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114 Unit 8
PART 1 Preparation
1 Crossword Puzzle
1M
2A G A I N S T
T 3K
4L O S T 5A I
E N L
6F 7T R A C K L
8R L H I E
I 9S I I 10B E H I N D P 11P R E S S E D N
12B E I N 13G A S F T A R
14T I D E N
15W A S T E
More sayings and expressions concerning “time”:
Sayings:
• Time is money.
• Time heals most troubles.
• Time will tell—if we are right or wrong.
• Time never stands still.
• Time works wonders.
• Time lost cannot be recalled.
• A stitch in time saves nine.
• There is no time like present.
• There is no time to lose.
• Time is a great healer.
• Time well spent is worth much more than gold.
• Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
Expressions:
• take one’s time
• behind the times
• have the time of one’s life
• from time to time
• have time on one’s hands
• in no time
• ahead of / behind time
115 Time
• (do sth.) in one’s own time
• keep up with the times
• make up for lost time
• in the blink of an eye
• at the eleventh hour (在最后时刻)
• play for time (为争取时间而故意拖延)
• stand the test of time
• time-honored (古老的，历史悠久的)
• be (stuck / caught / locked) in a time warp (故步自封，僵化不变)
2 Appreciating a Poem
STEP TWO Sample
1 It is a very beautiful poem. It shows how the concept of time changes depending on our point of view, our emotions or our feelings. It also reminds me of Einstein’s theory of relativity.
2 • I quite agree with the poet that time is too slow for those who wait. When we are waiting for an elevator, we always complain that it takes too long for it to arrive. But, in fact, it takes only a few minutes. And when we fear that something bad will happen, more often than not it happens before we have time to do anything about it. For example, if we are afraid of or worried about an examination, the examination comes before we have enough time to prepare for it. On the other hand, when we have a good time, time passes by so quickly that we always hope to have more time.
• I’m afraid I don’t share the opinion that time is too swift for those who fear. On the contrary, when one panics, time goes extremely slowly. I had a personal experience years ago. I took my two-year-old nephew to a big department store. He wanted to buy a model plane and the toy section was very crowded. I let go of his hand to search for my money, but when I turned around I just couldn’t find him! In panic, I elbowed my way through the crowd and shouted out his name. There was no answer. My sweat streamed down my face and my legs could barely support me. However, it probably was less than a minute before I spotted my nephew in front of the model car counter, about 15 meters away from the model plane counter. But to me, that minute seemed like an hour.
3 Enjoying Humor
STEP TWO 1 The Seagull.
2 Anton Chekhov.
3 The theater department.
4 No, because one student said: “If I found out I was going to die, I’d go back to see The Seagull.
Even though I had only 30 minutes to live, it would seem like seven hours.” This means he didn’t enjoy the play; otherwise, 30 minutes wouldn’t seem like seven hours to him.
116 Unit 8
PART 2 Reading-Centered Activities
In-Class Reading
Pre-Reading
Sample
1 • Yes, I usually wear a watch. I need to know the time so that I won’t be late for class. With a watch I can always check how much time I have before the library closes, before an exam ends, or before the light in the dormitory is turned off. Besides, my cell phone also tells time. It can work as a timer as well as an alarm. So with a watch and a cell phone, I can budget my time very easily.
• No. I don’t wear a watch. First, with a watch I feel restricted or ruled by time. Second, there is the bell to remind me that it is time to get up, or that classes are starting. So long as I’m not wasting or whiling away my time, I’d like to let time go by without paying much attention to it.
I don’t want to have time pressure. If I really need to know the time I can look at my cell phone or ask someone else.
2 A biological clock is the time system in the body that controls when certain activities happen, for example, sleeping. I think there is a biological clock in me. For example, I wake up at 6:30 almost every morning although I go to bed at different times. I always have my meals at about the same time every day, otherwise I’ll feel very hungry and can’t wait to eat.
3 Each of us has our daily schedule. It’s kind of fixed. Physiologically, every day we get up, have our meals and go to sleep at almost the same time. When we can’t stick to our daily schedule, our health may be affected. So time is related to our life and also to our health. Psychologically, those who make good use of time can work in an efficient way and are generally less stressed than those who don’t know how to budget their time. And those who work too hard and therefore do not leave themselves enough time to rest are more likely to have poor health.
Passage Reading
Words, Phrases and Grammatical Points
1 … a pioneer in the emerging science of chronobiology… (Lines 2-3, Para. 2) The word “emerging” means “in an early state of development”.
e.g. emerging businesses / markets / economies
单词chronobiology中的chrono-（在元音前亦作chron-）源自希腊语，意为“时间”，用于构成合成
词，例如：chronology（年代学），chronological（按照年代顺序排列的），chronometer（精确计时器），
chronotherapy（时间疗法），chronograph（计时仪），chronicle（编年史），chronic（慢性的，长期的）。
2 stress-induced (Line 2, Para. 3)
句中stress-induced是一个复合形容词，作前置定语。-induced可以和名词连用，构成复合形容词，意
为“由……引起的”。
117 Time
e.g. I) If you have exercise-induced asthma (哮喘), you may experience breathing difficulty
within 5-20 minutes after exercise.
II) The death rate for alcohol-induced causes is on the rise.
3 desynchronise (Line 8, Para. 6)
该词中的de-为常见的动词前缀，表示“丧失”、“除掉”、“下降”、“分离”等意思，例如：deemphasize（不强 调），depopulate （人口减少），defrost （除霜），decentralization （权力下放），debug （排除程序错误；
拆除窃听器），decode （解码），decompose （分解）。
4 brink (Line 2, Para. 7) Some phrases with “brink”:
1 be on the brink of (doing) sth.
e.g. I) The company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse.
II) She believed she was on the brink of discovering a cure for cancer.
2 bring sb. to the brink of sth.
e.g. The crisis brought the two nations to the brink of war.
3 bring / pull sb. / sth. back from the brink of sth.
e.g. A late goal pulled the team back from the brink of defeat.
5 Einstein observed that … (Lines 2-3, Para. 11)
Here “observe” means “say or write what you have noticed about a situation”.
e.g. He observed that it would probably rain.
“Observe” also has the following meanings:
1 see and notice
e.g. It was observed that 40 percent of patients had high blood pressure.
2 obey rules, laws, etc.
e.g. Imposing speed restrictions is easy, but forcing motorists to observe them is trickier.
3 celebrate festivals, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
e.g. Memorial Day is a nationally observed holiday in honor of the soldiers who have died
while serving their country.