Lesson 12

Life on a desert island
荒岛生活


Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What was exceptional about the two men's stay on the desert island?

Most of us have formed an unrealistic picture of life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you never have to work. The other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is wretched. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, Waiting for a boat which never comes. Perhaps there is an element of truth in both these pictures, but few us have had the opportunity to find out.
Two men who recently spent five days on a coral island wished they had stayed there longer. They were taking a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink. They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and cans of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not prove to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a spear gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day，and, as one of them put it 'ate like kings'. When a passing tanker rescued them five days later, both men were genuinely sorry that they had to leave.

参考译文

我们许多人对于荒岛生活有一种不切实际的想法。我们有时想象荒岛是阳光终日普照的天堂。在那里，生活简单又美好。成熟的水果从树上掉下来，人们根本无需劳动。另一种想法恰恰相反，认为荒岛生活很可怕，要么饿死，要么像鲁滨孙那样，天天盼船来，却总没见船影。也许，这两种都像都有可信之处。但很少有人能有机会去弄个究竟。
最近有两个人在一座珊瑚岛上呆了5天，他们真希望在那儿再多呆一些日子。他们驾着一条严重损坏的小船从维尔京群岛阿密修理。途中，船开始下沉，他们迅速把食物、火柴、罐装啤酒往一只救生筏上装。然后在加勒比海上划行了几英里，到了一座珊瑚岛上。岛上几乎没有一颗树，也没有淡水，但这不算什么问题。他们用像皮艇蓄积雨水。由于他们随身带了一支捕鱼枪，因此，吃饭不愁。他们天天捕捉龙虾和鱼，正如其中一位所说，吃得“像国王一样好”。5天后，一条油轮从那儿路过，搭救了他们。这二位不得不离开那个荒岛时，还真的感到遗憾呢！

【New words and expressions】 生词和短语

★desert island
荒岛
desert: 沙漠　背弃，遗弃
dessert: 甜点

★unrealistic
adj. 不真实

★paradise
n. 天堂，乐士
A lot of people imagine the USA as their paradise.
heaven: 天堂，天国，也指死亡

★wretched
adj. 可怜的，艰苦的
miserable
lead a wretched/miserable/terrible life

★starve
v. 挨饿
starve to death

★element
n. 成分

★opportunity
n. 机会
golden opportunity
Opportunity knocks only once.
chance: 表机会时可以与opportunity互换，表可能性时则不可
There is a chance that I will see him
The chances are that he will be elected the president.
+of,to

★coral
n. 珊瑚

★Virgin Islands
维尔京群岛

★Miami
n. 迈阿密（美国最南的城市）

★dinghy
n. 救生筏，小船

★Caribbean
n. 加勒比海

★spear gun
捕鱼枪

★lobster
n. 龙虾

★tanker
n. 油轮

★genuinely
adv. 由衷地
He is genuinely thankful to me
genuine(adj.)
(n.)genuineness

★Robinson Crusoe
鲁滨孙.克鲁索（小说《鲁滨孙漂流记》主人公） 荒岛生活

【课文讲解】

form an unrealistic picture of sth.: 对……抱有不切实际的幻想
A large number of people have formed an unrealistic picture of the job.

imagine sth.to be./imagine sth.as

quite the opposite: 恰恰相反

Either you or I am going to the party.
谓语动词和最接近的主语保持一致

an element of truth: a bit of truth

optimistic: 乐观的
pessimistic: 消极的，悲观的

wish在谓语动词，其后的宾语从句中要使用虚拟语气
虚拟语气的结构形式取决于所表达的实际情况
　如果表达对现在的遗憾或现在相反的情况，that从句中的动词要采用过去时，be 动词要用were
如果表达对过去的遗憾或过去相反的情况，that从句中的动词要采用过去完成时
I wish I hadn't spent so much money.
I wish that you had written to him
如果表达与将来事实相反的情况或将来不可能实现的心愿，that从句中要使用would ,could 等情态动词的过去时
　I wish that I could go abroad tomorrow.
I wish that you could come here tomorrow
if only要比wish更富有戏剧性和感情色彩
If only the weather would change.
I wish the weather would change.
We wish that we knew where to look for him.
If only we knew where to look for him.
If only we could have gone to the party.
If only you hadn't said that.
If only you would come here tommorrow.

have sth.repaired

load with: 把……装载到……上
The workers are loading the truck with goods.
unload: 卸

hardly any: very little/few
Hardly anybody likes him because he is so rude.
You hardly eat anything,what's wrong?

prove to be=turn out to be

put: express

If only we could have stayed on the desert island a little bit longer.

【Special difficulties】
wish, if only

Exercise P60
1 It was silly of me not to buy that dress. I wish I _____ .
2 You are making a lit of noise. I wish you _____ .
3 It’s a pity John’s away. If only he _____ .
4 He. I wish I _____ .
5 I never studied at all when I was at school. I wish I _____ .
6 I’m sorry I mentioned it to him. I wish I _____ .
Key: 1. had bought it. 显然说明的是过去的情况 “was “
2. couldn’t / wouldn’t make such noice…
3. were here… 强调“他在这儿，该有多好”；运用be动词，说明现在情况相反的概念，无论什么人称，be 动词应该使用were
4. could play the piano so well
5. had studied hard then. ( studied)
6. hadn’t mentioned it to him

【Multiple choice questions】
Comprehension
1 In what way are the pictures we form of life on a desert island unreal?
a. They fail to present the wretchedness of such a sutuation.
b. We forget that we would be too weak to work and only imagine the pleasure of idleness.
c. They are either unduly optimistic or unduly pessimistic.
d. They lack any truth at all as most of us have never visited one.
1. C 要么是过度乐观，要么是过度的悲观

2 What was the equipment the men had brought that proved essential to their survival?
a. Tools with which they had been going to repair theri boat.
b. Food, matches and tins of beer.
c. Rainwater, lobster and fish.
d. A spear gun and a rubber dinghy.
Essential = very necessary 绝对必要的，必不可少的
2. D

3 What made the men wish to stay on the desert island?
a. Discovering how pleasant life can be fending for oneself.
b. Having seen very few trees and no rainwater on the coral island.
c. The fact that theyt were able to eat the same food as kings eat.
d. Knowing they no longer needed to take their boat to Miami for repair.
3. A
fend for oneself: 独立的照料某人
虚拟语气

Structure
4 We sometimes think of a desert island _____ a sort of paradise. (l.1)
a. to be b. as being c. is d. be
think of sb. / sth. as : 把某人、某事看作为…
4. B

5 But _____ have had the opportunity to find out. (ll.7-8)
a. we few b. hardly anybody c. little people d. not many
few of us：我们当中，没有几个人
5． D

6 After _____ a few miles across the Caribbean, they arrived at a small coral island. (ll.11-12)
a. they rowed b. rowed c. rowing d. to row
after prep 其后要和名词、动名词搭配， and 前后连接的并列成分，时态是应该相呼应的
原句：They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and tins of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. 一般过去时形式
after引导的时间状语从句，表示动作在前
6． C

7 _____ were scarce there and there was no water. (ll.12-13)
a. The trees b. Trees c. Any trees d. Trees on the island
7． C
在表示类指概念的时候，可以采用名词的复数形式；或者运用名词的单数形式，注意冠词的修饰。（ a tree, the tree ）
Refrigerators are useful. = A refrigerator is useful.
7. C

8 Both men genuinely regretted _____ . (l.16)
a. their leave b. to have to leave c. having to leave d. they must have left
为做过的事情后悔：regret +动名词
8．C

Vocabulary
9 A desert island is _____ place. (ll.1-2)
a. an unpopular b. an uninhabited c. a deserted d. a barren
inhabited: 有人居住的
uninhabited: 无人居住的
unpopular: 不流行的
barren : 贫瘠的
9． B

10 The other side of the picture is _____ different.(ll.4-5)
a. naturally b. rather c. really d. entirely
完全的不同
10． D

11 But this was not _____ to be a problem. (l.13)
a. demonstrated b. thought c. shown d. found
原句：this did not prove to be a problem
觉得、发现苛人或某事怎么样： find sb. / sth. to be
They found the trip to be interesting. / very exciting.
某人或某事被发现怎么样：常用被动语态
The car is found to be beautiful.
demonstrate: 论证，表明，举行，示威
11. D

12 And, as one of them _____ it, they ‘ate like kings’. (l.15)
a. expressed b. placed c. told d. said
原文：as one of them put it
12. A