Languagepoints:

Para. 1

1. have animpact on  

2. to make a difference; tohave a powerful effect on; influence 对…产生强烈影响；对…造成冲击

  e.g.Especially for big companies, the decisions that leaders make could have animpact on the economy as a whole.

尤其是对于大公司来说，领导的决策甚至会影响整个经济。

Her speech had a tremendous impact on everyone.

她的发言对大家产生了极大的影响。

CF:

have an effect / influence / impacton都有“对…有影响”的意思。

have an effect on: 指“起作用”、“有效果”，或某种原因“产生直接后果”。

  e.g. The surroundings inwhich a child grows up may have an effect on his development.

小孩生长的环境会影响他的发展。

have an influence on: 侧重于“有内在的，潜移默化的影响”，使一个人的行为或思想发生改变。

  e.g. He has anactive influence on the community.

他对这个社团有很强的影响力。

have an impact on: 指“有冲击性的、震撼的影响”，语气强烈。

  e.g. Technologyhas had an irreversible impact on society.

技术已对社会产生不可逆转的影响。

Para. 2

2. Minority Report «少数派报告»

A 2002 American science fiction thrillerfilm directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was a commercial success and one ofthe best reviewed film of the year.

3. in sync (with) (Para.2): moving or workingat exactly the same time and speed as sb./sth. else 与...同步

e.g. Justin’s movements were insync with the music.

  The film’s sound-track is not in sync with the picture.

这部电影的音轨与图像不吻合。

Para. 3

4. influx (Para.3): n. the fact of a lot ofpeople, money or things arriving somewhere 涌入，流入

e.g. At Shangri-La, there is a largeinflux of tourists in summer each year. 在香格里拉，每年夏天都有大批游客涌入。

Due to the economic recovery, there wasa sudden influx of goods onto the market last year.

5. strain

1) v. to try to make sth. do morethan it is able to do 过度使用；使不堪承受

e.g. The sudden influx of visitorsis straining hotels in the town to the limit.突然涌入的游客使该镇的酒店的接待能力达到了极限。

His constant complaints were straining ourpatience.

他不间断的抱怨快让我们失去耐心了。

2) v. to injure or weaken (esp. apart of the body) by stretching too much or trying too hard 损伤；扭伤；（因过分劳累而）耗弱（身体某部分）

e.g. strain amuscle/one’s heart/eyes/voice 损伤肌肉、心脏、视力、嗓子

3) n. severe demand on one’s mentalor physical strength, resources or abilities, etc. 苛求；压力

e.g. He finds his new job a real strain.

他发现他的新工作的确太紧张了。

She was tired and under great strain.

她疲倦且处于巨大的压力之下。

Collocation:

strain to do sth. 努力做…

  e.g. I had to strain tohear.我不得不努力地听。

6. inadequate

not sufficient orenough; not good enough for a particular purpose 不足的；不充分的；不够好的

 e.g. Supplies offood and medicines are inadequate.

食品和药物的供应是不足的。

I feel inadequate whenfaced with such a difficult problem.

面对如此困难的问题，我感到力不从心。

Antonym:

adequate adj. 充足的；适当的；胜任的

7. Around the world, most cities haveoutdated foundations making them ill-equipped to fully cater tofood, water and energy needs of their inhabitants.

cater to / for (Para.3): to provide thingsthat a particular person or situation needs or wants迎合；为…服务

  e.g. They only publish novelswhich cater to the mass market.

他们只出版迎合大众市场的小说。

TV programs usually cater for alltastes.

电视通常提供适合各种口味的节目。

Paraphrase: Most of the cities inthe world have city foundations that are out of date and cannot satisfy theircitizens’ needs for food, water and energy.

Translation:从整个世界来看，多数城市的基础已经落后，陈旧的设施根本无法满足其居民对食品、用水和能源的需求。

Para. 4

8. supplant (Para.4): v. to takethe place of sb / sth (especially sb / sth older or less modern)

e.g.No man could supplant him. 没有人能够代替他的工作。

The duke plotted to supplant theking.

9. practicable: able to be done; likely to be successful 可实行的；行得通的

  e.g. To tellyou the truth, your plan is very attractive, but it doesn’t seem to be practicable.实话对你说，你的计划很有吸引力，但看起来不太可行。

Their marriage was so bad thatdivorce seemed the only practicable solution.

他们的婚姻是如此糟糕以致离婚似乎是唯一可行的解决之道。

Synonyms:

feasible / usable

10. digitize: to change data into a digital form that can be easilyread and processed by a computer 数字化

  e.g. I wantto digitize some images into my computer.

我想把一些图片数字化到我的计算机上。

Google aims to digitize millionsof books to make them searchable through its search engine.

谷歌的目标是把数以百万计的图书数字化，使其内容能够通过谷歌搜索引擎进行检索。

Word Family:

digital adj. 数码的；数字的

digit n. 数字；数位；阿拉伯数字

Para. 5

11. break down: to destroy sth., or cause sth. to fall or collapse 使…坍塌；摧毁；打破

e.g. Firemen had to break down thewall to save the child.

消防员不得不把墙砸开来营救孩子。

How can we break down thebarriers of fear and hostility which divide the two communities?

我们如何才能扫除使这两社团对立的恐惧和敌视的障碍呢？

Para. 6

12. Existing infrastructures can beimproved by retrofitting, which involves simply modifying the equipment that isalready in service.

Translation:现有基础设施可以通过改造实现优化，这只需要对现有运行的设备做些改进。

13. mitigate: to reduce the harmful effects of sth. 缓和；减轻

  e.g. The governmentis trying to mitigate the effects ofinflation.

政府尽力缓解通货膨胀带来的影响。

The judge said that nothingcould mitigate the cruelty with which the mother hadtreated her child.

法官说，这位母亲虐待孩子，罪行无法减轻。

More examples:

mitigate sb.’s suffering,anger, anxiety 减轻某人的痛苦（缓和某人的愤怒、减少某人的忧虑）

mitigate the severity of apunishment, sentence, etc. 减轻惩罚（判刑）的严重程度

mitigate risks 规避风险

mitigate damages 减轻损害

mitigate the consequencesof ... 减轻…的后果

Para. 7

14. dwindle: v. to decrease little bylittle in size, number, or intensity and approach zero, or make sth. decreasein this way

e.g. The factory’s workforce has dwindledfrom over 4,000 to a few hundred.

They tell us that they have seentheir income dwindle down to a fifth of what it used to be. 他们向我们透露，他们发现自己的收入降到了过去的五分之一。

15. in awe of: admiring sb./sth. and being slightly frightened ofthem/it 对…心怀敬畏的

  e.g. Healways stood in awe of his father.

他一直十分敬畏他的父亲。

One glance at a pyramid can leavethe viewer in awe of its beauty andsplendor.

瞥一眼金字塔，看见其美丽壮观的景象，敬畏之情就会油然而生。

16. Hunger Games «饥饿游戏»

A 2012 American science fictionadventure film directed by Gary Ross and based on the novel of the same name bySusanne Collins.

17. Despite its dystopian view of thefuture, the movie provides what some would consider a glimpse into the future.

Paraphrase: Although the movietakes a pessimistic view about the future, it offers, on the part of somepeople, a window into what our future would look like.

Translation:尽管影片对未来持悲观态度，在一些人看来，该影片能让人们窥见世界的未来。

Para. 8

18. Masdar City

马斯达尔，是阿拉伯联合酋长国拟在首都阿布扎比郊区兴建的一座环保城市，“马斯达尔”在阿拉伯语中意为“来源”。马斯达尔将建在沙漠中，将成为世界上首个达到零碳、零废物标准的城市，可谓“沙漠中的绿色乌托邦”。这一计划已酝酿多年，于2008年1月21日正式对外公布，城市总体设计工作由英国著名建筑师诺曼·福斯特勋爵承担。

19. With a price tag of $22 billion, itis due to be fully functional by 2025.

Paraphrase: The total money investedfor the Masdar Project will be $22 billion, and will be completed and put intofunction by 2025.

Translation: 该项目号称投资2.2万亿，预计到2025年完全投入运行。

20. Masdar’s foundations are not beinglaid just with bricks and mortar, but are being weaved into the city'sinfrastructure through social innovation and technology.

Paraphrase: Masdar’s foundationswill not be laid in the traditional way of construction, but are also carefullyintegrated into the city’s infrastructure by way of social innovation andtechnology.

Translation: 马斯达尔城的基础并不仅仅是用砖块和灰浆建成的，而是通过社会和技术革新融入城市的基础设施建设。

21. save on (Para.8): cut down unnecessaryexpenses; reduce expenses

e.g. To save on costs,she shares the rent with a mate.

我认为网上购物可以节省时间和金钱。

I think shopping online can saveon time and money.

Para. 9

22. Many critics are already questioningthe practicality of Masdar, claiming that by the time the city is built, manyof the technologies on which its foundations are based will become outdated.

Paraphrase: Many critics doubt theutility of Masdar. They assert that after the city is built, many of thetechnologies on which its foundations are based will be out of date anduseless.

Translation: 许多批评家已经在质疑马斯达尔城的实用性问题，认为到该城市建成时，其基础设施赖以建立的许多技术也就要过时了。

23. contend: v. to argue or claimthat sth. is true

e.g. I had to contendwith ingrained prejudice.

Many people contendthat we have a right to think what we like, and that wicked thoughts, if nottranslated into wicked deeds, are not harmful.

许多人争辩说，我们有权想自己所想，即时是邪恶的思想，只要没有转化成邪恶的行为，也是无害的。