I. Understanding the Text

1. Text Organization

Motivation (Why?)

Paras. 1-3: Paul Miller’spersonal experiment of going offline one full year and his discoveries promptedthe author to try a digital detox himself.

Paras. 5-6: As CEO of a socialmedia company whose life has been spent mostly online, he wanted to step backand get some perspective.

Experience (What happened?)

Paras. 4&7: The authorspent two weeks in digital detox on his winter vacation to Mexico.

Discoveries (What had helearned?)

Paras. 8-9: The author didn’tfind that technology is evil. Rather, he felt that he liked it even more.

Paras. 10-12: He realized thataddictive bits of online content should not replace thoughtful articles andgood books and it’s reading that nourishes the mind.

2. Comprehension Check

2.1 Focusing on the main ideas

Inspired by Paul Miller’s personal experiment of going one year withabsolutely no internet, thewriter went on his own short digital detox.He did it because having been plugged in 24-7 for a decade, he wanted to seewhat would happen if he went offline fora while. So during his winter vacation to Mexico, he didn’t go online except to check his email. As aresult, he discovered that technology is no eviland technology is already a part ofhim now. Nevertheless, he also came to the conclusion that it is the reading of thoughtful articles and goodbooks, not snacky onlinecontent, that nourishes themind.

2.2 Digging into detail

1.Miller discovered that actuallytechnology had very little to do with his life’s problems, and that without thenet he had started becoming more out of touch with life.

2.Because for the last decade,the writer has been online all day long, and he wanted to free himself from thedigital reality for a while.

3.He ate a lot of seafood, surfedand fixed up his hut on the beach.

4.It refers to the world that isdigitally connected.

5.He longed for thoughtfularticles and good books, reading that nourishes his mind.

2.3 Understanding difficultsentences

·        1) A

·        2) B

·        3) B

·        4) A

·        5) A

II. Focusing on Language in Context

1. Key Words & Expressions

1.1

1.Betty has been on a diet for along time, but she looks a bit heavier, ifanything.

2.Keeping your laptop plugged in all the time will kill itsbattery faster.

3.Talking, dancing, playing agame — all of these activities allow you to interact withother people.

4.Much to my annoyance, wheneverI criticize her, she alwayscomes up with an excuse.

5.While Facebook remains the mostpopular social media site,its growth has gradually slowed down.

6.Order all your camping stuff online today, everything you needto make a camping trip easier and more enjoyable!

7.One of the first flighttraining lessons taught to student pilots is how to perform an emergency landing in a small airplane.

8.When you read the newspaper,you’re probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you’re scanning the text.

9.In one of my firstarticles published onLinkedIn, I wrote about the importance of public speaking to every leader.

10.Fora while that story book was indeed very popular, but it was notlong before the demand declined.

11.Movie ticket prices havereached an all-time high. No wonder somepeople choose instead to watch movies at home.

12.Inthe absence of anyone to spend New Year’s Eve with, I went towatch a show alone and I truly enjoyed it.

13.In a recent study, more than20% of drivers said they cannot resist the urge tosend or check messages while driving.

14.There is no doubt that humanactivity has something to do with climatechange, and climate will continue to change unless we reduce our carbonemissions.

1.2

·        1) Unlike

·        2) unique

·        3) made waves

·        4) turn out

·        5) detailing

1.3

1.A study has found that the vastmajority of college graduates work in jobs that aren’t strictly related to their majors/interests.

2.No matter how busy you are, youshould remember to stay in touch withpeople/those you love and care about.

3.Make sure you don’t fall into the habit of eating unhealthyfoods for breakfast; instead, start your day with a simple, balanced meal.

4.I always believe that hardwork pays off in one way oranother, though not necessarily in money.

5.Is it worth the time and moneyto fix up an old car? It’s aquestion for a lot of old car owners these days.

2. Double Negative

1.There are no uninteresting things, only uninterestedpeople.

2.His poor health is not unrelated to his unhealthy way of life.

3.Happiness is not an unrealistic goal. It is a matter ofchoice. You can choose to be happy.

4.Internet is not such an unusual word as it used to be. It haschanged the way we live, work and play.

5.Believe it or not, most womendo not look unattractive inbusiness suits, although their movement seems a little bit restricted.

3. Sentence Patterns

1.Peter is Mary’s elderbrother! No wonder he reminds me so much ofher.

2.John has quit his high-paidjob. That sounds unbelievable, but as itturns out, it actually is true.

3.Nowonder I had the worst possible time falling asleep/didn’t sleep well lastnight — I drank too much coffee during the day.

4.You really know how to controlyour budget. No wonder you have a lot ofmoney in the bank.

5.The meeting is finally over.But as it turns out, we have not decidedanything yet.

4. Comprehensive Practice

1. A:What is it that interestsyou so much? You’ve been on the net for so long.

    B:Advertisements.You know, as you surf the Internet,you will at times see advertisementsfor products that you are interested in.

2. A:You know what? Apple willrelease a new series of Harry Potter e-books that even comeswith annotations by J.K. Rowling.

    B:Really?It’s amazing. And it has alreadybeen turned into eight thoughtful movies.

3. A:As CEO of a social mediacompany, much of my life is spent online. I need to slow down and enjoy thesmall wonders of life.

    B:Absolutely.If you don’t take the time to once in a while smellthe flowers, to nourish yourself ona mental level, you will end up burningyourself out.

4. A:As we know, the cosmeticsmarket in China is dominated by foreign brands. However, I heard the generalmanager of a French company in the cosmetics industry say in an interview thathow to reach the Chinese customers is still a tough job.

    B:Yeah, Ialso watched that TV interview last night. They have established an online marketing company in China andhave built a partnership with Tmall. The general manager said that despite the challenges they face, thegrowing Chinese market still lookspromising.

Reading 1

1. Comprehension Check forReading 1

·        1) F 

·        2) F

·        3) F

·        4) T

·        5) T

·        6) T

·        7) F

·        8) T

·        9) F

·        10) F

2. Translation

1.不过，话又说回来，在我写下这些抱怨的话语时，我正呆在山里，坐在一张安乐椅上，看着萤火虫在眼前飞舞，狗在脚边打着呼噜。

2.我不该对你大喊大叫，相反，我应该佩服你的能力：由于你能记住一切，使我不必把诸如电话号码和生日日期等事情塞进脑子里。

3.不该做的就该不做，进了家门，我就该把你关掉。我不能再把自我价值感系于你有多少次响起之上。

4.对于我来说，我会查询、会留意、会适时而止。一天中的几个时段，我将离你而去，去呼吸、品尝、触摸、感受和生活。

Reading 2

Comprehension Check for Reading 2

1.It is a 10-by-164-foot-longsegment of pavement divided by white paint markings on the ground. One side ismeant strictly for cell phone users and the other side allows others to walkthrough the area unencumbered by tech addicts.

2.Walk in this lane at your ownrisk.

3.Many pedestrians simply ignoredthe designations, while some took photos of the signage.

4.Setting up special sidewalkscould be a solution in particular situations, but it could be an indulgence formobile phone addicts in the long run and could even lead to more problems inthe future.