The Light at the End of the
Chunnel
郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室
Background knowledge
? The English Channel,commonly called the Channel,
is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern
coast of England from the northern coast of France,and
connecting the Atlantic in the west with the North Sea
on the east via the Strait of Dover,It is 34 to 240 km,
(21-150 miles) wide and 560km,(350 miles) long,The
Channel is at its narrowest between Dover in England
and Cape Gris-Nez,near Calais,in France,it being 34
km,(21 miles) wide,Its average depth decreases from
120 to 45 meters (400-150 feet).
Background knowledge
? From earliest times,the Channel served as a
route for,and a barrier to,invaders to
Britain from the Continent,It was crossed by
Julius Caesar’s legion in 55 B.C,and Norman
forces in 1066,However,when Napoleon and
Hitler threatened to cross it,they failed.
Therefore,the Channel has chiefly served as
a physical barrier to the invasion of Britain.
Transportation across the Channel used to be
supplied by ferry boat service only.
Background knowledge
The long-lasting Anglo-French conflict
In 1066,William,Duke of Normandy,France,conquered
England and became King William I of England,After the
Norman Conquest,French manners and culture
predominated among the English nobles,In 1154 King
Henry II recovered the English throne,Thereafter the
holdings of English kings in France were greatly increased.
At one time,France assisted Scotland,over which the
English kings attempted to dominate,These sources of
friction led to intermittent fighting between the two
countries from 1294 to 1337.
Background knowledge
? In 1337,Edward III of England (1327-1377) took
the title of King of France,This step began the
Hundred Years’ War which continued on and off
until 1453,Early in the conflict the English crushed
the French,but by the end of Edward’s reign the
French had reconquered almost all the territory
Edward had won,Fighting between the two
countries continued in the fourteenth and the
fifteenth century,During King Henry VIII’s reign
(1509-1547),England again invaded France and
expanded it holdings around Calais.
Background knowledge
? From 1689 to 1815 there was a series of conflicts
between Britain and France for domination of the
North American continent,The principal objective
of the British government was to drive the French
out of North America once and for all,The
maritime and colonial struggle between Britain and
France for world empire and trade,which began in
1689,lasted until the final defeat of Napoleon at
Waterloo in 1815,It was about this time that the
long duel between Britain and France was over.
Background knowledge
? The Channel Tunnel Project
? The Channel Tunnel Project is the scheme for an under-
ocean tunnel linking Britain and France,which has been
discussed on governmental levels for almost 200 years.
? The first proposal for a Channel Tunnel came in 1802
from a French engineer,Napoleon showed interest,but
the renewal of the war suspended the question,which,
however,was taken up again and again throughout the
nineteenth century,The proponents of the project were
generally French,with the British government holding
off for security reasons.
Background knowledge
? In the early 1880s,digging actually began near
Folkestone,Kent,England,and Sangate,France.
A pilot tunnel 2000 yards long was bored from
the English side before a rage from the press
over the alleged threat to Britain’s security
caused the British government to cancel the
project.
Background knowledge
? The defence considerations remained decisive until the
1950s,when the missile age made it appear obsolete,The
Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed and it published
in 1960 a proposal for a rail tunnel from Folkstone to Calais.
In 1964 the two governments agreed to proceed with a rail
tunnel,After frequent extensions of the estimated
completion date,with costs constantly rising,the British
government cancelled the project early in 1975,leaving
two and a half kilometers of preliminary digging on both
sides of the Channel,In 1978 the matter of a Channel
crossing was again raised.
Background knowledge
? At long last,construction began again in
December 1978,and after sever years of
unremitting toil,the Chunnel was completed
at the cost of 13.5 billion dollars.
Types of the text
? The text is a feature report which introduces
one of the significant transport construction
projects in the modern history of European
architecture,This report includes different
opinions toward the Chunnel,the opinions of
the local residents of both sides of the
English Channel,as well as the comments
of the construction tunnellers.
Structure of the text
? The text consists of two parts:
? Part I describes the attitudes of the English
and the French people towards the Chunnel;
? Part II describes briefly the breakthrough
ceremony for the south running tunnel.
Style of the text
? The text follows the organization of a typical
journalistic feature report:
? a) A short opening paragraph sets the scene,in which
the thesis is stated in the second sentence:” For the first
time since the ice age,England was about to be linked
to France.”
? b) Immediately following the opening paragraph is the
unbiased presentation of the opinions of both English
and French local residents across the English Channel.
Style of the text
? c) The text then proceeds with the reporting of the
officially scheduled Chunnel inauguration to show the
determination and initiative endeavour of the British
and French Governments to connect Britain with the
rest of Europe,in order to emphasize the significance of
the project.
? d) After the intentional delay to create suspense,the
author introduces the tunnel proper and the historical
contributions and benefits of this tunnel thoroughfare.
Style of the text
? e) Much of the report,then,is devoted to the real-time
account of the exciting work at the breakthrough site of
the Chunnel,an account based on the author’s personal
experience and first-hand information.
? F) The report ends up with revealing the business
worries on the part of the Chunnel authorities,who
were concerned with,but not without hope,the business
of the tunnel transport,promotion work was expected to
facilitate the effective use of the Chunnel on the part of
the French population.
Questions
? How did the English and the French people
look at the Chunnel,joyously or resentfully?
Why do you think so?
? How do you visualize the breakthrough
ceremony? Exercise your imagination.
Detailed Study of the Story
Part I Paragraph 1—7
? Question 1:
? What did an English couple say about
the French people,and what did a
Frenchman say about the English people?
Why do you think they showed a mutual
feeling of dislike?
? An English retired civil servant said that he’d rather have
England become the 51st state of the U.S.A,than have his
country linked to France,He added that the French didn’t
care for anybody,His wife said that France was an awful
place and that the French people drank wine all the time.
She disliked French food and preferred to have English
sauce with her food,In the meantime,a French farmer
complained about English ketchup and about their not
having any good wine,The British and the French disliked
each other because there had been long years of conflict
between the two countries.
Detailed Study of the Story
? 1,… not two miles from the soon-to-be-opened
English Channel Tunnel,…
? Compound adjectives
? 1) the soon-to-be-opened English Channel Tunnel (lines 1-
2) means,that is to be opened soon”
? e.g,an easy-to-perform trick
? a difficult-to-use camera
? the soon-to-be-completed Metro
? 2) Gull-wing means,like the wings of the gull”.
? e.g,a baby-food store
? a mountain-top hut
? city-reconstruction discussions
? 3) Cross-Channel-link means,building a link
that crosses the Channel”.
? e.g,a keep-fit-class schedule
? a cross-border-raid threat
? 4) 31-mile-long
? e.g,a ten-year-old boy
? a three-inch-thick book
? a 3-hour-long journey
? … stiff upper lips trembled:
? (keep/carry/ have) a stiff upper lip,(show)the ability to appear calm
and unworried when in pain,trouble,etc（ 遇痛苦, 困难等时 ） （ 表现 ）
沉着而坚强的能力, 咬紧牙关 。
? e.g,The prisoners tried hard to keep a stiff upper lip in spite of the
hardships of the prison.
? We managed to keep a stiff upper lip when the company announced
that they would close down our office.
? One failure means nothing,You've got to keep a stiff upper lip.
? 此短语用板起的脸孔替换隐藏悲伤或害怕这种性格特征, 使用了metonymy（ 换喻, 转喻 ） 的修辞手法 。
? Metonymy,It’s substituting the name of one thing for that of another
with which it’s closely associated,Thus the crown can stand for a king,
and the White House for the American government,the bottle for wine
or alcohol,and the bar for the legal profession,When metonymy is well
used,brevity and vividness may be achieved:
? 英 语 中 的 metonymy 和 另 外 两 个 修 辞 格 synecdoche 和
antonomasia都是不直接说出事物的本来名称, 而换用另一
个名称或另一个说法 。 它们大体上相当于汉语的, 借代, 这
一修辞格 。 如 city（ 城市 ） 代替, 城市居民, ； crown（ 王冠 ）
喻指君主, 王权, 王国政府等； doll（ 玩具 ） 往往可以喻指
姑娘, 宝贝儿等 。
? 1） 秃头站在白背心的略略正对面, 弯了腰, 去研究背心上
的文字 。 （ 鲁迅, 示众, ）
? Baldy,standing almost directly opposite White Jerkin,
stooped to study the characters written on his jerkin.
? 3） His wife spent all her life on the stage.(= theatrical
profession)
? 他的妻子在 舞台 上度过了一生 。 （ =戏剧工作, 表演艺术 ）
? 4） Paper and ink cut the throats of men,and the
sound of a breath many shake the
world.(=written words;speech)
? 纸墨能割断人的喉管, 嗓音能震动整个世界 。 （ 纸
墨 =写几个字 ） ； （ 嗓音 =说几句话 ）
? 5） The pen is mightier than the sword.笔杆子比
刀剑更有力 。 （ =文章 ）
? 6） His joke set the whole table in a roar.他的笑
话引起满座哄堂大笑 。 （ 桌子代替一桌人 ）
?
? 课文中用代表英国人的性格特征的面部特征代替英国人, 这
种一局部代表全部
? 的方法称为 （ Synecdoche提喻法, 举隅法 ） When a part is
substituted for the whole
? or the whole is substituted for a part,synecdoche is applied:
? 1 ） Many hands make light work,人 多 好 办 事 。
（ synecdoche---- 用手代替人 ）
? 2） He had to earn his daily bread by doing odd jobs.
? 3） Some mute inglorious Shelly here may rest.
? 某个沉默的、无名诗人也许在此长眠。（ antonomasia----用
雪莱代替诗人）
? 3,An ice age is any point of several periods when glaciers,
especially in the form of great ice sheets,covered more of
the earth’s surface than they do today.冰川期, Each ice
age lasted at least three million years,most of the earlier
ones lasted more than 10 million years,Today we live in a
warm period during or just after the Quaternary ice age 第
四纪冰川期 which was in the Pleistocene Epoch更新世,
beginning 2.5 million years ago,It’s believed that all of the
early development of humans came during this last ice age
and civilization has come into existence as its result.,For
the first time since the world began to exist” clearly this is
an exaggeration.
? 4,I’d rather England become the 51st state…, (Grammar)
? e.g,I’d rather you stayed with us over the weekend.
? He’d rather John hadn’t called on him
? 5,… a retired civil servant with a complexion the color of
ruby port.
? Civil servant,a person employed in the civil service or
the government departments.公务员, 文职人员
? Para,… a retired government official whose face is red
colored,typical of a person living by the sea.
? A completion 与 the color of ruby port 为同位语。
? 6,He nodded toward the steel gray Channel out the window,his pale blue
eyes filled with foreboding.
? He nodded… his pale blue eyes filled with foreboding—a nominative
absolute
? construction
? e.g,The work done,we left the office with a light heart.
? The last bus having gone,we had to walk home.
? It being a holiday,the park was crowded with people.
? 一, 独立主格结构含义
? 独立主格结构, 又叫独立结构 （ absolute construction） 。 它在句法上游
离于句子主体之外, 跟主句没有任何句法联系；但在意义上却与主句紧
密联系在一起, 共同构成一个完整的语义环境 。 独立主格结构没有主语
和谓语, 只有逻辑上的主语, 因此, 它在句法上不是句子, 而是一个独
立于句子成分之外的独特结构形式 。
? 独立主格结构可置于句首, 句尾, 用逗号与主句隔开 。
?
? 二, 独立主格结构的形式
? 独立主格结构可分为两部分，一部分是名词或代词（主格），
起着逻辑主语的作用；另一部分由形容词、副词、名词、分
词、不定式、介词短语等构成，表示前面名词或代词的状态、
状况或动作。
? 1） 名词／代词＋形容词
? I heard that she got injured in the accident,my
heart full of worry．
? 我听说她在这场事故中受了伤, 内心充满担忧 。
? He stood silent in the moon-light,his door open．
? 月光下，门开着，他默默地站立在那。
? 2） 名词／代词＋现在分词
? Winter coming,it gets colder and colder,冬
天来了, 天气越来越冷了 。
? The rain having stopped, he went out for a
walk,雨停了, 他出去散步 。
? 3） 名词／代词＋过去分词
? More time given,we should have done it much
better．
? 如果给我们更多的时间, 我们会做得更好 。
? The boy stood there, his right hand
raised,那个男生站在那里, 右手高举 。
? 4） 名词／代词 （ 主格 ） ＋不定式
? Here are the first two volumes,the third one to come out
next month．
? 这是前两卷, 第三卷将于下月问世 。
? The two boys said good-bye to each other,one to go
home,the other to go to his friend's．
? 两个男孩彼此道了别, 一个回了家, 另一个去了他朋友家 。
? 5） 名词／代词十介词短语
? The huntsman entered the forest,gun in hand．那位猎人
手里提着枪走进了树林。 注意：这里,gun in hand还可以
说成 with a gun in his hand，但不可以说 a gun in hand或
gun in his hand。
? 6） 名词／代词十副词
? Nobody in,the thief took a lot of things away．
? 由于没有人, 小偷拿走了许多东西 。
? Lunch over, he left the house, But he was
thinking．
? 午饭结束, 他离开屋 。 但他还在考虑 。
? 7） 名词／代词＋名词
? He fought the wolf,a stick his only weapon．
? 他和狼搏斗着，唯一的武器是一根棍棒。
? 8） with复合结构
? 它的构成是：, with ＋ 宾语 ＋ 宾语补足语, 。 宾语由代词, 名词, 名
词词组充当, 宾补由分词, 不定式, 形容词, 副词, 介词短语, 名词等
充当 。
? Holms and Watson sat with the light on for half an hour．
? 福尔摩斯和沃森坐着, 让灯亮了半个小时 。 （ 介词短语 ）
? He used to sleep with the door open,他过去常开着门睡觉 。 （ 形容词 ）
? With a boy leading the way,they started towards the village,由一个
小男孩领着路, 他们朝那个村子去了 。 （ 现在分词 ）
? With the work done,he went home,工作做完后, 他回了家 。 （ 过去
分词 ）
? 7,…,as the gull-wingeyebrows shot upward.
? Para,when he raised his eyebrows suddenly which were
as thick as the wings of a seagull.
? 此处 gull-wing eyebrows为一暗喻，比喻老人的眉毛浓
密。
? 8,… the entente was scarcely more cordiale…
? Entente and cordiale are both French words meaning
“understanding” and,friendly” respectively.
?
? The meaning of sentence,The understanding on the other
side of the Channel was hardly more friendly,in other
words,the understanding is just as unfriendly,The use is a
reference to a historical event,As was mentioned before,
conflicts between Britain and France had been incessant
for centuries,At the end of the nineteenth century,Britain
and France were again on the verge of war,In 1901,
however,things took a turn for the better,as King VII of
Great Britain was a Francophile (i.e.,a person who is
friendly to France),The way was opened for agreements
between the two countries,and the Entente Cordiale,a
friendly understanding,was arrived at.
? 修辞手法,allusion
? Allusion is a short,informal reference to a famous person
or event:
? Angry young man
? ［ 义 ］ 愤怒的青年
? ［ 源 ］ 据英国文学史, 愤怒的青年源出 L.A 保罗 (Leslie Allen
Paul)的一本同名自传, 后因剧作家约翰, 奥斯本的剧本
,愤怒的回顾, （ Looking Back in Anger） 而流传 。 今指战
后英国对社会现有体制不满的一代青年 。
? ［ 例 ］ I don’t want to the convention to think we’re just a
collection of angry young men.(J.F.Kennedy)
? 我不愿这次会议将我们视作只是一群愤怒的青年 。
? Alice-in-Wonderland
? ［ 义 ］ 想入非非的；不合逻辑的；自相矛盾的
? ［ 源 ］ 出自英国著名作家刘易斯, 卡洛尔 （ Lewis
Carroll） 的同名小说, 爱丽丝漫游奇境记, (Alice in
Wonderland)
? ［ 例 ］ This is an Alice-in Wonderland approach to
the problem.
? 这种研究问题的方法实在是太想入非非了 。
? ［注］常作形容词用
? Apple of his eye
? ［ 义 ］ 瞳仁；珍爱的人 （ 物 ） 。 （ 古人认为瞳仁像苹果一样,
是固体圆球, 对于人十分宝贵, 故用比喻珍贵之人或物 ）
? ［ 源 ］ 当耶和华发现雅各 (Jacob)“在旷野荒凉野兽吼叫之地,
就环绕他, 看顾他, 如同保护眼中的瞳仁, 。 （, 圣经, 申
命记, ）, in the waste howling wilderness he led him
about,he instructed him,he kept him as the apple of his
eye”.(Bible.Deut.32:10)
? ［ 例 ］ I sacrificed everything to make you happy and safe.
I won’t talk about your father,but you,you were the apple
of my eyes.
? 为了使你生活平安幸福, 我曾牺牲了一切, 我不谈你父亲,
但你, 你那时是我的宝贝 。 （ B,考卜斯：, 彼得曼的梦, ）
? 9,a village a beet field away from the
French terminal,a village which is only a
short distance away from the French terminal.
? A beet field is a field where beet,a root vegetable,is
planted; it can’t be very big.
? 10,All they eat is ketchup.
? Ketchup,Ketchup is a Chinese word in origin,In the
Amoy dialect of southeastern China,koechiap means
'brine of fish.' It was acquired by English,probably via
Malay kichap,toward the end of the 17th century,when it
was usually spelled catchup (the New Dictionary of
the Canting Crew 1690 defines it as 'a high East-India
Sauce'),Shortly afterward the spelling catsup came into
vogue (Jonathan Swift is the first on record as using it,in
1730),and it remains the main form in American English,
But in Britain ketchup has gradually established itself since
the early 18th century.
? 11,A tiny explosion of air from pursed lips,
then the coup de grace.
? Pursed lips,噘起的嘴巴
? Coup de grace,(French) a decisive finishing blow致
命的一击
Paragraph 8
? 12,… bye grace of one of the engineering feats of
the century,for rich or poorer,better worse,
England and France are getting hitched.
? by grace of,due to,by the favour of,The usual
phrase is by the grace of God,meaning,owing to
the favour shown by God”.
? for richer or poorer,better or worse,Whether
one likes it or not; whatever happens.
?
? The literal meaning of the two phrases is:,on
terms of accepting all results”,or,it’s not certain
what the consequences will be,but they will have
to be accepted,because the action has been
taken.”
? Para,Thanks to one of the remarkable
construction achievements of the 20th century,
whether one likes it or not,England and France
are on the way of getting geographically
connected.
? 13,Queen Elizabeth of Britain,Elizabeth II (1926- ),queen of the United
Kingdom (1952- )
? 14,President Francois Mitterrand,(1916-1996) became President of France
in May 1981.
? 15,inaugurate:
? a.When a new leader is inaugurated,they are formally given their new
position at an official ceremony.
? e.g.The new president will be inaugurated on January 20.
? b.When a new building or institution is inaugurated,it is declared open
in a formal ceremony.
? e.g.A new center for research on toxic waste was inaugurated today at
our university.
? c.It you inaugurate a new system or service,you start it.
? e.g.Pan Am inaugurated the first scheduled international flight.
? Question 2
? With help of the information given in the notes,explain the
following:
? 1)200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes,and
? 2)1,000 years of historical rift.
? 1):The Channel Tunnel Project had been discussed between Britain
and France on governmental levels for almost two hundred years,It
was in 1802 that the first proposal for a Channel Tunnel was put
forward the nineteenth century and for the most part of the twentieth
century,It did not come to fruition until the last decade of the twentieth
century.
? 2) Beginning with Norman Conquest in 1066 until the early nineteenth
century,there had been incessant conflicts between Great Britain and
France,All in all there was a rift between the two countries for about
one thousand years.(See the details in the notes)
? 16,… sweeping aside 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link
schemes,1000 years of historical rift,and 8000 years of
geographic divide:
? para,according to the theory of geological evolution,the ecologically
important land bridge across the Strait of Dover was finally submerged
about 8000 years ago.
? 此处使用了层进 (climax)的修辞手法, 历史年代的逐步追溯使读者对这一
共曾的
? 重大意义印象深刻；这种按照词义的轻重深浅, 逐层依次递进, 最后达
到顶点的
? 修辞手段, 可以逐步加深读者印象, 迅速达到高潮, 最后揭示主旨, 往往使文章文才斐然, 震撼人心 。
Paragraph 9
? Question 3
? How will the Chunnel facilitate the transport between
Great Britain and France,or rather,between Great
Britain and other European countries?
? It will greatly facilitate the transport between Great Britain
and France,For example,for a motorist to cross the
English Channel,he can use the Chunnel Shuttle Service
and cross the Channel in only 35 minutes,as against 90
minutes by ferry before,The through service provided by
Eurostar passenger trains takes only 3 hours to travel from
London to Paris,and 3 hours 10 minutes from London to
Brussels,Belgium,
Paragraph 10
? How do you understand the following
sentence?
? 17.The chunnel rewrites geography,at
least in the English psyche,The moat
has been breached,Britain no longer is
an island.
? Answer,
? The English Chunnel had served as a barrier to invasion of Britain for
centuries,and invasion by tunnel was at one time,the ultimate British
nightmare”(National Geographic,May 1994,p,39),As a matter of fact,
whenever the idea of a link between the two countries emerged,there
also appeared visions of invasion,and proposals for a link simply
foundered,But the completion of the Chunnel has now joined Britain to
the European continent,In other words,Britain is no longer an island,
Thus the geographical condition is completely changed,especially to
the British people.
? Para,As far as the British are concerned,the Chunnel has changed
the geographical pattern which long separated Britain from Continental
Europe.
Part II
? Paragraph 1
? Question 5
? How did the author of the article get the opportunity of witnessing
the
? breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel?
? The author,Cathy Newman,is a senior staff member of the National
Geographic magazine,Being a journalist,she was presumably invited
to attend and to cover the breakthrough ceremony,as there were also
several dozen other journalists going with her.
? 18.It’s June 28,1991,and I’mpacked into a train
? Para,the historical present which adds vividness and dramatic and
lifelike quality to the description.
? Paragraph 2
? Question 6
? Why did one of the visitors say,makes you appreciate British
Rail”?
? It’s because the construction workers’ train which took them down the
tunnel screeched in a dreadful way,whereas the British Rail passenger
trains would not make such noise.
? 19,The Chunnel is a work in progress.
? In progress,being done or made.进行中
? e.g,An inquiry is in progress.调查工作此刻正在进行中 。
? Para,the Chunnel is under construction.
? 20,White dust fills the air.
? Para,Characteristic of the land on the English side of the English
Channel are white cliffs of chalk,therefore the white dust.
? Paragraph 4
? Question 7
? Why did the author refer to when she spoke of,those
vive la differencequirks”?
? She referred to two distinctive differences between the
British and the French ways of doing things,One is that the
French gave women’s names to the tunnel boring
machines(TBM),for example,“Catherine”,whereas the
British only gave the machines numbers,e.g.,TBM No6,
The other difference is that the French workers wore
colorful workclothes while their British counterparts wore
something grungy,
? 21.vive la difference quirks,the peculiar
behaviour that highlights the differences
between the two countries.
? Vive la difference is French meaning,Long
live the differences”.
? 22…,Chic,well -cut,taupe jumpsuits:
fashionable,well-tailored,one-piece
garment combining top and trousers in dark
brownish gray
? Paragraph 5-7
? Question 8
? How deep is the Chunnel under the ocean at the breakthrough site?
? It’s about 180 feet or 54.9 metres deep.
? 23,… I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head---- ferries,
tankers,a Dover sole or two…
? I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head,I picture the
transport scene of the Channel 180 feet above this tunnel.
? … ferries,tankers,a Dover sole or two,ferries and tankers that
sail in the English Channel and one or two flatfish that live in the
Strait of Dover.
? Paragraph 6
? 24,The grating of the TBM interrupts myreverie,(Vocabulary)
? reverie:a kind of short pleasant daydream; a formal word
? e.g,The announcer’s voice brought him out of his reverie.
? 25…, a huge wheel with tungsten-tipped teeth--- chews into the
last trace of rock separating England from France.
? 此处运用了 personification(拟人 )的修辞手法把 TBM这一隧道钻孔机比
作人一
? 样, 坚硬的钨钻头好似它的牙齿, 大口地咀嚼分割英国和法国的岩石,
非常形象生动
? a,How soon hath Time,the subtle thief of youth,stolen on his
wing mythree and twentieth year! (John Milton)
? 时间，这个盗窃青春的狡猾的小偷，盗窃了我二十又三年飞走了。
? Question 9 Describe the breakthrough scene in
your own words.
? There were many people present,the Eurotunnel
officials,construction workers,and journalists,
When the cutterhead of the tunnel boring machine
bit into the last piece of rock separating England
from France,there was loud music as well as
dazzling lights,A number of Frenchmen were
seen coming from the other side,and thunderous
applause was heard,The French and British
people drank champagne and hugged each other,
It was truly a moving sight,
? 26,Music blares,and lights glare.
? 此处采用了 （ 半谐音 ） 的韵格, 以次来渲染施工现场的激动人心的场
面 。 指在一组词, 一句话或一行诗中同一原因重复出现, 可以使语句具
有音乐的节奏感和诗意, 从而增强其表现力或感染力 。
? 27,the flow will be lopsided,(Vocabulary)
? lopsided:
? a,Something is lopsided is uneven because one side is lower or
heavier than the other.
? e.g,His suit had shoulders that made him look lopsided.
? b,If you say that a situation is lopsided,you mean that one element is
much
? stronger,bigger,or more important than another element.
? e.g,In 1916,Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0,No game since
has been that lopsided,(or,lopsided economic relations)
? Paragraph 8-14
? Question 10
? Did the mutual feeling of dislike still exist when the tunnel was completed?
? No,Both the French and British celebrated the breakthrough,and an
Englishman said,“I might have opposed it 30 years ago,but now it’s my tunnel.”
? 28,And there are 56 million more behind them---- referring to the whole
population of France
? para,And soon the whole French population will take the Chunnel transport
and come over to visit Britain.
? 29,Why do the French visit Britain?,.,Fashion?
? The implied meaning,French will not visit Britain because there is nothing
they admire in Britain.
? 30,We will work on selling the idea.
? Para,We will try to make people interested in going across the English
Channel by the Chunnel.
Chunnel
郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室
Background knowledge
? The English Channel,commonly called the Channel,
is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern
coast of England from the northern coast of France,and
connecting the Atlantic in the west with the North Sea
on the east via the Strait of Dover,It is 34 to 240 km,
(21-150 miles) wide and 560km,(350 miles) long,The
Channel is at its narrowest between Dover in England
and Cape Gris-Nez,near Calais,in France,it being 34
km,(21 miles) wide,Its average depth decreases from
120 to 45 meters (400-150 feet).
Background knowledge
? From earliest times,the Channel served as a
route for,and a barrier to,invaders to
Britain from the Continent,It was crossed by
Julius Caesar’s legion in 55 B.C,and Norman
forces in 1066,However,when Napoleon and
Hitler threatened to cross it,they failed.
Therefore,the Channel has chiefly served as
a physical barrier to the invasion of Britain.
Transportation across the Channel used to be
supplied by ferry boat service only.
Background knowledge
The long-lasting Anglo-French conflict
In 1066,William,Duke of Normandy,France,conquered
England and became King William I of England,After the
Norman Conquest,French manners and culture
predominated among the English nobles,In 1154 King
Henry II recovered the English throne,Thereafter the
holdings of English kings in France were greatly increased.
At one time,France assisted Scotland,over which the
English kings attempted to dominate,These sources of
friction led to intermittent fighting between the two
countries from 1294 to 1337.
Background knowledge
? In 1337,Edward III of England (1327-1377) took
the title of King of France,This step began the
Hundred Years’ War which continued on and off
until 1453,Early in the conflict the English crushed
the French,but by the end of Edward’s reign the
French had reconquered almost all the territory
Edward had won,Fighting between the two
countries continued in the fourteenth and the
fifteenth century,During King Henry VIII’s reign
(1509-1547),England again invaded France and
expanded it holdings around Calais.
Background knowledge
? From 1689 to 1815 there was a series of conflicts
between Britain and France for domination of the
North American continent,The principal objective
of the British government was to drive the French
out of North America once and for all,The
maritime and colonial struggle between Britain and
France for world empire and trade,which began in
1689,lasted until the final defeat of Napoleon at
Waterloo in 1815,It was about this time that the
long duel between Britain and France was over.
Background knowledge
? The Channel Tunnel Project
? The Channel Tunnel Project is the scheme for an under-
ocean tunnel linking Britain and France,which has been
discussed on governmental levels for almost 200 years.
? The first proposal for a Channel Tunnel came in 1802
from a French engineer,Napoleon showed interest,but
the renewal of the war suspended the question,which,
however,was taken up again and again throughout the
nineteenth century,The proponents of the project were
generally French,with the British government holding
off for security reasons.
Background knowledge
? In the early 1880s,digging actually began near
Folkestone,Kent,England,and Sangate,France.
A pilot tunnel 2000 yards long was bored from
the English side before a rage from the press
over the alleged threat to Britain’s security
caused the British government to cancel the
project.
Background knowledge
? The defence considerations remained decisive until the
1950s,when the missile age made it appear obsolete,The
Channel Tunnel Study Group was formed and it published
in 1960 a proposal for a rail tunnel from Folkstone to Calais.
In 1964 the two governments agreed to proceed with a rail
tunnel,After frequent extensions of the estimated
completion date,with costs constantly rising,the British
government cancelled the project early in 1975,leaving
two and a half kilometers of preliminary digging on both
sides of the Channel,In 1978 the matter of a Channel
crossing was again raised.
Background knowledge
? At long last,construction began again in
December 1978,and after sever years of
unremitting toil,the Chunnel was completed
at the cost of 13.5 billion dollars.
Types of the text
? The text is a feature report which introduces
one of the significant transport construction
projects in the modern history of European
architecture,This report includes different
opinions toward the Chunnel,the opinions of
the local residents of both sides of the
English Channel,as well as the comments
of the construction tunnellers.
Structure of the text
? The text consists of two parts:
? Part I describes the attitudes of the English
and the French people towards the Chunnel;
? Part II describes briefly the breakthrough
ceremony for the south running tunnel.
Style of the text
? The text follows the organization of a typical
journalistic feature report:
? a) A short opening paragraph sets the scene,in which
the thesis is stated in the second sentence:” For the first
time since the ice age,England was about to be linked
to France.”
? b) Immediately following the opening paragraph is the
unbiased presentation of the opinions of both English
and French local residents across the English Channel.
Style of the text
? c) The text then proceeds with the reporting of the
officially scheduled Chunnel inauguration to show the
determination and initiative endeavour of the British
and French Governments to connect Britain with the
rest of Europe,in order to emphasize the significance of
the project.
? d) After the intentional delay to create suspense,the
author introduces the tunnel proper and the historical
contributions and benefits of this tunnel thoroughfare.
Style of the text
? e) Much of the report,then,is devoted to the real-time
account of the exciting work at the breakthrough site of
the Chunnel,an account based on the author’s personal
experience and first-hand information.
? F) The report ends up with revealing the business
worries on the part of the Chunnel authorities,who
were concerned with,but not without hope,the business
of the tunnel transport,promotion work was expected to
facilitate the effective use of the Chunnel on the part of
the French population.
Questions
? How did the English and the French people
look at the Chunnel,joyously or resentfully?
Why do you think so?
? How do you visualize the breakthrough
ceremony? Exercise your imagination.
Detailed Study of the Story
Part I Paragraph 1—7
? Question 1:
? What did an English couple say about
the French people,and what did a
Frenchman say about the English people?
Why do you think they showed a mutual
feeling of dislike?
? An English retired civil servant said that he’d rather have
England become the 51st state of the U.S.A,than have his
country linked to France,He added that the French didn’t
care for anybody,His wife said that France was an awful
place and that the French people drank wine all the time.
She disliked French food and preferred to have English
sauce with her food,In the meantime,a French farmer
complained about English ketchup and about their not
having any good wine,The British and the French disliked
each other because there had been long years of conflict
between the two countries.
Detailed Study of the Story
? 1,… not two miles from the soon-to-be-opened
English Channel Tunnel,…
? Compound adjectives
? 1) the soon-to-be-opened English Channel Tunnel (lines 1-
2) means,that is to be opened soon”
? e.g,an easy-to-perform trick
? a difficult-to-use camera
? the soon-to-be-completed Metro
? 2) Gull-wing means,like the wings of the gull”.
? e.g,a baby-food store
? a mountain-top hut
? city-reconstruction discussions
? 3) Cross-Channel-link means,building a link
that crosses the Channel”.
? e.g,a keep-fit-class schedule
? a cross-border-raid threat
? 4) 31-mile-long
? e.g,a ten-year-old boy
? a three-inch-thick book
? a 3-hour-long journey
? … stiff upper lips trembled:
? (keep/carry/ have) a stiff upper lip,(show)the ability to appear calm
and unworried when in pain,trouble,etc（ 遇痛苦, 困难等时 ） （ 表现 ）
沉着而坚强的能力, 咬紧牙关 。
? e.g,The prisoners tried hard to keep a stiff upper lip in spite of the
hardships of the prison.
? We managed to keep a stiff upper lip when the company announced
that they would close down our office.
? One failure means nothing,You've got to keep a stiff upper lip.
? 此短语用板起的脸孔替换隐藏悲伤或害怕这种性格特征, 使用了metonymy（ 换喻, 转喻 ） 的修辞手法 。
? Metonymy,It’s substituting the name of one thing for that of another
with which it’s closely associated,Thus the crown can stand for a king,
and the White House for the American government,the bottle for wine
or alcohol,and the bar for the legal profession,When metonymy is well
used,brevity and vividness may be achieved:
? 英 语 中 的 metonymy 和 另 外 两 个 修 辞 格 synecdoche 和
antonomasia都是不直接说出事物的本来名称, 而换用另一
个名称或另一个说法 。 它们大体上相当于汉语的, 借代, 这
一修辞格 。 如 city（ 城市 ） 代替, 城市居民, ； crown（ 王冠 ）
喻指君主, 王权, 王国政府等； doll（ 玩具 ） 往往可以喻指
姑娘, 宝贝儿等 。
? 1） 秃头站在白背心的略略正对面, 弯了腰, 去研究背心上
的文字 。 （ 鲁迅, 示众, ）
? Baldy,standing almost directly opposite White Jerkin,
stooped to study the characters written on his jerkin.
? 3） His wife spent all her life on the stage.(= theatrical
profession)
? 他的妻子在 舞台 上度过了一生 。 （ =戏剧工作, 表演艺术 ）
? 4） Paper and ink cut the throats of men,and the
sound of a breath many shake the
world.(=written words;speech)
? 纸墨能割断人的喉管, 嗓音能震动整个世界 。 （ 纸
墨 =写几个字 ） ； （ 嗓音 =说几句话 ）
? 5） The pen is mightier than the sword.笔杆子比
刀剑更有力 。 （ =文章 ）
? 6） His joke set the whole table in a roar.他的笑
话引起满座哄堂大笑 。 （ 桌子代替一桌人 ）
?
? 课文中用代表英国人的性格特征的面部特征代替英国人, 这
种一局部代表全部
? 的方法称为 （ Synecdoche提喻法, 举隅法 ） When a part is
substituted for the whole
? or the whole is substituted for a part,synecdoche is applied:
? 1 ） Many hands make light work,人 多 好 办 事 。
（ synecdoche---- 用手代替人 ）
? 2） He had to earn his daily bread by doing odd jobs.
? 3） Some mute inglorious Shelly here may rest.
? 某个沉默的、无名诗人也许在此长眠。（ antonomasia----用
雪莱代替诗人）
? 3,An ice age is any point of several periods when glaciers,
especially in the form of great ice sheets,covered more of
the earth’s surface than they do today.冰川期, Each ice
age lasted at least three million years,most of the earlier
ones lasted more than 10 million years,Today we live in a
warm period during or just after the Quaternary ice age 第
四纪冰川期 which was in the Pleistocene Epoch更新世,
beginning 2.5 million years ago,It’s believed that all of the
early development of humans came during this last ice age
and civilization has come into existence as its result.,For
the first time since the world began to exist” clearly this is
an exaggeration.
? 4,I’d rather England become the 51st state…, (Grammar)
? e.g,I’d rather you stayed with us over the weekend.
? He’d rather John hadn’t called on him
? 5,… a retired civil servant with a complexion the color of
ruby port.
? Civil servant,a person employed in the civil service or
the government departments.公务员, 文职人员
? Para,… a retired government official whose face is red
colored,typical of a person living by the sea.
? A completion 与 the color of ruby port 为同位语。
? 6,He nodded toward the steel gray Channel out the window,his pale blue
eyes filled with foreboding.
? He nodded… his pale blue eyes filled with foreboding—a nominative
absolute
? construction
? e.g,The work done,we left the office with a light heart.
? The last bus having gone,we had to walk home.
? It being a holiday,the park was crowded with people.
? 一, 独立主格结构含义
? 独立主格结构, 又叫独立结构 （ absolute construction） 。 它在句法上游
离于句子主体之外, 跟主句没有任何句法联系；但在意义上却与主句紧
密联系在一起, 共同构成一个完整的语义环境 。 独立主格结构没有主语
和谓语, 只有逻辑上的主语, 因此, 它在句法上不是句子, 而是一个独
立于句子成分之外的独特结构形式 。
? 独立主格结构可置于句首, 句尾, 用逗号与主句隔开 。
?
? 二, 独立主格结构的形式
? 独立主格结构可分为两部分，一部分是名词或代词（主格），
起着逻辑主语的作用；另一部分由形容词、副词、名词、分
词、不定式、介词短语等构成，表示前面名词或代词的状态、
状况或动作。
? 1） 名词／代词＋形容词
? I heard that she got injured in the accident,my
heart full of worry．
? 我听说她在这场事故中受了伤, 内心充满担忧 。
? He stood silent in the moon-light,his door open．
? 月光下，门开着，他默默地站立在那。
? 2） 名词／代词＋现在分词
? Winter coming,it gets colder and colder,冬
天来了, 天气越来越冷了 。
? The rain having stopped, he went out for a
walk,雨停了, 他出去散步 。
? 3） 名词／代词＋过去分词
? More time given,we should have done it much
better．
? 如果给我们更多的时间, 我们会做得更好 。
? The boy stood there, his right hand
raised,那个男生站在那里, 右手高举 。
? 4） 名词／代词 （ 主格 ） ＋不定式
? Here are the first two volumes,the third one to come out
next month．
? 这是前两卷, 第三卷将于下月问世 。
? The two boys said good-bye to each other,one to go
home,the other to go to his friend's．
? 两个男孩彼此道了别, 一个回了家, 另一个去了他朋友家 。
? 5） 名词／代词十介词短语
? The huntsman entered the forest,gun in hand．那位猎人
手里提着枪走进了树林。 注意：这里,gun in hand还可以
说成 with a gun in his hand，但不可以说 a gun in hand或
gun in his hand。
? 6） 名词／代词十副词
? Nobody in,the thief took a lot of things away．
? 由于没有人, 小偷拿走了许多东西 。
? Lunch over, he left the house, But he was
thinking．
? 午饭结束, 他离开屋 。 但他还在考虑 。
? 7） 名词／代词＋名词
? He fought the wolf,a stick his only weapon．
? 他和狼搏斗着，唯一的武器是一根棍棒。
? 8） with复合结构
? 它的构成是：, with ＋ 宾语 ＋ 宾语补足语, 。 宾语由代词, 名词, 名
词词组充当, 宾补由分词, 不定式, 形容词, 副词, 介词短语, 名词等
充当 。
? Holms and Watson sat with the light on for half an hour．
? 福尔摩斯和沃森坐着, 让灯亮了半个小时 。 （ 介词短语 ）
? He used to sleep with the door open,他过去常开着门睡觉 。 （ 形容词 ）
? With a boy leading the way,they started towards the village,由一个
小男孩领着路, 他们朝那个村子去了 。 （ 现在分词 ）
? With the work done,he went home,工作做完后, 他回了家 。 （ 过去
分词 ）
? 7,…,as the gull-wingeyebrows shot upward.
? Para,when he raised his eyebrows suddenly which were
as thick as the wings of a seagull.
? 此处 gull-wing eyebrows为一暗喻，比喻老人的眉毛浓
密。
? 8,… the entente was scarcely more cordiale…
? Entente and cordiale are both French words meaning
“understanding” and,friendly” respectively.
?
? The meaning of sentence,The understanding on the other
side of the Channel was hardly more friendly,in other
words,the understanding is just as unfriendly,The use is a
reference to a historical event,As was mentioned before,
conflicts between Britain and France had been incessant
for centuries,At the end of the nineteenth century,Britain
and France were again on the verge of war,In 1901,
however,things took a turn for the better,as King VII of
Great Britain was a Francophile (i.e.,a person who is
friendly to France),The way was opened for agreements
between the two countries,and the Entente Cordiale,a
friendly understanding,was arrived at.
? 修辞手法,allusion
? Allusion is a short,informal reference to a famous person
or event:
? Angry young man
? ［ 义 ］ 愤怒的青年
? ［ 源 ］ 据英国文学史, 愤怒的青年源出 L.A 保罗 (Leslie Allen
Paul)的一本同名自传, 后因剧作家约翰, 奥斯本的剧本
,愤怒的回顾, （ Looking Back in Anger） 而流传 。 今指战
后英国对社会现有体制不满的一代青年 。
? ［ 例 ］ I don’t want to the convention to think we’re just a
collection of angry young men.(J.F.Kennedy)
? 我不愿这次会议将我们视作只是一群愤怒的青年 。
? Alice-in-Wonderland
? ［ 义 ］ 想入非非的；不合逻辑的；自相矛盾的
? ［ 源 ］ 出自英国著名作家刘易斯, 卡洛尔 （ Lewis
Carroll） 的同名小说, 爱丽丝漫游奇境记, (Alice in
Wonderland)
? ［ 例 ］ This is an Alice-in Wonderland approach to
the problem.
? 这种研究问题的方法实在是太想入非非了 。
? ［注］常作形容词用
? Apple of his eye
? ［ 义 ］ 瞳仁；珍爱的人 （ 物 ） 。 （ 古人认为瞳仁像苹果一样,
是固体圆球, 对于人十分宝贵, 故用比喻珍贵之人或物 ）
? ［ 源 ］ 当耶和华发现雅各 (Jacob)“在旷野荒凉野兽吼叫之地,
就环绕他, 看顾他, 如同保护眼中的瞳仁, 。 （, 圣经, 申
命记, ）, in the waste howling wilderness he led him
about,he instructed him,he kept him as the apple of his
eye”.(Bible.Deut.32:10)
? ［ 例 ］ I sacrificed everything to make you happy and safe.
I won’t talk about your father,but you,you were the apple
of my eyes.
? 为了使你生活平安幸福, 我曾牺牲了一切, 我不谈你父亲,
但你, 你那时是我的宝贝 。 （ B,考卜斯：, 彼得曼的梦, ）
? 9,a village a beet field away from the
French terminal,a village which is only a
short distance away from the French terminal.
? A beet field is a field where beet,a root vegetable,is
planted; it can’t be very big.
? 10,All they eat is ketchup.
? Ketchup,Ketchup is a Chinese word in origin,In the
Amoy dialect of southeastern China,koechiap means
'brine of fish.' It was acquired by English,probably via
Malay kichap,toward the end of the 17th century,when it
was usually spelled catchup (the New Dictionary of
the Canting Crew 1690 defines it as 'a high East-India
Sauce'),Shortly afterward the spelling catsup came into
vogue (Jonathan Swift is the first on record as using it,in
1730),and it remains the main form in American English,
But in Britain ketchup has gradually established itself since
the early 18th century.
? 11,A tiny explosion of air from pursed lips,
then the coup de grace.
? Pursed lips,噘起的嘴巴
? Coup de grace,(French) a decisive finishing blow致
命的一击
Paragraph 8
? 12,… bye grace of one of the engineering feats of
the century,for rich or poorer,better worse,
England and France are getting hitched.
? by grace of,due to,by the favour of,The usual
phrase is by the grace of God,meaning,owing to
the favour shown by God”.
? for richer or poorer,better or worse,Whether
one likes it or not; whatever happens.
?
? The literal meaning of the two phrases is:,on
terms of accepting all results”,or,it’s not certain
what the consequences will be,but they will have
to be accepted,because the action has been
taken.”
? Para,Thanks to one of the remarkable
construction achievements of the 20th century,
whether one likes it or not,England and France
are on the way of getting geographically
connected.
? 13,Queen Elizabeth of Britain,Elizabeth II (1926- ),queen of the United
Kingdom (1952- )
? 14,President Francois Mitterrand,(1916-1996) became President of France
in May 1981.
? 15,inaugurate:
? a.When a new leader is inaugurated,they are formally given their new
position at an official ceremony.
? e.g.The new president will be inaugurated on January 20.
? b.When a new building or institution is inaugurated,it is declared open
in a formal ceremony.
? e.g.A new center for research on toxic waste was inaugurated today at
our university.
? c.It you inaugurate a new system or service,you start it.
? e.g.Pan Am inaugurated the first scheduled international flight.
? Question 2
? With help of the information given in the notes,explain the
following:
? 1)200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes,and
? 2)1,000 years of historical rift.
? 1):The Channel Tunnel Project had been discussed between Britain
and France on governmental levels for almost two hundred years,It
was in 1802 that the first proposal for a Channel Tunnel was put
forward the nineteenth century and for the most part of the twentieth
century,It did not come to fruition until the last decade of the twentieth
century.
? 2) Beginning with Norman Conquest in 1066 until the early nineteenth
century,there had been incessant conflicts between Great Britain and
France,All in all there was a rift between the two countries for about
one thousand years.(See the details in the notes)
? 16,… sweeping aside 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link
schemes,1000 years of historical rift,and 8000 years of
geographic divide:
? para,according to the theory of geological evolution,the ecologically
important land bridge across the Strait of Dover was finally submerged
about 8000 years ago.
? 此处使用了层进 (climax)的修辞手法, 历史年代的逐步追溯使读者对这一
共曾的
? 重大意义印象深刻；这种按照词义的轻重深浅, 逐层依次递进, 最后达
到顶点的
? 修辞手段, 可以逐步加深读者印象, 迅速达到高潮, 最后揭示主旨, 往往使文章文才斐然, 震撼人心 。
Paragraph 9
? Question 3
? How will the Chunnel facilitate the transport between
Great Britain and France,or rather,between Great
Britain and other European countries?
? It will greatly facilitate the transport between Great Britain
and France,For example,for a motorist to cross the
English Channel,he can use the Chunnel Shuttle Service
and cross the Channel in only 35 minutes,as against 90
minutes by ferry before,The through service provided by
Eurostar passenger trains takes only 3 hours to travel from
London to Paris,and 3 hours 10 minutes from London to
Brussels,Belgium,
Paragraph 10
? How do you understand the following
sentence?
? 17.The chunnel rewrites geography,at
least in the English psyche,The moat
has been breached,Britain no longer is
an island.
? Answer,
? The English Chunnel had served as a barrier to invasion of Britain for
centuries,and invasion by tunnel was at one time,the ultimate British
nightmare”(National Geographic,May 1994,p,39),As a matter of fact,
whenever the idea of a link between the two countries emerged,there
also appeared visions of invasion,and proposals for a link simply
foundered,But the completion of the Chunnel has now joined Britain to
the European continent,In other words,Britain is no longer an island,
Thus the geographical condition is completely changed,especially to
the British people.
? Para,As far as the British are concerned,the Chunnel has changed
the geographical pattern which long separated Britain from Continental
Europe.
Part II
? Paragraph 1
? Question 5
? How did the author of the article get the opportunity of witnessing
the
? breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel?
? The author,Cathy Newman,is a senior staff member of the National
Geographic magazine,Being a journalist,she was presumably invited
to attend and to cover the breakthrough ceremony,as there were also
several dozen other journalists going with her.
? 18.It’s June 28,1991,and I’mpacked into a train
? Para,the historical present which adds vividness and dramatic and
lifelike quality to the description.
? Paragraph 2
? Question 6
? Why did one of the visitors say,makes you appreciate British
Rail”?
? It’s because the construction workers’ train which took them down the
tunnel screeched in a dreadful way,whereas the British Rail passenger
trains would not make such noise.
? 19,The Chunnel is a work in progress.
? In progress,being done or made.进行中
? e.g,An inquiry is in progress.调查工作此刻正在进行中 。
? Para,the Chunnel is under construction.
? 20,White dust fills the air.
? Para,Characteristic of the land on the English side of the English
Channel are white cliffs of chalk,therefore the white dust.
? Paragraph 4
? Question 7
? Why did the author refer to when she spoke of,those
vive la differencequirks”?
? She referred to two distinctive differences between the
British and the French ways of doing things,One is that the
French gave women’s names to the tunnel boring
machines(TBM),for example,“Catherine”,whereas the
British only gave the machines numbers,e.g.,TBM No6,
The other difference is that the French workers wore
colorful workclothes while their British counterparts wore
something grungy,
? 21.vive la difference quirks,the peculiar
behaviour that highlights the differences
between the two countries.
? Vive la difference is French meaning,Long
live the differences”.
? 22…,Chic,well -cut,taupe jumpsuits:
fashionable,well-tailored,one-piece
garment combining top and trousers in dark
brownish gray
? Paragraph 5-7
? Question 8
? How deep is the Chunnel under the ocean at the breakthrough site?
? It’s about 180 feet or 54.9 metres deep.
? 23,… I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head---- ferries,
tankers,a Dover sole or two…
? I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head,I picture the
transport scene of the Channel 180 feet above this tunnel.
? … ferries,tankers,a Dover sole or two,ferries and tankers that
sail in the English Channel and one or two flatfish that live in the
Strait of Dover.
? Paragraph 6
? 24,The grating of the TBM interrupts myreverie,(Vocabulary)
? reverie:a kind of short pleasant daydream; a formal word
? e.g,The announcer’s voice brought him out of his reverie.
? 25…, a huge wheel with tungsten-tipped teeth--- chews into the
last trace of rock separating England from France.
? 此处运用了 personification(拟人 )的修辞手法把 TBM这一隧道钻孔机比
作人一
? 样, 坚硬的钨钻头好似它的牙齿, 大口地咀嚼分割英国和法国的岩石,
非常形象生动
? a,How soon hath Time,the subtle thief of youth,stolen on his
wing mythree and twentieth year! (John Milton)
? 时间，这个盗窃青春的狡猾的小偷，盗窃了我二十又三年飞走了。
? Question 9 Describe the breakthrough scene in
your own words.
? There were many people present,the Eurotunnel
officials,construction workers,and journalists,
When the cutterhead of the tunnel boring machine
bit into the last piece of rock separating England
from France,there was loud music as well as
dazzling lights,A number of Frenchmen were
seen coming from the other side,and thunderous
applause was heard,The French and British
people drank champagne and hugged each other,
It was truly a moving sight,
? 26,Music blares,and lights glare.
? 此处采用了 （ 半谐音 ） 的韵格, 以次来渲染施工现场的激动人心的场
面 。 指在一组词, 一句话或一行诗中同一原因重复出现, 可以使语句具
有音乐的节奏感和诗意, 从而增强其表现力或感染力 。
? 27,the flow will be lopsided,(Vocabulary)
? lopsided:
? a,Something is lopsided is uneven because one side is lower or
heavier than the other.
? e.g,His suit had shoulders that made him look lopsided.
? b,If you say that a situation is lopsided,you mean that one element is
much
? stronger,bigger,or more important than another element.
? e.g,In 1916,Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0,No game since
has been that lopsided,(or,lopsided economic relations)
? Paragraph 8-14
? Question 10
? Did the mutual feeling of dislike still exist when the tunnel was completed?
? No,Both the French and British celebrated the breakthrough,and an
Englishman said,“I might have opposed it 30 years ago,but now it’s my tunnel.”
? 28,And there are 56 million more behind them---- referring to the whole
population of France
? para,And soon the whole French population will take the Chunnel transport
and come over to visit Britain.
? 29,Why do the French visit Britain?,.,Fashion?
? The implied meaning,French will not visit Britain because there is nothing
they admire in Britain.
? 30,We will work on selling the idea.
? Para,We will try to make people interested in going across the English
Channel by the Chunnel.
