DREAMS

II. Warming-up Questions

• 1. Is there any connection between dreaming and our real life?

• 2.Could you tell me the advantages of dream life?(according to par.2)

• 1)surpassing time and space 2)A queer and mysterious land 3)A world of contrasts

3. In L42 the writer refers to dream as "a further helping of experience...another slice of life cut differently..."

What's the original meaning of "helping" and "slice"?

What's the writer's purpose of using them here?

The author wants to express that dreams are different,short and uncertain.

。Horror : a feeling of great shock and fear; a feeling of

not liking at all 恐怖，惊骇 syn. dread,fear, terror

The news of the plane crash filled us with horror.

当我看到他跌倒在小汽车前我吓得叫了出来。I cried out in horror as I saw him fall in front of the car.

have a horror of : to hate; to dislike very much

我讨厌蛇。I have a horror of snake.

to begin with: as the first reason,

in the first place

首先，第一 首先，我们必须完成生词的学习。 To begin with, we must finish the study of new words.

1. existence = the state or fact of existing; life, way of living

•As we all know drivers of racing cars lead a dangerous existence.

•这家工厂在维持两年之后关闭了。•The factory was closed after a

n existence of only two years.

2. make a fuss about ;over/of• 不要对孩子过度表扬，否则你会宠坏孩子的。• Don't make so much fuss over the childr

en, otherwise you'll spoil them.• 报纸对这类事情竟如此大惊小怪。• Newspapers make such an awful fuss of

this sort of thing.• 没什么可大惊小怪。• There's nothing to make a fuss about.

3. puzzle = to cause difficulty of thought and a feeling of helplessness of (sb) in the effort to explain or understand puzzle about/over ; puzzle out• 我对他奇怪的行为一直很困惑。• I keep puzzling over his strange behavior.• 这个学生花了近一个小时思索出这难句的意思。• The student spent almost an hour trying to

puzzle out the meaning of this difficult sentence.

有着像你这样的成绩报告单却得不到大学奖学金，我感到不可理解。

With a school record like yours I'm quite puzzled why you didn't try for a university scholarship?

puzzle =(n) sth. that one cannot understand or explain

• a crossword puzzle 填字游戏•a jigsaw puzzle 拼板玩具•It's a puzzle to me how she m

anaged to complete the task without help.

4. respect ： a detail;particular point•这两首诗在一些 / 很多方面相似。•These two poems are similar in some/

many respects•你的作文除了在一个方面即有一些拼写错

误外其它都不错。•Your composition is all right except in

one respect--there are a few spelling mistakes.

5. advantage = anything favourable to a desired end (syn. benefit, gain profit)

take advantage of : make use of •在这份工作的应聘上你在英文上的流利

使你比其他应聘者有了一份优势。• Your fluency in the English language

gives you an advantage over the other candidate for the job.

•Employ your time to the best advantage.

•你不该利用他的友好和大方向他要求太多。

•You should not take advantage of his kindness and generosity by demanding too much of him

“with” in the statement here means “because of having”

• With 3 children we can’t afford new furniture.

• with winter coming on, it’s time to buy warm clothes.

• With John away, we’ve got more room.

6. Merge( into,with): to combine or cause (two or more things) to combine ,esp.gradually, so as to become a single thing

• 一种颜色溶进另一种颜色。• 1.One color merged into the other.

• 两条路在一英里前合并。• 2. The two roads merge a mile ahead.

...and there are moments of sorrow or terror in the dream world that are worse than anything we have known under the sun

• … and there are short periods of time in which one dreams of things more saddening or frightening than what we have experienced in real life.

7. at intervals of):happening regularly after equal periods of time or appearing at equal distance (of)

•整个晚上不时地下着雨。•Rains fell at intervals throughout the

night.•沿路相隔不远都有房子。•There are houses at intervals along th

e road.

•每隔 3 英尺放一张椅子。•Put the chairs at intervals of 3 feet.•每隔半小时有一列火车离开。•Trains leave the station at interval

s of half an hour.

8. match = to be equal to or find an equal for 敌得上，比得上

•在英语上你比不上他。• You cannot match him in English/his E

nglish.•他的最新电影比不上他以前的。•His latest film doesn’t match his pr

evious ones.

Match= to be like or suitable for use with (another or each other),esp.in color or pattern•这幅帘子和涂料不配。 •The curtains don't match the pa

int.•The curtains and paint don’t q

uite match.

“…another slice of life cut differently for which, it seems to me, we are never sufficiently grateful.”

• “it seems to me” is parenthetical.

• “for which” goes with grateful.

• A different experience of life for which it seems we do not show enough thanks.

9. afford = to be able to buy 卖得起

•在中国很少有人能卖得起小汽车。•Few people in China can afford a

car.

afford = to be able to do, give, spend 负担得起，抽得出

•我抽不出一个星期的时间去旅游。•I can't afford a week to travel.•你能为一间房子出 5 ， 000 美元。•Can you afford $5,000 for a hous

e?

horror horrible horrify

mystery mysterious Mystify

annoyance Annoyed/annoying

annoy

sorrow Sorrowful

sorrowfulness sorry

satisfaction satisfactory satisfy

astonishment Astonished/astonishing

astonish

terror terrible terrify

Main Ideas of Each Paragraph

Par 1. The author likes the idea of dreaming, but

most people appear to see it as something

annoying.

Par 2. The dreams life has many advantages

1)surpassing time and space

2) a queer and mysterious land

3) a world of contrasts

Par 3. Dreams are beyond price