21世纪英语unit 8课文解析.docx

1、21世纪英语unit 8课文解析Unit Eight【语篇赏析】本单元包含三篇文章，讲述了正在逐渐改变人们生活的电脑及与之相关的一系列新技术。第一篇，未来之路序言，其作者是美国著名的电脑大亨比尔 盖茨。文中作者回忆了自己对电脑兴趣初萌时的故事，并对当今这项最伟大的创新会如何发展下去进行了几点设想。第二篇，聪明的机器：不知疲倦的助手，预测人工智能及机器人这两项新技术将使人们的未来生活更加轻松便捷。第三篇，国际互联网，回答了一些关于国际互联网的常见问题。Text AForeword【重点词汇】重点单词 incredible, barely, reliable, application, simul

2、taneous, crucial, purpose, acceptance, abolish, primarily, estimate, equivalent, complicated, stimulate重点短语 arise from, bring about, serve as, get around to, ahead of schedule, run into, take advantage of1. incredible: adj. unbelievable 难以置信的；extraordinary, unbelievably good 了不起的 The film star has a

3、n incredible car in addition to a big house. Our army man fought in the battle with incredible bravery.2. barely: adv. hardly 几乎不、几乎没有; only just 刚刚 They could barely see the road in the fog. We had barely enough money to buy food.3. reliable: adj. capable of being relied on 可靠的、确实的; dependable 可信赖的

4、 Its not reliable to judge a man only by his looks. A reliable assistant will be welcome in any company.4. application: n. 应用; 书面申请、正式申请 The application of new scientific discoveries to industrial production methods usually increases efficiency. The unemployed engineer wrote a dozen applications for

5、 jobs but got nothing.5. simultaneous: adj. happening, existing, or done at the same time 同时发生的、存在的或做的 The two simultaneous shots sounded like one.6. crucial: adj. extremely significant or important, 极其重要的；decisive 决定性的 It is crucial that we should make good use of anything we have. The couple did n

6、ot give up their love and marriage at the crucial moment.7. purpose: n. an aim or goal 目标、目的 What is his purpose in coming back this time? He walked back and forth on purpose to catch your attention.8. acceptance: n. the act of accepting 接受；approval or agreement 赞同、肯定、认同 He taught with great accepta

7、nce for 40 years. She won acceptance by the King family only through extraordinary diligence.9. abolish: vt. put an end to, do away with 取消、废除（制度、习俗等） Bad customs should be abolished as soon as possible. The legislature passed a law to abolish the surtax.10. primarily: mainly, chiefly 主要地、首要地 Now th

8、ey are living in a primarily middle-class neighborhood.11. estimate: v. & n. evaluate 估计；估价、出价 Now Ive realized that my estimate of her character was one-sided. I asked the building firm to estimate for the repairs to the stairs.12. equivalent: n. something that is equal, as in value, force, or mean

9、ing 等值物、等量物；adj. 相等的、等值的、等量的 Is there an exact French equivalent to the English word home ? He changed his pounds for the equivalent amount of dollars.13. complicated: adj. very difficult to understand, complex 复杂的、难解的 We have never met such a complicated math problem than ever.14. stimulate: vt. ex

10、cite ( the body or mind), encourage 刺激、激发 Frequently doing exercises stimulates the flow of blood. His fathers words stimulated him to work with greater efforts than before.15. arises from: result from 由产生、由引起 Quarrels often arise from basic misunderstandings between each other. It is carelessness t

11、hat accidents arise from.16. bring about: cause to happen 导致发生、造成 The revelation of the pollution brought about the investigation from the government.17. serve as: be used as 当作用 This platform would serve as a port and a railway station. Now the examination score serves as the only criterion for a s

12、tudents academic performance.18. get around to: find time for doing something, 抽出时间做(某事) He hardly gets around to physical exercises because of too much work. Busy as the boss is, he often gets around to playing with his kids.19. ahead of schedule: before the expected time 提前 The task will be finish

13、ed ahead of schedule if nothing prevents. But for the unexpected storm, they could have finished the construction ahead of schedule.20. run into: meet or encounter (difficulties, etc.) 遭遇（困难等）； meet (somebody) by chance 偶然遇见（某人） Not following the old mans advice, they finally ran into great trouble.

14、 I ran into a high school classmate yesterday on the way to the supermarket.21. take advantage of: make use of 利用 The people in the mountainous areas take advantage of all they have to develop their agriculture. The students took advantage of what the college offered to learn more about their subjec

15、ts.【课文详解】Part One: Para. 1 to Para. 7 第一部分介绍了个人计算机迅速发展的过程，以及人们对个人计算机这一新事物的不同观点。1. It started on a day when, as a college sophomore, I stood in Harvard Square with my friend Paul Allen and pored over the description of a kit computer in Popular Electronics magazine. (Line 2-5)The incredible adventure

16、 for me began at the time when I was a sophomore at college. One day, my friend Paul Allen and I stood in Harvard Square and paid all of our attention to reading an article in the magazine named Popular Electronics. The article described a kit computer.2. The personal computer revolution happened an

17、d it has affected millions of lives. (Line 8-9)The revolution of the personal computer started and it has influenced the lives of millions of people.3. It has led us to places we had barely imagined. (Line 9-10)The revolution has brought people to a new world which we had seldom thought about.4. We

18、arent sure where this one will lead us either, but again I am certain this revolution will touch even more lives and take us all farther. (Line 11-13)We dont know what kind of world the revolution will bring us into, either. But what I know and I am sure is that it will influence the lives of much m

19、ore people, and lead us to a further-developed place.5. The benefits and problems arising from this upcoming communications revolution will be much greater than those brought about by the PC revolution. (Line 15-17)The advantages and disadvantages caused by this revolution in communications will be

20、much more than those that were caused to happen by the using of PC.6. There is never a reliable map for unexplored territory. (Line 18)Before we explore a new place, we do not know what it is like, so we can not draw a dependable map for it. That is to say, since PC is a new thing to us, we can not

21、imagine where it will lead us to.7. Those of us who were attracted by computers and the possibilities they promised were unnoticed outside our own circles. (Line 27-29)The people among us were greatly interested in computers and believed what computers would bring us. But except ourselves, no one ha

22、d any idea of us.8. There has been an unbelievable amount of interest in this subject during the last few years, both inside and outside the computer industry. (Line 33-35)During the past several years, computer, this subject, has aroused interest of great amount of people. Some of the people belong

23、 to the computer industry, but some not.9. The interest is not confined only to developed countries, and it goes well beyond the large numbers of personal-computer users. (Line 35-37)Not only people of developed countries, but also a large number of PC users are interested in computers. Even those w

24、ho do not use computers have showed interest in it.10. Those developments will come, but they are not the highway. (Line 47-48)What people hope, fear or imagine will appear as computers develop, but these are not what the highway means.11. It will take place over several decades, and will be driven

25、by new “applications” new tools, often meeting currently unforeseen needs. During the next few years, major decisions will have to be made. (Line 49-52)The revolution in communications will happen in our life over several ten years, and it will be put forward by our new requirements. For example, we

26、 may need new tools when we meet some problems which we can not tell at the present time.12. It is crucial that a broad set of people not just technologists or those who happen to be in the computer industry participate in the debate about how this technology should be shaped. (Line 53-56)It is very

27、 important that people from various professions take part in the discussion about how the technology of computer would develop. We need ideas from not only technologists and people work in the computer industry but also all the others who know computers.It is crucial that (should) do 做是十分必要的。主句中出现标志

28、词crucial, 主语从句要使用虚拟语气。与crucial 一词用法相同的词还有important, necessary, essential, advised, suggested等。 It is crucial that all the power supplies should be turned off before you leave for vacation. It is essential that physical exercises be kept every day if good health is expected. It is suggested that they

29、 should not go to climb the mountain in such a bad weather.Part Two: Para. 8 to Para. 12 第二部分中作者解释了自己写未来之路一书的初衷及期望。13. Im writing this book The Road Ahead as part of my contribution to the debate and, although its a tall order, I hope it can serve as a travel guide for the forthcoming journey. (Line

30、 59-61)I am writing this book in order to do something as a help to the discussion about the development of computers. Though I know this request is difficult to perform, I hope my book can be used as a guide for our discussion about the future of computers.14. The commissioner of U.S. patents who i

31、n 1899 asked that his office be abolished because “everything that can be invented has been invented.” (Line 65-67)The official of U.S. patents thought that all people need had been invented, so in 1899, he advised that his office be stopped working because nothing new would be invented.Somebody ask

32、 that (should) do 某人要求做 主句中出现标志词ask, 宾语从句要使用虚拟语气。与ask 一词用法相同的词还有 advise, suggest, request, require, demand等。（结合第十二点） The government advised that people who were living in this area move out in case of the flood. The coach of the football team required that each member should put full effort into the match. The workers demanded that their working condition should be improved. 15. What I