Unitl的事，引起憤慨的事2[C]（尤指牽涉知名人士的）丑聞，

Newwords丑事

tediousa.冗長(zhǎng)乏味的thrustv.猛推；猛塞

obligevt.迫使；使負(fù)有義務(wù)proficiencyn.[U]熟練；精通

absorbeda.極感興趣的；全神貫注的；專注的moreoverad.[ml.）而且；再者；此外

allergica.不喜歡某事；對(duì)某事反感；過(guò)敏的evidentlyad.明顯地；顯然

excursionn.短途出行；遠(yuǎn)足exposuren.1[sing.,U]接觸；體驗(yàn)2[U]暴露

earnesta.非常認(rèn)真的；鄭重其事的adequatea.足夠的；充分的；合乎需要的

exclaimv.（由于驚奇、氣憤或激動(dòng)）呼喊，驚叫adequatelyad.足夠地；充分地

whoainterj.哎呀，哇（表示驚訝或認(rèn)為某事物令人贊competenta.合格的；能干的

嘆）jerkn.猛的一動(dòng)；猝然一動(dòng)

civilizationn.文明（社會(huì)）jerkya.（在行進(jìn)中）不平穩(wěn)的，顛簸的

architecturen.[U]1建筑風(fēng)格；建筑式樣2建筑學(xué)functionn.[C,U]（事物的）功能，作用；（某人的）

capturevt.1（用文字或圖片）記錄下，描述，捕捉2職責(zé)vi.正常工作；正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)

俘虜；逮捕spann.[C]（兩個(gè)日期或事件之間的）時(shí)距，期間

condensevt.將（講話或文章）壓縮scratchn.[C]1（from~）從零開始；從頭開始：白手

condenseda.壓縮的起家2（物件或皮膚上的）刮痕，劃痕

exceedvt.超過(guò)；超出tunevt.1（also~up）調(diào)整，調(diào)節(jié)（發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)）使達(dá)到最

distressn.憂慮；苦惱；悲傷佳狀態(tài)2為（樂器）調(diào)音，定弦

distinguishv.區(qū)分；辨別adjustv.調(diào)整；調(diào)節(jié)vi.適應(yīng)

distinctivea.與眾不同的；特殊的；特別的destinationn.[C]目的地；終點(diǎn)

complimentarya.1免費(fèi)贈(zèng)送的2贊美的；欽佩的precisea.精確的；準(zhǔn)

complementarya.互為補(bǔ)充的；互補(bǔ)的beneficiala.有利的；有幫助的；有用的

bulkn.（某物的）大部分，多半assetn.1[C]有利條件；長(zhǎng)處2[C,usu.pl.]資產(chǎn)；財(cái)

criticismn.批評(píng);批判：指責(zé)產(chǎn)

deficitn.[C]1（素質(zhì)、技能或能力的）缺乏，不足2soura.酸的

赤字；虧損；逆差subjunctivea.（語(yǔ)法中的）虛擬語(yǔ)氣的n.（語(yǔ)法中的）

dumba.愚蠢的虛擬語(yǔ)氣

groceryn.1[C]超級(jí)市場(chǎng)2（~ies）[pl.]食品雜貨

stationarya.不（移）動(dòng)的；靜止的Phrasesandexpressions

stationeryn.[U]文具be/feelobligedtodosth.（因形勢(shì)、法律、義務(wù)等

padn.[C]1便箋本；拍紙簿2墊；襯墊；護(hù)墊關(guān)系而）非做不可，迫使

albumn.[C]（收存照片、郵票等的）簿，冊(cè)get/beseriousabout對(duì)…是認(rèn)真的；并非開玩笑的

proclaimvt.（fml.）宣稱；宣布；聲明runintosb.（infml.）偶然遇見某人全然忘記了她的生

scandaln.1[sing.]（尤指當(dāng)局本應(yīng)改變的）令人震驚日。

freshfrom剛從…來(lái)的；剛有…經(jīng)歷的

distinguishbetween區(qū)分；辨別

nailsth.Down1釘;將某物釘牢2(infml.)最終確定;

對(duì)某事作出定論

thruststh.uponsb.(usu.passive)迫使某人做某事;

迫使某人接受某事

get/feel/belost迷惘；困惑;不知所措

become/beattractedtosth.對(duì)某事/物產(chǎn)生興趣

outofcuriosity出于好奇

lookuponsb./sth.as把某人/某物看作

beequippedwithsth.以…為裝備;配備…

swellwithpride/anger,etc.洋洋得意/怒氣沖沖等

AnimpressiveEnglishlesson

1IfIamtheonlyparentwhostillcorrectshischild'sEnglish,thenperhapsmysonis

right.Tohim,Iamatediousoddity:afatherheisobligedtolistentoandaman

absorbedintherulesofgrammar,whichmysonseemsallergicto.

2IthinkIgotseriousaboutthisonlyrecentlywhenIranintooneofmyformer

students,freshfromanexcursiontoEurope."Howwasit?"Iasked,fullofearnest

anticipation.

3Shenoddedthreeorfourtimes,searchedtheheavensfortherightwords,andthen

exclaimed,"Itwas,like,whoa!"

4Andthatwasit.ThecivilizationofGreeceandthegloryofRomanarchitecture

werecapturedinacondensednon-statement.Mystudent's"whoa!"wasexceeded

onlybymyhead-shakingdistress.

5TherearemanydifferentstoriesaboutthedownturnintheproperuseofEnglish.

Surelystudentsshouldbeabletodistinguishbetweentheir/there/they'reorthe

distinctivedifferencebetweencomplimentaryandcomplementary.Theyunfairlybear

thebulkofthecriticismfortheseknowledgedeficitsbecausethereisasensethat

theyshouldknowbetter.

6Studentsarenotdumb,buttheyarebeingmisledeverywheretheylookandlisten.

Forexample,signsingrocerystorespointthemtothestationary,eventhoughthe

actualstationeryitems-pads,albumsandnotebooks-arenotnaileddown.Friends

andlovedonesoftenproclaimthey'vejustatewhen,infact,they'vejusteaten.

Therefore,itdoesn'tmakeanysensetocriticizeourstudents.

7Blameforthescandalofthislanguagedeficitshouldbethrustuponourschools,

whichshouldbesettinghighstandardsofEnglishlanguageproficiency.Instead,they

onlyteachalittlegrammarandevenlessadvancedvocabulary.Moreover,the

youngerteachersthemselvesevidentlyhavelittleknowledgeofthesevitalstructures

oflanguagebecausetheyalsowentwithoutexposuretothem.Schoolsfailto

adequatelyteachtheessentialframeworkoflanguage,accurategrammarandproper

vocabulary,whiletheyshouldtaketheresponsibilityofpushingtheyoungontothe

pathofcompetentcommunication.

8Sincegrammarisboringtomostoftheyoungstudents,Ithinkthatitmustbe

handleddelicately,stepbystep.ThechancecamewhenonedayIwasdrivingwith

myson.Aswesetoutonourtrip,henoticedabirdinjerkyflightandsaid,"It's

flyingsounsteady."Icarefullyasked,"Myson,howisthebirdflying?""What's

wrong?DidIsayanythingincorrectly?"Hegotlost."Great!Yousaidincorrectly

insteadofincorrect.Weuseadverbstodescribeverbs.Therefore,it'sflying

sounsteadilybutnotsounsteady''

9Curiousaboutmycorrection,heaskedmewhatanadverbwas.Slowly,Isaid,"It's

awordthattellsyousomethingaboutaverb."Itledtohisaskingmewhataverbwas.

Iexplained,"Verbsareactionwords;forexample,Daddrivesthetruck.Driveisthe

verbbecauseit'sthethingDadisdoing."

10Hebecameattractedtotheideaofactionwords,sowelistedafewmore:fly,swim,

dive,run.Then,outofhisowncuriosity,heaskedmeifotherwordshadnamesfor

theiruseandfunctions.Thisledtoadiscussionofnouns,adjectives,andarticles.

Withinthespanofa10-minutedrive,hehadlearnedfromscratchtothemajorparts

ofspeechinasentence.Itwaspainlesslearningandgreatfun!

11Perhaps,languageshouldbelookeduponasaroadmapandavaluablepossession:

oftenstudytheroadmap(checkgrammar)andtuneupthecarengine(adjust

vocabulary).Learninggrammarandagoodvocabularyisjustlikedrivingwitharoad

mapinawell-conditionedcar.

12Theroadmapprovidestheframeworkandguidanceyouneedforyourtrip,butit

won'ttellyouexactlywhattreesorflowersyouwillsee,whatkindofpeopleyouwill

encounter,orwhattypesoffeelingsyouwillbeexperiencingonyourjourney.Here,

thevocabularymakesthejourney'struecolorscomealive!Agoodvocabulary

enablesyoutoenjoywhateveryouseeasyoudrivealong.E