Unit 3 B4大学英语综合教程4

Page 67 Task One

1) No, he doesn’t. He still feels uncertain about knowledge and life, though he has spent 39

years of his life either studying or teaching in schools.

2) The author compares knowledge to a dot, or a period at the end of a sentence. According to

the author, the tiny circumference of the period represents the interface of the known with the unknown, i.e. the boundary between what we know and what we don’t know. As the period grows, so does its circumference. In other words, the more we know, the more we know how little we know.

3) The author thinks that reading rather than answering questions, only creates more of them.

All his reading has made him see how little he really knows and how much more he needs to read and think and write. Once he has finished reading a book, he always feels that he needs to read three more to gain a better grasp of the topic.

4) The author thinks of his writing not as articles or as columns but as essays---a word from

French, meaning “to try”. He is trying to find truth through his writing.

5) The author intends to tell us that knowledge is boundless. It grows and changes with the

progress of time. We should never be constrained by what we have learned and should be ready to accept new ideas.

2 one 1—5 the author presents paradox that the more you know, the more you don’t know.

He gives an example of modern physics in which the more scientists search for the truth of nature, the more mysterious and unpredictable they find nature is

tow 6—9 the author illustrates the paradox with his person at experience in reading , learning and writing . it took him a long time to get rid of the shadow of his paradox and now he has come to realize that it is not his knowledge that qualifies him to write but rather it is his writing that gives him the skill and chance to acquire knowledge

three 10—11 the author suggests that an understanding of the limitation of one’s knowledge will encourage one to pursue and challenge truth persistently.

Task Two

1）

People might think that with his 39 years’ experience of either studying or teaching in schools, the author should feel confident when talking about knowledge and life. However, the author says that he doesn’t have the confidence at all.

Unlike other people who are confident about what they write, the author writes just to clarify his doubts. So his writing is not the conclusion of what he knows, but a reflection of what he tries to understand, which may lead to more questions on the subject he writes about.

Though you may feel that the more you know, the more you know you don’t know, you must try to pursue knowledge persistently. If you stop trying, you may never be able to approach truth. Learning is the only hopeful way to find truth.

Today we base our belief on what we know and behave accordingly. Tomorrow, however, we may find what we have learned is no longer true. Therefore, we must always be prepared to pursue knowledge and seek truth at all times even though we can never really grasp it.

2）

3）

4）

Page 75

Checking Your Vocabulary Word Detective 1.

1) d 2) g 3) e 4) f 5) b 6) a 7) h 8)c

Page 76 2.

1) (n.) the art or science of government.

(n.) activity within an organization by which some members try to gain an advantage over others.

2) (n.) a usu. Round container, such as a pot, cup, or barrel, used esp. for holding liquids. (n.) a ship or large boat.

3) (n.) an apparatus by which a user can give instructions to and get information from esp. a large computer to which many users are connected.

(n.) the area or building at an airport which is used by passengers leaving and arriving by aircraft.

4) (n.) the art or practice of managing a business.

(n.) the people in charge of a company, industry, .etc. 5) (vi.) fail suddenly and completely; break down.

(vi.) fall down suddenly as a result of pressure or loss of strength or support.

6) (vi.) set (an apparatus) up so that it is really for use.

(vt.) place (oneself) in a comfortable position where one wishes to stay.

7) (a.) based on a system in which information is represented in the form of changing electrical signal.

8) (a.) showing information in the form of numbers which can change.

Page 77 3.

1) sort out 2) stopped in his tracks 3)to such an extent that 4) act on 5) took up

Page 78

Checking Your Comprehension

1) 2) 3) 4)

human treat; both experience and information facts; know-how

very inefficient; lack of trust and resistance to change

cultural and language barriers can elevate distrust to such an extent that an exchange of knowledge becomes almost impossible

5) two; the collapse of Digital Equipment Corporation; Mobil’s failure to introduce new oil

refining process

6) while technology assists transfer of knowledge, with lack of trust and resistance to

change, knowledge transfer will remain a tough problem in the “knowledge era”

Page 79

2) Words In Action

3) Working with Words and Expressions

1.

1) quest

4) remained 5) consume 6) likewise 7) vessel 8) qualify 9) stiff

10) collapsed 11) predict 12) inevitably 13) absorbed 14) sheer 15) refining 16) paralyzed 17) exchange Page 80 2.

1) in a way 2) act on

3) to such a extant that 4) opens up 5) close off 6) look into

Page 81

Increasing Your Word Power

1. Clipped words Fax Auto Burger Demo Flu 2. Nouns/Adjectives King Father Adult Brother Free Duke Likely Neighbor Wise woman Suffixes -dom/-hood Uncountable Nouns Kingdom Fatherhood Adulthood Brotherhood Freedom Dukedom Likelihood Neighborhood Wisdom womanhood Chinese meanings 王国；领域 父亲身份（或资格） 成年 手足之情；同胞之爱 自由；自主 公爵的爵位 可能性 街坊四邻；住宅区 智慧；才智 女子成年期；女子气质 Original forms Facsimile Automobile Hamburger Demonstration Influenza Clipped words Fridge Memo Poli-sci Sub Zoo Original forms Refrigerator Memorandum Political science Substitute/submarine Zoological garden 3.

1） positive 2) certain 3) less

4) unknown 5) complete 6) infinite 7) hopeless 8) modern 9) individual 10) contradictory

Page 82

Grammar Review

1.

1) If they hadn’t broken away from the out-of-date regulation, they wouldn’t have made great advances in their work.

2) If they hadn’t taken proper care of her, she wouldn’t have recovered so rapidly.

3) The conference wouldn’t have been so successful if we hadn’t made adequate

preparations.

4) We would have had a hard time if we hadn’t followed the right instructions.

5) The flood would have caused great damage to our property if we hadn’t built so many

reservoirs.

6) They would have succeeded in the experiment if they had followed the right procedure.

Page 83

2.

1) If English hadn’t become a language of international business after world war Ⅱ, most developing countries wouldn’t have required students to study it at school.

2) If William hadn’t involved English in 1066, the English language wouldn’t have had many words of French origin.

3) If modern English hadn’t developed from several different languages, the grammar and spelling rules wouldn’t have been so irregular.

4) If England hadn’t been conquered by the Normans in 1066, French wouldn’t have become the main language of the ruling class at that time.

Page 84 Cloze

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

topic creates really grasp sure opposite contradictory reality physical

10) rigidity 11) individual 12) humility 13) rainbow 14) falsehood

Page 85 Translation

1.

1) Most people strongly believe that the count will no doubt punish the bank robbers severely. 2)The medical workers overcome one difficulty after another in their long term quest for a cure for the disease.

3)Acting on the information they received , the police closed the streets and caught the bank robbers.

4)We were amazed at learning that the newly-built TV factory can produce 500,000 TV sets in the first year.

5)The government is looking into the causes of so many layoffs and it trying to help the laid-off workers to be re-employed.

6)To expand the sales of its product ,the company has taken up various measures to open up new markets and to improve its services.

7)He has neglected his studies to such an extent that I'm afraid it's impossible for him to catch up with the other students in a month.

8)The fireworks factory was closed last month for falling to comply with the government safety regulations.

9)It remains to be seen whether our football team can beat its opponents.

10)Mr. Smith predicted that the recent oil discoveries together with the use of new technologies , would lead to a decline in the price of crude oil. 2

We all know that knowledge is power but we are seldom aware of how difficult knowledge transfer is. According to Victoria Griffith; there are many barriers to knowledge transfer and lack of trust is one of the major ones.

It seems to her that people are only willing to absorb knowledge readily from those they know and trust. For example, in the early 17th century, Galileo argued that the earth and the other planets move around the sun, but this knowledge was rejected by the general population at that time because the Italian over three hundred years ago trusted the Roman Catholic Church more than they trusted science .What was worse, Galileo had to spend the rest of his life under house arrest for his ideas.

Victoria Griffith reminds us that knowledge transfer is still a tough problem although we are living in the “knowledge era”.

Barriers to Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer is a human phenomenon and plays a very important role in the process of human evolution. With the knowledge accumulated over generations, human beings can now build and transform societies with unprecedented knowledge resources.

However, there are many barriers to knowledge transfer. For example, lack of trust and resistance to change undermine the transfer of knowledge. People are less likely to acquire knowledge from those whom they don't trust or to adopt new theories and practices they are not familiar with. Cultural and language barriers also hamper the transfer of knowledge between nations or ethnic groups. It would be almost impossible for people who speak different languages or dialects with different cultural backgrounds to communicate effectively, not to mention exchanging knowledge.

An underdeveloped economy is another barrier to knowledge transfer. The lack of socio-economic and techno-environmental cooperation, as well as poor communications infrastructure, can greatly hinder the flow of knowledge within and between nations.

To remove these barriers, people should change their attitude towards knowledge transfer and the learning of foreign languages and cultures. At the same time, efforts should be made to develop a better world economy.