Lesson 15 A fantasy
纯属虚构

文章讲解

When the Ambassador ofEscalopia returned home for lunch, his wife got a shock. He looked pale and his clothes were in a frightful state.
'What has happened?' she asked. 'How did your clothes get into such a mess?'
'A fire extinguisher, my dear,' answered the Ambassador drily. 'University students set the Embassy on fire this morning.'
'Good heavens!' exclaimed his wife. 'And where were you at the time?'
'I was in my office as usual,' answered the Ambassador. 'The fire broke out in the basement. I went down immediately, of course, and that fool, Horst, aimed a fire extinguisher at me. He thought I was on fire. I must definitely get that fellow posted.'
The Ambassador's wife went on asking questions, when she suddenly noticed a big hole in her husband's hat.
'And how can you explain that?' she asked.
'Oh, that,' said the Ambassador. 'Someone fired a shot through my office window. Accurate, don't you think? Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at the time. If I had been, I would not have been able to get home for lunch.'


一、 词汇部分
1.fantasy /ˈfæn.tə.si/ n. 幻想故事
2.ambassador/æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/ n. 大使
3.Escalopian. 艾斯卡罗比亚（虚构的国名）
4.Frightful /ˈfraɪt.fəl/ adj. 可怕的，令人吃惊的
5.fire extinguisher/ˈfaɪrɪkˌstɪŋ.ɡwɪ.ɚ/ n. 灭火器
6.drily/ˈdraɪ.li/adv. 冷淡地，枯燥无味地
7.embassy/ˈem.bə.si/ n. 大使馆
8.heaven/ˈhev.ən/ n. 天，天堂
9.basement/ˈbeɪs.mənt/ n. 地下室
10.definitely/ˈdef.ən.ət.li/ adv. 肯定地
11.post/poʊst/ v. 派任
12.shot/ʃɑːt/n. 子弹

二、文章讲解
1.When the Ambassador ofEscalopia returned home for lunch, his wife got a shock. He looked pale and his clothes were in a frightful state.
'What has happened?' she asked. 'How did your clothes get into such a mess?'

1)词汇：
embassy 大使馆
brunch 早午饭
got a shock/give someone a shock/come as a shock
e.g.My mother got a shock when she saw my new haircut.
e.g. It will give him a shock when he sees how much you’ve spent.
e.g. The announcement came as a complete shock to me.
Look pale 看起来面色苍白

2)get into
开始喜欢某事
e.g. You feel shy when you start your speech, but then you get into it.
e.g. She’s really getting into the Internet.

开始谈某事（ to begin to discuss something）
e.g. I don’t think we have time to get into that now.

被学校或者团队录取
e.g.She got into one of the top universities in the country.

get into a fight/argument etc (with someone):
e.g.I don’t want to get into an argument with him.

get into trouble/difficulties etc:
e.g.Those kids are always getting into trouble.

get into something 开始规律做某事
e.g.Try to get into the habit of drinking a glass of water every hour.

3)mess用法小总结
make a mess:
e.g.Try not to make a mess because I’ve been cleaning.
in a mess:
e.g.His papers were in a terrible mess.
be in a mess:
e.g.The company was in a complete mess when she tookover.
get into a mess:
e.g.I don’t know how we got into this mess.
get someone into a mess:
e.g.You got me into this mess in the first place.


2.'A fire extinguisher, my dear,' answered the Ambassador drily. 'University students set the Embassy on fire this morning.'
'Good heavens!' exclaimed his wife. 'And where were you at the time?'

1)set something on fire

3.'I was in my office as usual,' answered the Ambassador. 'The fire broke out in the basement. I went down immediately, of course, and that fool, Horst, aimed a fire extinguisher at me. He thought I was on fire. I must definitely get that fellow posted.'
The Ambassador's wife went on asking questions, when she suddenly noticed a big hole in her husband's hat.

1)I thought我原以为….
e.g. Ithought you would say yes.
e.g. I thought you could handle it.

4.'And how can you explain that?' she asked.
'Oh, that,' said the Ambassador. 'Someone fired a shot through my office window. Accurate, don't you think? Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at the time. If I had been, I would not have been able to get home for lunch.'


The idea that some groups of people may be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name. But Gregory Cochran is 1 to say it anyway. He is that 2 bird, a scientist who works independently 3 any institution. He helped popularize the idea that some diseases not 4 thought to have a bacterial cause were actually infections, which aroused much controversy when it was first suggested.

5 he, however, might tremble at the 6 of what he is about to do. Together with another two scientists, he is publishing a paper which not only 7 that one group of humanity is more intelligent than the others, but explains the process that has brought this about. The group in 8 are a particular people originated from central Europe. The process is natural selection.

　　This group generally do well in IQ test, 9 12-15 points above the 10 value of 100, and have contributed 11 to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the 12 of their elites, including several world-renowned scientists,13 hey also suffer more often than most people from a number of nasty genetic diseases, such as breast cancer. These facts, 14 ave previously been thought unrelated. The former has been 15 social effects, such as a strong tradition of 16 ucation. The latter was seen as a (an) 17 genetic isolation. Dr. Cochran suggests that the intelligence and diseases are intimately18 is argument is that the unusual history of these people has 19 em to unique evolutionary pressures that have resulted in this 20 ate of affairs.
　
1. [A] selected [B] prepared [C] obliged [D] pleased
2. [A] unique [B] particular [C] special [D] rare
3. [A] of [B] with [C] in [D] against
4. [A] subsequently [B] presently [C] previously [D] lately
5. [A] Only [B] So [C] Even [D] Hence
6. [A] thought [B] sight [C] cost [D] risk
7. [A] advises [B] suggests [C] protests [D] objects
8. [A] progress [B] fact [C] need [D] question
9. [A] attaining [B] scoring [C] reaching [D] calculating
10. [A] normal [B] common [C] mean [D] total
11. [A] unconsciously [B] disproportionately
　[C] indefinitely [D] unaccountably
12. [A] missions [B] fortunes [C] interests [D] careers
13. [A] affirm [B] witness [C] observe [D] approve
14. [A] moreover [B] therefore [C] however [D] meanwhile
15. [A] given up [B] got over [C] carried on [D] put down
16. [A] assessing [B] supervising [C] administering [D] valuing
17. [A] development [B] origin [C] consequence [D] instrument
18. [A] linked [B] integrated [C] woven [D] combined
19. [A] limited [B] subjected [C] converted [D] directed
20. [A] paradoxical [B] incompatible [C] inevitable [D] continuous