Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
I. Read aloud
Read aloud
Audiovisual supplements
Read the following passage aloud, making a pause between sense
groups.
Principles Are Lighthouses
By Stephen R. Covey
It was a dark and stormy night./ The officer on the bridge/ came
to the captain and said,/ “Captain,/ Captain,/ there is a light in our
sea lane/ and they won’t move.”/
“What do you mean they won’t move?/ Tell them to move./ Tell
them starboard right now.”/
The signal was sent out,/ “Starboard,/ starboard./” The signal
came back,/ “Starboard yourself.”/
“I can’t believe this./ What’s going on here?/ Let them know
who I am./” The signal was sent out,/ “This is the mighty Missouri,
/starboard./” The signal came back,/ “This is the lighthouse.”/
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Read aloud
Audiovisual supplements
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
My friends,/ correct principles are lighthouses,/ they do not
move./ They are natural laws./ We cannot break them./ We can only
break ourselves against them./ We might as well learn them,/
accommodate them,/ utilize them and be grateful for them. /Then it
enlarges us/ and emancipates us/ and empowers us./
T.S. Eliot once said something/ I think is appropriate/ as we
come to the conclusion of our visit together./ He said,/ “We shall
never cease from striving,/ and the end of all of our striving/ will be
to arrive where we began/ and to know the place for the first time.”/
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
II. Audiovisual supplements
Read aloud
Film episode: American Beauty
Audiovisual supplements
Questions:
1. What’s Ricky describing?
2. Do you think it is a kind of beauty? Why？
Answers for reference:
1. He is describing a kind of beauty — a plastic bag dancing in the
wind.
2. Open answer.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Read aloud
Audiovisual supplements
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Ricky: It was one of those days where it’s a minute away from
snowing, and there was this electricity in the air. You can
almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just dancing ...
with me, like a little kid begging me to play with it, for 15
minutes. That’s the day I realized that there was this entire
life behind things and this incredibly benevolent force that
wanted me to know that there was no reason to be afraid ...
ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know, but it helps me
remember. I need to remember. Sometimes there’s so
much … beauty … in the world. I feel like I can’t take it …
and my heart … is just going to … cave in.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Read aloud
Audiovisual supplements
■
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
I. Text analysis
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Cultural background
The text is a letter to a B student. In the letter the author
analyzes what the grade means and doesn’t mean, and tells the
student the way we should regard grades. In the end the author
illustrates the importance of learning and gives encouragement to
the student.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
II. Structural analysis
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Paragraph 1
—
introduction
Cultural background
Paragraphs 2 – 5
—
purpose of writing: to put your
disappointment in perspective by
considering exactly what your grade
means and doesn’t mean
Paragraphs 6 – 8
—
distinction between the student as a
performer in the classroom and the
student as a human being
Paragraphs 9 – 10
—
perspective: the way we should regard
grades
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
III. Cultural background
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Cultural background
American Education System versus Asian Education System
America is the land of opportunity, which is famous for its
democratic society and unique culture. People in America like to be
free, to do whatever they want to do without any restrictions. This
belief is reflected in the American educational system. In American
schools, teachers and students are at the same social level. Students are
encouraged to exchange their own opinions with the teacher. From an
early age, students in the American educational system have been
taught that they have the ability to achieve whatever they want to be,
but rarely been told how they can achieve their goal. Because of this
belief in natural born ability in the land of opportunity, students receive
very little pressure in school, so whatever they do in school is totally
based on their personal beliefs. The advantage of this kind of
educational system is that, it really develops student’s individual
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Cultural background
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
thinking skills, and they are encouraged to try out different options to
achieve their goal.
In Asian countries, the cultures and social standards are totally
different from the U.S. In those countries most of their values are
based on Confucius which heavily stresses education and group
values. One’s social status is based on his/her education level.
Starting from elementary school, students have been taught that if
you want to be successful in life you must have a good education,
and any other way is considered inappropriate. In the Asian school
systems, educators rank students by their scores. So, if your rank is
high you are a good student and you will have a good chance to get
into a good school. If your rank is low then you are a bad student
and it is a sign that you are going to be a loser. Nobody cares if you
are talented or not. Under these pressures, students compete hard
with other students. They study five hours a day just trying to gain
more
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Cultural background
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
points in a test so they can get a higher rank. Through these efforts of
setting high standards it’s no surprise that Asian students rank top in
the academic achievement. The advantage of this kind of system is
that the school systems can provide the society year after year with
high quality personnel of the same academic standard.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Robert Oliphant
Your final grade for the course is B. A respectable grade. Far
superior to the “Gentleman’s C” that served as the norm a couple of
generations ago. But in those days A’s were rare: only two out of
twenty-five, as I recall. Whatever our norm is, it has shifted upward,
with the result that you are probably disappointed at not doing better.
I’m certain that nothing I can say will remove that feeling of
disappointment, particularly in a climate where grades determine
eligibility for graduate school and special programs.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Disappointment. It’s the stuff bad dreams are made of: dreams of
failure, inadequacy, loss of position and good repute. The essence of
success is that there’s never enough of it to go round in a zero-sum
game where one person’s winning must be offset by another’s losing,
one person’s joy offset by another’s disappointment. You’ve grown up
in a society where winning is not the most important thing — it’s the
only thing. To lose, to fail, to go under, to go broke — these are deadly
sins in a world where prosperity in the present is seen as a sure sign of
salvation in the future. In a different society, your disappointment might
be something you could shrug away. But not in ours.
My purpose in writing you is to put your disappointment in
perspective by considering exactly what your grade means and doesn’t
mean. I do not propose to argue here that grades are unimportant.
Rather, I hope to show you that your grade, taken at face value, is apt to
be dangerously misleading, both to you and to others.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
As a symbol on your college transcript, your grade simply means
that you have successfully completed a specific course of study, doing
so at a certain level of proficiency. The level of your proficiency has
been determined by your performance of rather conventional tasks:
taking tests, writing papers and reports, and so forth. Your performance
is generally assumed to correspond to the knowledge you have acquired
and will retain. But this assumption, as we both know, is questionable;
it may well be that you’ve actually gotten much more out of the course
than your grade indicates — or less. Lacking more precise
measurement tools, we must interpret your B as a rather fuzzy symbol
at best, representing a questionable judgment of your mastery of the
subject.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Your grade does not represent a judgment of your basic ability or of
your character. Courage, kindness, wisdom, good humor — these are
the important characteristics of our species. Unfortunately they are not
part of our curriculum. But they are important: crucially so, because
they are always in short supply. If you value these characteristics in
yourself, you will be valued — and far more so than those whose
identities are measured only by little marks on a piece of paper. Your B
is a price tag on a garment that is quite separate from the living,
breathing human being underneath.
The student as performer; the student as human being. The
distinction is one we should always keep in mind. I first learned it years
ago when I got out of the service and went back to college. There were
a lot of us then: older than the norm, in a hurry to get our degrees and
move on, impatient with the tests and rituals of academic life. Not an
easy group to handle.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
One instructor handled us very wisely, it seems to me. On
Sunday evenings in particular, he would make a point of stopping in
at a local bar frequented by many of the GI-Bill students. There he
would sit and drink, joke, and swap stories with men in his class,
men who had but recently put away their uniforms and identities:
former platoon sergeants, bomber pilots, corporals, captains,
lieutenants, commanders, majors — even a lieutenant colonel, as I
recall. They enjoyed his company greatly, as he theirs. The next
morning he would walk into class and give these same men a test. A
hard test. A test on which he usually flunked about half of them.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Oddly enough, the men whom he flunked did not resent it. Nor
did they resent him for shifting suddenly from a friendly gear to a
coercive one. Rather, they loved him, worked harder and harder at
his course as the semester moved along, and ended up with a good
grasp of his subject — economics. The technique is still rather
difficult for me to explain; but I believe it can be described as one in
which a clear distinction was made between the student as classroom
performer and the student as human being. A good distinction to
make. A distinction that should put your B in perspective — and your
disappointment.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Perspective. It is important to recognize that human beings,
despite differences in class and educational labeling, are
fundamentally hewn from the same material and knit together by
common bonds of fear and joy, suffering and achievement. Warfare,
sickness, disasters, public and private — these are the larger
coordinates of life. To recognize them is to recognize that social
labels are basically irrelevant and misleading. It is true that these
labels are necessary in the functioning of a complex society as a way
of letting us know who should be trusted to do what, with the result
that we need to make distinctions on the basis of grades, degrees,
rank, and responsibility. But these distinctions should never be taken
seriously in human terms, either in the way we look at others or in
the way we look at ourselves.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Even in achievement terms, your B label does not mean that you
are permanently defined as a B achievement person. I’m well aware
that B students tend to get B’s in the courses they take later on, just
as A students tend to get A’s. But academic work is a narrow, neatly
defined highway compared to the unmapped rolling country you will
encounter after you leave school. What you have learned may help
you find your way about at first; later on you will have to shift to
yourself, locating goals and opportunities in the same fog that
hampers us all as we move toward the future.
1,052 words
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Robert Oliphant
Your final grade for the course is B. A respectable grade. Far
superior to the “Gentleman’s C” that served as the norm a couple of
generations ago. But in those days A’s were rare: only two out of
twenty-five, as I recall. Whatever our norm is, it has shifted upward,
with the result that you are probably disappointed at not doing better.
I’m certain that nothing I can say will remove that feeling of
disappointment, particularly in a climate where grades determine
eligibility for graduate school and special programs.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Disappointment. It’s the stuff bad dreams are made of: dreams of
failure, inadequacy, loss of position and good repute. The essence of
success is that there’s never enough of it to go round in a zero-sum
game where one person’s winning must be offset by another’s losing,
one person’s joy offset by another’s disappointment. You’ve grown up
in a society where winning is not the most important thing — it’s the
only thing. To lose, to fail, to go under, to go broke — these are deadly
sins in a world where prosperity in the present is seen as a sure sign of
salvation in the future. In a different society, your disappointment might
be something you could shrug away. But not in ours.
My purpose in writing you is to put your disappointment in
perspective by considering exactly what your grade means and doesn’t
mean. I do not propose to argue here that grades are unimportant.
Rather, I hope to show you that your grade, taken at face value, is apt to
be dangerously misleading, both to you and to others.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
As a symbol on your college transcript, your grade simply means
that you have successfully completed a specific course of study, doing
so at a certain level of proficiency. The level of your proficiency has
been determined by your performance of rather conventional tasks:
taking tests, writing papers and reports, and so forth. Your performance
is generally assumed to correspond to the knowledge you have acquired
and will retain. But this assumption, as we both know, is questionable;
it may well be that you’ve actually gotten much more out of the course
than your grade indicates — or less. Lacking more precise
measurement tools, we must interpret your B as a rather fuzzy symbol
at best, representing a questionable judgment of your mastery of the
subject.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Your grade does not represent a judgment of your basic ability or of
your character. Courage, kindness, wisdom, good humor — these are
the important characteristics of our species. Unfortunately they are not
part of our curriculum. But they are important: crucially so, because
they are always in short supply. If you value these characteristics in
yourself, you will be valued — and far more so than those whose
identities are measured only by little marks on a piece of paper. Your B
is a price tag on a garment that is quite separate from the living,
breathing human being underneath.
The student as performer; the student as human being. The
distinction is one we should always keep in mind. I first learned it years
ago when I got out of the service and went back to college. There were
a lot of us then: older than the norm, in a hurry to get our degrees and
move on, impatient with the tests and rituals of academic life. Not an
easy group to handle.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
One instructor handled us very wisely, it seems to me. On
Sunday evenings in particular, he would make a point of stopping in
at a local bar frequented by many of the GI-Bill students. There he
would sit and drink, joke, and swap stories with men in his class,
men who had but recently put away their uniforms and identities:
former platoon sergeants, bomber pilots, corporals, captains,
lieutenants, commanders, majors — even a lieutenant colonel, as I
recall. They enjoyed his company greatly, as he theirs. The next
morning he would walk into class and give these same men a test. A
hard test. A test on which he usually flunked about half of them.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Oddly enough, the men whom he flunked did not resent it. Nor
did they resent him for shifting suddenly from a friendly gear to a
coercive one. Rather, they loved him, worked harder and harder at
his course as the semester moved along, and ended up with a good
grasp of his subject — economics. The technique is still rather
difficult for me to explain; but I believe it can be described as one in
which a clear distinction was made between the student as classroom
performer and the student as human being. A good distinction to
make. A distinction that should put your B in perspective — and your
disappointment.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Perspective. It is important to recognize that human beings,
despite differences in class and educational labeling, are
fundamentally hewn from the same material and knit together by
common bonds of fear and joy, suffering and achievement. Warfare,
sickness, disasters, public and private — these are the larger
coordinates of life. To recognize them is to recognize that social
labels are basically irrelevant and misleading. It is true that these
labels are necessary in the functioning of a complex society as a way
of letting us know who should be trusted to do what, with the result
that we need to make distinctions on the basis of grades, degrees,
rank, and responsibility. But these distinctions should never be taken
seriously in human terms, either in the way we look at others or in
the way we look at ourselves.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... winning is not the most important thing — it’s the only thing
Paraphrase:
Winning is of primary importance; nothing could be more important
than winning.
胜利不是最重要的，而是唯一重要的。
Explanation:
This is a special type of negation. The author is not negating the
importance of winning; rather, with the sentence that follows
the negative one, the author gives the utmost emphasis to the
importance of winning.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
e.g. To improve your oral English, practicing is not the most
important thing — it’s the only thing.
e.g. Ours is a time of information explosion; to keep up with the times,
updating our knowledge is not the most important thing — it’s
the only thing.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
To lose, to fail, to go under, to go broke — these are deadly sins in a
world where prosperity in the present is seen as a sure sign of
salvation in the future.
Paraphrase:
Being unsuccessful in one’s life and career and financially
disadvantaged is regarded as shameful or even sinful because in this
world people tend to think that only those who are successful now
can be saved from evil in the future.
失利失败，倾家荡产是很可怕的过错，因为在当今世界，人
们认为眼下的兴隆发达预示着将来必能从困境中脱身。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... when I got out of the service ...
Paraphrase:
... when I got out of the army ...
……当我退伍时……
Explanation:
Usually the plural form “services” is used to refer to the three
armed forces, i.e. the army, the navy, and the air force.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... men who had but recently put away their uniforms and identities:
former platoon sergeants, bomber pilots, corporals, captains,
lieutenants, commanders, majors — even a lieutenant colonel ...
那些学生只是在不久以前脱下军装，变成普通人。他们曾经
是下士、中士、轰炸机驾驶员、中尉、上尉、指挥官、少校
或者中校……
Explanation:
Here “men who had ... and identities” refers to former GIs, who,
like the author himself, had taken off their army uniforms and
changed their identities from servicemen to civilians. Many of
these men had been officers of various ranks.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... shifting suddenly from a friendly gear to a coercive one .
……他突然从友善的样子变成严酷的模样儿。
Explanation:
The word “gear” originally means a device in a vehicle which
controls the rate at which the energy being used is converted
into motion (排挡). While driving, a driver sometimes shifts or
changes gear (换挡). In our sentence, the shifting of gear refers
to the change in the instructor’s manner of dealing with his
students. When drinking with the students in the pub, he was
easy-going and friendly; but in the classroom, he became stern
and severe.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
It is important to recognize that human beings, … Warfare, sickness,
disasters, public and private — these are the larger coordinates of life.
Paraphrase:
It is important to see the fact that although they differ in their
class status and educational background, human beings are
essentially the same. First of all, they are, biologically speaking,
constructed in the same way, and then they all share the feelings
of fear and joy, and also the common experience of suffering
and achieving. This commonality has bound them together. All
of them will regard wars, diseases, and disasters, both private
and public, as unfortunate big events in their lifetime.
尽管社会阶级和教育背景不同，但是人们都由相同的物质构
成，被恐惧、快乐、痛苦、和成就这些人类共同的纽带联系
在一起。承认这一点非常重要。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
norm n.
Explanation：
1) level of achievement most students are expected to reach;
what is considered as standard.
e.g. terrorists who violate the norms of civilized society
2) the usual or normal situation, way of doing something etc.
e.g.
Joyce’s style of writing was a striking departure from the
literary norm.
e.g.
Short term contracts are now the norm with some big
companies.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1)犯罪行为似乎是这一带的正常现象。
Criminal behavior seems to be the norm in this neighborhood.
2)在社会中生活就要遵循社会行为准则。
You must adapt to the norms of the society you live in.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
shift v.
Explanation：
1) to move or change from one position or direction to another
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
2)
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
The teacher shifted the chairs around in the classroom.
The tools shift around in the boot every time we turn a corner.
The wind shifted from east to north.
You’ll have to shift yourselves to another room. I want to
clean in here.
transfer something
He shifted the load from his left to his right shoulder.
The president is shifting the focus of the debate to foreign
policy issues.
This simply shifts the cost of medical insurance from
employer to employee.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Explanation：
3) change (gear) in a vehicle
e.g. Shift up when you reach 30 mph.
e.g. Learn to shift gear at the right moment.
4) move quickly
e.g. You’ll have to shift if you want to get there by nine o’clock.
Collocation:
shift sth. (from A to B)
e.g. She shifted her gaze from me to Bobby with a look of suspicion.
e.g. Under these new arrangements, the emphasis has shifted
from state provision to personal responsibility.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivation:
shifty adj.
e.g. a shifty-looking person
shiftless adj.
e.g. a shiftless individual who never works and constantly borrows
from others
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1)观众在座位上不安地动来动去。
The audience shifted uneasily in their seats.
2)别想把责任推给别人，你得自己干这件事。
Don’t try to shift the responsibility onto others: you must do the
job yourself.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
eligibility n.
Explanation：
the qualifications or abilities required for doing something
Collocation:
eligibility for sth.
Derivation:
eligible adj.
e.g. eligible to join a club
e.g. eligible for promotion
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 她的资历和经验决定她适合做这项工作。
Her qualifications and experience confirm her eligibility for the
job.
2) 任何年满十八岁的公民都有选举权。
Anyone over the age of 18 is eligible to vote.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
inadequacy n.
Explanation：
1) being too low in quality or too small in amount
e.g. the inadequacy of local health care
2) fault or failing; weakness
e.g. the inadequacies of the present voting system
e.g. realize one’s personal inadequacy
Derivation:
inadequate adj.
e.g. An inadequate supply of vitamin A can lead to blindness.
e.g. The parking facilities are inadequate for such a busy shopping
center.
e.g. The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made
mistakes.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into Chinese:
1) Unemployment can often cause feelings of inadequacy and
low self-esteem.
失业常使人感到自信不足、自尊心受挫。
2) I always feel inadequate when faced with a difficult problem.
面对难题我总是觉得力不从心。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
repute n.
Explanation：
reputation
e.g. a man of good repute
e.g. a hotel of some repute
Derivation:
reputed adj.
e.g. She is reputed to be extremely wealthy.
reputedly adv.
e.g. The committee had reputedly spent over $3000 on “business
entertainment”.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
disrepute n.
e.g. Since the scandal, the school has rather fallen into disrepute.
e.g. The use of drugs is bringing the sport into disrepute.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他是个名不见经传的大学教师。
He has little repute as an academic.
2) 安迪在他的家乡臭名昭著。
Andy is a man of bad repute in his hometown.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
offset v.
Explanation：
to counterbalance or compensate for
e.g. In 1992 the cost of the layoffs was offset by the savings on
the payroll.
e.g. He was able to offset his travel expenses against tax.
e.g. Streaks of blond in his hair offset his deep tan.
Collocation:
be offset by
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。
He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.
2) 抵押贷款利率的提高，其中一部分可因免税额增加而相抵
消。
Higher mortgage rates are partly offset by increased tax
allowances.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
go under
Explanation：
to fail; to be overwhelmed
e.g. The filling station went under because there were too many
others on the street.
e.g. His business went under because of competition from the large
corporations.
e.g. Poor Donaldson had no head for business, and it was not long
before he went under.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 生意若无起色，公司非垮不可。
The firm will go under unless business improves.
2) 很多餐厅在第一年就倒闭了。
Many restaurants go under in the first year.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
go/be broke
Explanation：
to become penniless; to go bankrupt
e.g. I was flat broke in a strange town with nowhere to turn for help.
e.g. It is no use asking me for a loan of $5; I’m broke myself.
e.g. The business kept losing money and finally went broke.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into Chinese:
1) A lot of small businesses went broke in the recession.
经济不景气，很多小公司都倒闭了。
2) The inventor went broke because nobody would buy his machine.
由于没有人愿意买那个发明者的机器，他最终破产了。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
shrug … away/off
Explanation：
to treat something as unimportant
e.g. She can shrug away her troubles and keep smiling.
e.g. He had a way of shrugging away criticism as though it were
beneath his notice.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into Chinese:
1) I asked her where Sam was, but she just shrugged her
shoulders, i.e. to show she didn’t know or didn’t care.
我问她萨姆在哪儿，她只是耸了耸肩（表示不知道或与自己无
关）。
2) We can’t just shrug these objections off.
我们不能轻视这些反对意见。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
perspective n.
Explanation：
1) a way of regarding situations, facts, etc.
e.g. a distorted perspective of the man’s true intentions
e.g. That battle is of great significance when viewed in the perspective
of the progress of the war.
e.g. We must keep these minor details in perspective and not waste too
much time on them.
e.g. From a white male perspective, it’s hard to understand oppression.
2) a method of drawing a picture that makes objects look solid
and shows distance and depth, or the effect this method
produces in a picture
e.g. Children’s drawings often have no perspective.
e.g. The background is all out of perspective.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Collocation:
in/out of perspective
showing the correct/incorrect relationship between visible objects
e.g. draw the buildings in perspective
e.g. That tree on the left of the picture is out of perspective.
in a way that does not exaggerate any aspect/that exaggerates some
aspects
e.g. get things badly out of perspective
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他父亲的过世让他对生活有了全新的认识。
His father’s death gave him a whole new perspective on life.
2) 作者是站在孩子的视角去写这部小说的。
The novel is written from the perspective of a child.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
put/see/view … in perspective
Explanation：
to judge the real importance of something by considering it in
relation to other things
e.g. You must put the story in its right perspective.
e.g. to see problems in their true perspective
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他观察事物很正确。
He sees things in their right perspective.
2) 你应该用历史的观点看待这些事件。
You should see the events in their historical perspective.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
take … at face value
Explanation：
to accept something for what it appears to be
e.g. If you take his remarks only at their face value you will not
have understood his full meaning.
e.g. She took his stories at face value and did not know he was joking.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 她好像够亲切的，可是我不应该信以为真。
She seems friendly enough but I shouldn’t take her at her face
value.
2) 你不应该总是对他的话信以为真。
You shouldn’t always take his remarks at their face value.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
be apt to
Explanation：
to have the tendency to
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
e.g.
apt to be forgetful
apt to be quick-tempered
Some of the staff are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
A Frenchman talked very rapidly, and was apt to become excited.
Days in summer are apt to linger.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 我的钢笔易漏墨水 。
My pen is rather apt to leak.
2) 粗心的人容易犯错误。
A careless person is apt to make mistakes.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
transcript n.
Explanation：
1) an official record of a student’s school progress and achievements
e.g. Jane was in tears, holding her college transcript in hand.
2) written or recorded copy of what has been said or written
e.g. A transcript of the tapes was presented in court as evidence.
e.g. I was not present at the meeting — I’d like a transcript of her
speech.
Derivation:
transcribe v.
e.g. She jotted down a few notes, and later transcribed them into an
exercise book.
e.g. A secretary transcribed the witnesses’ statements.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
transcription n.
e.g. errors made in transcription
Practice:
Translate the following phrases into Chinese:
1) the transcript of court testimony
法庭证词的纪录
2) an academic transcript
学生成绩报告单
3) transcript card
录制卡片
4) a transcript of the trial
审讯记录的文字本
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
proficiency n.
Explanation：
skill; ability
e.g. a high level of proficiency in grammar
e.g. a test of proficiency in English
e.g. There are ten tests, each of which corresponds to the listening
comprehension test of the proficiency examination.
Collocation:
proficiency in
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivation:
proficient a.
e.g. proficient in the use of radar equipment
e.g. proficient at operating a computer terminal
e.g. Martha’s proficient in Swedish.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into Chinese:
1) Jack shows his proficiency in operating a switchboard.
杰克操作配电板十分熟练。
2) Proficiency viewed in the way I have been talking about is
often called achievement.
我一直提到的熟练，从这个角度来看就是常说的成就。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
correspond to
Explanation：
to match; to be similar or equal to
e.g. This word in English version corresponds to that phrase in the
French one.
e.g. The wing of a bird corresponds to the arm of a man.
e.g. In this engine the rotary section corresponds to the cylinders of
a conventional level.
Derivation:
corresponding a.
e.g. The corresponding chromosome in the other parent was found to
be defective.
e.g. All rights carry with them corresponding responsibilities.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivation:
e.g. The yield per unit area has risen steadily with a corresponding
increase in the income of members.
correspondingly adv.
Practice:
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 美国的国会相当于英国的议会。
The American Congress corresponds to the British Parliament.
2) 第一季度的进口额与去年同期相比增长了百分之十。
Imports in the first three months have increased by 10 per cent
compared with the corresponding period last year.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
retain v.
Explanation：
1) to keep; to continue to have
e.g. A copy of the invoice should be retained by the Accounts
Department.
e.g. It’s important that the elderly should retain a sense of dignity.
e.g. The police retained control of the situation.
e.g. He is 90 but still retains the use of all his faculties.
2) to keep facts in one’s memory
e.g. She retains a clear memory of the incident.
e.g. She retained the tune but not the words of the song.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3) to make sure that you will have someone’s help or services, by
paying for them before you actually have them
e.g. They decided to retain their own expense.
e.g. He retained the best lawyer in the state to defend his case.
Derivation:
retainer n.
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1)我们装修房间时保留了原有的壁炉。
We retained the original fireplace when we decorated the room.
2) 他虽然失去了工作，但仍然享有养老金。
Despite losing his job he retains his pension.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
assumption n.
Explanation：
1) what is thought to be true or will happen, without any real proof
e.g. A lot of people make the assumption that poverty occurs only in
the Third World.
e.g. I’m working on the assumption that the money will come
through.
e.g. the underlying assumption that scientific progress is always a
good thing
2) act of displaying (insincere feelings, etc)
e.g. Their assumption of an air of confidence fooled nobody.
e.g. She bustled about with an assumption of authority.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3) the act of starting to have control or power
e.g. the assumption of responsibilities
e.g. her assumption of supreme power
e.g. The new governor’s assumption of office takes place next Tuesday.
Derivation:
assume v.
e.g. A witness in a murder trial is assumed to know the facts in the
case.
e.g. He assumes a well-informed manner but in fact he knows very
little.
e.g. He himself is to assume the direction of the business.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 我们假定明年通货膨胀率不再上升。
We are working on the assumption that the rate of inflation will
not increase next year.
2) 这一理论是以一系列错误的设想为根据的。
The theory is based on a series of wrong assumptions.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
fuzzy a.
Explanation：
1) not clear
e.g. She gave a rather fuzzy account of what had happened.
e.g. Some of the photos were so fuzzy that it was hard to tell who
was who.
2) having short hair, fur etc. that stands upright
e.g. I stroked the kitten’s fuzzy back.
e.g. fuzzy hair
e.g. a fuzzy teddy bear
Derivation:
fuzzily adv.
fuzz v. & n.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 这些照片照得都不清楚。
These photographs have come out all fuzzy.
2) 桃上有一层细毛。
A peach skin is covered with fuzz.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
humor n.
Explanation：
1) disposition, temperament
e.g. a boy of sullen humor
e.g. be in excellent humor
e.g. Danny reacted to these criticisms with his usual good humor.
2) the quality in something that makes it funny
e.g. Mr. Thorne failed to see the humor in the situation.
e.g. a story full of humor
3) ability to appreciate things, situations or people that are comic;
ability to be amused
e.g. She lacks humor.
e.g. He has a good sense of humor.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivation:
humorous a.
e.g. see the humorous side of a situation
e.g. good-humored
e.g. ill-humored
humorless adj.
e.g. a humorless style of writing
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 我心情好的时候就去做。
I’ll do it when the humor takes me.
2) 其中的幽默不是一下子能领会的。
The humor of it is not to be absorbed in a hurry.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
ritual n.
Explanation：
1) fixed ways of doing things
e.g. The children performed the bedtime ritual of washing and
brushing their teeth.
2) a ceremony that is always performed in the same way, in order to
mark an important religious or social occasion
e.g. the ritual of communion in the Christian Church
e.g. The shaman performed the ritual on the young boy.
e.g. the ritual of the Japanese tea ceremony
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivation:
ritualism n.
ritualize v.
e.g. The old man’s birthday celebrations were ritualized over the
years by his many relatives.
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他照例填满烟斗，然后点着了。
He went through the ritual of filling and lighting his pipe.
2) 有的宗教举行仪式时特别注重礼则。
Some religions employ ritual more than others.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
frequent v.
Explanation：
to visit frequently
e.g. Many foreign ships frequent the new port.
e.g. The bar was frequented by actors from the nearby theater.
Derivation:
frequency n.
e.g. Fatal accidents have decreased in frequency over recent years.
frequent a.
e.g. His visits became less frequent as time passed.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他从前常去镇上的酒吧和夜总会。
He used to frequent the town’s bars and night-clubs.
2) 游客们常去城郊的古庙游览。
Tourists frequent the old temple at the suburbs of the city.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
flunk v.
Explanation：
1) to fail an exam, a course or a student
e.g. flunk biology
e.g. Tony flunked chemistry last semester.
2) give a failing mark to sb.
e.g. be flunked in chemistry
Collocation:
flunk out
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
resent v.
Explanation：
to feel bitter or indignant at
e.g. He resents having to get my permission first.
e.g. She greatly resented her brother’s refusal to help.
Derivation:
resentful a.
e.g. He was deeply resentful of her interference.
e.g. His daughters became increasingly resentful of his authority.
resentfully a.
e.g. “You should have told me,” said Marion resentfully.
resentment n.
e.g. bear no resentment towards anyone
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 我对你的批评十分反感。
I bitterly resent your criticism.
2) 她讨厌我呆在这里吗？
Does she resent my being here?
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
gear n.
Explanation：
1) the machinery in a vehicle that turns power from the engine into
movement
e.g. The car started with a crashing of gears.
e.g. Don’t turn off the engine while you’re still in gear.
2) a piece of machinery that performs a particular job
e.g. The landing gear of a plane has jammed.
3) a set of equipment or tools you need for a particular activity
e.g. He’s crazy about photography — he’s got all the gear.
e.g. We’ll need camping gear when we go away.
e.g. We’re only going for two days; you don’t need to bring so much
gear.
e.g. During this period, Japan’s export industries were in top gear.
e.g. The Republican’s propaganda machine moved into high gear.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Compound words:
gearbox （车辆的）变速箱，变速器
gear-change 换档；变速
gear-lever/gear-stick/gearshift 变速杆
gearwheel 齿轮
Collocation:
gear sth. down (to sth.)
e.g. The period of exercise was geared down to ten minutes a day
for men over 60.
gear sth. to/towards sth.
e.g. Our effort is geared to a higher level of production.
e.g. Industry must be geared to wartime needs.
gear up (for /to sth.); gear sb./sth. up (for/to sth.)
e.g. The company’s gearing up for the big export drive.
e.g. I was all geared up to go on holiday, and now it’s been cancelled.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 那汽车有四个前进挡和一个倒挡。
The car has four forward gears and one reverse gear.
2) 离合器使用不慎可能损坏传动装置。
Careless use of the clutch may damage the gears.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
coercive a.
Explanation：
using force to persuade people to do what they are unwilling to do
e.g. coercive methods
e.g. coercive measures to reduce absenteeism
Derivation:
coerce v.
e.g. coerce sb. into submission
e.g. The rebels coerced the villager into hiding them from the army.
coercion n.
e.g. Andy said he had been under coercion when he confessed.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 他被迫付了钱。
He paid the money under coercion.
2) 他们被迫签了合同。
They were coerced into signing the contract.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
hew v.
Explanation：
to shape or carve from some material
e.g. roughly hewn timber
Collocation:
hew sth. across/through
e.g. They hewed a path through the jungle.
hew sth. away/off
e.g. hew off dead branches
hew sth. out
e.g. hew out a career for oneself
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
knit v.
Explanation：
1) to make things such as clothes by using two long needles to
connect wool or other kinds of thread into joined rows
e.g. She’ s knitting me a sweater.
e.g. Do you know how to knit?
2) (in knitting instructions) make a plain (i.e. not a purl) stitch
e.g. knit one, purl one
3) to join people, things or ideas more closely, or to be closely
connected
e.g. Wherever they live, the Jewish people are knit together by a
common faith.
e.g. a closely knit community
e.g. a closely knit argument
e.g. The broken bones have knit together well.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
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Section Three:
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Section Four:
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Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Derivations:
knitter 编织者
knitting 编织物
Compound words:
knitting-machine 编织机
knitting-needle 编结针
Practice：
Translate the following sentences into English:
1) 这两集团因有共同利益而联合在一起。
The two groups are knit together by common interests.
2) 她给儿子织了一件毛衣。
She knitted her son a sweater.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
coordinate n.
Explanation：
1) (usu. pl.) one of a pair of numbers and/or letters that show the
exact position of a point on a map or graph
e.g. the x and y coordinates on a graph
e.g. coordinates of latitude and longitude
2) (pl.) matched items of women’s clothes
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
I. Word comparison
Translation exercises
II . Prefix
Exercises for integrated
skills
III. Collocation practice
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Word comparison
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Group 1: A. look like
B. play the role of C. regard sb./sth. as
D. be wonderful for E. serve as
Explanation:
A. Look like means to have the appearance of sb./sth.
e.g. That photograph doesn’t look like her at all.
B. Play the role of means to function.
e.g. Such strikes have played an important role in the development
of the trade union movement.
C. Regarded sb./sth. as means to consider or think about sb./sth. in
the specified way.
e.g. I regard that movie as one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
D. Be wonderful for means causing wonder or very surprising
e.g. The child’s skill is wonderful for his age.
E. Serve as means to satisfy a need or purpose.
e.g. This room can serve as a study.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Group 2: A. set loose
D. reduce in degree
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
B. level off
E. offset
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
C. cause to happen
Explanation:
Translation exercises
A. Set loose means to release sb./sth.
Exercises for integrated
skills
e.g. Just close you eyes and let loose your imagination.
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
B. Level off means to become level after rising or falling.
e.g. House prices show no sign of leveling off.
C. Cause to happen means to cause to occur or take place.
e.g. What caused this to happen?
D. Reduce in degree means to make something smaller in degree.
e.g. If the pressure is not reduced, the cylinder is likely to fracture.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
E. Offset means to compensate for something or balance
something.
e.g. He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Group 3:
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
A. translation
D. cassette tape
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
B. manuscript
E. transcript
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
C. written text
Explanation:
A. Translation means the product of rendering from one language
to another.
e.g. A literal translation doesn’t mean a good translation.
B. Manuscript means a written or typewritten composition or
document as distinguished from a printed copy.
e.g. He showed me the manuscript of his new play.
C. Written text means written or printed part of a book or page.
e.g. This is the full written text of the Prime Minister’s speech.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
D. Cassette tape means a plastic cartridge containing magnetic tape
with the tape passing from one reel to another.
e.g. I have lent her three cassette tapes during five days.
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
E. Transcript means a written, printed, or typed copy especially a
usually typed copy of dictated or recorded material.
e.g. I was not present at the meeting — I’d like a transcript of her
speech.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Group 4: A. acquire a new identity B. sink in the sea of business
C. become bankrupt D. fail in the exam E. go under
Vocabulary analysis
Explanation:
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
A. Acquire a new identity means to get a new personality of an
individual.
e.g. The murderer tried to acquire a new identity.
B. Sink in the sea of business means to be engaged in business.
e.g. John sank in the sea of business and he spent little time with
his families.
C. Become bankrupt means unable to pay one’s debts.
e.g. The company became bankrupt because it couldn’t sell its
products.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
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Section Two:
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Section Three:
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Section Four:
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Section Five:
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D. Fail in the exam means to be unsuccessful in the exam.
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
e.g. I passed in math but failed in French.
E. Go under means to become bankrupt or fail.
e.g. The firm will go under unless business improves.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
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Prefix
Vocabulary analysis
1. inter-
Grammar exercises
Explanation:
Translation exercises
1) between, among, in the midst
e.g. intercrop, interpenetrate渗透、相互贯
通, interstellar星际的
2) reciprocal
e.g. interrelation
3) located between
e.g. interstation
4) carried on between
e.g. international
5) occurring between
e.g. Interborough
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
区与区之间的
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
6) shared by, involving, or derived from two or more
e.g. interfaith
7) between the limits of, within
e.g. intertropical
8) existing between
e.g. intercommunal, intercompany
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
2. transExplanation:
1) on or to the other side of, across, beyond
e.g. transatlantic
2) beyond (a specified chemical element) in the periodic table
e.g. transuranium
3) through
e.g. transcutaneous
4) so or such as to change or transfer
e.g. transliterate, translocation, transamination, transship
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
3. circumExplanation:
around, about
e.g. circumpolar
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
4. misVocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Explanation:
1) badly, wrongly
e.g. misjudge
2) unfavorably
e.g. misesteem
3) in a suspicious manner
e.g. misdoubt
4) bad, wrong
e.g. misdeed
5) opposite or lack of
e.g. mistrust
6) not
e.g. misknow
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
5. conVocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Explanation:
with, together, jointly
1) com- before b, p, or m
e.g. commingle
2) col- before l
e.g. collinear
3) con- before other sounds
e.g. concentrate
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
6. antiExplanation:
1) of the same kind but situated oppositely, exerting energy in the
opposite direction, or pursuing an opposite policy
e.g. anticlinal
2) one that is opposite in kind
e.g. anticlimax
3) opposing or hostile to in opinion, sympathy, or practice
e.g. anti-Semite
4) opposing in effect or activity
e.g. anti-acid
5) serving to prevent, cure, or alleviate
e.g. antianxiety
6) combating or defending against
e.g. antiaircraft, antimissile
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
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Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Collocation practice
Vocabulary analysis
1. essence
Grammar exercises
Explanation: inner nature; indispensable quality; the most important
part
Examples:
1) The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot
succeed.
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
2) She was the essence of kindness.
她本性善良。
3) The essence of his religious teaching is love for all men.
他宣扬的宗教教义要旨是爱天下人。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Vocabulary analysis
2. deadly sins
Grammar exercises
Explanation: The phrase specifically refers to “the seven deadly
sins”: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy
and sloth.
Examples:
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
1) Andy confessed his sins to a priest.
安迪向神父认罪忏悔。
2) Being late is an unforgivable sin round here.
迟到在这儿是一种不可原谅的过错。
3) It’s a sin to stay indoors on such a fine day.
这样的好天气呆在家里实在是罪过。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3. misleading
Vocabulary analysis
Explanation: making you think or act wrongly
Grammar exercises
Examples:
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
1) Misleading advertisements are prohibited by law.
法律禁止有误导性的广告。
2) Some films are misleading.
有些电影是具有欺骗性的。
3) The witness made a misleading description to the police.
证人的描述误导了警方。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
4. conventional tasks
Vocabulary analysis
Explanation: tasks traditionally required of students
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Examples:
1) He made a few conventional remarks about the weather.
他说了几句关于天气的客套话。
2) The conventional wisdom is that high wage rises increase inflation.
人们普遍认同的看法是工资增长过快会加剧通货膨胀。
3) She’s so conventional in her views.
她的观点太保守。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
5. in short supply
Vocabulary analysis
Explanation: far from enough
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Examples:
1) These goods are in short supply.
这些商品缺货。
2) Water is in short supply during summer days in this area.
这个地区夏季缺水。
3) Teachers are in short supply in this town.
这个城镇教师短缺。
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Grammar exercises
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
I．Definition
II. Relative pronoun and relative clause
III. Compound relative pronoun
IV. ... not the most ... it’s the only thing.
... enough ... Nor ... Rather
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Definition
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Nouns are naming words. They give titles to people, places,
things, and ideas.
In English there are different types of nouns. First, nouns can either
be common or proper.
i) Common nouns are general nouns. They do not begin with
capital letters unless they start sentences.
ii) Proper nouns are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or
things. They always begin with capital letters.
Nouns can also be concrete or abstract.
i) Concrete nouns are used to refer to physical objects.
ii) Abstract nouns are used to refer to a quality or idea.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice:
Define the following nouns after examples.
Explanation:
a glass A glass is a utensil that/which you can drink out of.
a surgeon A surgeon is a doctor who/that performs operations.
1) a vacuum cleaner
Definition:
A vacuum cleaner is a machine that cleans floors by sucking up
the dirt from them.
2) a jockey
Definition:
A jockey is a person who rides horses in races.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
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Section Two:
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Section Three:
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Section Four:
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Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3) a chauffeur
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Definition:
A chauffeur is someone whose job is to drive a car for someone
else.
4) a thermometer
Definition:
A thermometer is a piece of equipment that measures the temperature
of the air or your body.
5) a teetotaller
Definition:
A teetotaller is someone who never drinks alcohol.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Relative pronoun and relative clause
Relative pronouns perform two functions at the same time. They take
the places of nouns as normal pronouns would, but they also connect
those replaced nouns to subordinate clauses. Briefly, a subordinate
clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate, but that
does not make sense on its own. When a subordinate clause begins
with a relative pronoun, we call it a relative clause or a nominal
relative clause. The relative pronouns are: who, which, that, what,
when, where, and why. They do not change form with gender,
person, or number. Only who changes form with case:
Nominative
who
Objective
Whom
Possessive
whose
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun — a person,
a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three.
Letter to a B Student
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Section Two:
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Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Who and its accompanying forms only refer to people.
e.g. The people who climbed that mountain are crazy.
The people whom we saw earlier looked concerned.
I saw the woman whose book won the literary award.
Which refers to animals and things, never to people.
e.g. The dog which tipped over my garbage needs a shorter leash.
The crowd cheered as the plane which had flown around the world
landed.
That refers to people, animals, or things.
e.g. The woman that witnessed the shooting will testify tomorrow.
The camel that carried us through the desert has died.
The explorers found the cave that hid the treasure for so many
years.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
What refers only to inanimate objects, never to people or animals.
e.g. I saw what happened to your wallet.
The expert mountaineer knew what he was talking about.
What is interchangeable with the pronoun phrase that which.
e.g. I saw that which happened to your wallet.
The expert mountaineer knew that which he was talking about.
When refers to time.
e.g. Do you remember the time when we filled the pool with lime
jello?
The day when I will have my revenge is coming soon.
Where refers to places or locations.
e.g. We returned to the place where we fell in love.
This is the spot where he was last seen.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Why refers to reasons.
e.g. No one knows the reason why the boss blew his top.
I cannot tell you the reason why they behaved as they did.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Relative Pronouns in Relative Clauses
Many of the subordinate clauses that relative pronouns
introduce modify the antecedents of these same relative pronouns.
Contemporary grammarians refer to subordinate clauses that
modify nouns, pronouns, or other nominal as relative clauses.
Relative pronouns used in relative clauses always have antecedents.
The guy who took our tickets gave me the creeps.
We saw the plane that broke the air speed record.
In the first example, the relative pronoun who introduces the
relative clause who took our tickets. The relative clause describes
the subject of the sentence, the guy. That ticket-taker is creepy.
In the second example, the relative pronoun that introduces the
relative clause that broke the air speed record. The relative clause
modifies the direct object plane in the main clause. The plane is a
record-breaker.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Fill in each blank with a proper relative word. Use “preposition +
relative word” if necessary.
1. The element ________
on which writers may spend a majority of their time
is development.
Explanation:
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun — a
person, a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three.
Which refers to animals and things, never to people, while
spend time on something is a phrase. The proposition on can be
placed before the relative word which.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
2. Mr. Ford still talks like the man _____
that he was ten years ago.
Explanation:
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun — a person,
a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three. That
refers to people, animals, or things. The relative pronoun that
introduces the relative clause that he was then years ago.
3. A “goldbrick” is a person _____
who will make all sorts of excuses for
not wanting to work.
Explanation:
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun — a person,
a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three. Who and
its accompanying forms only refer to people. The relative pronoun
who introduces the relative clause who will make all sorts or
excuses for not wanting to work. The relative clause describes the
subject of the sentence.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
4. If I write a scene ______
where somebody is hungry, I feel hungry. Or
angry, I feel angry.
Explanation:
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun —
a person, a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three.
Where refers to places or locations.
for whom I have the greatest respect.
5. James Russell is a man _________
Explanation:
Each relative pronoun refers to a certain type of noun —
a person, a place, or a thing — or some combination of the three.
The relative pronoun whom introduces the relative clause whom I
have the greatest respect for. The clause modifies the noun man,
the antecedent of whom while have respect for somebody is a
phrase. The proposition for can be placed before the relative word
whom.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
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Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Compound relative pronoun
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
The expanded form of the relative pronouns — whoever,
whomever, whatever — are known as indefinite relative pronouns.
whatever or what ever:
You can use either whatever or what ever in sentences such as
Whatever (or What ever) made her say that? Critics have
occasionally objected to the one-word form, but many respected
writers have used it. The same is true of the forms whoever, whenever,
wherever, and however. However, you must use the one-word form
when whatever is used as an adjective: Take whatever (not what ever)
books you need.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
1. whatever and commas:
When a clause beginning with whatever is the subject of a
sentence, do not use a comma:
Whatever you do is right. Otherwise, a comma is fine: Whatever
you do, don’t burn the toast.
2. never with that:
When the phrase preceding a restrictive clause is introduced by
whichever or whatever, that should not be used in formal
writing. It is regarded as incorrect to write whatever book that
you want to look at; instead you should write: Whatever book
you want to look at will be sent to your office or Whichever book
costs less (not that costs less) is fine with us.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
[1] Who or whoever is the nominative form. Use it whenever he (or
she, they, I, we) could be substituted in the who- clause. (If in no
doubt, mentally rearrange the clause as is done in parentheses after
each of the following examples.)
[2] Whom or whomever is the objective form. Use it whenever him
(or her, them, me, us) could be substituted as the object of the verb
or as the object of a preposition in the whom- clause.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
e.g. Whoever wins the primary will win the election. (He wins the
primary.)
I will hire whoever meets our minimum qualifications. (He
meets our minimum qualifications.)
I will speak to whoever answers the phone. (He answers the
phone.)
Please write at once to whoever you think can supply the
information desired. (You think he can supply the information
desired.)
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
e.g. Whomever you designate will get the promotion. (You
designate him.)
I’ll give the job whomever you think can safely recommend.
(You think you can safely recommend him.)
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice
Complete the following sentences with the appropriate words in the box.
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
whoever wherever whatever however whenever whichever
1.
________
Whatever problems you may have, we will help.
Oral activities
Explanation:
Whatever in this sentence refers to regardless of what.
Writing practice
2.
Listening exercises
Explanation:
Wherever in this sentence refers to in any place,
regardless of where.
________
Wherever you go, I will follow you.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
whichever book you like best.
3. Take _________
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Explanation:
Whichever in this sentence refers to regardless of which.
4. He offered a reward to ________
whoever should restore the lost ring.
Explanation:
Whoever in this sentence refers to regardless of who.
5. I may go ________
whenever I please. You may come _________
whenever you please.
Explanation:
Whenever in this sentence refers to at any time, regardless of
when.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... not the most ... it’s the only thing.
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
This is a special type of negation. It is not negating the
importance of something; rather, with the sentence that follows the
negative one, it gives the utmost emphasis to the importance of that
thing.
... enough ... Nor ... Rather
This special sentence pattern is to introduce a sharp transition.
The emphasis is placed on the part which is preceded by “Rather…”.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Practice
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Translate the following sentences, keeping the sentence pattern abovementioned.
1. 为了提高你的英语口语，练习不是最重要的事情，而是唯
一重要的事。
To improve your oral English, practicing is not the most
important thing — it’s the only thing.
2. 我们的时代是信息爆炸的时代，为了跟上时代的步伐，不
断更新我们的知识不是最重要的事，而是唯一重要的事。
Ours is a time of information explosion; to keep up with the times,
updating our knowledge is not the most important thing — it’s the
only thing.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3. 对一些教师来说，把他们的学生送进最好的大学不是最重
要的事情，而是唯一重要的事情。
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
For some teachers, sending their students to the best
universities is not the most important thing — it’s the only
thing.
4. 令人吃惊的是，他从未出过国，也没有当地人指导过他，
但是他却通过模仿练就了一口当地口音。
Surprisingly enough, he has never been abroad. Nor has he ever
had a teacher who is a native speaker. Rather, he has obtained the
native-like accent by imitating.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Translation exercises
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Translate each of the following sentences into English, using the
word or phrase given in the bracket. Inflect the word or phrase where
necessary.
1. 他因急性阑尾炎住院治疗，结果连期末考试都没考上。(with
the result that)
Notes：
“With the result that” usually refers to an effect or outcome of
something. And “acute” here often describes an illness coming
quickly to the most severe or critical stage. The opposite word is
“chronic” which is used to depict a disease lasting for a long time or
continually recurring.
He was hospitalized with acute appendicitis, with the result that
he missed the final examination.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Chinese-English translation:
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
1) 我在沐浴，没有听到电话声。
I was in the bath, with the result that I didn’t hear the telephone.
2) 我迟到了，没能赶上火车。
I was late, with the result that I missed my train.
3) 我不舒服，没有参加昨天的会议。
I was sick, with the result that I didn’t attend the meeting yesterday.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
2. 前来听讲座的人数远远超出原来的估计，分发给大家的讲义
不够了。(go round)
Notes：
“More … than …” means a greater or additional number or amount
of sth./sb. Or it is used to emphasize that one thing is truer, more
important etc. than something.
As many more people came to the lecture than expected, there
were not enough handouts to go round.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Chinese-English translation:
1) 椅子不够坐。
There aren’t enough chairs to go round.
2) 食物够每人一份吗？
Is there enough food to go round?
3) 食物不够这么多人吃的，女主人不知如何是好。
The hostess didn’t know what to do, as she hadn’t got enough
food to go round so many people.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Vocabulary analysis
3. 不管一天工作有多忙，他在睡觉前总要看一下电子信箱里有
没有新邮件。(make a point of)
Grammar exercises
Notes：
Translation exercises
“Make a point of doing sth.” means to do something because one
considers it important or necessary. No matter how/where/what etc.
means that something is always the same whatever happens, or in
spite of someone’s efforts to change it.
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
No matter what a long day he may have, he makes a point of
checking his email box before going to bed.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Chinese-English translation:
1) 我出门前总是要检查所有的窗户，看是否都关好了。
I always make a point of checking that all the windows are shut
before I go out.
2) 我总是把新的成员介绍给董事长。
I always make a point of introducing new members to the chairman.
3) 珍妮总是要在睡觉前把所有的工作做完。
Jane always makes a point of finishing all the work of the day
before she goes to bed.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Vocabulary analysis
4. 世界各国都有失业问题，但各国政府处理这个问题的方法不尽
相同。(handle)
Grammar exercises
Notes：
Translation exercises
“Vary” refers to be different in size, volume, strength, etc. The
sentence “Opinions vary on this point.” means that people have
different opinions about this issue.
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Unemployment is found in all countries in the world, but the
governments vary in their way to handle the problem.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Chinese-English translation:
1) 演说者受到暴民的粗暴对待。
The speaker was roughly handled by the mob.
2) 这家商店不经营这类商品。
This shop doesn’t handle such goods.
3) 我觉得她对此事的处理很了不起。
I was impressed by her handling of the affair.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
5. 医生的一番话消除了他对手术的恐惧感。(remove)
Notes：
“Remove” here means to cause something to disappear or eliminate
something.
The doctor’s words removed his fears about the operation.
Oral activities
Chinese-English translation:
Writing practice
1) 裁员的危险顿时消除了。
The threat of redundancy was suddenly removed.
2) 母亲的话消除了她对约翰的疑虑。
Mother’s words removed her doubts about John.
3) 她用纸巾擦掉了脂粉。
She removed her make-up with a tissue.
Listening exercises
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Exercises for integrated skills
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word you think
appropriate.
Student life at American universities is chaotic during the first
week of each quarter or semester. Registering
(1) _____
for classes,
familiar with the buildings on campus, buying books,
becoming (2)_______
(3)_______
adding and dropping classes, and paying fees are (4) ________
confusing
for everyone. During this busy period there is
(5)_____
little time for
students to anticipate (6) ______
what they will later encounter in the
classroom.
International students, (7) __________
accustomed to their countries’
education expectations, must adapt to new classroom norms in a
(8)_______
foreign college or university. Whereas in one country prayer
may be acceptable in a classroom, in another it may be (9) ________
forbidden.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
In some classrooms around the world students must humbly
(10)
____
obey their teacher’s commands and (11) ______
remain absolutely
silent during a class period. In (12) ______
others , students may talk, eat,
and smoke during lectures as well as criticize a teacher’s methods or
contradict his or her statements. It is not always (14)
even (13) _________
_____
easy to understand a new educational system.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
for
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Explanation:
Register for something means formally record a name, an event, a
sale, etc. in a list.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
familiar
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Explanation:
Familiar with something means having a good knowledge of
something.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
adding
Explanation:
Add here means to come together or unite by addition.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
confusing
Explanation:
Confusing means difficult to understand or puzzling.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
little
Explanation:
Little means not much, existing only in a small amount or to a
slight degree.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
what
Explanation:
What clause functions as the object of the verb “anticipate”.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
accustomed
Explanation:
Accustomed to means adapted to existing conditions.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
foreign
Explanation:
Foreign here means related to or dealing with other nations. In this
sentence, foreign college and university refer to the college and
university of other countries.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
forbidden
Explanation:
Forbidden means not permitted or allowed.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
obey
Explanation:
Obey one’s commands means to conform to or comply with
one’s orders.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
remain
Explanation:
Remain means continue to be, stay in the same condition.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
others
Explanation:
Some ... others ... is a fixed pattern.
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
contradict
Explanation:
Contradict means to imply the opposite or a denial of. In this
sentence, it indicates that students can challenge teachers’ statement
in some countries.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
easy
Explanation:
According to the two totally different classroom norms, we can
conclude that it is not easy to understand a new educational system.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
I. Converse with one of your classmates on the following topics.
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
You are a B student. This is disappointing to your parents because
they always expect you to be an A student. In a recent English test you
got another B. Now talk to your parent, exchanging ideas about grades
with him/her. You will first play the role of the student and your
partner as the parent. Then switch roles.
Suggestions:
The discussion can be based on the following aspects.
1) The student is satisfied with his grade B.
2) The parent thinks grade B is not good enough.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
II. Organize yourselves into groups of five or six and discuss
the following issues.
Regarding grades, opinions are divided. Some people think grades
are important because they are true reflections of the ability and the
academic achievement of the students and have to do with their future;
others think that while grades are necessary, they do not mean
everything and should not be overemphasized.
Suggestions:
Writing practice
Listening exercises
The discussion can be based on the following aspects.
1) Grades are important. They’re the true reflections of the
ability and the academic achievement.
2) Grades should not be overemphasized.
A sample discussion on the first topic: script
A sample discussion on the second topic: script
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
(Student=S; Parent=P)
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
S: I got another B in English.
P: What! Why can’t you tell me another grade? It’s always been
like that. Always B.
S: Next time I will surely give you another grade. How about C?
P: If you dare.
S: I have tried my best. Who can imagine it is so tough.
P: If you had prepared well, you would have been much better.
S: No one got A this time. B is the best.
P: Oh! Really? Do you think you are the best?
S: Of course not.
P: Ok. Go out and have your fun.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Group A thinks grades are important because they are true
reflections of the ability and the academic achievement of the students
and would determine their future. Group B thinks that while grades
are necessary, they do not mean everything and should not be
overemphasized.
Group A: Grades are important. Higher grades mean better career,
better opportunity and better future. What can the employer rely on if
he knows nothing about you? What can he know about you except the
ability reflected in your transcript? What can he entrust you to unless
judging from your transcript? The employer is busy so that he has no
time to make personal meeting with you and spend a lot of time
discovering what you are and what you can do. If you were an
employer, what could you do before thousands of or even millions of
job applicants who are ready to tell you how qualified they are for the
job? You could do nothing but survey their transcripts quickly and
find out the person you need.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Group B: We do not think grades unnecessary, but we should not
overemphasize it. Those who study very well are not necessarily
capable of doing what was reflected in the transcript. It is very
common that a man with high grades cheats in the examinations. It is
very common that a man with high grades can not adapt himself to the
new post quickly. It is very common that a man with low grades can
make remarkable and impressive achievements, too. Therefore, high
grades are necessary, but should not be overemphasized.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Writing practice
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
It is reported that a schoolboy in China was criticized by his
teacher for breaking away from the conventional way of looking at
spring by saying a lot of negative things about this season. The
negative side of spring mentioned in his composition includes the
changeable weather, too much rainfall and quick spreading of
diseases such as flu. You are required to write a letter of about 200
words to a newspaper editor and in your letter first describe what
has happened and then express your opinion about it.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
A sample essay:
Dear Editor,
There was a report about a schoolboy in China who was
criticized by his teacher for not saying the conventional thing about
the spring. He said that the spring is a season when weather changes
frequently and people are contracted by illnesses, and the rainfall is
too much.
I was stunned when reading the news. I think the teacher’s
behavior is improper and he/she needs rethinking. Students are
always creative, conceiving brilliant new ideas from time to time.
Be it about the way of thinking or the attitude to life, they hate to
follow the set pattern. Imagine what a student will think about when
he knows that he has to write about a season which he is very
familiar with. Choice No.1 is that he can follow suit by saying that
the spring is wonderful, which is what he hates to do. Choice No.2
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
is that he can observe the spring from another perspective and
write about the things which few one notice or dare to recognize
in their writings. The student chose No.2 with the result that he
was criticized by his teacher. His creativity was not appreciated or
recognized. His true nature was demeaned. As a result, he will
lose the courage to express his creative ideas in the future. If
everyone in society dare not to speak out their original ideas, we
will suffer a lot.
I hope that teachers would not restrict students’ thinking again.
After all, diversity is vitality.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Listening exercises
Go to the Head of the Class
A. Listen to the report “Go to the Head of the Class”. Write in the
left-hand column of the table below the five ideas that can
help you leap to the top of the class. Then listen to the report
again, and write in the right-hand column of the table the key
words and phrases that best illustrate each idea. The first one
is already given as an example.
Listening exercises
■
script
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
1. Make reading automatic.
Vocabulary analysis
Key
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
2. Win equal opportunity in the classroom.
Key
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
key to school success / takes practice / automatic reader / read
with expression / with sense of meaning
same classroom / different educations / no equal-opportunity
education / discuss with teacher / let teacher know what’s on
your mind
3. Learn to think.
Key
lower mental process — rote learning / higher mental
processes — problem-solving, analyzing, interpreting /
improve thinking skills / gain in rote learning
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
4. Have classmates help.
Vocabulary analysis
Key
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
teamwork / cooperative learning / reward / peer pressure /
bonuses / self-esteem / value of cooperation / better attitudes
toward classmates
5. Educate at home.
Key
home / better predictor of success / great impact / homework
and reading / given priority / parents / encourage and praise /
family members / talk and do things together
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
B. After listening, discuss the following two questions.
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
1. Do you agree with the saying “Inside almost every poor to
average student, there’s a smart kid yearning to get out”?
2. What can you do to help bring your “smart kid” out?
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
■
script
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Go to the Head of the Class
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
How smart are you? How much can you learn? How high can
you climb? Until now, schoolchildren seemed frozen in place. An
average student in second or third grade paddled along, just fair to
middling, until graduation from high school. A poor student
languished at the bottom of each successive class. Studies showed
that more than four out of five students began and ended schools at
the same level of performance.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Benjamin Bloom, a professor of
education at the University of Chicago, supervised two separate
research projects. In each, students were selected at random and
provided with private teachers. With this one-to-one instruction,
below-average students climbed to better-than-average, while
average students out-performed 98 percent of the boys and girls in
conventional classrooms.
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Bloom identified and tested five remarkable simple ideas aimed
at reproducing in the classroom the most effective components of
one-to-one instruction: attention, feedback, support, encouragement,
and self-esteem.
Here are the five ideas that can help you leap to the top of the
class: 1. Make reading automatic. Reading is the key to school
success and, like any other skill, it takes practice. A child learns to
walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put
one foot in front of the other. And you do the same thing when you
learn to read. You are not an automatic reader until you can read
with expression, with a sense of meaning of the sentences rather
than read one word at a time, without expression or meaning.
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
2. Win equal opportunity in the classroom. Sitting in the same
classroom, different students get very different educations. Teachers
often tend to give most of their attention to a handful of students,
usually the top third of the class. If you think that you are not getting
an equal-opportunity education, discuss it with your teacher. Let your
teacher know what’s on your mind. Just raising the question will
make your teachers take a closer look at what they’re doing.
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
3. Learn to think. Are you learning to remember information —
or to use it? Do you memorize a math formula, or do you learn
how it applies to all the circles of you life? According to Bloom,
about 95 percent of today’s teaching focuses on the “lower mental
process” — rote learning of grammar, multiplication tables,
historical names and dates. Most teachers spend very little time
on the “higher mental processes” — problem-solving, analyzing
and interpreting. When you improve your thinking skills there is a
gain in rote learning, too. Knowing what an idea or a principle
means, and how it can be applied, helps you learn better and
remember longer.
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
4. Have classmates help. More and more schools are trying
teamwork or, as educators call it, “cooperative learning”. There
are a number of ways to organize these teams, but two things are
essential. First, youngsters need a reward — praise, a certificate
of recognition — for doing well as a team. Second, the teams’
success must depend on how well each member learns. It’s the
good side of peer pressure. There are also important bonuses to
team study. Self-esteem goes up. Students learn the value of
cooperation and develop better attitudes toward classmates with
different social backgrounds or physical handicaps.
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Vocabulary analysis
Grammar exercises
Translation exercises
Exercises for integrated
skills
Oral activities
Writing practice
Listening exercises
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
5. Educate at home. According to the experts, what happens in
your home is a better predictor of success in school than in any
I.Q. or achievement test. The home environment has a great
impact on how a child learns. It is as important as the quality of
teachers or curriculum. In the homes of top achievers, homework
and reading are given priority over play or television; parents
encourage their children’s intellectual interests and praise school
achievement. Family members talk together and do things
together.
Inside almost every poor to average student, there’s a smart
kid yearning to get out. With these ideas, we can help to unlock
that potential.
■
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Lead-in questions
Lead-in questions:
Supplementary reading
1. Do you have any pressure when you are in college? What are
they?
2. If you were a college student, would you like to choose a variety
of courses or just limited courses which could benefit your future
career?
Memorable quotes
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
College Pressures
(Abridged)
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
William Zinsser
I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today:
economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced
pressure. It is easy to look around for villains — to blame the colleges
for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much
work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the students for
driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains, only victims.
“In the late 1960s,” one dean told me, “the typical question that I
got from students was ‘Why is there so much suffering in the world?’
or ‘How can I make a contribution?’ Today it’s ‘Do you think it would
look better for getting into law school if I did a double major in history
and political science, or just majored in one of them?’” Many other
deans confirmed this pattern. One said: “They’re trying to find an
edge — the intangible something that will look better on paper if two
students are about equal. ”
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Note the emphasis on looking better. The transcript has become a
sacred document, the passport to security. How one appears on paper is
more important than how one appears in person. A is for Admirable
and B is for Borderline, even though, in Yale’s official system of
grading, A means “excellent” and B means “very good”. Today,
looking very good is no longer good enough, especially for students
who hope to go on to law school or medical school. They know that
entrance into the better schools will be an entrance into the better law
firms and better medical practice where they will make a lot of money.
The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to
graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of the “Gentleman’s C,”
when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation,
sampling a wide variety of courses — music, art, philosophy, classics,
anthropology, poetry, religion — that would send them out as liberally
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
educated men and women. If I were an employer I would rather
employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who
narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know countless
students whose inquiring minds exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of
their ideas. I don’t know if they are getting A’s or C’s, and I don’t care.
I also like them as people. The country needs them, and they will find
satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They can’t.
Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Tuition, room,
and board at most private colleges now comes to at least $7,000, not
counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges
are getting rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Heating oil
is up. Insurance is up. Postage is up. Health-premium costs are up.
Everything is up. Deficits are up. We are witnessing in America the
creation of a brotherhood of paupers — colleges, parents, and students,
joined by the common bond of debts.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably,
the two are deeply intertwined.
I see many students taking premedical courses with joyless tenacity.
They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens
me because I know them in other corners of their life as cheerful
people.
“Do you want to go to medical school?” I ask them.
“I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not really.”
“Then why are you going?”
“Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. They’re paying all this
money and ... ”
Poor students, poor parents. They are caught in one of the oldest
webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean well; they are trying
to steer their sons and daughters toward a secure future. But the sons
and daughters want to major in history or classics or philosophy —
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
subjects with no “practical” value. Where’s the payoff on the
humanities? It’s not easy to persuade such loving parents that the
humanities do indeed pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by
studying subjects like history and classics — an ability to synthesize
and relate, to weigh cause and effect, to see events in perspective —
are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost
any general field. Still, many fathers would rather put their money on
courses that point toward a specific profession.
Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and
they begin almost at the beginning of freshman year.
“I had a freshman student I’ll call Linda,” one dean told me, “who
came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate,
Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I couldn’t tell her
that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about
Linda.”
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
The story is symptomatic of all the pressures put together. When
every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing
better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off
to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes
at midnight. I wish they could sometimes forget about their peers and
go to a movie. I hear the clacking of typewriters in the hours before
dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and
papers are due: “Will I get everything done?”
Part of the problem is that they do more than they are expected to
do. A professor will assign five-page papers. Several students will start
writing ten-page papers to impress him. Then more students will write
ten-page papers, and a few will raise the ante to fifteen. Pity the poor
student who is still just doing the assignment.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
“Once you have twenty or thirty percent of the student population
deliberately overexerting,” one dean points out, “it’s bad for everybody.
When a teacher gets more and more effort from his class, the student
who is doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well. The
tactic works, psychologically.”
Ultimately it will be the students’ own business to break the circles
in which they are trapped. They are too young to be prisoners of their
parents’ dreams and their classmates’ fears. They must be jolted into
believing in themselves as unique men and women who have the
power to shape their own future.
1,079 words
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
About the author
William Zinsser was born in 1922 in New
York City, and studied at Princeton University. He was a feature
writer, film critic, and drama editor for the New York Herald Tribune
and later a columnist for Look and Life, and has also written
numerous books. In 1971 he took a teaching position in the English
department at Yale University. He is the author of the best-selling
book On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
(1976).
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
They’re trying to find an edge — the intangible something that will
look better on paper if two students are about equal. (Paragraph 2)
“edge” here means an advantage over others, as in the
expression “have the edge on/over”, meaning “be slightly better than
someone or something because you have an advantage they do not
have.” What the dean means is that they try to find an advantage over
others, i.e. they try to have higher marks on their transcript so that
they will appear to be academically superior to others, especially
when two students are more or less the same. But the dean seems to
think that marks are not really very reliable and valid indications of
the real quality of the students.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
... sampling a wide variety of courses (Paragraph 4)
... taking
numerous courses without necessarily going deep into any of them.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have
this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe
subjects and high grades. (Paragraph 4)
If I were an employer,
I would employ those students who take all these courses and thus
have a wide range of knowledge and are always curious about what
is new and unknown; I would not employ those who only take
those courses they can safely pass and score high marks.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
But they are equally battered by inflation. (Paragraph 5)
But
they (the colleges) are as badly affected by inflation as the parents
and the students are.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
We are witnessing in America the creation of a brotherhood of
paupers — colleges, parents, and students, joined by the common
bond of debts. (Paragraph 5)
Here in America we find a union
of colleges, parents, and students come into being; what they have
in common is that they are all in debt.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
tenacity (Paragraph 7)
doing
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
determination to continue what one is
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
They are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt.
(Paragraph 12)
A web is a complicated pattern of connections
or relationships. Both the students and their parents find themselves
caught in a web: The parents, out of good intention, want their
children to take courses which they think are more profitable; the
children are not interested in these courses, but they feel they just
have to take them; otherwise they would suffer from a sense of guilt
because it is their parents who have paid for their education. Such a
web has long been in existence in human history, thus “one of the
oldest webs”.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Where’s the payoff on the humanities? (Paragraph 12)
What
financial benefit can students get from courses in humanities? The
humanities are subjects such as history, philosophy and literature,
which are concerned with human ideas and behaviors. Such courses
do not usually lead immediately to profitable occupations as courses
related to law and medicine do.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
self-induced pressure (Paragraph 13)
the students themselves
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
pressure brought on by
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
The story is symptomatic of all the pressures put together.
(Paragraph 15)
The story indicates all the pressures combined.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Questions for discussion:
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
1. How do you interpret the last sentence of the first paragraph
“But there are no villains, only victims”?
2. From Zinsser’s quotation of a certain dean in the 2nd paragraph,
what idea do you get from the difference between the students in
the late 1960s and students of the time when the article was
written (presumably in the 1970s-1980s)?
3. Why do students, both of those who want to enter graduate
schools and those who just want to graduate and get a job, attach
so much importance to grades?
4. Zinsser obviously holds a different opinion from many of the
parents with regard to the courses the students should take.
Describe this difference and voice your own opinion.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
5. According to the text, what mentality underlies peer pressure and
self-induced pressure?
6. As a college student do you feel any of the four pressures Zinsser
has described in the text? Is there any other pressure you feel?
Discuss with your classmates the pressure(s) you feel and try to
suggest a way “to break the circles in which you are trapped”.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Answers for reference:
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
1. No one is really to blame for the pressures working on college
students, not the colleges, or the professors, or the parents, or the
students themselves. In fact, they (the colleges, the professors,
the parents and the students) are all victims.
2 The students in the late 1960s seemed to be more concerned with
what was happening in the world as a whole, and what they
could do to make our world a better place to live. The college
students of the time when the article was written were more
concerned about their own future and career, and they seemed to
be more egoistic.
3. To both of them, a good transcript will serve as a passport to
security. They want to look better so that they can either be
enrolled by a graduate school or find a good job.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Answers for reference:
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
4. Most parents want their sons and daughters to take courses that
would lead them to occupations with good pay such as law and
medicine. But Zinsser would rather that they took a wide range
of courses in the humanities, such as philosophy, history, music
and religion, so that they would become liberally well-educated
men and women.
5. The mentality that underlies peer pressure and self-induced
pressure is the fear to be outshone by one’s fellow students, the
fear to appear inferior to others.
6. Open to discussion.
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Section Five:
Further Enhancement
Memorable quotes
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Please paraphrase the following quotes:
They are able because they think they are able.
—Vergil
Letter to a B Student
Section One:
Pre-reading Activities
Lead-in questions
Supplementary reading
Memorable quotes
Section Two:
Global Reading
Section Three:
Detailed Reading
Section Four:
Consolidation Activities
Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need
pruning by study.
— Francis Bacon
Section Five:
Further Enhancement