2024年2月13日发(作者：)

UNIT 2 The Virtues of Growing Older

Key to the Exercises

Text Comprehension

I. Decide which of the following best states the author’s purpose of writing.

C

II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.

1-5 F F F T T

IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.

1. I am embarrassed to admit that women are less capable than men of resisting the

temptation of fashion.

2. It means that you make friends with different people in order to find a new identity for

yourself.

Structural analysis of the text

1. see III. 2.

2. Paragraph 3: the last sentence; Paragraph 4: the second sentence; Paragraph 5: the

first sentence.

Vocabulary

I. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own words.

1. be apt to: be likely to 易于……，有……的倾向

2. fall apart: break up, disintegrate

3. in general: as a whole 通常，大体上；总的来说，从总体上看

4. at the mercy of: powerless against; completely controlled by 对……无能为力；任……处置，任由……摆布

5. no wonder: not surprising / only too natural 不足为奇，并不奇怪

II. Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or phrase taken from the box in its

appropriate form.

1. delay 2. Feverishly 3. façade 4. confronted

5. premise 6. dreaded 7. automatically 8. awaiting

III. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.

1. obsessive 2. moodiness 3. tolerable 4. beneficial

5. satisfying 6. hidden 7. preference 8. criticisms

IV. Choose the word or phrase that can replace the underlined part in each sentence.

1-4 CDAA 5-8 BDCB

V. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each sentence in the sense it

is used.

1. Synonym: conceal, disguise

2. Antonym: narrow

3. Synonym: satisfaction, happiness, joy

4. Synonym: merits, advantages

5. Synonym: fat, plump

6. Synonym: well-built

7. Antonym: old-fashioned, outdated

8. Synonym: clearly, evidently

VI. Write in each space one word that has the same prefix as underlined in each given

word.

1. preface prepare 5. periphery perimeter

2. prologue progress 6. dialogue diameter

3. foresight foresee 7. semifinal semiconductor

4. paralysis parallel 8. devaluate decelerate

Grammar

I. Complete the following sentences with the appropriate forms of the nouns given.

1. agony 2. agonies 3. experience 4. experiences 5. youth

6. a youth 7. a great help 8. a good knowledge 9. a gray hair 10. work

II. Complete the following sentences with quantifiers & determiners.

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

5. A 6. B 7. B 8. C

III. Complete the reading.

a lot of, a little, some, a few, A, some, some, a lot of, x, many, x, a lot of

IV. Complete the following with every, each, everyone, every one, all.

1. all, every one 2. each 3. every 4. each

5. everyone 6. each 7. everyone, everyone 8. each

V. Correct errors in the following sentences.

1. you must take care

2. Though he received the document late at night; it

3. When you fell

4. When you read

5. I became clear about what he meant

6. We saw the first star shining in the sky

7. who were eating

8. he was cleaning

Translation

I. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. 许多中年人去健身房锻炼，到街上跑步，为的是延缓衰老。

2. 青年人最不稳定的因素就是，他们对价值观、人生目标和梦想还犹豫不定。

3. 镇上开会我可以大胆发言，在商店里购物我也敢投诉，因为我不再害怕人们会笑我，也不再渴望人人都喜欢我。

4. 我不再因为自己个性方面的缺陷责怪父母，也不会对他们在养育我的过程中所犯的种种过失耿耿于怀。

II. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words and phrases given in

brackets.

1. Many vain young people are obsessed with fancy cars despite the fact that they are not

yet rich enough to afford them.

2. Their marriage finally fell apart when his affair with another woman was found out by

his wife.

3. For artistic inspiration, the artist lived in the country for three years, where he denied

himself many comforts of life.

4. I’m not sure if we can have the excursion to Chongming Island tomorrow. It is at the

mercy of the weather.

5. When he was young he went to Japan to learn medicine, but after he returned to China

he changed his mind and pursued a career as a writer all his life.

6. She’s taken up with a man old enough to be her father, which is a disgrace to her

parents.

7. Since 1978, our economy has witnessed a rapid development; in contrast that of some

developed countries have declined.

8. The earthquake isolated this city from other areas. I’m afraid their food supplies will

not hold out through the winter.

Exercises for integrated skills

I. Dictation

I think / that a successful old age is easiest for those / who have strong impersonal

interests / leading to suitable activities. / It is in these activities / that long

experience is really fruitful, / and that the wisdom born of experience / can be used /

without becoming a burden. / It is no use telling grown-up children / not to make

mistakes, / both because they will not believe you, / and because mistakes are an

essential part of education. / But if you are one of those / who are incapable of /

impersonal interests, / you may find that / your life will be empty / unless you

concern yourself / with your children and grandchildren. / In that case / you must

realize / that while you can still help them / in material ways, / you must not expect /

that they will enjoy your company.

II. Cloze

(1) against (2) for (3) future (4) done (5) other

(6) of (7) their (8) likely (9) if (10) themselves

Writing Practice

Paragraph development — the topic sentence

1. Write a topic sentence to sum up the following details.

A. Topic sentence: Many American cities are named after important people who are or

were locally or nationally famous.

B. Topic sentence: Happiness means different things to different people.

2. For each of the following two paragraphs, the topic sentence has been taken out. Read

them carefully and work out for each paragraph a topic sentence that you think can hold

all the following details together.

A. Topic sentence: The problem isn’t that there’s no interest in teaching.

B. Topic sentence: It means paying teachers what they’re worth.

Listening Exercises

You are going to hear a short speech on our aging society.

A. 1. Listen carefully. All the words and phrases in Column A will appear in the listening

material. Guess their meanings and match them with their definitions in Column B.

Column A Column B

1) numerous A. very happy or excited

2) preface B. expectation

3) prospect C. cut off completely

4) traumatic D. vocabulary

5) limb E. very upsetting or difficult

6) severed F. a part of the body, like an arm or leg

7) lexicon G. introduce or begin

8) bode well for H. many

9) elated I. throw away, dispose of

10) discard J. be a good sign for the future for

2. Complete the following sentences with proper forms of the words or phrase in

Column A. These sentences will help you better understand the listening material.

1) The manager prefaced his presentation with the minutes from last meeting.

2) Because of air pollution, we have seen some very traumatic changes in the

environment.

3) There were numerous articles in the paper on that problem.

4) They were elated to hear the good news.

5) The prospect of leaving her children terrified Mary.

6) Expanding your lexicon in this technical field will help you a great deal.

7) The two businesses severed negotiations as they couldn’t agree on any of the

important issues.

8) The fish in this river are dying because local industries have been reckless in

discarding

their waste materials.

9) Many artificial limbs__ have been prepared.

10) These early sales figures bode well for the success of the book.

B. Listen again. Complete the statements and answer the questions.

1. Statements

1) The family is a group of people related by blood or law , living together or

associating with one another for a common purpose__.

2) The purpose of a family is usually to provide shelter and food__, and to

bring up children__.

3) There are mainly two different kinds of views on family life: some could not do

without the support and love__ of their families; others say it is the source of

most of our problems and anxieties__.

4) Sociologists divide families into two general types: the nuclear__ family and

the extended__ family.

5) The nuclear family consists of two__ generations while the extended family

may

include three or more__ generations.

2. Questions

1) What is the main topic of Dr. Miller’s speech?

The need to reevaluate our attitudes towards senior citizens.

2) What was Dr. Miller’s purpose in sharing the story about his grandfather?

To illustrate the worries of older citizens.

3) Why are the so-called “golden years” not so pleasant at times for older citizens?

Because this period can mean not only the decline of one’s health but the loss of

identity and a sense of self-worth.

4) What do you think Dr. Miller will talk about in the next part of his speech?

The contributions the elderly can make to our societies.

5) Where does this speech most likely take place?

At a conference center.