2024年2月13日发(作者：)

大学体验英语四（综合教程）

Unit 7 Hopes and Fears for the Future

Listen and Talk

Lead in

Listen to the poem again, and write down in column B the hopes the poet has for the people in

column A.

A

1. children of the

future

2. the poor

3. scientists

4. the homeless

and very sick

5. people with

wizard hats

B

RedoCheck it

Key:1. no more killing and stealing 2. will be able to have money 3. finding more things to

explore and finding a cure for AIDS and for cancer 4. being cared for by those with more money 5.

will be able to help the black people and not hating them

Passage A: Facing the Fears of Retirement

2. Choose the best answer to each question based on the information you obtain from the

passage.

1. From the passage we can learn that ________.

A) people hold three beliefs preventing them from retiring

B) the older people get, the more reluctant they are to retire

C) retirement is merely a matter of power transfer

D) all people have to pass the "final test of greatness” before retirement

2. The expression "let go” means ________.

A) to dismiss the successor

B) to close the business

C) to explore another field

D) to pass the business to the successor

3. What makes some of the business owners willing to retire?

A) Their family background.

B) The scale of their business.

C) Their attitude towards retirement.

D) The ability of their successor.

4. According to the passage, people with the sound attitude to retirement think that ________.

A) old people are bound to rest

B) retirement means new opportunities and new life

C) as business owners, they are indispensable to the business

D) their business was bought as part of management

5. The author's purpose of writing this passage is ________.

A) elaborate on the three prevalent beliefs held by those who cannot conclude succession

planning

B) illustrate the different attitudes toward retirement in different situations

C) offer some practical tips to those who are not able to cope with fear of retirement

D) urge society and the individual to take retirement more seriously

Answer: 1.A, 2.D, 3.C, 4.B, 5.C

3. Answer the following questions with the information from the passage.

1. What did the 77-year old business founder do after retirement?

He took back control of the firm from his son, who had succeeded him.

2. What’s the most important thing for family-business continuity?

Entrepreneurial succession.

3. Why can the business owners who purchased their firms as part of a management buyout face

retirement easily?

Because they recognize that CEO’s change but the business goes on.

4. What does the expression "the glass is half full, not half empty” mean?

It is an optimistic attitude to life, implying that the glass is still full, although only half full. The

pessimists would say is: "The glass is half empty.”

5. What’s the "final test of greatness” according to Peter Drucker?

Succession planning.

te the summary of the text. The first letter of the missing word has been given to

you.

This article addresses the 1) r of many business owners to engage in 2) s planning.

It states that there are three main reasons why business owners do not want to retire from their

business: firstly, a fear of an 3) u future, secondly, a fear of 4) f loss, and lastly, a fear of

losing their personal 5) i . The author states that because of these fears, succession planning is

often a painful experience for both the retiree and the new business owners, involving a great deal

of unnecessary interpersonal 6) c and negative emotions.

The author points out that this can be avoided, and it comes dwon to the attitude that business

owners adopt. Retiring business owners should always 7) r that the business that they are

leaving can continue to operate 8) s without them. Furthermore, they should view retirement,

not just as the completion of their working life, but rather, as a world of new challenges in which

new interests and 9) o can be pursued.

Anwser: ance sion ain ial ty

cts ize sfully unities

4. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the form where necessary.

acclaim succession impose generate indispensable

fragile graceful insecurity accomplish prevalent

1. Adams took a ___ of jobs which have stood him in good stead.

2. Is this eye-disease still ___ among the population here?

3. Older drivers are more likely to be seriously injured because of their ___ bones.

4. The accident in Russia ___ a lot of public interest in nuclear power issues.

5. If we'd all work together, I think we could ___ our goal.

6. He was still charming, cheerful, and ___ even under pressure.

7. The bank has ___ very strict conditions on the repayment of the loan.

8. His made-up confident manner is really just a way of hiding his feeling of ___ .

9. With the rapid development of the Internet, a computer becomes a(n) ___ piece of equipment

for any office.

10. Since it was published in the 1970s, the book has received considerable critical ___ .

Answer: 1. succession 2. prevalent 3. fragile 4. generated 5. accomplish

6. graceful 7. imposed 8. insecurity 9. indispensable 10. acclaim

5. Complete the following sentences with phrases or expressions from the passage.

1. The tension was naturally high for a game with so much ___ .

2. She still ___ the belief that her son is alive.

3. I finished my work at five, but I'll ___ until half past five to meet you.

4. After 50 years of successful operation, he ___the business ____ to his youngest son.

5. The scientist ___ the discovery ___ the most exciting new development in this field.

Answer:1. at stake 2. clings to on 4. turned ... over 5. referred to ... as

7. Each of the verbs and nouns in the following lists occurs in this passage. Choose the noun

that you think collocates with each verb and write it in the blank. If you think more than one

noun is possible, write them down.

Verbs Nouns

to face

1.

a quarrel

to engage in

2.

a different outlook

to treasure

3.

a business

to run

4.

a firm

to start

5.

a decision

to found

6.

peace in life

to build

7.

acclaim

to open

8.

retirement

to plan

9.

succession planning

to have

10.

founder

to purchase

to make

to provide

to worship

Answer: open/engage in/start/ a quarrel

have/worship a different outlook

run/found/start/build/plan/have/engage in a business

purchase/run/found/start/build a firm

make a decision

treasure peace in life

provide acclaim

face retirement

engage in/start/make succession planning

worship founder

6. Translate the following sentences into English.

1.虽然他说他为此事做了很多努力，但他的成功至少部分是由于他运气好。(in part）

Although he said he had done a lot for the case, his success was at least in part due to luck.

2. 将要讨论的议题非常关键，因为它将决定很多人的未来。(issue)

The issue to be discussed is critical, because it will determine the future of many people.

3. 我将尽量避免将我的观点强加于别人。(impose … on)

I’ll try my best to avoid imposing my ideas on others.

4.在那种情况下，很少有人能够正视自己性格上的缺点。(rarely, face up to)

Rarely can people face up to the defects in their own characters in such a situation.

5.大学生活被称为人的一生中最美丽的阶段。(refer to… as)

College life is referred to as the most beautiful period of one’s life.

7. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the form where necessary.

an executive has not quite achieved what he had hoped, he often wants the opportunity to stay

in the game. Rather than a graceful transition, the succession process can become a war.

The inability to is even more difficult for those who

inability to "let go” is even more difficult for those who founded their businesses at a time

of unemployment or family poverty.

One exception to is .

e entrepreneurial succession is perhaps the most critical issue for family business

continuity, we are keenly interested in the makeup and background of those who do.

Because is perhaps the most critical issue for , we are keenly interested in .

sy or insecurities relating to declining power generate interpersonal conflicts that spoil

succession planning or even the performance of potential successors.

relating to generate (s) that or even .

5. I wasn’t hanging on because I was indispensable to the business but because the business was

indispensable to me.

I wasn’t hanging on because but because .

1. If a leader doesn’t want to lose his power, he often refuses to retire from his position. Rather

than a graceful transition, a combat would break out between him and the potential successors.

2. The inability to get the up-to-date information is even more difficult for those who have no

idea of the Internet.

3. Because language communication is perhaps the most critical issue for the communicative

competence, we are keenly interested in the process of language learning.

4. Disappointment relating to college education generates unwillingness to study among

students that made teachers feel difficult to assign any homework or even manage the class.

5. I wasn’t hanging on because I didn’t like it but because I liked it too much.

Passage B: Many Baby Boomers Are Worried About Prospects for

Retirement

the best answer to each question with information from the passage.

1. According to some experts, there will be ________ to support every future retiree.

A) 2 workers

B) less than 2 workers

C) 3.3 workers

D) more than 3.3 workers

2. According to the author, the social security of today's retirees is from ________.

A) the taxes they paid

B) the taxes current employees paid

C) the government investment

D) their own investment

3. Baby boomers can't depend on social security after retirement because____________.

A) the world economy is going into depression

B) they didn't save up enough themselves.

C) there will not be enough workers to support them.

D) the government won't take the responsibility.

4. According to the author, _______ should take the responsibility of supporting themselves in

their retirement life.

A) baby boomers

B) the government

C) companies

D) future workers

5. The purpose of this passage is ________.

A) to appeal to the government for the scary situation the future retirees face

B) to criticize the employers' unwillingness to provide enough pensions for future retirees

C) to compare the retirement life between present and the future retirees

D) to remind the baby boomers to get prepared for their future retirement

Answer: 1.A, 2.B, 3.C, 4.A, 5.D

13. Complete the following sentences with phrases or expressions chosen from the passage.

Make changes where necessary.

1. A new flat is really a heavy burden to the young, and they have to ___ every extra penny they

have.

2. The news that he was murdered by his beloved wife was such a shock that it still hasn't really

__ yet.

3. If you know him a little, you can't ___ him to come in time.

4. The defendant couldn't ___ the fact that the money was found in his house.

5. During the Depression, millions of workers were ___ because of the lack of new orders.

Answer: together 2. sunk in 3. count on 4. account for 5. laid off

the passage again and finish the outline with information from the passage.

1. I. Different sources of income for retirement

A) Old generation: company's pension plan; (1) ; (2) ; (3) .

B) Baby boomers: (4) ; personal savings

II. (5) toward retirement plan and reasons.

A) Old generation: (6) attitude

Reason: depression's profound effect

B) Baby boomers: passive attitude

Reason: belief of Social Security return

III. Unpleasant situations the retiring baby boomers will face

1) (7) will support more retirees in future.

2) Employers aren't taking as(8) as they used to.

3) Employees aren't as willing to stick around long enough to (9) .

IV. Expert's suggestions

If you (10) , you won't have anything when you get there.

Reference Key:

1. Social Security.

2. company's 401 (k) retirement.

3. their investment.

4. company's 401(k).

5. Different attitudes

ve

working people

responsibility for their employee's retirement

y for a decent pension

't send anything ahead

12. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Make changes where necessary.

maximum restless aggressively maintain survey

benefit consult monthly certify evaporate

1. The National Election Council is supposed to ___ the results of the election.

2. Why was I not ___ before you made the decision?

3. Many people are now having trouble making their ___ house payments.

4. He took the lead, and ___ it until the end of the race.

5. Though you are entitled to unemployment ___ it doesn't mean that you needn't go out to hunt

for a job.

6. If you carry out a ___ of the current state of our industry, it's pretty discouraging.

7. After listening to his long and boring lecture about philosophy, most of the audience became

___ .

8. A good salesman must be ___ if he wants to succeed.

9. The rainwater in the street soon ___ in the warm sunshine.

10. It was achieved with minimum fuss and ___ efficiency.

Answer: 1. certify 2. consulted 3. monthly 4. maintained 5. benefits

6. survey 7. restless 8. aggressive 9. evaporated 10. maximum

following games related words occur in this passage. Find 5 pairs of near synonyms

and 2 pairs of near antonyms.

to sink in to count on investment war to be understood

to rely on combat attitude to set aside outlook

to save to scrape together to drop to spend to offer

income to churn out paycheck

Synonyms

1 ________________________ is similar in meaning to ________________________.

2 ________________________ is similar in meaning to ________________________.

3 ________________________ is similar in meaning to ________________________.

4 ________________________ is similar in meaning to ________________________.

5 ________________________ is similar in meaning to ________________________.

Artonyms

1 ________________________ is nearly opposite in meaning to ________________________.

2 ________________________ is nearly opposite in meaning to ________________________.

3 ________________________ is nearly opposite in meaning to ________________________.

Synonyms Antonyms

1 to sink in; to be understood 1 investment; income

2 to count on; to rely on 2 save; spend

3 to set aside; to scrape together 3 offer; drop

4 war; combat

5 attitude; outlook

14. Translate the following sentences into English.

1.总的来讲，他是一个很有学问的人，尤其是在数学领域。但当涉及到政治时他就什么也不知道了。(when it comes to…)

Generally speaking he is quite learned, especially in the field of mathematic science. However,

when it comes to the politics, he knows nothing.

2. 从他们对1000名没上过大学的工人进行的调查结果来看，高考的失利对他们的生活有着很深远的影响。(profound)

According to the survey they made of the 1000 workers who missed out on the chance to go to

university, the failure in the college entrance examinations had a profound effect on their later life.

3. 由于成本的提高，雇主们拒绝为雇员支付退休金。另一方面，雇员们也不愿意一辈子待在一家公司。(on the flip side)

Owing to the cost rise, employers refuse to pay the retirement pension for their employees. On the

flip side, employees are unwilling to stay in the same company for their whole lives.

4. 既然你已经告诉我谁应该对此事负责，我就不再作进一步追查了。(pursue)

Since you have told me who should take the responsibility for the matter, I will not pursue any

further.

5. 即使是在最忙的季节，我也要每天尽量腾出半小时时间锻炼身体。(set aside)

I will try to set aside half an hour each day to do some exercise even in the busiest season.