unit 4 language points

Unit 4Language Points

Paragraph 1Over the past years I ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory.

tinker with: -- do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly 胡乱地修补

He likes to tinker with radios. Please don't tinker with my car engine.

My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the arguments, and I d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose.

Be/ Get caught up in sth: To be or get involved in something, especially something bad. 陷入 How did the contract get caught up in a legal dispute? The more hopeless in love you are, the more you get caught up in deceptions and murky nightmares. Your daily job will get more and more busy, therefore you will be caught up in the rat race激烈竞争(商业上) , which will burn up your energy.

Stroll: walk leisurely and with no apparent aim闲逛, 漫步

My sister and I strolled through the streets after supper. This collection gives us a wonderful sense of what it must have been like to stroll through a city in ancient times. Latin Americans stroll leisurely through life.

Mary walked into the restaurant. Mary strolled into Friday.

Mary staggered into Denny s. Mary paraded into Red Lobster.

Mary rushed into McDonald s. Mary strutted into the Red Door. Mary limped into Burger King.

Mary pranced into Taco Bell. Mary tiptoed into the Spring Roll. Mary strode into Subway.

She padded into PizzaHut. Mary scampered into Dicos. Mary plodded into KFC.

I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do.

Fidgety: unable to relax or be still 不安的，烦躁的

He felt fidgety and immersed his head in the cold water. That fidgety girl keeps twisting her fingers and shaking her feet. The young mother does not know how to get along with her fidgety son .

Paragraph 2A few Google searchers, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after.

Pithy: (of comments, sayings, advice, etc.) intelligent and strongly stated, without wasting any words 精辟的 A pithy saying expresses a general truth or fundamental principle. His pithy comments knocked the bottom out of (驳 倒) my argument.

The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy.

Even when I m not working, I m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web s info-thickets – reading and writing emails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link.

as likely as not to: very probably 很可能

As likely as not,she's forgotten all about it. As likely as not, the price of petrol will soon go up again.

She didn t usually work all night, but she was as likely as not to be at the lab at any given time.

Unlike footnot

es, to which they re sometimes likened, hyperlinks don t merely point out related works; they propel you toward them.

liken … to…: to say that someone or something is similar to another person or thing 把……比作

Our little company is likened to a big family. That calculating machine can be likened to a human brain. Life is likened to a journey with an unknown destination.

Paragraph 3The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they ve been widely described and duly applauded.

Duly: in the proper or expected way;at the proper time 适当地，恰当地；按时地 The sun duly rose. The carriage that he had ordered duly arrived, and we drove off. A group of men were charged conspiring against the duly elected government. Your suggestion has been duly noted.

“The perfect recall of silicon memory,” Wired’s Clive Thompson has written, “can be an enormous boon to thinking.”

Boon: something that is very useful and makes one s life a lot easier or better 裨益；恩物，有用之物

Radio is a boon to the blind. Parks are a great boon to people in big cities. Remember the hurt that we give to others, forget the boon.

And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away at my capacity for concentration and contemplation.

chipping away: to gradually make something less effective or destroy it (逐步)削弱；破坏 Can you chip the paint away? These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life. Its aim is to chip away at your feelings of self-worth and independence. whether Google can chip away at Microsoft's dominance in the market remains unclear.

Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

zip along: to go somewhere or do something very quickly 飞速地做某事(到某地)

These new trains really zip along. A sports car zipped past us. After a slow begin, the play fairly zip along in the second act.

Paragraph 4He speculates on the answer: “What if I do all my reading books on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I m just seeking convenience, but because the way I think has changed?”

他推出一个答案：“如果对我来说，通过网络来阅读的真 正理由与其说是我的阅读方式发生了改变，比如，我只是图个 方便，不如说是我的思维方式在发生变化，那么我该怎么办 呢？” Speculate on/about: to think or talk about the possible causes or effects of something, without knowing all the facts or details 推测，猜测 Scientists speculate on the origin of the universe.

The family didn't want to speculate on the reasons for her suicide. "Please do not spread my photos, and do not speculate on my private life, " wrote Britney Spears on her blog.

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