第1个回答 2014-12-15
大学英语精读1 Unit6 课文分析
New words and phrases
1. happen to: chance; take place
¨ 你是怎么成为导游的？How did you happen to be a tourist guide?
¨ I happened to be out when she called.
2. neat: adj.
1) clean and tidy, orderly
¨ Zola always keeps her kitchen neat and tidy.
2) economical with time and effort; skilful; efficient
¨ In the end we found a very neat solution to the problem.
CF: neat, tidy, & orderly
这些形容词均含“整齐的，整洁的”之意。
neat 指人或物外表既清洁又整齐。
¨ His clothes were always neat and clean. 他穿的衣服总是又整洁又干净。
tidy 强调整齐，井然有序。
¨ Andrew’s apartment is always so tidy. 安德鲁的房间总是整整齐齐的。
orderly 语义比上述几个词强，最常用。指把复杂细微的东西按其内在联系安排整齐，强调井井有条。
¨ She needs to organize her ideas in a more orderly way. 她需要以更有条理的方法组织自己的思想。
3. efficiency expert: a very efficient person
NB: 本词组是一个“名词+名词”的名词定语结构。在这种结构中，两个名词无所属关系；并且第一个名词通常起相当于逻辑宾语作用，而主体名词通常起相当于逻辑主语的作用。例如：a book case (= a case that holds books)。本课中，作者用了很多这种结构，例如：kitchen utensils，shirt factory，quality control，work flow，assembly line，machine operators，background music，coffee break，math class等。
4. foundation: n. basis
¨ The earthquake shook the foundations of the house.
¨ 工人们正在给房子打地基。The workers are building the foundation of a house.
Collocation:
be without foundation (or have no foundation) 毫无根据
lay the foundations of 为…奠定基础
shake/rock the foundations of sth. 动摇…的基础
(or shake/rock sth. to its foundations)
CF: foundation, basis, base, & ground
这些名词均含有“基础”之意。
foundation 用于具体意义时，指坚固结实的建筑物的基础或地基；用作比喻意义时，与basis基本相同。
base 指构成或支撑某一具体物体的基础，也可指军事基地或用作比喻意义。
basis 主要用作抽象或引申意义。
ground 含义与basis和foundation接近。一般指某种决定、论点或关系的基础，也可指某种原因的基础。
1). The basis of his opinion is something he read in the paper.
2). The earthquake shook the foundations of the house.
3). Then I went to work at the Alameda naval air base , as a machinist's helper.
4). The grounds for his decision were never clearly stated.
5. come in : have or find a place; have a part to play
¨ 她在一百米赛跑中获第二。She came in second in the hundred-meter dash.
6. look around/round: walk round a place and examine it; examine the state of affairs
¨ 他到处跑，要找一个出租房。He looked around for a house to rent
7. be amazed at / by: be greatly surprised at / by
¨ 她对你告诉她的事感到吃惊。She is amazed by what you have told her.
8. whatsoever:
¨ Whatsoever she does is ridiculous.
adv. at all
¨ 我没有任何理由怀疑他说的一切。I have no reason whatsoever to doubt what he says.
9. inspect: vt. examine
¨ 海关官员颇为怀疑地检查了我的护照。The customs officer inspected my passport suspiciously.
CF: inspect, examine & investigate
这些动词都有“调查、检查”之意。
inspect 侧重按一定质量标准检查某物，找出不足或不同之处。
examine 最普通用词，可指粗略地查看，也可指仔细观察或调查以确定事物的性质、功能、特点等。
investigate 指为发现事实真相或了解掌握情况而进行深入细致的现场考察。
1). The study investigates the impact of violent TV programming on children.
2). I got out of the car to inspect the damage.
3). The research examined the effects of alcohol on long-term memory.
4). She held the bank note up to the light and inspected it carefully.
10. miss: v.
1) lack
¨ 我们小队少一个向导。Our team is missing a guard.
2) fail to see, hit, hold, catch, reach, etc.
¨ 子弹差一点打中她的心脏。The bullet narrowly missed her heart.
3) regret that a person or thing is not present
¨ 在她离开时，我真的很想念她。I really missed her when she went away.
11. except for: apart from; with the exception of
¨ 除了看门人以外，那房子空荡荡的。The house is deserted, except for the keeper.
CF: except, except for & besides
这些前置词或短语均含“除…之外”之意。
except 侧重于排除在外，从整体里减去。
except for 多用于说明基本情况或对主要部分加以肯定，还引出相反的原因或细节，从而部分地修正前面的主要意思，含惋惜意味。
besides 指在总体之外另加部分或个体，“除…外，还有…”。
1). Do you play any other sports besides football and basketball?
2). She felt fine except for being a little tired.
3). People choose jobs for other reasons besides money.
4). I finished all the questions except the second one.
5). Except for one or two cars, the street was empty.
12. relieve: v. make less or easier
这一针能止痛。The injection can relieve the pain.
¨ 医生的解释解除了我的担心。The doctor’s explanation relieved me of my fears.
13. boring: adj. dull, uninteresting
¨ 那堂课很单调沉闷，学生们都无精打采。The lesson was boring and the students were bored by it.
14. dull: adj.
1) boring
¨ 会议开得死气沉沉的。The conference was deadly dull.
2) not bright or clear
¨ Jane’s hair was a dull, darkish brown.
3) slow in understanding; stupid
¨ If you don’t understand then you’re duller than I thought.
CF: dull, boring & tedious
这几个词都是形容词，都有“令人厌烦的”、“生厌的”之意。
dull 指因呆板，缺乏趣味性而令人感到厌烦，其内涵是千篇一律，无吸引力，死气沉沉。
¨ The weekly meeting tends to be deadly dull.每周一次的例会往往是很乏味的。
boring 概念最广泛，尤其指引人厌倦，枯燥无聊的谈话、文章，也指令人生厌的人。
¨ He really is one of the most boring people I've ever met.他真是个我从未遇见过的最令人讨厌的人。
tedious 指因对某人或某事的描写太长太多而乏味，也指因反复做某事而乏味。强调因沉闷而引起的生理上的不适。
¨ We had to sit through several tedious speeches.我们只得坐在那里听几个乏味的讲演。
15. absent-minded: adj. not attentive, paying little attention to what one is doing; forgetful
¨ 这个心不在焉的男孩老是丢书。The absent-minded boy is always losing his books.
16. hold up: delay or cause to stop
¨ 由于交通事故，交通被迫中断了几个小时。Traffic was held up for several hours by the accident.
17. fire: v.
1) dismiss sb. from his / her job, sack (infml.)
¨ 萨姆因工作效率低而被资方解雇。Sam was fired by the management for his inefficiency.
2) discharge a gun; shoot
¨ 警察发射橡皮子弹以驱散人群。Policemen fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds.
CF: fire, dismiss & discharge
这些动词都有“解雇，开除”之意。
fire 口语用词，多指被断然地突然解雇，其行动犹如开枪一样干净利落。
dismiss 正式用词，是这组词中语气最轻的一个词，一般只有从上文才能看出解雇的原因或理由。
discharge 语气较重，指有理由的解雇，含不再复用的意味。
1). Bryant was unfairly dismissed from his post.
2). She was fired after she was caught stealing from her employer.
3). Several of the recruits（新兵）were discharged from the Army due to medical problems.
18. major:
adj. greater or more important
¨ 在世界上大多数城市里，繁忙的交通是个大问题。Heavy traffic is a major problem in most cities all over the world.
n. specialty or a student specializing in a certain field of study
¨ 在大学里，她是英语专业的学生。She is an English major at college.
19. achieve: vt. get sth. by efforts; finish sth. successfully
¨ 我仅完成了我希望做到的一半。I’ve achieved only half of what I’d hoped to do.
20. management: n.
1) the people in charge of a factory or business
¨ 该公司正由新的管理人员领导。The business is under new management.
2) the act of managing a business
¨ 许多小公司的失败是经营不善所致。The failure of many small businesses is caused by bad management.
21. productive: adj. producing well or much
¨ 他们很努力, 但效率不太高。They work hard, but their efforts are not very productive.
22. frequent: adj. happening often; habitual
¨ 他渐渐地不常登门了。His visits became less frequent as time passed.
23. promotion:n.
1) a rise in position
¨ 你只要做出成绩, 就能指望获得提升。If you are successful, you can expect promotion.
2) an activity intended to help sell a product
¨ 他负责推销工作。He is responsible for sales promotion.2) an activity intended to help sell a product
Background knowledge
a. The American Educational System
In the United States, education is the responsibility of individual states, not of the federal government, so requirements may vary from one state to another. The following is a generalization:
Kindergarten: before 5 years old
Elementary school: 6-11 years old (Grades 1~6)
Junior middle school: 12-13 years old (Grades 7~8)
Senior middle school: 14-17 years old (Grades 9~12)
College: 4 years for a B.A. or B.S. degree
University: 2~3 years for an M.A. or M.S.; 2~8 years for an Ph.D.
b. What is industrial engineering?
Industrial engineering is the detailed analysis of the use and cost of men, materials and equipment in an organization, with a view to increasing its productivity, profit and efficiency. Those who are involved in this kind of analysis are called industrial engineers.
Originally the analytical techniques of industrial engineering were used mainly in manufacturing industries to improve production methods, establish production control procedures, determine work standards, and develop wage payment plans. Gradually, the use of industrial engineering techniques has been extended to non-manufacturing areas such as construction and transportation industries, farm management, and restaurant and hotel operations. Although the field of industrial engineering has continued to grow, its primary application is still in the manufacturing industries.
课文翻译
萨姆着手提高衬衫厂的效率了，但正如我们将在本单元后半部分发现的，他的计划实施结果跟他原先预料的并不完全一样。
Sam Adams, Industrial Engineer
如果你问我母亲，我怎么偏偏会成为一名工业管理工程师的，她就会告诉你，我一直就是这样一个人。
她的意思是说，我一贯希望把样样东西都安排得井井有条，整整齐齐。还在上小学时，我就喜欢把袜子放在衣柜左上方的抽屉里，内衣放在右上方的抽屉里，衬衫放在当中的抽屉里，折得齐齐整整的裤子放在最下面的抽屉里。
事实上，我那时一直是全家人的效率专家。父亲的工具、母亲的厨房用具以及姐姐的男朋友全由我统一安排。
我需要讲究效率。我希望有条不紊。对我来说，样样东西都有个固定的地方，样样东西总是放在适当的地方。这些素质为我日后从事工业管理打下了良好的基础。
遗憾的是，我这个人也有一点专横，不太善于听取别人的意见。等我把在大学取得学士学位后承办第一项工程的情况告诉你以后，你就会明白我这话是什么意思了。
毕业后我回到家乡——印第安纳州的一个小镇上。当时我还没有找到工作。我父亲的一位朋友霍布斯先生在镇上有一家小型衬衫厂。在过去五年里，厂里的工人从二十名增加到了八十名。霍布斯先生担心他的工厂规模变得太大了，效率变得太低了，便请我进厂当了个短期顾问。
我来到厂里，花了一个星期左右的时间一边到处查看，一边做些笔记。说真的，我对看到的情况不胜惊讶。
最为奇怪的是，厂里竟然没有任何质量控制。没有人检验工厂生产的成品。结果，有些装箱待运的衬衫不是缺了一两粒钮扣，就是少了衣领，有时甚至还会短只袖子。
工厂的生产条件很差。工作台很高，工人坐在旁边很不舒服。除了吃中饭的半小时外，全天没有别的休息时间来调剂一下令人厌倦的工作。厂里也不播放音乐。工场间的墙壁全是一片暗灰色。使我感到惊奇的是，工人们竟然没有罢工。
此外，厂里的生产流程也时断时续。在装配线上有个缝钮扣的年轻人特别心不在焉。没有多久，我便认出了他，原来他就是在中学上数学课时坐在我后面的"大个子吉姆"。他动作很慢，所有的衬衫到了他这儿都被耽搁下来。装配线上他后面的同班工人只好等在那儿无事可干；因此，在"大个子吉姆"一边工作一边胡思乱想的时候，大量时间便白白流逝了，劳动效率大受损失。整个礼拜我都在纳闷，为什么他没有被解雇。
我观察了一个星期后，霍布斯先生便要我就调查结果作一个口头汇报。我把要点概括了一下向他汇报如下：
"如果实行质量检验，你们就会大大改进成品。"
"如果把装配线重新设计一下，生产流程就会达到平稳，并能节省时间和精力。"
"如果降低工作台的高度，机器操作工作业时就会舒服一些。"
"如果厂方播放悦耳的背景音乐，美化一下单调的环境，工厂的生产率就可以大大提高。"
"如果工人们在上、下午各有一次十五分钟的休息时间喝咖啡，他们的效率就会更高。"
"如果工作出色能经常得到加薪提拔，工人们就会有更大的生产积极性。"
霍布斯先生对我的汇报表示感谢，并告诉我说他将和他的兄弟——该厂的另一位厂主兼经理——讨论我的建议。"我们关心工厂的发展，"他说。"我们要跟上时代的步伐。"
他还送给我一张一百美元的支票并赠送给我一盒衬衫。