand for literature.

32. Part II (Paras 12-18) • (Line 53) peripherally involved in the economy: not fully involved in … / not fully employed • a peripheral member of a group外围成 • peripheral provinces边缘省份

33. Part II (Paras 12-18) • perception (Line 67): ability to notice and understand things; way of seeing or understanding sth.; intuitive understanding or insight • color perception • a vague perception of …模糊的认识/看法 • a man of perception有洞察力的 • v.perceive - Do you perceive what I mean?

34. Part II (Paras 12-18) • nurture (Line 76): care for and encourage the growth and development of; cherish (a hope, belief, or ambition); nourish • His father nurtured his love of art. • For a long time she has nurtured the dream of buying a shop. • nurture resentment 滋生不满情绪 • nurture connections with sb. 同某人拉关系 • n. (often contrasted with nature) nature and nurture:本性和教养

35. Part III (Paras 19-23) • Main Idea: The perception of time-famine has triggered a variety of reactions.

36. Part III (Paras 19-23) • Inequalities apart (Line 84): apart from inequalities - See Page 213 Structure Ex. I

37. Part III (Paras 19-23) • famine (Line 84): extreme scarcity of food; a shortage • a severe famine / reduce the threat of famine / die of famine • a water famine / the cotton famine of the 1860s • Drought could result in famine throughout the region.

38. Part III (Paras 19-23) • starve: suffer severely or die from hunger • They got lost in the desert and starved to death. • starve sb. out (of a place) / into a specified state • I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. (be eager to do …) • The plant was starved of light. (be in need of light) • The motherless children are starving foraffection. • The patient’s brain was starved foroxygen. • n. starvation

39. Part III (Paras 19-23) • provoke (Line 85): stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one); deliberately make (sb.) annoyed or angry • provoke general rage / press interest / a storm of protest • They argued that NATO enlargement could provoke Russian hostility and lead to regional instability. • His rudeness provoked me to strike him. • He tried to provoke them into fight.

40. Part III (Paras 19-23) • adj. provoking • anxiety-provoking situations • a thought-provoking question • n. provocation

41. Part III (Paras 19-23) • gratify (Line 87): give pleasure or satisfaction • Beauty gratifies the eye.美能悦目。 • I was gratified to see the result. • The result is gratifying to me. (gratifying result) • It was gratifying to know of the success of our efforts. • n. gratification - It was a gratification to know that …

42. Part III (Paras 19-23) • streamline (Line 94): design or provide with a form that presents very little resistance to a flow of air or water, increasing speed and ease of movement; make (an organization or system) more efficient by employing faster or simpler working methods. • streamline the finance department • streamline the decision-making process • Passenger trains are streamlined for speed. • Corporate mergers can result in job losses because management combines and streamlines departments within the newly merged companies.

43. Part III (Paras 19-23) • growth market (Line 95): 越做越大的/迅速发展的市场 - growth shares/ company/ industry / area增长股 /迅速发展的公司 / 行业 / 区域

44. Part III (Paras 19-23) • domestic (Line 96): of the home, household of family; (of a person) fond of family life; (of a animal) tame and kept by humans; of or in side a particular country • domestic appliances / chores / dogs / affairs / science = home economics • Her second marriage has made her very domestic • n. domestics • After China’s entry into WTO, the competition between domestics and foreign imports has been growing increasingly fierce.

45. Part III (Paras 19-23) • spring up (Line 101): appear, develop, grow, etc. quickly or suddenly • New professional training schools sprang up all over the country. • Madness and creativity could spring from the same source. (originate / arise from)

46. Part III (Paras 19-23) • futile (Line 106): incapable of producing any useful result; pointless • a futile / vain attempt to keep fans from mounting the stage • It was futile / useless / pointless to continue the negotiations.

47. Part III (Paras 19-23) • divert (Line 106): cause sb. or sth. to change; turn from one direction to another; distract sb.’s attention from sth. • The dam will divert the flow of river water into the canal. • Money set aside for development was being diverted to finance the famine relief operations. • divert one’s interest from sth. • n. diversion

48. Part IV (Paras 24-28) • Main Idea: The author pins down the crux of the problem and puts forward a remedy for the stress we feel.

49. Part IV (Paras 24-28) • cram (Line 108): completely fill a place or a container; enter a place or space that seems too small • They all crammed into the car. • The restaurant was crammed with people. (crowded) • He is cramming facts and dates for his history exam. • cram the clothes into a suitcase • cram one pupils填鸭式教学

50. Part IV (Paras 24-28) • evade (Line 113): escape or avoid, especially by guile or trickery 强调机智巧妙不诚实得逃避 • evade military service / an attack / (paying) taxes • Tom tried to catch her arm but she evaded him. • Evade the question by changing the subject • Adj. be accused of being evasive