Modern Communication,
The Laser and Fiber-Optic Revolution
Unit Five
Text A
Unit Five
Text A
I Pre-Reading Task
1.
How much do you know about the Internet?
2.What do people usually do on the Internet?
3.What has made the Internet possible?
II.Text-related Information
Internet is a network connecting many computer networks and based on
a common addressing system and communications protocol called TCP/IP(
Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol),From its creation
in 1983 it grew rapidly beyond its largely academic origin into an
increasingly commercial and popular medium,
By the mid-1990s the Internet were had connected millions of
computers throughout the world,Many commercial computer network and
data services also provided at least indirect connection to the
Internet,
The original uses of the Internet were electronic mail ( commonly
called,E-mail”),file transfer (using ftp,or file transfer
protocol),bulletin boards and news groups,and remote computer access
(telnet),The World Wide Web,which enables simple and intuitive
navigation of Internet sites through a graphical interface,expanded
dramatically during the 1990s to become the most important component
of the Internet,
① 与 … 结合, 与 … 合伙, 与 … 交往
e.g,He associates with criminals,
② 由 … 联想到
e.g,We often associate the Yellow River and the Changjiang River
with the civilization of the Chinese people,
③ n,同事, 伙伴
e.g,He’s not a friend,but a business associate,
这个人不能算朋友, 只是不是生意上的伙伴 。
[常用短语 associate…with,把 … 与 … 联想在一起,由 … 联想到
1.associate v,
III,Detailed Study,
① 推荐,介绍
e.g,Can you recommend me a good hotel?
你能给我介绍一家好旅馆吗?
②劝告,建议
e.g,I recommend caution in deal with this matter,
我建议慎重处理此事。
③使有吸引力
e.g,This hotel has nothing to recommend except cheapness,
这家旅馆除了便宜之外,就没有什么可取之处了。
[常用短语] recommend sth,to sb,把某物推荐给某人; recommend sb.sth,
向某人介绍某物 recommend sb,to do sth,推荐(介绍)某人于某事
2,recommend v,
像, 类似, 相似,不可用于进行式;无被动态 。
e.g,She resembles her sister in appearance but not in
character,
她的外表像她姐姐, 但个性不像 。
[ 常用短语 ] resemble… in 在 …… 相似, 类似
3,resemble v
同时发生或做出的
e.g,There was a flash of lightning and a simultaneous crash of
thunder,一道闪电出现,同时响起了雷声。
4,simultaneous
adj,
v,① 转交, 转运, 转寄
eg,When we moved,we asked the people who took our old house to forward
all our mall to our new address,
我们搬家时, 请住进我们原来屋子的人把我们的邮件转寄到新地址来 。
② 发送, 寄
e.g,We will forward the goods when we receive your cheque,
当收到你们的支票时, 我们就发送这批货 。
③ 促进, 助长
e.g,We are doing all we can to forward the progress of the talks,
我们正尽一切努力促进会谈取得进展 。
adv,向前, 出来
[ 常用短语 ] look forward to期待, 希望
5,forword

6,reflect v,
① 反射
e.g,The mountains were reflected in the lake,山倒映在湖面上 。
② 表达, 反映
e.g,His behaviour reflects his lazy attitude to work,
他的行为反映了他对待工作的懒惰态度 。
③ 仔细考虑
e.g,After reflecting for a time( on the problem) he decided not to go
仔细考虑 (这个 问题 ) 后, 他决定不去了 。
【 常用短语 】 reflect on/ upon 招致 ( 不利的反响 ), 给 …… 带来 ( 坏 ) 影响;
reflect sth,on sb./ sth.( 行为,事件)带来(荣誉或耻辱)
8,keep tabs ( a tab ) on
观察, 盯紧, 把 …… 记账
e.g,The police have been keeping tabs on him,
警方一直在严密监视着他 。
e.g,You”d better keep a tab on your spending,
你最好把你的花销记好账 。
9,on business
出差
e.g,I’m here on business,not for pleasure.我到这里是来出差的不
是来玩的 。
e.g,He often goes to Japan on business,他经常到日本出差 。
10.,track down
跟踪, 追捕
e.g,The police tracked down the criminal to his hiding place by the
blood marks he left behind,
警方根据罪犯留下的血迹追踪到了他的藏身之地 。
相关的表达还有,make tracks匆匆离去,逃跑。
11,second thought( s)
重新考虑
e.g,I said I wouldn’t do it,but on second thoughts I think I will,我
说过
我不会做那件事 。 但是重新考虑的话我想我会做的 。
A cautious person tends to have second thoughts his before he acts,
一个行事谨慎的人习惯于在行动之前重新考虑一下 。
组成的词组有,to have second thoughts; on second thought( s)。
12,rely on
依靠, 依赖;同义词组有,depend on。
e.g,The old man relies on the pension for a living,那位老人靠养老金过日子 。
In the west young people generally stop relying on their parents around the
age of 18,在西方年轻人一般 18岁就不再依赖父母了。
13,set up
建立, 开办, 创设 ( 公司, 组织, 制度等 )
同义词组有,establish,build up等 。
e.g,All this electrical wiring will take a day to set up,所有这些电线要一
天才
能架好 。
He set up his own company at the age of 18,
他 18岁时就建立了自己的公司。
14,set through
接通 ( 电话 ) ;通过, 类似的同义词组,pass through通过 。
e.g,We were all delighted when we heard your got through
( your exam), 听到你 ( 考试 ) 及格时, 我们都很高兴 。
I can’t get through to Paris,我打往巴黎的闲话没接通。
15,In April 1995,a young Chinese chemistry student at Beijing University lay
dying in a Beijing hospital,
Lay dying:, dying” is a present participle expressing attending circumstance,
e.g,She lay in bed listening to the music,
We had to sit waiting for his arrival,
16,In desperation,a student friend posted an SOS…
绝望中, 一个同学发了一封紧急求救信 …
in desperation不顾一切, 绝望 。
e.g,He kicked at the locked door in desperation,他拼命踢门 。
A person is likely to do anything If in desperation,
人在绝望时什么事都可能做 。
17,… he forwarded the message to colleagues in America,
… 他把这则消息转发给了美国的同行们 。
forward v,发送 。
e.g,Please forward all my mail to this address when I am away,
当我不在的时候, 请把我的邮件发送到这个地址 。
18,… the thallium concentration in her body was as much as 1000 times
normal,
___… the thallium concentration in her body was 1000 times more than
normal,
她体内的铊浓度多达正常值的 1000倍 。
As much as, used before a number to emphasize the largeness in number,
degree,etc.,meaning so much as that
cf,as many as
e.g,Bill Gates has got as much as 10 billion dollars by developing software,
There are as many as 100 jobs waiting to be done before we can have
a rest,
19,Well over a year later,… 一年多以后, …
well,( used before adverbs or prep,phrases ) much ; quite
e.g,I can’t reach it; it is well above my head,
They can’t catch up with us; they are well behind,
20,First you dail in and get your voice mail,首先, 你拨号入网, 获得你的话语
邮件 。
Voice mail,message sent by someone in the form of speech rather than writing
21.,.,you do a quick bit of search on the Internet,…
___… you go onto the Internet to look quickly for the information you want
22.,.,you call there without second thought,你毫不迟疑地拨通了电话 。
___… you call there without delay ( immediately )
你毫不迟疑地拨通了电话 。
23.,..a cause for celebration then,a small number today,
这在当时是可喜可贺的, 但在今天是小事一桩 。
__… which deserved celebration at that time,but is not so
important now
24,… were designed to carry the vast amount of data that…
用来传递大量的资料 。
data,facts,information事实, 信息 。
e.g,All the data are/ is ready for examination,
所有这些信息都是为考试作准备的 。
via“取道, 经由, 经过, ;, 通过, 借助于, 用, 。 相当于 by
means of,using。
e.g,We flew to Athens via Paris,我们乘飞机经巴黎去雅典 。
I sent a message to Mary via her sister,
我通过玛丽的妹妹给她带去一封信。
IV,Outline & Summary,
A.The importance and uses of the modern communications system ( Paras.1-3)
1,A true story of how people used the Internet to save a girl student’s life
2.Imaginary applications of the modern communications system in our daily
life
B,Histroy and development of the modern communications system ( Paras,4-
6 )
1,The earliest stage of global communication technology,short-wave radio
signals
2,The second stage of global communication technology,copper wire cable
and satellite
3,Modern communication technology,fiber-optic cable and laser that make
the,information superhigh way” possible
I) Outline,
IV,Outline & Summary,
Today’s modern communication technology is quite
advanced,It is optical fibers and lasers,together with the
striking improvements in computing that have made such
remarkable communication possible,
By using the telephone-line with expanded capacity,
people can send messages not only in the form of sound
but also in written words graphs and even moving pictures
on the Internet,
II) Summary,
V,Home Assignment,
1,Recite Text A;
2,Finish the exercises after text A;
3,Prepare for a quiz on Text A;
4,Unit 5 Passage A,B,C (Extensive Course ),