Text Organization
Parts | Para(s) | Main Ideas |
1 | 1~3 | In America, the era of leaving the front door on the latch has drawn to a close. |
2 | 4~15 | A new atmosphere of fear and distrust creeps into every aspect of daily life. As a result, security devices, in varied forms, are put to use. |
3 | 16~19 | By locking our fears out, we become prisoners of our own making. |
Identifying keywords in Reading:
When we read, we are not only learning new vocabulary or structures, but also looking for useful information. Identifying keywords is very important if our reading time is not that plentiful. "Lock" is the keyword in the text. By locating it throughout the text, we may get a pretty good idea of what this eaasy is about.
True or False
Useful Expressions
| （门）关着但没上锁 | on the latch |
| 带钥匙 | carry keys |
| （暂时）关闭 | close up |
| 巡逻严密的城区街道 | well-patrolled urban streets |
| 据称很宁静的地区 | the allegedly tranquil areas |
| …的时代结束了 | the era of … is over |
| 电子报警系统 | electronic alarm systems |
| 连接到 | hook up to |
| 内置，嵌入 | build in |
| 处于监控下 | under surveillance |
| 设置路障 | put up barricades |
| 保安 | security guards |
| 不让靠近 | hold/keep (sb.) at bay |
| 电子搜查器 | electronic friskers |
| 看都不看一眼 | without so much as a sideways glance |
| 代表；表示，象征 | stand for |
| 沉浸于，沐浴于 | be bathed in |
| 误差率很小/大 | with/by a small/large margin of error |
| 在人类文明的历史上 | in the history of civilized man |
| 聪明反被聪明误 | outsmart oneself |
| 回首（过去），回顾（以往） | look back on |
| 看不见的恐惧 | unseen horrors |
分词结构做后置定语（可以看成是定语从句的缩略形式）
要求：能在英文阅读中分辨出这种用法，能正确理解包含这种用法的句子的意思，并尝试在中译英或英语写作中进行运用。
A.现在分词结构做后置定语：表主动态，正在进行的意思
B.过去分词结构做后置定语：表被动态，已经完成的意思
e.g.
----…trip wires hooked up to a police station or private guard firm (para. 4)
----…to see pasted on the windows small notices announcing that … (para. 5)
----… a recent public-service advertisement by a large insurance company featured not charts showing how much …, but a picture … (para. 6)
----… with the now-usual padlock attached to it. (para. 6)
Key sentences
1. We have become so used to defending ourselves against the new atmosphere of American life, so used to putting up barriers, that we have not had time to think about what it may mean.
(=我们已经变得如此习惯于保护自己不受美国生活新氛围的影响，如此习惯于设置障碍，以致无暇考虑这一切意味着什么。)
2. Our neighborhoods are bathed in high-intensity light; we do not want to afford ourselves even so much a luxury as a shadow.
(=我们的居住区处在强光源的照射之下；我们连哪怕像阴影这样小小的享受也不想给自己。)
3. Many suburban families have sliding glass doors on their patios, with steel bars elegantly built in so no one can pry the doors open.
(=郊区的许多人家在露台上安装了玻璃滑门，内侧有装得很讲究的钢条，这样就没人能把门撬开。)
4. 取人性命的念头令我憎恨，但念及成为他人的受害者就更可怕了。我开始问自己，你怎么跟一个杀人犯或强奸犯谈论和平主义呢？
(=The thought of taking a human life disgusts me, but the idea of being someone’s victim is worse. And how, I began to ask myself, do you talk pacifism to a murderer or a rapist?)
5. 但我相信，知识仍是我们最有力的防范手段。由于我主张对孩子进行性知识教育、艾滋病知识教育以及让孩子学会开车，我不能不赞成教儿子关于枪的知识。
(=But knowledge, I believe, is still our greatest defense. And since I’m in favor of education for sex, AIDS and learning to drive, I couldn’t draw the line at teaching my son about guns.)
6. 我手指扣住扳机，最后用力一扣，在亲手结束了侵入者生命的同时也庆幸自己没有成为牺牲品。
(=I wrapped my finger around the trigger and finally squeezed it, simultaneously accepting the intruder’s death at my own hand and the relief of not being a victim.)
7. 我从来没有像在买枪一事上对某种行为的后果如此反复权衡——可是，我也从来没做过后果如此严重的事。
(=I never have weighed the consequences of an act as strongly as I have that of buying a gun — but then again, I never have done anything with such deadly consequences.)
Complete the summary using the words you've learned in the text.
