Vocabulary Idioms & Phrases

Paragraphs 7-11

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Listen to paragraphs 7-11

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Now, answer the following questions.

Who guided Percy Shaw to safety when he was driving in thick fog?

A cat.

What did Shaw find when he was driving along the main road?

The streetcar rails threw back his lights.

Reading

II. The Invention of Cat’s-eye Reflectors

Percy Shaw was driving his car along a winding road in Yorkshire one night in 1933.

Theroad ran along the side of a steep hill.

The road ran along the side of a steep hill.→The road stretched along the side of a hill sloping sharply.

Shaw knew the road well. But suddenly, just before a turn, he ran into thick fog. He could not see the road and he could not tell how far he was from the edge.  

run into... → meet... unexpectedly

thick/dense/heavy fog 濃霧fog clears/lifts/disperses 霧散去in a fog 束手無策；困惑、迷失方向I am in a complete fog about the lecture.

At that very moment, two small points of light shone through the fog.

very 放在名詞 moment 之前，用來加強該字。I like the very idea of the inventor.

At that very moment, two small points of light shone through the fog.→Right at that moment, two small points

of light were reflected through the fog.

Next

At that very moment, two small points of light shone through the fog.

shine 的各種涵義：發亮 vi. 三態是 shine, shone, shoneThe sun shines brightly in the clear sky.擦亮 vt. 三態是 shine, shined, shined My mother shined my shoes last night. She had my shoes shined last night.照明 vt. 三態也是 shine, shone,shone The police officer shone the flashlight on the object by the road. I shone my torch into the dark room.

The car lights had been reflected in the eyes of a cat.

Shaw then knew where the side of the road was.

“What I need is hundreds of cats sitting along the road,” thought Shaw as he drove slowly on through the fog.

on 乃副詞，放在動詞後，表示「繼續」。go on speaking 　drive/walk/talk/work/sleep on 　

When finally he reached the main road, his lights shone on some streetcar rails that ran alongthe center of the road.

Shaw remembered the cat’s eyes as he looked at the long lines.

He began to think “Why not invent reflectors that shine like cats’ eyes? And why not set them in the middle of the road?”

Why not + V...? 何不…？Why not let your skills shine through?→What do you say to letting your skills shi

ne through?→How about letting your skills shine throu

gh?→How do you feel about letting your skil

ls shine through?

His invention—the “cat’s-eye” reflector—has made roads and highways safer and easier to drive along after dark.

the “cat’s-eye” reflector 是 his invention 的同位語。make + O + OC比較級形容詞 safer 和 easier 當作受詞 roads and highways 的補語。

如果將定冠詞 the 放在專有名詞前，則用來強調該專有名詞所指之人的「唯一性」。The writer was named Shakespeare, but he was not the Shakespeare.如果將 a(n) 放在專有名詞前，用來表示「像專有名詞這一類的人」。 He is a gifted painter. He is a Picasso. He is an Edison; he has quite an inventive mind.

So be creative. Maybe you can be the next Darrow or Shaw.

本句為祈使句，這是對第二人稱的祈使，主詞 you 被省略。creative 的同義詞： inventive 、 original 、 ingenious 、 innovative 等等。

Back

Reading for main ideas.___ 1. Good inventions come from

_______.(A) games (B) tokens(C) necessity (D) knowledge

___ 2. If you were Charles Darrow or Percy Shaw, you would be a _______.(A) detective (B) scientist (C) creative person(D) late developer  

C

C

Topics for Discussion

Discussion 1:Think of one inventor that you know best and say something about him/her.

Reference answer:Edison, the inventor of electric light bulbs, phonographs, and motion picture cameras, was born in Milan, Ohio. He produced more than 1,000 inventions. Few people have had such a direct effect on the lives of people everywhere.

Discussion 2: If you could be an inventor,what would you like to invent?

Reference answer:If I could be an inventor, I would like to invent a machine that could help everyone learn everything quickly and efficiently. It was called “Smart.” Whenever we would like to learn something, all we had to do wasinput all the information about it into our brains through the machine. With the “Smart,” everyone could be a scientist or dancer if he/shewould like to. Back