Reading to Develop Your Ideas Book 4

1. Reading to Develop Your Ideas Book 4

2. Unit 1 Animals and Their Rights

3. New words and expressions for Reading One • bias: Bias is a tendency to prefer one person or thing to another, and to favour that person or thing. • Bias against women permeates every level of the judicial system... • There were fierce attacks on the BBC for alleged political bias. • = prejudice

4. conformity: behaviour that obeys the accepted rules of society or a group, and is the same as that of most other people • Excessive conformity is usually caused by fear of disapproval...

5. cuddly: a person or animal that is cuddly makes you want to put your arms round them and hold them close to show your affection • He is the most affectionate and cuddly dog I have ever known.

6. segregated: A segregated group of people is kept apart from other people belonging to a different sex, race, or religious group. • weigh down: If something that you are wearing or carrying weighs you down, it stops you moving easily by making you heavier. • These nests increase in size each year, and can eventually weigh down the branch.

7. ingenious: Something that is ingenious is very clever and involves new ideas, methods, or equipment. • Many fish have ingenious ways of protecting their eggs from predators.

8. be all sweetness and light: • a) to behave in a way that is very pleasant and friendly, especially when you do not normally behave like this • She’s all sweetness and light when Paul’s around. • b) to be enjoyable and without problems • Life is not all sweetness and light.

9. thereby: You use thereby to introduce an important result or consequence of the event or action you have just mentioned. (FORMAL) • Our bodies can sweat, thereby losing heat by evaporation... • = thus

10. present:If you present someone with something such as a prize or document, or if you present it to them, you formally give it to them. • The mayor presented him with a gold medal at an official city reception... • The group intended to present this petition to the parliament.

11. stall: [countable] an enclosed area in a building for an animal such as a horse or cow • squeal: [countable] a long loud high sound or cry • gruesome: very unpleasant or shocking, and involving someone being killed or badly injured • Police described it as a particularly gruesome attack.

12. disrupt: to bring or throw into disorder • A crowd of protesters disrupted the meeting. • 一群抗议者扰乱了会议。

13. Check Your Comprehension A • 1. What is the contradiction in animal education mentioned in the text? • On the one hand, our society encourages children to be affectionate towards animals. On the other hand, children are “pushed” by their parents to eat meat — the dead body of an animal. • 2. In the text, the author quotes a nursery rhyme. What’s the theme of the nursery rhyme? • The nursery rhyme has the theme of cruelty towards animals — mice, in this case.

14. Check Your Comprehension A • 3. How are the animals described in the book FarmAnimals and The Farm? • Animals in these two books are depicted as “happy,” “carefree” and “good-for-nothing” creatures. This description leaves children the false impression that animals live simple and happy lives until they die. • 4. What is the author’s attitude towards eating meat? What expressions in the text indicate his attitude? • He does not seem to think that eating meat is a wise choice. This can be seen from his disapproval of parents forcing their children to eat meat (last sentence of the text).

15. Check Your Vocabulary B • 1. Many children at first refuse to eat animal flesh. They later become used to eating it just because their parents try hard to persuade them to eat it. • 2. There are two different and conflicting attitudes towards animals; they are carefully separated so that the contradiction between the two hardly causes trouble.

16. Check Your Vocabulary B • 3. Picture books and stories deliberately avoid presenting the real situation in our modern farms. Children, therefore, are kept from seeing the reality. • 4. The difficulty will be that non-vegetarian parents do not want to let their children know about the gruesome side of the story, as they are afraid their children will refuse to eat meat at meals.

17. Check Your Vocabulary B • 5. Unfortunately, non-vegetarian parents will strongly disapprove of their children’s unwillingness to eat meat.

18. New words and expressions for Reading Two • vilify: If you are vilified by someone, they say or write very unpleasant things about you, so that people will have a low opinion of you. (FORMAL) • vilify somebody/something for (doing) something • Johnson was vilified in the press for refusing to resign.

19. pediatrician: a doctor who specializes in treating sick children • residency: A doctor’s residency is the period of specialized training in a hospital that he or she receives after leaving university. (AM) • He completed his pediatric residency at Stanford University Hospital.

20. prematurity: premature birth • traumatic: A traumatic experience is so shocking and upsetting that it affects you for a long time. A traumatic injury is one that causes great damage to the body. • His son’s death was the most traumatic event in Stan’s life.

21. potent: Something that is potent is very effective and powerful. • The drug is extremely potent, but causes unpleasant side effects. • = powerful

22. tip the balance/scales: to give a slight advantage to someone or something • Three factors helped to tip the balance in favour of the Labour leadership. • apathetic: If you describe someone as apathetic, you are criticizing them because they do not seem to be interested in or enthusiastic about doing anything. • Even the most apathetic students are beginning to sit up and listen...

23. barely:almost not • She was barely aware of his presence. • Joe and his brother are barely on speaking terms. • = hardly • unconscionably: excessively

24. frame: to make up evidence or contrive events so as to incriminate (a person) falsely • tone: [countable] the way your voice sounds, which shows how you are feeling or what you mean • in a ... tone • ‘You must be Annie,’ he said in a friendly tone. • in somebody’s tone • There was urgency in his tone. • Her tone was sharp with anger. • It was obvious from her tone of voice that she didn’t like me.

25. cystic fibrosis: [uncountable] a serious medical condition, especially affecting children, in which breathing and digesting food is very difficult 囊肿性纤维化（属遗传性胰腺病） • malevolent: A malevolent person deliberately tries to cause harm or evil. (FORMAL) • He gave her a dark, malevolent look. • ≠ benevolent

26. sadistic: A sadistic person obtains pleasure from hurting other people and making them suffer physically or mentally. • He took sadistic pleasure in humiliating her. • barely: only with great difficulty or effort • She was very old and barely able to walk. • Mary had barely enough money to live on. • = only just

27. expedient: If it is expedient to do something, it is useful or convenient to do it, even though it may not be morally right. • Governments frequently ignore human rights abuses in other countries if it is politically expedient to do so.

28. placate: If you placate someone, you do or say something to make them stop feeling angry. (FORMAL) • He smiled, trying to placate me... • ‘I didn’t mean to upset you,’ Agnew said in a placating voice. • = appease

29. vocal: expressing strong opinions publicly, especially about things that you disagree with • Foley has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the government. • She was a vocal opponent of the plan. • = outspoken

30. unappreciative: not showing that you understand how good something is, or not grateful for something • He is an unappreciative stick. • He was unappreciative of my help.

31. coronary-artery bypass: Coronary arteries are the small blood vessels that supply the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients. A coronary-artery bypass is a surgery done to redirect the flow of blood so that it does not flow through clogged coronary arteries. 冠状动脉旁路术

32. effectively: [sentence adverb] used to describe what you see as the real facts of the situation • Effectively, it has become impossible for us to help. • Most of the urban poor are effectively excluded from politics.

33. insulate: If a person or group is insulated from the rest of society or from outside influences, they are protected from them. • They wonder if their community is no longer insulated from big city problems... • Their wealth had insulated them from reality. • The royal family tried to insulate him from the prying eyes of the media. • = shield

34. Check Your Comprehension A • 1. In the first two sentences, the author seems to be establishing a negative self characterization. What does he say about himself? • He calls himself “the enemy of animals — wicked and inhumane scientist” who experiments on animals.

35. Check Your Comprehension A • 2. In paragraphs 4 and 5, the author lists the possible choices available on the issue of experimentation and medical advancement. What are they? Explain in your own words. • The possible choices are as follows: a) test on animals for new medical treatments for human injuries/diseases; b) experiment on human beings; c) depend on accidental discoveries for medical advances; d) use computer models to substitute animal experiments.

36. Check Your Comprehension A • 3. According to the author, what will be the possible effect if we restrict the use of animals in medical research? • There would be no medical advances; discoveries of drugs and surgical techniques will not be possible. Certain biological processes will remain a mystery to us.

37. Check Your Comprehension A • 4. In paragraph 6, the author uses the term “a vocal minority.” Who does he refer to? Why does he call them “vocal” and “minority”? Can you find other relevant expressions in the text that describe this “vocal minority”? • He refers to the “animal activists” as “a vocal minority.” He believes that they make a lot of protests, therefore, they are considered “vocal.” He also thinks that there is just a small number of animal activists, therefore, they are considered to be “a minority.” Other expressions which are used to describe the group of “animal activists” are “insulated from the reality of human life,” “radical,” “misdirected.”

38. Check Your Vocabulary B

39. Check Your Vocabulary B

40. Check Your Vocabulary B

41. New words and expressions for Reading Three • scofflaw: one who habitually violates the law or fails to answer court summonses • 藐视法律者：指习惯性违反法律或传唤不到庭者。 • appendage: An appendage is something that is joined to something larger or more important. Limbs are often referred to as appendages.

42. exempt:To exempt a person or thing from a particular rule, duty, or obligation means to state officially that they are not bound or affected by it. • South Carolina claimed the power to exempt its citizens from the obligation to obey federal law...

43. jurisdiction: Jurisdiction is the power that a court of law or an official has to carry out legal judgments or to enforce laws. (FORMAL) • The British police have no jurisdiction over foreign bank accounts. • = authority

44. sanctuary:A sanctuary is a place where birds or animals are protected and allowed to live freely. • vise: American English a tool that holds an object very firmly so that you can work on it • He held my arm like a vice.

45. electrode: An electrode is a small piece of metal or other substance that is used to take an electric current to or from a source of power, a piece of equipment, or a living body. • The patient’s brain activity is monitored via electrodes taped to the skull.

46. equilibrium: a balance between different people, groups, or forces that compete with each other, so that none is stronger than the others and a situation is not likely to change suddenly • The government is anxious not to upset the economic equilibrium.

47. break-in: [countable] an act of entering a building illegally and by force, especially in order to steal things • Since the break-in we’ve had all our locks changed.

48. anesthetize:When a doctor or other trained person anaesthetizes a patient, they make the patient unconscious or unable to feel pain by giving them a substance.

49. Check Your Comprehension • 1. When asked about the animals in an experimenter’s laboratory, what is he most likely to say about them? • The experimenter might say that the animals are well cared for and he abides by the Animal Welfare Act.

50. Check Your Comprehension • 2. What do we know about the Animal Welfare Act? Was it easily passed by Congress? • The Animal Welfare Act mandates that an animal laboratory has to be inspected; that one member of the public vote on the laboratory’s animal-care committee … . And the Act was pushed hard to get passed by Congress.