【www.tingchehu.com--高中周记】
【课文】Firstlistenandthenanswerthefollowingquestion.听录音，然后回答以下问题。Whatisahovercraftridingonwhenitisinmot...下面是小编收集整理的有关新概念第四册Lesson29课文翻译及学习笔记6篇，仅供参考，大家一起来看看吧。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is a hovercraft riding on when it is in motion?
Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British Government and industrial circles. It was the idea of supporting a craft on a "pad", or cushion, of low-pressure air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air. Ever since, people have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged among ships, planes, or land vehicles -- for it is something in between a boat and an aircraft. As a shipbuilder, Cockerell was trying to find a solution to the problem of the wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship"s power and limits its speed. His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air, no more than one or two feet thick. This is done by a great number of ring-shaped air jets on the bottom of the craft. It "flies", therefore, but it cannot fly higher -- its action depends on the surface, water or ground, over which it rides.
The first tests on the Solent in 1959 caused a sensation. The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then mounted the beach, climbed up the dunes, and sat down on a road. Later it crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves, which presented no problem.
Since that time, various types of hovercraft have appeared and taken up regular service. The hovercraft is particularly useful in large areas with poor communications such as Africa or Australia; it can become a "flying fruit-bowl", carrying bananas from the plantations to the ports; giant hovercraft liners could span the Atlantic; and the railway of the future may well be the "hovertrain", riding on its air cushion over a single rail, which it never touches, at speeds up to 300 m.p.h. -- the possibilities appear unlimited.
EGON LARSEN The Pegasus Book of Inventors
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
hovercraft n. 气垫船
Norfolk Broads n. 诺福克郡的湖泊地区
cushion n. 座垫
ring v. 围
Solent n. (英国的)苏伦特海峡
sensation n. 轰动
dune n. 沙丘
plantation n. 种植园
hovertrain n. 气垫火车
【课文注释】
1.the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft 这是现在分词being的独立主格结构。
2.turned to direct one"s interest or attention towards; go into 求助于, 转向，在本段中的含义是“改行”。
例句：I had to turn to the dictionary for help.
我只得求助于字典了。
The pop singer turned to figure in soap operas.
那位流行歌星转向屏幕，在肥皂剧中扮演角色。
3.had been working 过去完成进行时，通常表示某个过去正在进行的动作或状态，持续到过去某个时刻，还未完成，一直持续到之后的当前才结束 。
例句：He had been bumming around the park all day.
他在公园里荡了一整天了。
He stopped swimming.He had been swimming for the last three hours.
他停止游泳了。在过去的三个小时里，他一直在游泳。
4. range v. 排列, 归类于
例句：The documents may range from a single sheet to a large packet of papers.
文件可以单页排列，也可以多页打包排列。
5.in between,介乎......之间，这是一种组合介词。
6.a surface ship,水面船只。
7.sensation n. 感觉, 轰动, 激动, 知觉
例句：He had a sensation of dizziness.
他有一种晕眩的感觉。
The new discovery caused a great sensation.
这项新发现很轰动。
8.present no problem 没有出现任何问题
【词义辨析】
modern, contemporary, current, recent, present, up-to-date这些形容词均有“现代的、当代的”之意。
modern: 指现代或近代，时期可长可短;也可指新颖、时髦的。
contemporary: 仅指当今这个时代，不涉及任何过去的时代，但可表示不同的人或物存在于同一时代。
current: 指目前存在和发生的。
recent: 表示新近的，最近的，时间的长短依据所修饰的人或物而定。
present: 是这些词中语气的一个。指现在正发生、起作用的。
up-to-date: 一般用于非正式场合，指很时新、能反映当前的最新发展。
offer, present, propose, volunteer这些动词均含“提出、提供”之意。
offer: 最普通用词，多指主动提出或提供意见或东西等，但是否接受由对方自行决定。
present: 既可指提出意见、建议等，又可指拿出某物供人欣赏或赠送。
propose: 指直接而主动地提出问题或建议等，也指在讨论或争辨中提出具体意见或建议。
volunteer: 与offer同义，侧重出于自愿，而不是奉命做某事。
9.may well be,很可能是。
例句：This novel may well become a classic.
这本小说很可能成为经典著作。
Since he can play many musical instruments, he may well be called a man of
accomplishments.
他能演奏许多乐器，当然称得上是个多才多艺的人。
10.speed up 加快速度
例句：Harden up a little, we need more speed.
把帆索拉紧一点，我们需要加快速度
The order No.105 is so urgently required that we have to ask you to speed up
shipment.
第105号订单所订货物我们要急用，请你们加快装船速度。
【参考译文】
本世纪已研制出许多新奇的交通工具，其中最新奇的要数气垫船了。1953年，有一位50多岁名叫克里斯托弗.科克雷的原电子工程师，改行在诺福克郡的湖泊地区从事造船业，他向英国政府和工业界提出了他研究多年的一项计划。他的设想是：用一个低压空气或软垫来支撑船体，软垫周围用高压空气环绕。自那以后，人们很难决定是否应该将这种运载工具列为轮船、飞机，或是陆上交通工具，因为它是介于船和飞机之间。作为一个船舶技师，科克雷尔在寻找解决波浪阻力的方法，因为波浪阻力浪费掉了船在水面行驶的大量动力，从而限制了船的速度。他的解决办法是把船体提离水面，让船在一个气垫上行驶，气垫只有一两英尺厚。船底装上大量环状喷气嘴以实现这一目的。这样，船就能飞了，但飞不高。它的飞行限决于它所悬浮的水面或地面。
1959年，在苏伦特海峡进行的首次试航引起了轰动，气垫船先是在水面上行驶，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。后来气垫船跨越英吉利海峡，平衡地在波浪上方行驶，波浪不再产生阻力。
从那以后，各种各样的气垫船出现了，并开始了定期航行服务。气垫船在非洲、澳大利亚等交通不发达地区特别有用。它能成为“飞行水果盘子”，把香蕉从种植园运到港口。大型的气垫班轮或许能跨越大西洋。未来的火车或许能成为“气垫火车”，靠气垫在单轨上行驶而不接触轨道，时速可达每小时300英里。气垫船的前途是不可限量的。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What are patients looking for when they visit the doctor?
This is a sceptical age, but although our faith in many of the things in which our forefathers fervently believed has weakened, our confidence in the curative properties of the bottle of medicine remains the same a theirs. This modern faith in medicines is proved the fact that the annual drug bill of the Health Services is mounting to astronomical figures and shows no signs at present of ceasing to rise. The majority of the patients attending the medical out-patients departments of our hospitals feel that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine, a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment, and the doctor in charge of the department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements. There is no quicker method of disposing of patients then by giving them what they are asking for, and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked and have little time for offering time-consuming and little-appreciated advice on such subjects as diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits etc., the bottle, the box, and the jar are almost always granted them.
Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who has such faith in the bottle of medicine. It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained of a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs. Carlyle"s. Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained, of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering, and of what had previously been wrong with his wife, but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be of equal benefit in another, and comforted by the thought of the help he was bringing to his friend, he hastened to Henry Taylor"s house. History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in all probability he did. The great advantage of taking medicine is that it makes no demands on the taker beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste, and that is what all patients demand of their doctors -- to be cured at no inconvenience to themselves.
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
sceptical adj. 怀疑的
forefathers n. 祖先
fervently adv. 热情地
curative adj. 治病的
astronomical adj. 天文学的
tangible adj.实实在在的
remedy n. 药物
ointment n. 药膏
prescribe v. 开药方
indisposition n. 小病
disgusting n. 令人讨厌的
inconvenience n. 不便
【课文注释】
1.sceptical adj.怀疑的
例句：Mary is sceptical about the solution.
玛丽对这个解决办法表示怀疑。
2.fervently adv.热情地
例句：For her sake, as well as for John"s, I hoped fervently that she might still be found.
为了她的缘故，也为了约翰，我热切地希望她能被找到。
3.curative adj.治病的
例句：The scaffold were believed to have curative powers.
人们认为绞刑架具有治病的功效。
4.the same a theirs，这里的theirs是指our forefathers。
5.astronomical figures 天文数字
6.tangible adj.可触摸的， 实际的， 有形的， 确凿的
例句：It is the only tangible object the astronomer can handle.
这是天文学家能够掌握的可接触的对象。
The plan brought few tangible benefits to the poor.
这个计划没有给穷人带来多少实际好处。
【反义词】
intangible adj.难以明了的， 无形的…
例句：The old building have an intangible air of sadness about it.
那座古老建筑物周围笼罩著说不出的凄凉气氛。
Sound is intangible and the same is true of light.
声音是无形的，而光也同样如此。
7.only too ready to provide非常乐意提供。在英语中too…to do…的结构通常表示否定，但如果在前面加上only，就有“非常……能做”的意思。
8.dispose of 处理
例句：I want to dispose of these old books.
我想处理掉这些旧书。
He doesn"t know how to dispose of his spare time.
他不知道怎样安排业余时间。
9.It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle据说，托马斯 卡莱尔……(有下面这件事)。托马斯 卡莱尔是19世纪英国的散文作家和历史学家。
10.prescribe v. 开处方， 规定
例句：I"ll prescribe for you as soon as I get the report.
我拿到报告就给你开处方。
【短语词组】
prescribe for 为……开处方
【词义辨析】
recommend, advocate, propose, suggest, prescribe 这些动词均含“劝告、主张、建议”之意。
recommend: 指向对方提出公开的建议或规劝。
advocate: 指公开表明对某事或某行为的完全赞同，语气强于recommend。
propose: 多指较正式地提出建议。
suggest: 语气较委婉，指提出不成熟的建议或参见意见。
prescribe: 多指医生开处方。
11.in all probability 很可能
例句：In all probability the money will not be paid.
这笔钱很可能是不会偿付的。
Having disappeared for long, he has been kidnapped in all probability.
他失踪了这么久十之八九是被绑架了。
12.put up with 忍受
例句：We have to put up with her bad temper.
我们只得忍受她的坏脾气。
Noise is coming to the point where we can"t put up with it.
噪音快到我们无法忍受的地步。
【参考译文】
这是一个怀疑一切的时代，可是虽然我们对我们祖先笃信的许多事物已不太相信，我们对瓶装药品疗效的信心仍与祖辈一样坚定。卫生部门的年度药费上升到了天文数字，并且目前尚无停止上升的迹象，这个事实证实了现代人对药物的依赖。在医院门诊部看病的大多数人觉得，如果不能带回一些看得见、摸得着的药物，如一瓶药水，一盒药丸、一小瓶药膏回家的话，就没算得到了充分的治疗。负责门诊的医生也非常乐意为前来看病的人提供他们想要得到的药物，病人要什么就给什么，没有比这样处理病人更快的方法了。因为卫生部门的大多数医生超负荷工作，所以没有多少时间提出一些既费时而又不受人欢迎的忠告，如注意饮食、生活有规律，需要克服坏习惯等等，结果就是把瓶药、盒药、罐药开给看病的人而完事大吉。
并不只是那些无知和没受过良好教育的人才迷信药瓶子。据说托马斯.卡莱尔有过这么一件事：他听说朋友亨利.泰勒病了，就立刻跑去看他，衣袋里装上了他妻子不舒服时吃剩下的一瓶药。卡莱尔不知道药瓶子里装的是什么药，不知道他的朋友得的是什么病，也不知道妻子以前得的是什么病，只知道一种药对一种病有好处，肯定对另一种病也会有好处。想到能对朋友有所帮助，他感到很欣慰，于是急急忙忙来到了亨利.泰勒的家里，他的朋友是否接受了他的药物治疗，历史没有记载，但很可能接受了。服药的优点是：除了暂时忍受一下令人作呕的味道外，对服药人别无其他要求。这也正是病人对医生的要求 -- 病要治好，但不要太麻烦。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
How did people probably imagine the sea-floor before it was investigated?
Our knowledge of the oceans a hundred years ago was confined to the two-dimensional shape of the sea surface and the hazards of navigation presented by the irregularities in depth of the shallow water close to the land. The open sea was deep and mysterious, and anyone who gave more than a passing thought to the bottom confines of the oceans probably assumed that the sea bed was flat. Sir James Clark Ross had obtained a sounding of over 2,400 fathoms in 1839, but it was not until 1869, when H.M.S. Porcupine was put at the disposal of the Royal Society for several cruises, that a series of deep soundings was obtained in the Atlantic and the first samples were collected by dredging the bottom. Shortly after this the famous H. M. S. Challenger expedition established the study of the sea-floor as a subject worthy of the most qualified physicists and geologists. A burst of activity associated with the laying of submarine cables soon confirmed the challenger"s observation that many parts of the ocean were two to there miles deep, and the existence of underwater features of considerable magnitude.
Today, enough soundings are available to enable a relief map of the Atlantic to be drawn and we know something of the great variety of the sea bed"s topography. Since the sea covers the greater part of the earth"s surface, it is quite reasonable to regard the sea floor as the basic form of the crust of the earth, with, superimposed upon it, the continents, together with the islands and other features of the oceans. The continents form rugged tablelands which stand nearly three miles above the floor of the open ocean. From the shore line, out a distance which may be anywhere from a few miles to a few hundred miles, runs the gentle slope of the continental shelf, geologically part of the continents. The real dividing line between continents and oceans occurs at the foot of a steeper slope.
This continental slope usually starts at a place somewhere near the 100-fatheom mark and in the course of a few hundred miles reaches the true ocean floor at 2,500-3,500 fathoms. The slope averages about 1 in 30. but contains steep, probably vertical, cliffs, and gentle sediment-covered terraces, and near its lower reaches there is a long tailing-off which is almost certainly the result of material transported out to deep water after being eroded from the continental masses.
T.F.GASKELL Exploring the Sea-floor from Science Survey
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
navigation n. 航海
sounding n. 水深度
fathom n. 寻(1寻等于1.8米)
porcupine n. 箭猪
dredge v. 挖掘
expedition n. 远征
physicist n. 物理学家
magnitude n. 很多
topography n. 地形
crust n. 地壳
rugged adj.崎岖不平
tableland n. 高地
sediment n. 沉淀物
terrace n. 阶地
erode v. 侵蚀
【课文注释】
1.be confined to 限制在，局限于
例句：He was confined to bed for a week with his cold.
他由于感冒而被限制在床上躺一个星期。
The work will not be confined to the Glasgow area.
此项工作不会局限于格拉斯哥地区。
2.hazard
①n. 危险，冒险，危害
例句：The car had its hazard warning lights on.
这辆汽车亮起了危险信号灯。
②v. 冒险，赌运气
例句：He hazarded all his money in the attempt to save the business.
他为挽救这家企业，不惜冒险投入他的全部金钱。
I"ll hazard a dollar on the bingo game.
我在这局宾果游戏上赌一元钱。
【词义辨析】
danger, risk, hazard, menace, peril, threat 这些名词均含有“危险、威胁”之意。
danger: 含义广，普通用词，指能够造成伤害、损害或不利的任何情况。
risk: 指有可能发生的危险，尤指主动进行某种活动或去碰运气而冒的危险。
hazard: 比risk正式，多指偶然发生的或无法控制的危险，常含较严重或有一定风险的意味。
menace: 所指的危险性最严重，表示使用暴力或造成破坏性的可能。
peril: 指迫在眉睫很有可能发生的严重危险。
threat: 普通用词，语气弱于menace，指任何公开侵犯对方的言行，给对方构成危险或威胁。
venture, chance, dare, hazard, risk 这些动词均含有“敢于冒险”之意。
venture: 指冒风险试一试，或指有礼貌的反抗或反对。
chance: 指碰运气、冒风险试试。
dare: 可与venture换用，但语气较强，着重挑战或违抗。
hazard: 主要指冒险作出某个选择，隐含碰运气意味。
risk: 指不顾个人安危去干某事，侧重主动承担风险。
3.irregularity n. 不规则性，不规则的事物
例句：Adjust this setting to control the amount of irregularity in the wind.
调节设置控制风的不规则的数量。
4.shallow water 浅水区
5.open sea 无边际的大海
6.gave more than a passing thought 稍微想过
7.H. M. S. 是Her/His Majesty"s Ship (英国皇家海军舰艇)的缩写。
8.at the disposal of 交由……支配
dispose v. 清除，处理掉，解决，杀死，打败
例句：His job is to dispose of the rubbish every night.
他的工作是每晚清除垃圾。
Hardship disposes man to meet adversity.
艰苦能让人适应逆境。
He doesn"t know how to dispose of his spare time.
他不知道怎样安排业余时间。
disposal n. 处理， 处置， 布置
例句：We placed everything at his disposal.
我们把一切事情都交给他处理。
He has a large number of reference books at his disposal.
他有大量的参考书可供使用。
9.dredge v. 用挖泥机疏浚
例句：Can we dredge the river to make it deeper?
我们能不能把这条河疏浚得深一点?
10.a relief map 地形图
11.with, superimposed upon it, the continents, together with the islands and other features of the oceans 这是with引导的一个过去分词独立主格结构。因逻辑主语太长，所以使用了倒装语序。superimposed upon it 是逻辑谓语部分。
12.rugged adj. 高低不平的，崎岖的，粗糙的
例句：They walk on the rugged country road.
他们在崎岖不平的乡村小路上走着。
The path to glory is always rugged.
通向光荣的道路常常是崎岖的。
13.continental shelf 大陆架
14.1 in 30 1/30
15.erode vt. 腐蚀， 侵蚀
例句：Soft drinks erode your stomach lining.
软饮会腐蚀你的胃壁。
The sea have erode the cliff face over the years.
海水经年累月冲刷著峭壁的表面。
【参考译文】
本世纪已研制出许多新奇的交通工具，其中最新奇的要数气垫船了。1953年，有一位50多岁名叫克里斯托弗.科克雷的原电子工程师，改行在诺福克郡的湖泊地区从事造船业，他向英国政府和工业界提出了他研究多年的一项计划。他的设想是：用一个低压空气或软垫来支撑船体，软垫周围用高压空气环绕。自那以后，人们很难决定是否应该将这种运载工具列为轮船、飞机，或是陆上交通工具，因为它是介于船和飞机之间。作为一个船舶技师，科克雷尔在寻找解决波浪阻力的方法，因为波浪阻力浪费掉了船在水面行驶的大量动力，从而限制了船的速度。他的解决办法是把船体提离水面，让船在一个气垫上行驶，气垫只有一两英尺厚。船底装上大量环状喷气嘴以实现这一目的。这样，船就能飞了，但飞不高。它的飞行限决于它所悬浮的水面或地面。
1959年，在苏伦特海峡进行的首次试航引起了轰动，气垫船先是在水面上行驶，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。后来气垫船跨越英吉利海峡，平衡地在波浪上方行驶，波浪不再产生阻力。
从那以后，各种各样的气垫船出现了，并开始了定期航行服务。气垫船在非洲、澳大利亚等交通不发达地区特别有用。它能成为“飞行水果盘子”，把香蕉从种植园运到港口。大型的气垫班轮或许能跨越大西洋。未来的火车或许能成为“气垫火车”，靠气垫在单轨上行驶而不接触轨道，时速可达每小时300英里。气垫船的前途是不可限量的。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What are patients looking for when they visit the doctor?
This is a sceptical age, but although our faith in many of the things in which our forefathers fervently believed has weakened, our confidence in the curative properties of the bottle of medicine remains the same a theirs. This modern faith in medicines is proved the fact that the annual drug bill of the Health Services is mounting to astronomical figures and shows no signs at present of ceasing to rise. The majority of the patients attending the medical out-patients departments of our hospitals feel that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine, a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment, and the doctor in charge of the department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements. There is no quicker method of disposing of patients then by giving them what they are asking for, and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked and have little time for offering time-consuming and little-appreciated advice on such subjects as diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits etc., the bottle, the box, and the jar are almost always granted them.
Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who has such faith in the bottle of medicine. It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained of a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs. Carlyle"s. Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained, of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering, and of what had previously been wrong with his wife, but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be of equal benefit in another, and comforted by the thought of the help he was bringing to his friend, he hastened to Henry Taylor"s house. History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in all probability he did. The great advantage of taking medicine is that it makes no demands on the taker beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste, and that is what all patients demand of their doctors -- to be cured at no inconvenience to themselves.
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
sceptical adj. 怀疑的
forefathers n. 祖先
fervently adv. 热情地
curative adj. 治病的
astronomical adj. 天文学的
tangible adj.实实在在的
remedy n. 药物
ointment n. 药膏
prescribe v. 开药方
indisposition n. 小病
disgusting n. 令人讨厌的
inconvenience n. 不便
【课文注释】
1.sceptical adj.怀疑的
例句：Mary is sceptical about the solution.
玛丽对这个解决办法表示怀疑。
2.fervently adv.热情地
例句：For her sake, as well as for John"s, I hoped fervently that she might still be found.
为了她的缘故，也为了约翰，我热切地希望她能被找到。
3.curative adj.治病的
例句：The scaffold were believed to have curative powers.
人们认为绞刑架具有治病的功效。
4.the same a theirs，这里的theirs是指our forefathers。
5.astronomical figures 天文数字
6.tangible adj.可触摸的， 实际的， 有形的， 确凿的
例句：It is the only tangible object the astronomer can handle.
这是天文学家能够掌握的可接触的对象。
The plan brought few tangible benefits to the poor.
这个计划没有给穷人带来多少实际好处。
【反义词】
intangible adj.难以明了的， 无形的…
例句：The old building have an intangible air of sadness about it.
那座古老建筑物周围笼罩著说不出的凄凉气氛。
Sound is intangible and the same is true of light.
声音是无形的，而光也同样如此。
7.only too ready to provide非常乐意提供。在英语中too…to do…的结构通常表示否定，但如果在前面加上only，就有“非常……能做”的意思。
8.dispose of 处理
例句：I want to dispose of these old books.
我想处理掉这些旧书。
He doesn"t know how to dispose of his spare time.
他不知道怎样安排业余时间。
9.It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle据说，托马斯 卡莱尔……(有下面这件事)。托马斯 卡莱尔是19世纪英国的散文作家和历史学家。
10.prescribe v. 开处方， 规定
例句：I"ll prescribe for you as soon as I get the report.
我拿到报告就给你开处方。
【短语词组】
prescribe for 为……开处方
【词义辨析】
recommend, advocate, propose, suggest, prescribe 这些动词均含“劝告、主张、建议”之意。
recommend: 指向对方提出公开的建议或规劝。
advocate: 指公开表明对某事或某行为的完全赞同，语气强于recommend。
propose: 多指较正式地提出建议。
suggest: 语气较委婉，指提出不成熟的建议或参见意见。
prescribe: 多指医生开处方。
11.in all probability 很可能
例句：In all probability the money will not be paid.
这笔钱很可能是不会偿付的。
Having disappeared for long, he has been kidnapped in all probability.
他失踪了这么久十之八九是被绑架了。
12.put up with 忍受
例句：We have to put up with her bad temper.
我们只得忍受她的坏脾气。
Noise is coming to the point where we can"t put up with it.
噪音快到我们无法忍受的地步。
【参考译文】
这是一个怀疑一切的时代，可是虽然我们对我们祖先笃信的许多事物已不太相信，我们对瓶装药品疗效的信心仍与祖辈一样坚定。卫生部门的年度药费上升到了天文数字，并且目前尚无停止上升的迹象，这个事实证实了现代人对药物的依赖。在医院门诊部看病的大多数人觉得，如果不能带回一些看得见、摸得着的药物，如一瓶药水，一盒药丸、一小瓶药膏回家的话，就没算得到了充分的治疗。负责门诊的医生也非常乐意为前来看病的人提供他们想要得到的药物，病人要什么就给什么，没有比这样处理病人更快的方法了。因为卫生部门的大多数医生超负荷工作，所以没有多少时间提出一些既费时而又不受人欢迎的忠告，如注意饮食、生活有规律，需要克服坏习惯等等，结果就是把瓶药、盒药、罐药开给看病的人而完事大吉。
并不只是那些无知和没受过良好教育的人才迷信药瓶子。据说托马斯.卡莱尔有过这么一件事：他听说朋友亨利.泰勒病了，就立刻跑去看他，衣袋里装上了他妻子不舒服时吃剩下的一瓶药。卡莱尔不知道药瓶子里装的是什么药，不知道他的朋友得的是什么病，也不知道妻子以前得的是什么病，只知道一种药对一种病有好处，肯定对另一种病也会有好处。想到能对朋友有所帮助，他感到很欣慰，于是急急忙忙来到了亨利.泰勒的家里，他的朋友是否接受了他的药物治疗，历史没有记载，但很可能接受了。服药的优点是：除了暂时忍受一下令人作呕的味道外，对服药人别无其他要求。这也正是病人对医生的要求 -- 病要治好，但不要太麻烦。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
How did people probably imagine the sea-floor before it was investigated?
Our knowledge of the oceans a hundred years ago was confined to the two-dimensional shape of the sea surface and the hazards of navigation presented by the irregularities in depth of the shallow water close to the land. The open sea was deep and mysterious, and anyone who gave more than a passing thought to the bottom confines of the oceans probably assumed that the sea bed was flat. Sir James Clark Ross had obtained a sounding of over 2,400 fathoms in 1839, but it was not until 1869, when H.M.S. Porcupine was put at the disposal of the Royal Society for several cruises, that a series of deep soundings was obtained in the Atlantic and the first samples were collected by dredging the bottom. Shortly after this the famous H. M. S. Challenger expedition established the study of the sea-floor as a subject worthy of the most qualified physicists and geologists. A burst of activity associated with the laying of submarine cables soon confirmed the challenger"s observation that many parts of the ocean were two to there miles deep, and the existence of underwater features of considerable magnitude.
Today, enough soundings are available to enable a relief map of the Atlantic to be drawn and we know something of the great variety of the sea bed"s topography. Since the sea covers the greater part of the earth"s surface, it is quite reasonable to regard the sea floor as the basic form of the crust of the earth, with, superimposed upon it, the continents, together with the islands and other features of the oceans. The continents form rugged tablelands which stand nearly three miles above the floor of the open ocean. From the shore line, out a distance which may be anywhere from a few miles to a few hundred miles, runs the gentle slope of the continental shelf, geologically part of the continents. The real dividing line between continents and oceans occurs at the foot of a steeper slope.
This continental slope usually starts at a place somewhere near the 100-fatheom mark and in the course of a few hundred miles reaches the true ocean floor at 2,500-3,500 fathoms. The slope averages about 1 in 30. but contains steep, probably vertical, cliffs, and gentle sediment-covered terraces, and near its lower reaches there is a long tailing-off which is almost certainly the result of material transported out to deep water after being eroded from the continental masses.
T.F.GASKELL Exploring the Sea-floor from Science Survey
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
navigation n. 航海
sounding n. 水深度
fathom n. 寻(1寻等于1.8米)
porcupine n. 箭猪
dredge v. 挖掘
expedition n. 远征
physicist n. 物理学家
magnitude n. 很多
topography n. 地形
crust n. 地壳
rugged adj.崎岖不平
tableland n. 高地
sediment n. 沉淀物
terrace n. 阶地
erode v. 侵蚀
【课文注释】
1.be confined to 限制在，局限于
例句：He was confined to bed for a week with his cold.
他由于感冒而被限制在床上躺一个星期。
The work will not be confined to the Glasgow area.
此项工作不会局限于格拉斯哥地区。
2.hazard
①n. 危险，冒险，危害
例句：The car had its hazard warning lights on.
这辆汽车亮起了危险信号灯。
②v. 冒险，赌运气
例句：He hazarded all his money in the attempt to save the business.
他为挽救这家企业，不惜冒险投入他的全部金钱。
I"ll hazard a dollar on the bingo game.
我在这局宾果游戏上赌一元钱。
【词义辨析】
danger, risk, hazard, menace, peril, threat 这些名词均含有“危险、威胁”之意。
danger: 含义广，普通用词，指能够造成伤害、损害或不利的任何情况。
risk: 指有可能发生的危险，尤指主动进行某种活动或去碰运气而冒的危险。
hazard: 比risk正式，多指偶然发生的或无法控制的危险，常含较严重或有一定风险的意味。
menace: 所指的危险性最严重，表示使用暴力或造成破坏性的可能。
peril: 指迫在眉睫很有可能发生的严重危险。
threat: 普通用词，语气弱于menace，指任何公开侵犯对方的言行，给对方构成危险或威胁。
venture, chance, dare, hazard, risk 这些动词均含有“敢于冒险”之意。
venture: 指冒风险试一试，或指有礼貌的反抗或反对。
chance: 指碰运气、冒风险试试。
dare: 可与venture换用，但语气较强，着重挑战或违抗。
hazard: 主要指冒险作出某个选择，隐含碰运气意味。
risk: 指不顾个人安危去干某事，侧重主动承担风险。
3.irregularity n. 不规则性，不规则的事物
例句：Adjust this setting to control the amount of irregularity in the wind.
调节设置控制风的不规则的数量。
4.shallow water 浅水区
5.open sea 无边际的大海
6.gave more than a passing thought 稍微想过
7.H. M. S. 是Her/His Majesty"s Ship (英国皇家海军舰艇)的缩写。
8.at the disposal of 交由……支配
dispose v. 清除，处理掉，解决，杀死，打败
例句：His job is to dispose of the rubbish every night.
他的工作是每晚清除垃圾。
Hardship disposes man to meet adversity.
艰苦能让人适应逆境。
He doesn"t know how to dispose of his spare time.
他不知道怎样安排业余时间。
disposal n. 处理， 处置， 布置
例句：We placed everything at his disposal.
我们把一切事情都交给他处理。
He has a large number of reference books at his disposal.
他有大量的参考书可供使用。
9.dredge v. 用挖泥机疏浚
例句：Can we dredge the river to make it deeper?
我们能不能把这条河疏浚得深一点?
10.a relief map 地形图
11.with, superimposed upon it, the continents, together with the islands and other features of the oceans 这是with引导的一个过去分词独立主格结构。因逻辑主语太长，所以使用了倒装语序。superimposed upon it 是逻辑谓语部分。
12.rugged adj. 高低不平的，崎岖的，粗糙的
例句：They walk on the rugged country road.
他们在崎岖不平的乡村小路上走着。
The path to glory is always rugged.
通向光荣的道路常常是崎岖的。
13.continental shelf 大陆架
14.1 in 30 1/30
15.erode vt. 腐蚀， 侵蚀
例句：Soft drinks erode your stomach lining.
软饮会腐蚀你的胃壁。
The sea have erode the cliff face over the years.
海水经年累月冲刷著峭壁的表面。
【参考译文】
本世纪已研制出许多新奇的交通工具，其中最新奇的要数气垫船了。1953年，有一位50多岁名叫克里斯托弗.科克雷的原电子工程师，改行在诺福克郡的湖泊地区从事造船业，他向英国政府和工业界提出了他研究多年的一项计划。他的设想是：用一个低压空气或软垫来支撑船体，软垫周围用高压空气环绕。自那以后，人们很难决定是否应该将这种运载工具列为轮船、飞机，或是陆上交通工具，因为它是介于船和飞机之间。作为一个船舶技师，科克雷尔在寻找解决波浪阻力的方法，因为波浪阻力浪费掉了船在水面行驶的大量动力，从而限制了船的速度。他的解决办法是把船体提离水面，让船在一个气垫上行驶，气垫只有一两英尺厚。船底装上大量环状喷气嘴以实现这一目的。这样，船就能飞了，但飞不高。它的飞行限决于它所悬浮的水面或地面。
1959年，在苏伦特海峡进行的首次试航引起了轰动，气垫船先是在水面上行驶，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。后来气垫船跨越英吉利海峡，平衡地在波浪上方行驶，波浪不再产生阻力。
从那以后，各种各样的气垫船出现了，并开始了定期航行服务。气垫船在非洲、澳大利亚等交通不发达地区特别有用。它能成为“飞行水果盘子”，把香蕉从种植园运到港口。大型的气垫班轮或许能跨越大西洋。未来的火车或许能成为“气垫火车”，靠气垫在单轨上行驶而不接触轨道，时速可达每小时300英里。气垫船的前途是不可限量的。
【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is a hovercraft riding on when it is in motion?
Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell, who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads, suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British Government and industrial circles. It was the idea of supporting a craft on a "pad", or cushion, of low-pressure air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air. Ever since, people have had difficulty in deciding whether the craft should be ranged among ships, planes, or land vehicles -- for it is something in between a boat and an aircraft. As a shipbuilder, Cockerell was trying to find a solution to the problem of the wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship"s power and limits its speed. His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by making it ride on a cushion of air, no more than one or two feet thick. This is done by a great number of ring-shaped air jets on the bottom of the craft. It "flies", therefore, but it cannot fly higher -- its action depends on the surface, water or ground, over which it rides.
The first tests on the Solent in 1959 caused a sensation. The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then mounted the beach, climbed up the dunes, and sat down on a road. Later it crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves, which presented no problem.
Since that time, various types of hovercraft have appeared and taken up regular service. The hovercraft is particularly useful in large areas with poor communications such as Africa or Australia; it can become a "flying fruit-bowl", carrying bananas from the plantations to the ports; giant hovercraft liners could span the Atlantic; and the railway of the future may well be the "hovertrain", riding on its air cushion over a single rail, which it never touches, at speeds up to 300 m.p.h. -- the possibilities appear unlimited.
EGON LARSEN The Pegasus Book of Inventors
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
hovercraft n. 气垫船
Norfolk Broads n. 诺福克郡的湖泊地区
cushion n. 座垫
ring v. 围
Solent n. (英国的)苏伦特海峡
sensation n. 轰动
dune n. 沙丘
plantation n. 种植园
hovertrain n. 气垫火车
【课文注释】
1.the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft 这是现在分词being的独立主格结构。
2.turned to direct one"s interest or attention towards; go into 求助于, 转向，在本段中的含义是“改行”。
例句：I had to turn to the dictionary for help.
我只得求助于字典了。
The pop singer turned to figure in soap operas.
那位流行歌星转向屏幕，在肥皂剧中扮演角色。
3.had been working 过去完成进行时，通常表示某个过去正在进行的动作或状态，持续到过去某个时刻，还未完成，一直持续到之后的当前才结束 。
例句：He had been bumming around the park all day.
他在公园里荡了一整天了。
He stopped swimming.He had been swimming for the last three hours.
他停止游泳了。在过去的三个小时里，他一直在游泳。
4. range v. 排列, 归类于
例句：The documents may range from a single sheet to a large packet of papers.
文件可以单页排列，也可以多页打包排列。
5.in between,介乎......之间，这是一种组合介词。
6.a surface ship,水面船只。
7.sensation n. 感觉, 轰动, 激动, 知觉
例句：He had a sensation of dizziness.
他有一种晕眩的感觉。
The new discovery caused a great sensation.
这项新发现很轰动。
8.present no problem 没有出现任何问题
【词义辨析】
modern, contemporary, current, recent, present, up-to-date这些形容词均有“现代的、当代的”之意。
modern: 指现代或近代，时期可长可短;也可指新颖、时髦的。
contemporary: 仅指当今这个时代，不涉及任何过去的时代，但可表示不同的人或物存在于同一时代。
current: 指目前存在和发生的。
recent: 表示新近的，最近的，时间的长短依据所修饰的人或物而定。
present: 是这些词中语气的一个。指现在正发生、起作用的。
up-to-date: 一般用于非正式场合，指很时新、能反映当前的最新发展。
offer, present, propose, volunteer这些动词均含“提出、提供”之意。
offer: 最普通用词，多指主动提出或提供意见或东西等，但是否接受由对方自行决定。
present: 既可指提出意见、建议等，又可指拿出某物供人欣赏或赠送。
propose: 指直接而主动地提出问题或建议等，也指在讨论或争辨中提出具体意见或建议。
volunteer: 与offer同义，侧重出于自愿，而不是奉命做某事。
9.may well be,很可能是。
例句：This novel may well become a classic.
这本小说很可能成为经典著作。
Since he can play many musical instruments, he may well be called a man of
accomplishments.
他能演奏许多乐器，当然称得上是个多才多艺的人。
10.speed up 加快速度
例句：Harden up a little, we need more speed.
把帆索拉紧一点，我们需要加快速度
The order No.105 is so urgently required that we have to ask you to speed up
shipment.
第105号订单所订货物我们要急用，请你们加快装船速度。
【参考译文】
本世纪已研制出许多新奇的交通工具，其中最新奇的要数气垫船了。1953年，有一位50多岁名叫克里斯托弗.科克雷的原电子工程师，改行在诺福克郡的湖泊地区从事造船业，他向英国政府和工业界提出了他研究多年的一项计划。他的设想是：用一个低压空气或软垫来支撑船体，软垫周围用高压空气环绕。自那以后，人们很难决定是否应该将这种运载工具列为轮船、飞机，或是陆上交通工具，因为它是介于船和飞机之间。作为一个船舶技师，科克雷尔在寻找解决波浪阻力的方法，因为波浪阻力浪费掉了船在水面行驶的大量动力，从而限制了船的速度。他的解决办法是把船体提离水面，让船在一个气垫上行驶，气垫只有一两英尺厚。船底装上大量环状喷气嘴以实现这一目的。这样，船就能飞了，但飞不高。它的飞行限决于它所悬浮的水面或地面。
1959年，在苏伦特海峡进行的首次试航引起了轰动，气垫船先是在水面上行驶，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。后来气垫船跨越英吉利海峡，平衡地在波浪上方行驶，波浪不再产生阻力。
从那以后，各种各样的气垫船出现了，并开始了定期航行服务。气垫船在非洲、澳大利亚等交通不发达地区特别有用。它能成为“飞行水果盘子”，把香蕉从种植园运到港口。大型的气垫班轮或许能跨越大西洋。未来的火车或许能成为“气垫火车”，靠气垫在单轨上行驶而不接触轨道，时速可达每小时300英里。气垫船的前途是不可限量的。