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20.my mother implored, entreated, and commanded me to escape: asked in a begging manner, begged humbly

21.we shall be knocked down and trampled underfoot: crushed under the feet 22.the wailing of infants: long cry suggesting grief 23.People bewailed their own fate: wept to express deep sorrow for 24.who prayed for death in their terror of dying: wished to die sooner 25.Many besought the aid of the gods: asked anxiously 26.who added to the real perils: increased 27.by inventing fictitious dangers: untrue 28.A gleam of light returned: sudden flash 29.not a groan or cry of fear escaped me in these perils: was made unconsciously by

30.had I not derived some consolation in my mortal lot from the belief that the whole world was dying with me and I with it: because I got some comfort in my dying fate, as I believed

31.we attended to our physical needs: satisfied ourselves with food and shelter

II. Rewrite the following

1. Panic-stricken, the mob of people close behind us wanted to act on someone else?s decision in preference to their own and hurried us on our way by pressing hard behind in a dense crowd. 2. Unless we were certain of his safety, we replied, we would not think of considering our own. 3. By reporting that part of Misenum had collapsed or another part was on fire, some people added to the real perils by inventing such fictitious dangers, and found others, yet, to believe these false tales. 4. Because I derived some poor consolation in my mortal lot from the belief that the whole world was dying with me and I was it, I could boast that not a groan or cry of fear escaped me in these perils. 5. Compared with several individuals? frightful predictions, the calamities both of their own and of others? seemed to be ludicrous.

III. Translate the following into English

1. We had scarcely sat down to rest when darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had been put out in a closed room. You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness forevermore.

2. Once beyond the buildings we stopped, and there we had some extraordinary experiences which thoroughly alarmed us. The carriages we had ordered to be brought out began to run in different directions though the ground was quite level, and would not remain stationary even when wedged with stones. We also saw the sea sucked away and apparently forced back by the earthquake: at any rate it receded from the shore so that

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quantities of sea creatures were left stranded on dry sand. On the landward side a fearful black cloud was rent by forked and quivering bursts of flame, and parted to reveal great tongues of fire, like flashes of lightning magnified in size.

3. Fear predominated, for the earthquakes went on, and several hysterical individuals made their own and other people?s calamities seem ludicrous in comparison with their frightful predictions. But even then, in spite of the dangers we had been through and were still expecting, my mother and I had still no intention of leaving until we had news of my uncle.

4. At last the darkness thinned and dispersed into smoke or cloud; then there was genuine daylight, and the sun actually, shone out, but yellowish as it is during an eclipse. We were terrified to see everything changed, buried deep in ashes like snowdrifts. We returned to Misenum where we attended to our physical needs as best we could, and then spent an anxious night alternating between hope and fear.

5. By now it was dawn [25 August in the year 79], but the light was still dim and faint. The buildings round us were already tottering, and the open space we were in was too small for us not to be in real and imminent danger if the house collapsed. This finally decided us to leave the town. We were followed by a panic- stricken mob of people wanting to act on someone else?s decision in preference to their own (a point in which fear looks like prudence), who hurried us on our way by pressing hard behind in a dense crowd.

IV. Cloze

(1)round (2)space (3)not (4)danger (5)finally (6)followed (7)act (8)preference (9)which (10)pressing (11)which (12)different (13)ground (14)with (15)away (16)from (17)creatures (18)fearful (19)burst (20)great

V. Proofreading We had scarcely sat down to rest when darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had 1.been put out in a close room. You could hear the shrieks of 1. closed 2.women, the wailing of infants,∧ the shouting of men; some 2. and 3.were calling for their parents, others their children or their 3. for 4.wives, tried to recognize them by their voices. People 4. trying 5.bewailed for their own fate or that of their relatives, and 5. for 6.there were some who prayed for death in their terror of 6. √ 7.dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more 7. √ 8.imagined that there were no gods left, and that the universe 8. √ 9.was plunged into an eternal darkness forevermore. There 9. an 10.were people, too, who added∧ the real perils by inventing 10. to fictitious dangers.

At last the darkness thinned and dispersed into 1.smoke or cloud; then there was a genuine daylight, and 1. a From:

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M. A. Miller, pp. 266—269

2.the sun actually shone out, but yellowish as it was during 3.an eclipse. We were terrified to see everything change, 4.buried deep in ashes like snowdrifts. We returned to 5.Misenum where we attended∧ our physical needs as best 6.we could, and then spent an eager night alternating 7.between hope and fear. Fear predominated, for the 8.earthquakes yet went on, and several hysterical 9.individuals made their own and other people?s calamities seem ludicrous in comparison with their frightful 10.predictions. But even then, in spite∧ the dangers we had been through and were still expecting, my mother and I had still no intention of leaving until we had news of my uncle. 2. is 3.changed 4. √ 5. to 6.anxioius 7. √ 8. yet 9. √ 10. of

Text II

Rewrite the following

1. The major land masses and the ocean basins have not changed much throughout the greater part of geologic time. 2. Almost all islands result from the violent, explosive, earth-shaking eruptions of submarine volcanoes, working perhaps for millions of years to achieve their end. 3. An act of creation can result from such a process seemingly so destructive, so catastrophic in nature, which is one of the paradoxes in the ways of earth and sea. 4. An island may be destroyed quickly to only after long ages of geological time, which may also depend on external forces. 5. It takes prolonged and violent travail for a volcanic island to come into being.

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M. A. Miller, pp. 266—269

TEXT I

Unit Two

THE FINE ART OF PUTTING THINGS OFF

I. Paraphrase the parts underlined in the following:

“Never put off till tomorrow,” 1exhorted Lord Chesterfield in 1749, “what you can do today.”? That the elegant earl never 2got around to marrying his son?s mother and had a bad habit of keeping 3worthies like Dr. Johnson cooling their heels for hours in an anteroom 4

attests to the fact that even the most well-intentioned men have been postponers ever. Quintus Fabius Maximus, one of the great Roman generals, was 5dubbed “Cunctator” (Delayer) for putting off battle 6until the last possible vinum break. Moses 7pleaded a speech defect to rationalize his reluctance to deliver Jehovah?s edict to Pharaoh. Hamlet, of course, raised procrastination to an art form.

There are those who prepare their income taxes in February, prepay mortgages and serve precisely planned dinners at an 8ungodly 6: 30 p.m. The other half dine happily on leftovers at 9 or 10, misplace bills and 9file for an extension of the income tax deadline. They seldom pay credit-card bills until the 10apocalyptic voice of Diners threatens doom from Denver. They postpone, 11as Faustian encounters) visits to barbershop, dentist or doctor.

Yet 12for all the trouble procrastination may incur, delay can often inspire and revive a creative soul.

From Cunctator’ s day until this century, the art of postponement had been 13virtually a monopoly of the military (“Hurry up and wait”), diplomacy and the law. In former times, a British proconsul faced with a native uprising could comfortably 14ruminate about the situation with Singapore Sling” in hand. 15Blessedly, he had no flattering Telex to order in machine guns and fresh troops.

Even 16where there is no will, there is a way. There is a difference, of course, between chronic procrastination and purposeful postponement, particularly 17in the higher echelons of business.

The data explosion 18fortifies those seeking excuses for inaction — another report to be read, another authority to be consulted.

His point is well 19taken. 20Bureaucratization, which flourished amid the growing burdens of government and the greater complexity of society, was designed to smother policymakers in blankets of legalism, compromise and reappraisal --- and thereby prevent hasty decisions from being made.

Many languages are 21studded with phrases that refer to putting things off ---from the Spanish maiana to the Arabic bukrafil mishmish.

There are all sorts of 22rationalizations: the pressure of teaching responsibilities at home, checking out the latest book, looking up another footnote.”

To Georgia State Psychologist Joen Fagan, however; procrastination may be a kind of 23

subliminal way of sorting the important from the trivial.

It is something of 24a truism that to put off making a decision is itself a decision. The parliamentary process is essentially a system of delay and deliberation. So, 25for that matter, is the creation of a great painting, or 26an entree, or a book, or a building like Blenheim Palace, which took the Duke of Marlborough?s architects and laborers 15 years to construct.

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M. A. Miller, pp. 266—269