新编英语教程5-练习册答案

Answer the following questions from the texts:

Unit 1:

1．Which sentence in the first paragraph establishes the link between the driving of a nail and the choice of a word?

So with language firmly and exactly.

2. what does the word “this” in sentence 1,para 2, refer to?

Getting the word that is completely right for the writer’s purpose.

3．Do you agree with the author that there is a great deal of truth in the seemingly stupid question “How can I know what I think till I see what I say?”

The question sounds irrational, but is true. Unless we have found the exact words to verbalize our own thoughts, we can never be very sure of what our thoughts are. Without words, our thoughts can not be defined or stated in a clear and precise manner.

4. expain why the word “imprison” in the example given in para.9, though not a malapropism, is still not the right word for the writer’s purpose?“malapropism”means the unintentional misuse of a word by confusing it with one that resembles it, such as “human” for “humane”, “singularity” for “singleness”. But the misuse of imprison is different case, it is wrongly chosen because the user has failed to recognise its associations.

5.Please make comments on the three pairs of examples given in this section.

Compare and contrast their differences in meaning.

human: of, or relating to man. (human being;

human nature; human rights)

humane: characterized by kindness, mercy,

or compassion. (humane judge,

humane officer)

Human action = action taken by human;

Humane action = merciful action;

Human killer = person that kills human;

Humane killer = instruments which kill but cause little pain, esp. those for the painless killing of animals.

6. what does the word “alive” in the sentence “a student needs to be alive to these differences” (para.9)mean?

Sensitive, alert.

7. the writer begins his article with an analogy between the unskilled use of the hammer and the improper choice of words. indentify the places where the analogy is referred to in the rest of the article.

“we don’t have to look far afield to find the evidence of carpentry”(para.5)

“it is perhaps easier to be a good craftman with wood and nail than a good craftsman with words.”(para.9)

“a good carpenter is not distinguished by the number of his tools, but by the

craftsmanship with which he uses them. So a good writer is not measured by the extent of his vocabulary, but by his skill in finding the “mot juste”, the word that will hit the nail cleanly on the head.”(para.11)

Unit 3:

1. In the Hoffmann’s opinion “simplicity”is the best word to describe the essense of Einstein’s character. The abstract notion of simplicity is explained by a phrase in the first paragraph. Which is it?

“going instinctively to the heart of a matter”

2. from the two anecdotes related in paras.2-4, what impression of Einstein have you got?

Einstein was a very modest, never thinking himself any superior to or more authoritative than others because of his fame and achievements as a great scientist of the time.

3. what, according to the author, is Einstein’s most outstanding trait as a scientist?

Concentration. Refer to the first sentence of Paragraph 9.

4. why did Einstein insist on working hard when he was so badly shaken by his wife’s death?

Working hard requires concentration, which would help him to dispel the feeling of sorrow.

5. how do you interpret the sentence in para.11 “to help him, I steeered the discussion away from routine matters into more difficult theoretical problems”? Tackling more difficult theoretical problems requires greater concentration and absorption. This would help him temporarily forget the sadness caused by his wife’s death..

6. what revelation is made through Einstein’s comment on Beethoven and Mozart’s works?

As a simple man, Einstein takes it that beauty exists in the Universe. Such beauty is natural, pure, and simple. Beauty found is even greater and more admirable than beauty created.

7. how did Einstein feel about the destructive effect produced as a result of the application of his E=mc2 formula?

This is something he had not expected. He was greatly dismayed by the devastating effect his formula produced once it was put into application.

8.with his favorite anecdote related in para.19, Hoffmann aims to illustrate Einstein’s whimsically. Do you think he is really a whimsical man? What personality trait other than being whimsical is revealed here?

He was not really a whimsical man. If he could be called a whimsical man, then his whimsicality came from the young heart and childlike innocence which he had managed to retain.

Unit 4

1.how do you account for Harrington’s use n para.2 of the first person singular,

which is not found anywhere else in the passage?

To enforce his assertion that the other America did exist though most Americans