新视野大学英语第三版读写教程第二册Unit8课文语法讲解

新视野三版 读写 B2 U8 Text A

Animals or children? — A scientist's choice

1 I am the enemy! I am one of those cursed, cruel physician scientists involved in animal research. These rumors sting, for I have never thought of myself as an evil person. I became a children's doctor because of my love for children and my supreme desire to keep them healthy. During medical school

and residency, I saw many children die of cancer and bloodshed from injury — circumstances against which medicine has made great progress but stil has a long way to go. More importantly, I also saw children healthy thanks to advances in medical science such as infant breathing support, powerful new medicines and surgical techniques and the entire field of organ transplantation. My desire to tip the scales in favor of healthy, happy children drew me to medical research.

*2 My accusers have twisted the truth into a fable and cast me as

the devil. They claim that I have no moral compass, that I torture innocent animals for the sole purpose of career advancement, and that my experiments have no relevance to medicine.Meanwhile, an uncaring public barely watches, convinced that the issue has no significance, and publicity-conscious senators and politicians increasingly give way to the lobbying of animal rights activists.

3 We, in medical research, have also been unbelievably uncaring. We have al owed the most extreme animal rights protesters to creep in and frame the issue as one of \"animal fraud\" and hatred. We have persisted in our belief that a knowledgeable public would consent to the importance of animal research for public health. Perhaps we have been mistaken in not responding to the emotional tone of the argument. Perhaps we should have responded to those sad slogans and posters of animals by waving equal y sad posters of children dying of cancer or external wounds.

4 In the animal rights forum, much is made of the volume of pain these animals experience in the name of medical science.Activists deny that we are trying to help and say it is evidence of our evil and cruel nature. A more reasonable argument, however, can be advanced in our defense. Life is often cruel to animals and human beings. Teenagers are flung from trucks and suffer severe head injuries. Young children barely able to walk find themselves at the bottom of swimming pools while a parent is occupied with something else. From

everyday germs to gang violence, no life is free of pain. Physicians hoping to relieve the eternal suffering of these tragedies have only three choices: 1) create an animal model of the problem to understand the process and test new therapies; 2) experiment on human beings (some experiments wil succeed, most wil fail); or 3) leave medical knowledge static, hoping that accidental discoveries wil lead us forward.

5 Some animal rights activists would suggest an optional fourth choice, *******claiming that computer models can create animal experiments,

thus omitting actual experiments. Computers can imitate the effects of

wel -understood principles on complex systems, as in the application of the laws of physics to airplane and automobile design. However, when the principles themselves are in question, as is the case with the complex

biological systems of human life under study, computer modeling alone is of little value.

6 One of the terrifying effects of arresting the use of animals in medical research is that the impact wil not be felt for years or even decades. Drugs to cure infection wil remain undiscovered, surgical and diagnostic techniques wil remain undeveloped, and fundamental biological processes that might have been understood wil remain mysteries. There is the danger that quick

decisions by wel -meaning politicians wil create resolution to diplomatical y satisfy the smal minority of loud protesters while the consequences and damaging impact of those decisions wil not be apparent until long after.

7 Fortunately, most of us enjoy good health, and the agony of watching one's child die has become a rare experience. Yet our good fortune should not make us unappreciative. Protection from serious sickness and drugs to combat heart *disease, high blood pressure and stroke are al based on animal

research. Most complex surgical procedures such as heart or hip surgery and organ transplantation surgeries were initial y developed in animals. Techniques to replace defective genes, the cause of so much disease, as wel as the development of synthetic organs are presently

undergoing animal studies. These studies, and any subsequent advances, wil effectively end if animal research is severely restricted.

8 In America today, death has become an event isolated from our daily existence. As a doctor who has watched many children die and seen their parents' infinite grief, I am particularly angered by any minute expression of caring for the suffering of creatures and so little for sick and dying human

beings. People are too protected from the reality of human life and death and what it means.

9 Make no mistake, however. I would never advocate needless cruel treatment of animals. The animal rights movement has made a contribution in making us more aware of animals' needs and the need to search harder for suitable

alternatives. But if the more radical members of this movement are successful in threatening further research, their efforts wil bring about a tragedy that wil cost many lives. Hence the real question is whether an uncaring majority can be aroused to protect its future against a loud, but misdirected, minority.

Language Points：

1 Animals or children? — A scientist’s choice (Title)

Meaning: A scientist is now facing two choices: in favor of animals or children.

2 I am the enemy! I am one of those cursed, cruel physician scientists involved in

animal research. These rumors sting, for I have never thought of myself as an evil

person. (Para. 1)

Meaning: I am the enemy–the one who is condemned as a cold-hearted physician scientist doing animal research. These rumors make me upset as I've never considered

myself as being evil.

Meaning beyond words: The physician’s ironic tone in the sentences well reflects his

indignation and anger at the animal rights activists.

3 I became a children’s doctor because of my love for children and my supreme

desire to keep them healthy. (Para. 1)

Meaning: My love for children and strong desire to keep them healthy drove me to be a

children’s doctor.

Usage note: supreme, superior, super, superb *supreme, superior, super, superb 都是形容词，且词形相近。它们都没有比较级，也没有

最高级， 但它们的词义和用法稍有差别。

1 supreme 基本词义表示“（程度）最大的，最高的，极度的”，一般用在名词前作定语，修

饰名词，其副词是 supremely，表示“极度地；极其”，常用于强调不好的品质。例如：

The Supreme Commander was in bad temper as the task for him had changed abruptly

*and fundamental y. 最高指挥官很生气，因为他的任务突然彻底地改变了。 2 superior 表示“更好的；更强的；更有效的”，明显含有“好 ”的意思。例如：*A few years ago it was virtually impossible to find superior quality coffee in local shops. 几 年前, 几乎不可能在当地的咖啡店找到品质上乘的咖啡。

*superior 后可以接介词 to，表示 “比…更好的/更强的/更有效的”，在句中一般用作表语或 后置定语。例如：

*For all babies, breastfeeding is far superior to bottlefeeding. 对于所有的婴儿，母乳喂养都

远远优于奶瓶喂养。

*We have a relationship infinitely superior to those of many of our friends. 我们之间的关系 比我们许多朋友之间的关系好太多了。 **superior 也可以用作名词，指“上级；上司；长官”，其反义词为 inferior。superior 不能用 作副词。

3 super 表示“极好的；了不起的”，能兼用作副词表示“极其；非常”。例如： *They have gained market leadership by sel ing products that were of super quality. 通过 销售高质量的产品，他们已获得了市场的领导地位。

Lee is very straightforward, super honest and he always knows what he is talking about.

李非常直爽，且超级诚实，他总是知道自己在说什么。（super 用作副词） “Did you enjoy the film?” “Yes, I thought it was super.” “你喜欢这个电影吗？” “我喜欢，我 认为它超棒的。”

*4 superb 的词义与 super 相同，表示“极好的；出色的；卓越的”，superb 在句中不仅可以 作定语，也可以作表语，其副词是 superbly。例如：

*The fact is that the telephone service is superb here, as is compared to postal service. 事 实是，与邮政服务相比，这儿的电话服务是一流的。

*I am highly aware of the superb reputation of your school. 我非常了解你们学校极佳的声 誉。

4 During medical school and residency, I saw many children die of cancer and bloodshed from injury–circumstances against which medicine has made great progress but still has a long way to go. More importantly, I also saw children healthy thanks to advances in medical science such as infant breathing support,

powerful new medicines and surgical techniques and the entire field of organ transplantation. (Para. 1)

Meaning: When I was studying at a medical school and being trained at a hospital, I saw

many children die of cancer and shed blood from injury — situations that modern medicine, though has advanced a lot, is notable to completely handle. On the other hand,

I saw children healthy because of the medical achievements such as infant breathing

support and so forth.

Meaning beyond words: The comparison and contrast between the cases of children he

witnessed effectively il ustrates the importance and necessity of animal research.

5 My desire to tip the scales in favor of healthy, happy children drew me to medical

research. (Para.1)

Meaning: My doing medical research was driven by my priority to keep children healthy and happy.

6 My accusers have twisted the truth into a fable and cast me as the devil. They

claim that I have no moral compass, that I torture innocent animals for the sole

purpose of career advancement, and that my experiments have no relevance to

medicine. (Para. 2)

Meaning: Those who accuse me of having no moral standards distorted the truth into a

legendary story where I am depicted as a monster that tortures innocent animals only for

my career advancement and my experiments have nothing to do with medicine. Meaning beyond words: The paral el structure of “that” clause evidently strengthens the

angry tone of the physician and it obviously is a plus when arguing for one’s viewpoint.

7 Meanwhile, an uncaring public barely watches, convinced that the issue has no

significance, and publicity-conscious senators and politicians increasingly give

way to the lobbying of animal rights activists. (Para. 2)

Meaning: At the same time, the general public act like bystanders, believing that the issue

is no big deal. The senators and politicians, who are familiar with the public issues, keep

making concessions to activists advocating animal rights.

Meaning beyond words: The physician is unhappy and dissatisfied with the indifferent

public and condemns those politicians who acted too softly to the animal rights activists.

8 We, in medical research, have also been unbelievably uncaring. We have allowed

the most extreme animal rights protesters to creep in and frame the issue as one of

“animal fraud” and hatred. (Para.3)

Meaning: It is incredible that we who are doing medical research have also been ignoring

the issue. We even gave permission to the most radical animal rights protesters to gradual y impact on our research practice and accuse it of animal deception and hatred

for animals.

Meaning beyond words: The medical researchers have been too soft to the animal

rights protesters that they got themselves into trouble.

frame vt. deliberately make sb. seem guilty of a crime when they’re not guilty, by lying to

*the police or in a court of law 陷害；诬告

Jack would never cheat at a exam, but his classmate framed him as a cheat who had

*used iPhone connected to the Internet. 杰克绝不会在考试中作弊，但他同学诬陷他是个作

弊者，说他使用连上了互联网的 iPhone。

9 We have persisted in our belief that acknowledgeable public would consent to the

importance of animal research for public health. Perhaps we have been mistaken in

not responding to the emotional tone of the argument. (Para. 3)

Meaning: We have believed firmly that knowledgeable people would agree how important

animal research is for public health. Maybe, we have been wrong in not reacting to the

animal rights activists’ emotional expressions.

Meaning beyond words: The implied meaning is that they, the animal researchers, have

made mistakes in believing the public and dealing with animal rights activists. Usage note: consent, approve, agree

consent, approve, agree 是一组近义词， 这些词均含“同意；赞同”之意， 但在含义和用法 上有区别。

1 consent 是不及物动词，表示“同意、允许别人的请求、建议或者满足他人的愿望”，着重

意愿或感情，且是带有一定阻力或困难的赞同，而且常有居高临下的允诺之意。常见结构有

consent to sth., consent to sb.’s doing sth., consent to do sth.。例如：

My father must have made some inquiries and been satisfied, for he consented to my

*choice. 我的父亲肯定去打听了一些事情并感到满意，因为他同意了我的选择。

The owner wouldn’t consent to our making any structural changes in the flat while we live

*in it. 在我们居住期间，房主不会同意我们对公寓作任何结构上的变动。 The Queen has graciously consented to open her London palace to the public for two

*months every summer. 女王已欣然同意她在伦敦的宫殿每个夏天可向公众开放两个月。

*2 approve 在表示“对所呈报的建议、计划或做法作正式或者官方的批准、认可”时，用作及

物动词, 后直接接宾语。例如：

*The White House approved the new deal. 白宫批准了这项新协议。

*approve 在表示“赞成；同意；赞许”时, 用作不及物动词，常与 of 连用。例如：

*Catherine's parents now approved of her marriage. 凯瑟琳的父母现在同意了她的婚姻。

*I don’t approve of cosmetic surgery. 我不赞同整容手术。

3 agree 在表示“同意；赞成”时，指对某事与他人有相同的见解和看法, 可用作及物动词和

不及物动词。用作及物动词时，agree 后接 that 引导的从句，表示接受或趋同对方的观点、

计划、建议、方案等。例如：

*I agree that your plan is better. 我同意，你的计划更好。

用作不及物动词时，agree 后常接 to 引导的动词不定式，或介词 to, with, on, about。 *agree to 意为“同意”，接名词或接不定式表示“同意（去做）某事”。例如：

*I thought it was a reasonable proposal, but he didn’t agree to it / to accept it. 我觉得这是 个合理的建议，可是他不同意（接受）它。

*agree with 意为“与…一致；同意；对…赞同”。例如：

*We cannot agree with the alternations and amendments to the contract. 我们不能同意对

合同的变动及更改。 *agree on/upon/about 意为“就…达成协议；在…上意见一致”，宾语常为共同支持或取得一 致意见的事物。例如：

*Since we have agreed upon the details, let’s put the program into practice. 既然我们在细 节问题上已取得一致意见，咱们就把计划付诸实施吧。

10 Perhaps we should have responded to those sad slogans and posters of animals

by waving equally sad posters of children dying of cancer or external wounds. (Para. 3)

Meaning: Perhaps we should have responded to those sad slogans and posters of animals in a tit-for-tat way: showing the posters of children dying of cancer or external wounds.

11 In the animal rights forum, much is made of the volume of pain these animals

experience in the name of medical science. Activists deny that we are trying to help

and say it is evidence of our evil and cruel nature. (Para. 4)

Meaning: By way of the animal rights forum, activists have said far more than enough

about the pain these animals suffer from medical research. They use it as an excuse to

deny the efforts we are making and accuse us of evil and cruel nature.

Meaning beyond words: Here the physician is criticizing the animal rights activists for

being dishonest to the public.

12 A more reasonable argument, however, can be advanced in our defense. Life is

often cruel to animals and human beings. Teenagers are flung from trucks and

suffer severe head injuries. Young children barely able to walk find themselves at

the bottom of swimming pools while a parent is occupied with something else. From everyday germs to gang violence, no life is free of pain. (Para. 4)

Meaning: To defend our argument, we can provide more reasonable evidence. Life is

cruel to both animals and human beings. We often see teenagers thrown out from trucks,

suffering severe head injuries; little children, yet unable to walk, are found dead in swimming pools while their parents are busy and distracted. We are surrounded by potential il ness from common germs and viruses and by potential dangers from car

accidents to gang violence; no life is free from pain.

13 Physicians hoping to relieve the eternal suffering of these tragedies have only

three choices:1) create an animal model of the problem to understand the process

and test new therapies; 2)experiment on human beings (some experiments will

succeed, most will fail); or 3) leave medical knowledge static, hoping that accidental discoveries will lead us forward. (Para. 4)

Meaning: According to the author, to reduce the never-ending suffering from these

misfortunes, physicians can only have three options: create an animal model, test on

human beings, or stop doing medical research with the hope that one day some miracle will happen.

Meaning beyond words: The author’s position is indirectly stated that physicians can

only choose the first choice among these three to save the lives of human beings —

create an animal model of the medical problem to imitate and understand the process of

the medical treatment and to test new treatments.

14 Some animal rights activists would suggest an optional fourth choice, claiming

that computer models can create animal experiments, thus omitting actual experiments. (Para. 5)

Meaning: Some animal rights activists might suggest a fourth choice to solve the problem:

use computers to model animal experiments so that animal experiments can be eliminated.

15 Computers can imitate the effects of well-understood principles on complex

systems, as in the application of the laws of physics to airplane and automobile

design. (Para. 5)

Meaning: Computers can model the effects of complex systems if the principles are

well-understood, just as we apply the laws of physics to the design of airplanes and

automobiles.

16 However, when the principles themselves are in question, as is the case with the

complex biological systems of human life under study, computer modeling alone is

of little value. (Para. 5)

Meaning: However, computer modeling won’t be of great value when the principles

themselves are questionable such as the complex biological systems of human life which

are stil under study.

Meaning beyond words: The fourth suggestion is obviously not practical since it doesn’t

work with complex systems.

*Sentence structure note “as is the case with …” 句型

*“as is (often) the case with …” 句型中，as 引导非性定语从句，可以放在主句之前或

之后, 表示“跟…的情况一样”。这种句型通常是倒装结构，由 as 引出的从句紧接动词，as 本

身是一个连接词。例如：

*As is the case with most children, Tony likes to play with smal animals. 跟大多数孩子一

样，托尼喜欢与小动物玩。

*He was late for school today, as was often the case with him.他今天上学迟到了，跟他以

往经常发生的情况一样。

17 One of the terrifying effects of arresting the use of animals in medical research is

that the impact will not be felt for years or even decades. Drugs to cure infection

will remain undiscovered, surgical and diagnostic techniques will remain undeveloped, and fundamental biological processes that might have been understood will remain mysteries. (Para. 6)

Meaning: Here is one of the terrifying effects if animal research is stopped completely:

People won’t see the negative consequences till many years later. For example, new

drugs to cure infection won’t be discovered, surgical and diagnostic techniques won’t be

developed, and fundamental biological processes, which might otherwise be understood,

will continue to be mysteries.

Meaning beyond words: There will be substantially harmful consequences if animal

research is stopped.

18 There is the danger that quick decisions by well-meaning politicians will create

resolution to diplomatically satisfy the small minority of loud protesters while the

consequences and damaging impact of those decisions will not be apparent until

long after. (Para. 6)

Meaning: To meet the requests from the smal number of noisy protesters, the

politicians,

out of good intention, will make quick decisions to diplomatically resolve the problem.

However, these political decisions have disastrous consequences which won’t be seen

until far into the future.

*well-meaning: a. intending to be helpful, but not succeeding 本意良好的，出于好意的（但 不成功）

*A lot of problems can be caused by well-meaning friends. 很多问题会由好心办坏事的朋 友引起。

Note: Wel -meaning is a compound adjective, a present participle preceded with an adjective or adverb, such

as good-looking, ugly-looking,easy-looking, tired-looking, hard-working, and ever-lasting.

19 Fortunately, most of us enjoy good health, and the agony of watching one’s child die has become a rare experience. (Para. 7)

Meaning beyond words: We are lucky because most of us have good health, and the

pain to see a dying child has also become rare, an evidence which effectively shows the

importance of medical research and the progress it has made.

20 Yet our good fortune should not make us unappreciative. Protection from serious sickness and drugs to combat heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke are all based on animal research. Most complex surgical procedures such as

heart or hip surgery and organ transplantation surgeries were initially developed in

animals. (Para. 7)

Meaning: We should be grateful for our good fortune, though. We should know that

protection from serious sickness and drugs to fight heart disease, high blood pressure and

stroke all come from animal research. Most complex surgical procedures such as heart or

hip surgery and organ transplantation surgeries were also first used and developed in

animal research.

Meaning beyond words: Al these medical advances should be attributed to animal

research, without which no such medical achievements could have ever been made.

21 Techniques to replace defective genes, the cause of so much disease, as well as

the development of synthetic organs are presently undergoing animal studies. These studies, and any subsequent advances, will effectively end if animal research is severely restricted. (Para. 7)

Meaning: The efforts to substitute problematic genes that have caused a lot of disease

and the development of artificial organs are now conducted on animal studies. These

studies, together with the forthcoming advances, wil actual y end if animal research is stopped.

22 In America today, death has become an event isolated from our daily existence.

As a doctor who has watched many children die and seen their parents’ infinite

grief, I am particularly angered by any minute expression of caring for the suffering

of creatures and so little for sick and dying human beings. (Para. 8)

Meaning: In today’s America, death has become far away from day-to-day life. Being a

doctor, I have seen many children die, and I have experienced the tremendous grief of

their parents. Therefore, I am especially mad at the detailed remarks about the suffering

of the animals but so little care for sick and dying human beings.

23 People are too protected from the reality of human life and death and what it

means. (Para.8)

Meaning: People stay healthy and are well protected through medical advances, so they

don’t understand the cruel reality of life and death and what it real y means.

24 Make no mistake, however. I would never advocate needless cruel treatment of

animals. The animal rights movement has made a contribution in making us more

aware of animals’ needs and the need to search harder for suitable alternatives. (Para. 9)

Meaning: However, don’t be mistaken. Don’t assume that I would engage in unnecessary

cruel treatment of animals. The good thing that the animal rights movement has done is

that it has made us more conscious of animal rights and the urgency to search harder for

proper alternatives to animal research.

Meaning beyond words: To make his argument more legitimated, the physician is

conceding a little bit by agreeing with the opponents’ points or concerns. It can somehow

make his viewpoint sound more reasonable and convincing to the public, an effective

strategy when writing an argumentative essay.

25 But if the more radical members of this movement are successful in threatening

further research, their efforts will bring about a tragedy that will cost many lives. (Para. 9)

Meaning: Nevertheless, if the more extreme members of the movement successful y put

animal research at risk, there will be a tragedy which causes many people to die.

26 Hence the real question is whether an uncaring majority can be aroused to protect its future against a loud, but misdirected, minority. (Para. 9)

Meaning: Therefore, the real question is whether we can make the uncaring

public be

aware of the significance of animal research against a minority that are active but in the

wrong direction.

Meaning beyond words: This is the physician’s last appeal to the public and also his

most worried concern. He urges the public to be aware of the significance of animal

research and to take actions against those minority who are active but in the wrong direction.

Note: Misdirect is a derivative word, made up of the prefix mis- and the word direct. Verbs

formed in this way describe or refer to things that are done wrongly or badly. Words that

have been learned are misunderstand, misuse, misprint, etc.