Vocabulary Idioms & Phrases

Reading~Paragraphs 4-6

Post-reading

Listen to paragraphs 4-6.

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Now,answer the following questions.

( )Misunderstandings among English-speaking people are _____. (A) common (B) not common (C) impossible

A

( ) _____ paid for the man’s hotel room and meals in New Zealand and for his flight back to California. (A) The airline (B) The man’s boss (C) The flight attendant

A

( ) When similar-sounding words cause misunderstandings, probably the best thing to do is ______. (A) forget it (B) feel sorry (C) just laugh and learn from the mistake

C

Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon.

原句 =→ because there are so many similar sounding English wordssound 是連綴動詞，後面接形容詞當主詞補語 .• You sound unhappy.

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Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon.

English-speaking people → people who speak EnglishN+V-ing 為複合形容詞 , 其中的 V-ing一定是及物動詞，而且這複合形容詞是由關係子句簡化得來的。• flesh-eating• money-making

• cancer-causing• peace-loving

Not all misunderstandings result in highways being closed or passengers flying to the wrong continent.

Not all 表示部分否定，相當於 not every 。• Not all the students like to play computer games.→ Some students like to play computer games, and some don’t.

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Not all misunderstandings result in highways being closed or passengers flying to the wrong continent.

因 + result in + 果 = cause; lead to 　造成…（結果）• His carelessness resulted in the car accident.果 + result from + 因 = be caused by 　由…引起 / 造成• Sickness often results from eating too much.

Not all misunderstandings result in highways being closed or passengers flying to the wrong continent.

being closed 與 flying to the wrong continent 為分詞片語，分別修飾highways 及 passengers 。原句 =→ Some misunderstandings cause highways to be closed or passengers to fly to the wrong continent, and some don’t.

Most misunderstandings are muchless serious. Every day, people speaking English ask one another questions like these:

much 用以強調形容詞或副詞的比較級或最高級 .• Tom is much taller/runs much faster than John.• That’s much the best choice.people speaking English → people who speak English

like = such as

“Did you say seventy or seventeen?” “Did you say that you can come or that you can’t?” Similar-sounding words can be especially confusing for people who speak English as a second language.

原句 =→ Words that sound similar can especially confuse people who....→ People who...may feel confused especially by similar-sounding words.

When a Korean woman who lives in the United States arrived at work one morning, her boss asked her,”Did you get a plate?” “No...,”she answered, wondering what in the world he meant.

原句 =→ …and wondered what on earth he meant. wondering... 為分詞構句 , 表示與述部動詞同時發生的動作。

Why did the boss ask her about a plate?

She worked in an office. All day she wondered about her boss’s strange question, but she was too embarrassed to ask him about it.

she was too embarrassed to ask him about it → she was so embarrassed that she didn’t ask her boss about his strange question

At five o’clock, when she was getting ready to go home, her boss said, “Please be on time tomorrow.You were 15 minutes late this morning.”

get/make ready to/for 　準備好要…• The farmers are making ready to reap the harvest.• Let’s get ready for departure.

“Sorry,” she said. “My car wouldn’t start, and...” Suddenly she stopped talking and began to smile. Now she understood. Her boss hadn’t asked her, “Did you get a plate? He had asked her, “Did you get up late?”

Auckland and Oakland. “A plate” and “up late.” When similar-sounding words cause a misunderstanding, probably the best thing to do is just laugh and learn from the mistake. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to laugh.

The man who traveled to Auckland instead of Oakland didn’t feel like laughing. However,even that misunderstanding turned out all right in the end.

feel like + V-ing/N = want to V 　想要…• I felt like taking a walk.• Do you feel like a cup of coffee?turned out = became

in the end = finally/at last

The airline paid for the man’s hotel room and meals in New Zealand and for his flight back to California. “Oh well,” the man later said, “I’ve always wanted to see New Zealand.”

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Reading for the Main Idea___ 1.With the help of a dog, the police found a bomb in the toilet of a bus.___ 2.The Korean woman didn’t ask her boss about his strange question because she was too embarrassed to ask.___ 3.Almost every language has similar-sounding words; some of them are likely to cause confusion.

Discussion 1 : In Australia or New Zealand, some people pronounce “say” with an sound instead of sound. One example is “day” which Australians pronounce as . If you heard them say “I came here today” or “You can go home today”, would you feel confused? Why?

Reference answer:Of course, I would feel confused. “I came here today” sounds like “I came here to die.” What’s worse, if a doctor from Australia said to his patient, “You may go home today,” his patient probably would pass out.

Discussion 2: In your native language, are there similar-sounding words that might confuse people? What are these words?

Yes, there are also many similar-sounding words in Chinese that might confuse peoplesuch as “ 香味” and “ 鄉味”，“調琴” and “ 調情”，“星星” and “ 猩猩”。

Reference answer:

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