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UNIT 5
Text A
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, answer the questions.
1. Are most people today ready to help others when they are in trouble?
2. Is it necessary for our society to form an organization to give help to those who need it?
3. Are you sure you can always get help from others when you need it?
Now compare your answers with those of your neighbours'.
Community Service
1. The idea of helping people comes naturally to most of us. If we see a blind person getting off a bus, we watch to make sure that he is in no danger of falling. Members of a family help one another, with particular care for the very young and the elderly.
2. There are many people who have nobody near to see their need for help and often nobody to give it even when the need is known. The old, the handicapped, the homeless and friendless -- these are the people for whom help may not come, because nobody sees. It may not have occurred to you that you are in a position to help. Community service means helping the people around you. Organizations exist which try to make sure that someone sees when help is needed and does something about it. These organizations depend on voluntary help to carry out a wide variety of tasks, volunteers giving up a little of their spare time to lend a hand.
3. If you wish to take part in this worthwhile activity, what sort of things would you do? Think of the people most in need of help and the ways in which help can be given. Much of the work of community service is concerned with the care of the elderly and the handicapped. Old people cannot always redecorate their homes. Household repairs, cleaning, preparing food or taking care of the garden may all prove difficult. Elderly people with failing eyesight are delighted if a friend comes in to read or to write letters for them. A helping hand and a friendly face can mean a great deal to a lonely elderly person.
4. Handicapped people may be young or old. People confined to wheelchairs cannot go out unless somebody takes them. Blind children may love swimming but they need a sighted swimmer to go with them. Some handicapped people may be unable to go out at all and a visitor is then more than welcome. Voluntary help is needed in hospitals. There are library and shop trolleys to be taken round the wards and at Christmas time decorations to be put up and parties and concerts to be organized. Some volunteers help to run playgrounds for young children during school holidays and also look after children in pre-school play groups.
5. What do you do if you want to help? Your school may have contact with an outside organization or, indeed, run a community service scheme itself. In many towns there is a committee called the Council of Social Service or the Guild of Social Welfare and they will be able to tell you about voluntary activities in the area. The Citizens' Advice Bureau and the Women's Royal Voluntary Service are other sources of information, as is the public library. Churches, the Scouts and other youth organizations can tell you about their activities. Most large cities in the United Kingdom have youth groups for community service, for it is here that the need is greatest. If you join such a group, you will bring pleasure and hope to people who need your help.
New Words
community
n. 社区，社会
particular
a. 1. 特殊的，特别的
2. of a certain sort 特定的，某一的
elderly
a. (of a person) getting near old age 近老年的，过了中年的
handicapped
a. 有生理缺陷的，智力低下的
occur
v. 1. (of an idea) to come to (someone's) mind 被想到
2. to happen; take place 发生
organization
n. 组织，团体
voluntary
a. 自愿的，自发的
variety
n. 1. 种种
2. 种类
volunteer
n. 自愿参加者
activity
n. sth. that is done or is being done 活动，所做的事情
concerned
a. 1. 有关的
2. anxious; worried 担心的，不安的
concern
v. 涉及，与...有关系
redecorate
v. to put new paint, paper, etc. on (the inside of a building) 重新装饰
household
a. 家庭的，家用的
n. all the people living together in a home 家庭
eyesight
n. 视力
confine
v. 1. to keep or shut in a small space 禁闭
2. 限制
wheelchair
n. 轮椅
unable
a. 1. 不能的，不会的
2. 无能力的，不能胜任的
trolley
n. 1. 手推车
2. 有轨电车
ward
n. 病房
decoration
n. sth. that decorates 装饰品
organize
v. to make the necessary arrangements for 组织
pre-school
a. 学龄前的，入学前的
scheme
n. a plan or design 计划，方案
committee
n. a group of people chosen to do a particular job or for special duties 委员会
council
n. 理事会，委员会
guild
n. 协会
welfare
n. 福利
citizen
n. 公民，市民
bureau
n. a government department （政府机构的）局，处，司
royal
a. 皇家的，王室的
source
n. a place from which sth. comes or is obtained 源，来源
scout
n. 1. 童子军
2. 侦察员，侦察机（或舰）
kingdom
n. 王国
Phrases and Expressions
get off
下（车），离开
make sure
确信，确保
in (no) danger of
处在(没有)...危险的情况下
carry out
开展，执行
a (wide) variety of
各种各样的
lend a hand
帮忙
give up
花费（时间等），放弃
take part in
参与，参加
in need of
需要
be concerned with
有关，涉及
take care of
照顾，照看
a great deal (of)
许多
put up
布置，张贴
look after
照顾，照看
Proper Names
the Council of Social Service
社会服务委员会
the Guild of Social Welfare
社会福利协会
the Citizens' Advice Bureau
公民咨询处
the Women's Royal Voluntary Service
皇家妇女志愿服务会
the Scouts
童子军
the United Kingdom
联合王国
Text B
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, answer the questions.
1. Do people in China move a lot? Why or why not?
2. When people move, where do they usually go -- from the country to the city or from the city to the suburbs (郊区)
Now compare your answers with those of your neighbours.
People on the Move
1. The history of the American people is, in part, the history of the movement of the American people. They moved from the colonies of the East Coast to the open space of the West. They moved from the country and the farm to the city. More recently, Americans have been moving from the cities to the suburbs.
2. Pioneer Americans began moving from the East Coast to the West 250 years ago. They moved west for many reasons. One reason was that they could obtain unlimited open space and land for farming. Americans liked large open spaces, and they liked the freedom and independence to develop the land in their own way. Some of the land became farms. Important minerals were discovered in some areas, so some of the land became mines. Other large areas became cattle ranches. There seemed to be enough land for everybody. But it was a difficult life -- a life of endless work and hardship.
3. After 1860, the Industrial Revolution changed the United States. Americans learned how to manufacture steel. They began to produce petroleum. The automobile was invented. Factories of all kinds began to appear, and cities began to grow up around the factories. Farmers and other country people moved to the growing cities in order to find jobs and an easier life. In the early 1900s, the cities were busy, exciting places. However, there was also a lot of poverty and hardship.
4. The cities grew up -- the buildings got taller -- and the cities grew out -- they spread out from the center. Private houses with yards and porches disappeared. Apartment buildings, each one taller than the next, took their place. More and more people moved to cities, and the cities got bigger and bigger.
5. Some cities could not spread out because there was no room to do so. These cities, of which New York is the best example, became more and more crowded. More people meant more cars, trucks, and buses, more noise, more pollution, and more crime. Many cities became ugly and dirty. Some people and some businesses began to leave the cities and move to the suburbs outside the cities.
6. The move to the suburbs is still happening. Americans are looking for a small piece of land that they can call their own. They want a house with a yard. However, they do not want to give up the good jobs they have in the city. In many cases, companies in the suburbs give them jobs. In other cases, Americans need to commute to and from the cities where their jobs are. In recent years, more and more businesses are moving to the suburbs. They are attracting many people and the suburbs are becoming crowded.
7. Americans have watched their big cities fall slowly into disrepair and die. Many middle-class people leave the cities, and the very rich and the very poor stay behind.
8. Concerned Americans are trying to solve the problems of noise, dirt, crime, and pollution in the big cities. They are trying to rebuild bad sections of the cities. They are trying to attract and keep business people. They are trying to make their cities beautiful. Many Americans are ready to move back to the cities.
9. Other Americans are finding that even the suburbs have become too crowded. They are looking for unpolluted open spaces and for an independent way of life. They are ready to move from the suburbs to the country.
10. Perhaps Americans will always be on the move.
New Words
colony
n. 1. 聚居地
2. a country or area controlled and developed by another country 殖民地
suburb
n. an outer area of a town or city, where people live 郊区，近郊
obtain
v. to get 获得，得到
unlimited
a. 无限的，无边无际的
independence
n. 独立，自主
ranch
n. 大牧场
hardship
n. difficult conditions of life, such as shortage of money, hard work, etc. 苦难，困苦
industrial
a. of industry and the people who work in it 工业的，产业的
petroleum
n. 石油
automobile
n. a car 汽车，机动车
invent
v. to make or produce for the first time 发明，创造
poverty
n. the state of being very poor 贫穷，贫困
private
a. 1. personal; one's own 私人的
2. having no relation with government 私立的
porch
n. 门廊，走廊
apartment
n. a flat 公寓
pollution
n. 污染
crime
n. 罪，犯罪
commute
v. to travel regularly a long distance between one's home and work, esp. by train 经常乘车上下班，经常乘车往返于两地
attract
v. to cause to like, admire, notice, or turn towards 吸引，引起（注意、兴趣、赞赏等）
solve
v. to come to an answer, explanation, or way of dealing with (sth.) 解决
dirt
n. 1. 肮脏（状态）
2. 污物，烂泥，灰尘
section
n. 1. 区，地区
2. a part of a larger object, place, group, etc. that is more or less separate （事物的）一段，一部分
independent
a. not dependent; not controlled 独立的，不愿受约束的
Phrases and Expressions
on the move
在迁移中
in part
部分地，在某种程度上
spread out
伸展
take sb's place/take the place of
代替
fall into
陷入（某种状态/错误等）
stay behind
留下来不走
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