二、课文精解
SECTION A
1.In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been abolished,the social indications around work,the value of work and the salary,have degraded many laborers into modern slaves—“wage slaves”.在一个奴隶制度严格说来已经被废除的社会里,工作的社会含义、工作的价值和薪水,已经把许多劳动者降格为现代奴隶——“薪奴”。
(1)abolish意为“废除;废止”,其同义词eliminate,annihilate都有“消灭,消除”
的意思,其不同在于:
①eliminate通常指有步骤地除掉敌人、对手等或消除不需要的事物。例:He
eliminated all his political rivals.他铲除了所有政治对手。
②abolish尤指正式废止旧时或不合理的法律、制度、习俗等。例:The old law was
degradeabolished.这项旧法律被废除了。
③annihilate强调消灭或毁灭得非常彻底。例:We annihilated the intruders.我们
彻底消灭了入侵者。
(2)degrade指“降低……的身份”,这里degrade sb.into…相当于reduce sb.into…,表示“使某人沦为……”。
(3)earnings,income,salary,wage,pay等名词都可表示“工资,收入”。但它们的区别在于:earnings多指通过劳动或投资等手段得到的收入。income和earnings 含义接近,但前者强调总收入。salary指按月或平均给予的报酬,通常指脑力劳动者的薪水。wage多用复数形式,指按小时、日或星期的报酬,通常指体力劳动者的工资。pay则是个通用词,可取代salary或wage。
2.People are considered laborers if their job has an adverse effect on them,yet they feel compelled to continue working by the necessity of conforming to societal expectations and earning the revenue to support themselves and their families.如果人们的工作对自己有不利的影响,但为了遵照社会的期望以及养家糊口的需要而被迫必须继续工作,那么他们就被认为是劳役者。
(1)adverse表示“不利的,有害的”,相当于contrary。其派生词:adversary n.对手。
(2)have an effect on…表示“对……有影响”,相当于have an influence on…。关于effect的常用搭配还有:
①bring/put sth into effect使生效;实行;实施。
②come into effect生效;开始实施。例:New controls come into effect next
month.下月开始实施新的管制措施。
③to no effect毫无效果;毫无成效;不起作用。例:We warned them,but to no
effect.我们曾告诫过他们,但没起任何作用。
(3)compel vt.迫使。feel compeled to do感到必须做某事。
(4)conform to为固定搭配,表示“遵照;顺应;遵守”,相当于follow,observe,meet等。例:Relations of production must conform to the level of productive forces.生产关系必须适合生产力
3.Between labor and play stands work.处于劳役和玩乐之间的是工作。
此处between引导的介词短语提前,构成倒装,其目的是强调要被提前的部分。例:On the top of the hill stood an old castle.山丘上有一座古堡。
4.People are labeled as workers if their personal interests coincide with the jobs
society pay them to do;what is necessary labor from the point of view of society is voluntary play from the individual’s personal point of view.如果人们的个人兴趣跟社会付报酬与他们做的工作相吻合,他们则被称为工作者。社会上看来是苦工的事情对个人来说却是自愿进行的玩乐。
(1)be labeled as把……称作,把……说成是。例:He’ll probably be labeled as a criminal for the rest of his life.那么在这之后的生活中他很可能会被大多数人当罪犯。
(2)coincide(with)指“(想法、利益等)一致,相符”,其与近义词correspond,agree,accord的辨析:
correspond v.符合,一致。指两个事物或观点在某一方面或内容上互相匹配一致,常后接介词with/to。例:This copy does not correspond with the original.这份副本与原件不符。
accord v.相符,一致。常指行为、观点、性格、质量等方面一致,常后接介词with。
例:Your behaviour does not accord with your principle.你的行为与你的原则不符。
agree v.符合,一致。普通用词,指两条信息等相符或一致,常后接介词with。例:His story doesn’t agree with what the police have said.他的叙述和警方说的不一致。
(3)voluntary表示“自愿的;义务的,无偿的”,与compulsory相反。其与willing 的不同在于,voluntary强调主动去做某事,而非应征的、受强迫的,常含无任何报酬之意。例:Mary is a voluntary helper.玛丽是自愿帮忙的。而willing强调做某事是自愿而乐意的、心甘情愿的,用于此义时只作表语,通常后接动词不定式。例:
I was very willing to give her the chance she needed.我很愿意把她需要的机会
给她。
5.The difference does not,for example,correlate with the difference between a manual and mental job or between jobs of low or high esteem;a gardener covered in dirt in a greenhouse may be a worker w
hile a well-dressed city mayor may prove to be an unhappy laborer!比如,两者的区别与它是体力活还是脑力活或它尊严的高低没有关联。温室里满身尘土的园丁可能是工作者,而衣着光鲜的市长却可能是一个不快乐的劳役者!
(1)correlate(with)指“相互关联”。例:Obesity correlates with increased risk for hypertension and stroke.肥胖会增加高血压和中风发作的几率。
(2)while在本句中有转折、对比的意思。作者通过对比园丁、市长两个截然不同的职业说明工作和劳役的区别不在于工作本身的性质。
(3)well-dressed指“穿着考究的;穿着得体的”,类似的由“adv.+v.ed”构成的形容词还有:
well-educated adj.受教育良好的
well-decorated adj.精装修的
well-equipped adj.装备齐全的
6.Workers are therefore more prone to dedicate more to working,taking too little leisure rather than too much.因此,工作者更倾向于投入更多的时间在工作上,用在休闲上的时间不是很多,而是很少。
(1)prone(be prone to sth.)指“易于发生某事(尤指不好或有害的事)的;有……
倾向的”,例:For all her experience,she was still prone to nerves.尽管有经验,
她还是容易紧张。
(2)dedicate(time)to doing sth.投入(时间)做某事。dedicate to还有“献身”
的意思,例:He dedicated his life to helping the poor.他毕生致力于帮助穷人。(3)taking…为现在分词作伴随状语。
7.On the other hand,laborers,whose sole incentive is earning their livelihood,feel that the time they spend on the daily grind is wasted and doesn’t contribute to their happiness.相反,由于劳役者的唯一动力是赚生活费,他们觉得每天花在苦差事上的时间是一种浪费,不会给自己带来快乐。
(1)sole表示“仅有的;唯一的”,相当于only,single。例:the sole surviving member of the family那一家唯一在世的成员
(2)livelihood指“赚钱谋生的手段;生计”,earn one’s livelihood相当于earn one’s living。
(3)grind一词最常用的意思为它的动词形式,意为“磨碎,碾碎;磨成粉”,这里为其名词形式,表示“令人疲劳(或厌倦)的工作;苦差事”。
(4)contribute to意为“有所贡献;有助于;增加;是……的原因之一”例:Medical negligence was said to have contributed to her death.据说医务人员的玩忽职守是她死亡的原因之一。
8.It is possible to imagine an upcoming society in which the majority of the population wil have almost as much leisure time as in earlier times was enjoyed by the medieval aristocracy.可以想象的是,在即将到来的社会中,大多数人会拥有同早期中世纪贵族几乎一样多的闲暇时间。
(1)in which后是由which引导的定语从句,修饰society。介词提前,in which相当
于where。
(2)句中使用了as…as…搭配,“as+many/much+名词+as”意思是“……和……一样”。
as much后是“leisure time”,后一个as后面的部分相当于“(the leisure time)in earlier times(which)was enjoyed by…”
(3)aristocracy指“贵族.”。aristocrat指“(一位)贵族”,相当于a member of the aristocracy
9.Likewise,modern-day laborers with too much leisure time may find it difficult to refrain from the addictive and trivial pursuits of celebrity gossip,extravagant fashion,and excessive video games and TV—similar bad habits that waste valuable time.同样,有太多闲暇时间的现代劳役者们或许会觉得很难摆脱那些容易上瘾的无聊追求,像名人八卦、奢华时尚、过多的电子游戏和电视等诸如此类浪费宝贵时间的坏习惯。
(1)refrain from(doing)…指“克制;抑制;忍住”。refrain近义词有restrain,不同点在于,refrain为不及物动词,而restrain为及物动词,有固定搭配restrain sb./sth from doing sth.阻止、约束某人做某事。
(2)the pursuit of指“对……的追求”。例:She travelled the world in pursuit of her dreams.她走遍天下,追寻她的梦想。
(3)gossip指“流言蜚语;闲言碎语;闲聊”。作动词常用gossip about…说闲话,说长道短。例:She loves to gossip about her neighbours.她喜欢议论邻居们的是非长短。
(4)extravagant表示“奢侈的;铺张的;浪费的”,相当于luxurious,其名词形式extravagance意为“奢侈;挥霍;奢侈品”。例:Why waste money on such
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