Text A

College: How to Survive the First Year

21 世纪大学新英语读写译教程 Book IUnit 1 College Life

Part I Lead-in

A. Describe and comment on the following pictures.

B. Questions for Discussion

1. When you got the acceptance letter from Fudan university, what did you think college life would be like?

2. Up to now, what differences have you found between your expectations and the real life here?

3. What is your goal of the four-year college study?4. How do you plan to achieve these goals?

Part II Background Information

A. About the author

Kari Whitakera technical as well as creative writer. In addition to articles on education and careers, she also enjoys writing short stories, essays, and poetry.

B. Cultural notes

Student orientation (new student orientation):

a period of time at the beginning of the academic year at a university or other tertiary institution during which a variety of events are held to welcome new students and familiarize and acquaint them with important school policies and expectations as well as the range of services and programs available.

Part III Writing Features

This is a piece of expository writing, which is made up of an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. The main ideas of each part are summarized in the following table.

Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas

1 1Many potential college students worry about starting school.

2 1-11Ten tips are offered about how to not only survive but thrive in college.

3 12These ten tips can also be applied elsewhere in life.

Part IV Difficult Sentences

1.(Line 1, Para 4) Study regularly. Kind of a no-brainer, but this is an essential part of success.

Studying regularly looks like sort of an easy thing to do, but it is a very important and necessary element of success.

2. (Line 4, Para 7) If your assigned adviser doesn’t have time for you, or if the two of you don’t click, don’t be afraid of requesting another one.

If the academic adviser who is appointed to you doesn’t have time for you, or if you two don’t get along with each other, don’t be afraid to ask for another one.

3. (Line 5, Para 10) Make an educated decision — not a hasty one.

Make a decision that is based on sound judgment and a particular level of knowledge — not the one without necessary thought.

4. (Line 2, Para 11) Whether spent exercising outdoors, or watching a favorite movie or television show indoors, personal time is essential to mental, emotional, and physical wellness, which has a profound effect on your college performance.

In the clause “whether…” the subject is omitted. Actually, the implied subject here is just the subject of the whole sentence, i.e. personal time.

5. (Line 2, Para 12) College is a microcosm of life; as such, your ability to excel in college is often a good predictor of how you will fare in other situations, such as the workplace.

College reflects some distinctive characteristics of life. By saying that, it is easy to understand that your ability to excel in college often predicts how well you will do in other situations, such as the workplace.

Part V Language Points

1.potential: adj. possible when the necessary conditions exist 潜在的；有可能的

e.g. A number of potential buyers have expressed interest in the company.

Many potential customers are waiting for a fall in prices before buying.

2. thrive: vi. to grow, develop or be successful 繁荣 ; 繁盛 ; 成功

e.g. His business thrived in the years before the war.

She seems to thrive on hard work.

3. at ease: relaxed 自由自在；舒适，舒坦

e.g. He felt completely at ease.

She soon put/set me at ease (= made me relaxed).

4. issue: n. a problem or worry that sb. has with sth.; a subject or problem which people are thinking and talking about 问题，争端；重要的议题；争论点

e.g. environmental/ethical/personal issues

Money is not an issue for me.

You’re just avoiding the issue.

5. arise: vi. to become evident; appear 呈现；出现；发生e.g. Should the opportunity arise, I'd love to go to

China.

Could you work on Saturday, should the need arise (= if it were to be necessary)?

Are there any matters arising from (= caused by) the last meeting?

Cf: arouse

6. shepherd: vt. to make a group of people move to where you want them to go, especially in a kind, helpful and careful way 带领，引导

e.g. He shepherded the old people towards the dining room.

Visitors are shepherded through the mansion by volunteers.

7. due: adj. expected (to happen, arrive, etc.) at a particular time 到期的 ; 预期的

e.g. What time is the next train due?

The meeting is due to take place next week.

8. miss out: to fail to use an opportunity to enjoy or get an advantage from something 失去获得乐趣或利益的机会

e.g. Don't miss out on the fantastic bargains in our summer sale.

We didn't have a TV at home when I was young, and I felt as though I missed out.

9. project: v. 1) represent (sth./sb./oneself) to others in a way that creates a strong impression 向他人表现以使其产生深刻的印象

e.g. Recently the president has sought to project a much tougher image.The party is trying to project a new image of

itself as caring for the working classes.

2) to cause a film, image or light to appear on a screen or other surface 投射

e.g. project a slide in a screen project a beam of light onto a statue

10. priority: n. something that is very important and that must be dealt with before other things 优先考虑的事；优先权

e.g. My first/top priority is to find somewhere to live.

Being fashionable was low on her list of priorities.

The management did not seem to consider office safety to be a priority.

11. run into: 1) to meet a problem or difficulty

e.g. We ran into bad weather/debt/trouble.

Both companies have since run into financial difficulties.

2) to meet someone by chance

e.g. I ran into an old neighbor of mine at the garage this afternoon.

12. informed: adj. having a lot of knowledge or information about something 知识的 ; 见闻广的 ;消息灵通的

e.g. an informed choice/opinion

The school promised to keep parents informed about the situation.

Elizabeth is remarkably well-informed.

13. conflict: n. an active disagreement, as between opposing opinions or needs 冲突，矛盾，分歧

e.g. Science sometimes comes into conflict with religion.

Conflicts between parents and children become more frequent when the children become

teenagers.

14. crucial: adj. extremely important or necessary 至关重要的；决定性的

e.g. a crucial decision/ question

Her work has been crucial to the success of the project.

It is crucial that the problem is tackled immediately.

15. fare: v. fare well/badly/better, etc. used to say how well or badly someone or something does in a particular situation 进展；过活，生活

e.g. All the children fared well in the exams.

Middle-income families will fare better/worse under the new tax laws.

Part VI Practice

A.Translation skills

1. Go to all orientations. Yes, that’s right — it really is necessary to attend all the school orientations.

参加所有熟悉校园环境的活动。是的，没错——的确有必要参加所有的熟悉校园环境的活动。

两个简单句并列。需要指出的是第二句是对前面祈使句的再次强调。句中 Yes一词，表示赞同前面的说法，可以翻译为“的确”，“没错”，“是的”。而 is用斜体，亦表示强调之意，朗读时应用重音。

2. Armed with a thorough understanding of all aspects of campus life — or, at least, those aspects you can glean from orientation — you will feel more at ease when issues arise, as they always do.有了对校园生活方方面面的彻底了解——或者至少是那些从活动中所能搜集到的诸多信息的了解，那么，当层出不穷的问题出现时，你便能从容应对。

这句话看似复杂，其实并不复杂。句子的主干部分是 you will feel more at ease… 而前半部分 Armed with a thorough understanding of… 是过去分词短语，表示伴随状态，其所隐藏的主语就是主干部分的主语“ you” 。这句话可以这样理解： If you are armed with a thoroughunderstanding of…, you will feel more at ease… 另外，此句中破折号中间的部分 or, at least, those aspects you can glean from orientation 可以先忽略不看，它是对前面 all aspects of campus life 的补充，是前面部分的同位语。

3. Often it is tempting to sleep through early morning class or skip it altogether — resist temptation. Make it a priority to attend all of your classes on time.通常，逃掉大清早的课睡个懒觉，或者干脆逃掉所有的课很具诱惑力。务必抵制住这种诱惑。准时上所有的课，使之成为头等大事。

注意这两句话中的 “ it” 。 第一句话 Often it is tempting to…中的“ it” 是形式主语，该句真正的主语是 to sleep through early morning class or skip it altogether 。第二句话 Make it a priority to… 中的“ it” 是形式宾语，该句真正的宾语是 to attend all of your classes on time 。英语句子中，如果主语或宾语较长、较复杂，通常用“ it” 这个形式主语或形式宾语取代真正的主语或宾语，使其提前，从而保持句子的平衡。

4. That being said, be careful of taking too much time for yourself. 话虽这么说，注意别给自己太多的时间。

这句话的主干就是一个祈使句 be careful of taking too much time for yourself 。前面的部分是独立主格结构。独立主格结构（ Absolute Structure）是由名词或代词加上分词等构成的一种独立结构，用于修饰整个句子。独立主格结构中的名词或代词与其后的分词等构成逻辑上的主谓关系。这种结构与主句不发生句法上的联系，它的位置相当灵活，可置于主句前、主句末或主句中，常由逗号将其与主句分开。例如：1 ） Two hundred people died in the accident, many of them children.2 ） He was listening attentively in class, his eyes fixed on the blackboard.3 ） Every afternoon a very old woman hobbled past the old house, a vast load of firewood on her back.

B. Writing techniques

Sentences with different grammatical structures can be used to achieve different emphasis. In a simple sentence, there is only one idea, and it is of course emphasized. For example, (the italics showing the emphasized ideas)

The boy bought a bunch of roses for the girl. The girl liked the roses very much.

In a compound or complex sentence, there are at least two clauses, and therefore at least two ideas. In a compound sentence, the ideas are equally emphasized; in a complex sentence, the idea in the main clause is emphasized. For example, the following sentences express slightly different ideas (the italics showing the emphasized ideas): 1. The boy bought the girl a bunch of roses, and the girl liked the roses very much. 2. The boy bought the girl a bunch of roses which the girl liked very much.

Error Reminder: Sentence FragmentSentence fragments are grammatically

incomplete structures. Beginners need to avoid them in their writing. In the following examples, the italicized parts are sentence fragments.

1. My university offers many programs in engineering. Such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.2. I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now is going to marry next month.3. A story with deep thoughts and emotions.

C. Assignment

1. Oral Practice: Find a partner, and tell each other how nervous or excited you were on the first day of college. You may begin like this:Well, my first day at college was August 24th. I was so confused. Had no idea what to expect...

2. Questions for Text B:1) What does the author try to tell us?2) What do you learn from the Harvard Experience?

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