Unit 5 Fourteen Steps
Key to the Exercises
Text Comprehension I. B. II.
1. F; 2. T; 3. F; 4. T; 5. F. III.
1. The second half of his first life.
2. The day when he was unable to climb those steps, and was to lie and die.
3. His challenge to continue living, and misery he had to accept and cope with in order to hold on to his sanity, his wife, his home and his job.
4. He first felt a bit sorry for them, but then felt relieved by the thought of paying.
5. The old man is blind but he helped him in the storm; while the writer assumed that a disabled man deserved other people’s help but never helped others. 6. He should always be ready to help others. IV.
1. Here walked a sad man with little hope for his future, and everything depended on him to climb these 14 steps.
2. In the next few minutes I was filled with great shame and horror and became speechless.
Structural analysis of the text Part 1: Paragraph 1, 2—1st life; Part 2: Paragraph 3, 4, 5—2nd life;
Part 3: Paragraph 6, 7, 8, 9—incident and reflection; Part 4: Paragraph 10—new life, i.e. 3rd life.
Vocabulary I.
1. a slowly progressive disease = a disease that gradually became more and more serious 2. with the aid of = with the help of 在……的帮助下 3. peering at = looking very carefully and hard at 凝视 4. are all set = are ready 准备就绪，安排妥当
5. indifference to = not caring about 对……漠不关心 II.
1. tilted; 2. led up to; 3. hold on to; 4. care for;
5. is inclined to; 6. make a living; 7. follow, example; 8. to a degree.
III. Word derivation
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words. 1. inclination 2. indifferent 3. penetration 4. frailty
5. affliction 6. excellence 7. progressively 8. disillusionment IV.
1. A; 2. C; 3. B; 4. D; 5. B; 6. A; 7. D; 8. B.
V. Synonym / Antonym
Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each sentence in the sense it is used.
1. Antonym: pessimism
2. Synonym: painfully, desperately
3. Antonym: cheerless, unhappy, gloomy 4. Synonym: fortunately
5. Synonym: weak, delicate, feeble 6. Synonym: disappointed
7. Antonym: selflessness, unselfishness 8. Synonym: period
VI. Compounding
Write in each space the meaning of each given word. 1. likewise in the same way 2. underway in progress 3. carefree with no concern 4. forthcoming coming soon
5. stand-by something ready for use 6. user-friendly handy to use
7. soundproof preventing the passage of sound 8. landlocked almost or entirely surrounded by land
Grammar Exercises
I. Different ways to express “around”. 1. About 100 students; 2. more or less 40 pages;
3. There are 30 or so questions; 4. two hours or thereabouts; 5. some four miles; 6. 50ish. II.
1. a nap合一会儿眼;
2. very good indeed百里挑一; 3. in a mess乱七八糟;
4. on hands and knees四脚爬;
5. very much better than you are比你强十倍; 6. talking quickly and continuously; 7. very probably十有八九; 8. a lot ways千万条路子.
III. Correct the errors in the following sentences. 1. three-quarter → three quarters 2. was → were.
3. plus 25 years →25 years plus 4. second time → a second time 5. see → have seen 6. hour → hours
7. Twenty-nine (beginning) IV.
Both, both, Neither, either, neither. both, each, either.
V. Fill in each of the blanks with some, any or one of their compounds. 1. somewhat 2. something 3. some
4. somehow, anything 5. anything, something 6. something 7. anything 8. some
Translation exercises I. English to Chinese
1. 常言道猫有九命，我信这话。因为我已经活第三回了，尽管我并不是猫。
2. 我只是一个一瘸一拐、幻想破灭的残疾人，一个凭着攀登车库和后门之间十四级令人痛苦的台阶而努力保持清醒的心智，伴随妻子、维持家庭和坚持工作的人。
3. 其后的几秒钟一切都好像凝滞了，那一刻的羞耻和惊诧深深的穿透了我的肺腑，我感到了一种从未有过的难受。
4. 我意识到自己极端自怜、自私，对别人的需要漠不关心，不为别人着想。
II. Chinese to English
1. This film actor is more inclined than most people to help the handicapped because he himself suffered a stroke ten years ago.
2. The old man is afflicted with rheumatism, but he still goes jogging and