上海建桥学院大学英语制作
Unit 4 The Virtual World
Text A
A Virtual Life
Contents
Class Discussion
Background Information
New Words & Expressions
Text Learning
Part Division of Text A
Grammatical Structures and Key Sentences
After Reading
Summary of Text A
Class Discussion
Discussion on Pictures
Real Life vs. Second Life
Real life vs. Virtual life
Real Life
Virtual Life
Class Discussion
1
What is a virtual
life? State the
noticeable features
2
Which life do you
think is better? The
real life or the
virtual one?
3
What can people do on the
Internet?
antonyms
Virtual Life & Virtual
World
synonyms
Real life &
Real world
Cyberspace;
cyberia;
etherworld;
virtual reality;
Internet world;
net world; etc.
Communicating with people; shopping;
What can people do reading; learning; working; publishing;
on the Internet?
listening to music; watching films;
playing games; hacking; etc.
Background Information
The Advantages
01
02
Virtual life has its perks; from general networking and
giving voice to the public to communicating news and
marketing for businesses.
The increasing benefits and conveniences of social
networks have caused individuals to become
attached to virtual life.
03
People are also attached to social networks
because it is much closer to the type of life desired
than the type of life actually lived.
04
It takes less effort to craft one’s desired image in the
virtual world than actually work for it in the real world.
The Disadvantage
Why is this virtual
world of gaming so
interesting? Why do
millions of people
spend good time &
money to do this?
Further
Discussion
Fact
Questions
Over 50 million people
play online games every
day. 12 million of those
people are serious
gamers who participate in
massive multiplayer
online games.
How have computer and internet
changed your life?
What’s your opinion towards internet?

New Words & Expressions
A Virtual Life
• virtual adj.
1) almost what is stated; in fact though not in
name 差不多，实质上的
– Our deputy manager is the virtual head of the
business.
2) created and existing only in a computer 虚拟
的
– I can visit a virtual store and put what I want in
my basket at the click of a mouse button.
• stretch v.
1) (cause to) become longer, wider, etc. without
breaking 拉长，伸直
– The coat will stretch when washed.
2) to make a body part longer by reaching out or
extending that part 伸展（肢体）
– The cat stretched after her nap. 猫睡醒之后伸
了个懒腰。
– Stretch one’s patience to the limit
n. stretch 舒展；弹性；一段连续的时间
• submit v.
1) give (sth.) to sb. so that it may be formally considered
提交,呈递
– We should submit our plans to the council for
approval.
2) to yield (oneself), agree to obey 服从,顺从 【+ to】
– We submitted ourselves to their wishes.
– 我们顺从了他们的愿望。
3) to surrender 屈服，投降【+ to】
– The British forces submitted to American soldiers
during the Revolutionary War.
• communicate
1) vi. contact sb. in any way, esp. by speaking
to them, writing to them or calling them 通信，
交往【+ with sb.】
– We can communicate with people in most
parts of the world by telephone.
2) vt make (news, opinions, feelings, etc.)
known 传递，表达
– The officer communicated his orders to the
men by radio.
– This poem communicates the author's despair.
• take in vt
– 1) to include or cover something 包括
– 2) to receive someone into one’s home 收容
(某人)
– 3) to understand or grasp something 理解，
领会
– 4) to make clothes smaller or tighter 改小改
窄(衣服)
– 5) [usu. passive] to deceive or cheat
someone 欺骗（某人）
– 6) to absorb something into the body by
breathing or swallowing it 吸收，吸进，咽下
•
Match the above definitions with the
sentences below.
– The dress was too big, so I took it in.( )
– I didn’t take in what you were saying.( )
– This is the total cost of the trip, taking in
everything.( )
– Do you mean we should get rid of the stale
and take in the fresh?( )
– Don’t be taken in by her promises.( )
• Confront
He will admit his error when we confront
him with these figures.
We will confront many difficulties in doing
the work.
•
•
•
•
Face
Be confronted with
Be faced with
Face up to
• but then
yet at the same time 但另一方面,不
过
– The circus was not a very good one; but then,
the audience was not demanding.
– 这个马戏团并不出色，不过观众的要求也不高。
– At first I thought he was shy, but then I
discovered he was just not interested in other
people.
– 起初我还以为他很腼腆,后来我才发现他是不爱
理人。
• Jar: have a harsh or an unpleasant
effect
(jar sth. / jar on sb. or sth. )发出刺耳
的声音，使感到不快
- The loud bang jarred my nerves.
- Her voice jarred on me.
• suck v. 吸，吮；舔
– She was sitting on the grass sucking
lemonade through a straw. 她坐在草地上用吸管
喝柠檬汁。
suck sb. / sth. in = suck sb. / sth. Into sth.
[often passive] involve sb in an activity, an
argument. etc, usu. against their will 使卷入
– I don’t want to be sucked into this debate.
– 我不想卷入到争论中去。
• abuse
1) n. wrong or excessive use; cruel treatment滥
用;虐待
– alcohol abuse /drugs abuse/ child abuse
– the abuse of animals 对动物的虐待
2) vt.
a) put to wrong use, use badly 妄用，滥用
– It’s easy to abuse one’s power.
b) do cruel things to (a person or animal) 虐待
– I won’t allow you to abuse that dog.
• restore vt. bring back to a former condition
恢复 【restore sth/ restore sb to sth】
– Winning three games restored their
confidence.
– Doing sports every day restored the old man
to good health.
– The stolen property must be restored to its
owner.
– 赃物必须物归原主。
• set apart: to place something separately; to
keep something for a special use 把…….分开;
留出（供专用）
– He was set apart because he suffered an
infectious disease他被隔离开了，因为他得了
传染病。
– Two rooms were set apart for use as libraries.
有两个房间被留出作为图书馆。
• interview v. / n.
1) 面谈，会谈，采访
– In an exclusive interview (专访) with our
reporter, the film star revealed some of his
personal affairs. (n.)
– interview the Prime Minister (v.)
2) 面试，口试
– He has an interview next Thursday for a job.
(n.) 他下周四要参加工作面试。
– We interviewed 20 people for the job. (v.)
Word Completion
Complete the words with the help of the definitions given.
1. s tretch
2. e ndless
3. a version
4. a ngle
5. m isinterpret
6. r ely
7. a buse
8. r estore
9. I ntolerable
become longer, wider, etc.
having or seeming to have no end
a strong feeling of dislike
a particular way of considering an issue
understand wrongly
depend confidently, put trust in
wrong or excessive use
bring back to a former condition
too bad to be endured
Word Combination
Combining Forms/Prefixes
Words
combining forms/prefixes
+ noun
Combining forms/prefixes
+ verb
words like cyber, net, etc.
+ suffix
Clipped words
The most dynamic combining forms/prefixes for new computer-andInternet-related vocabulary in English are cyber-, virtual, Net- (net), Web(web-), and E- (e-).
1. combining forms/prefixes + noun
virtual life (虚拟世界),virtual office(虚拟办公室), cyber-interaction
(网络互动), cyber nut(网虫), cyber pet(电子宠物),web page(网页), website(网站),
e-card(电子贺卡),e-business(电子商务)
2. combining forms/prefixes + verb
cybersurf(网上冲浪), netsurf(网上冲浪), email(发送电子邮件)
3.words like cyber, net, etc. + suffix
cyberian(网络用户), netter(网民), cyberize(使联网)
4.clipped words
cyberdoc(网络医生), Netcast(网络播放), Netizen(网民), e-zine(电子杂志)
Text Learning
Part Division of the Text
Parts
Lines
1
1~16
2
17~53
3
54~66
Main Ideas
GR-1.part1
Description of the author’s virtual life.
Her feeling about the virtual life.
Her effort of returning to the real
world and her feeling about the real
world.
Grammatical Structures
& Key Sentences
A Virtual Life
•
My boyfriend’s Liverpool accent
suddenly becomes impossible to
interpret after his easily understood
words on screen; a secretary’s
clipped tone seems more rejecting
than I’d imagined it would be.(L1-4)
– This sentence implies: The author has
become more familiar with the virtual world
than the real world
A Virtual Life
•
And once you start replacing real human
contact with cyber-interaction, coming
back out of the cave can be quite difficult.
(L24-25)
–
–
Paraphrase the underlined part:
returning to normal society from the isolated life of
the virtual world can be quite a problem.
Note: “cyber-interaction” means “the contact via the
computer network” . “cyber-” is a prefix which
means “of the computer network”; “cave” here refers
to the isolated life of the virtual world.
A Virtual Life
•
At times, I turn on the television and just
leave it to talk away in the background,
something that I’d never done previously.
(L 31-32)
Translate this sentence into Chinese:
有时我把电视机开着，让它作为背景声音一直响着，以
前我从不这样做。
Note: “away” 在此表示一个连续不断的行为。例如：
She was singing away to herself in the bath.
她洗澡时一直自顾自地唱着歌。
A Virtual Life
•
“Dateline,” “Frontline”, “Nightline”, CNN,
New York 1, every possible angle of every
story over and over and over, even when
they are of no possible use to me.. (L 35-37)
Translate the sentence into Chinese:
•
我一而再、再而三地从“每日新闻”、“一线新闻”、“夜
间新闻”、有线新闻电视网、纽约一套上收看有关每一条新
闻的各种不同市郊的报道，尽管它们对我毫无用处。
Note: be + of + n. 相当于 be + 名词对应的形容词。
e.g. be of help =be helpful;
be of importance= be important
A Virtual Life
•
Work moves into the background.
（L37）
What does this sentence mean?
•
This sentence means work becomes less
important.
Why?
•
The reason why work becomes less important is
that communicating with the real world, the
author thinks, has become more important at that
time.
A Virtual Life
•
When I’m in this state, I fight my
boyfriend as well, misinterpreting his
intentions because of the lack of
emotional cues given by our typed
dialogue.(L45-47)
– Why does the author misinterpret her
boyfriend’s intention
– Because their typed dialogue lacks the
emotion that is expressed and implied in the
real dialogue.
A Virtual Life
•
I arrange interviews for stories, doctor’s
appointments --- anything to get me out of
the house and connected with others(L5759)
What does the word “story” mean here?
• Here “story” refers to any descriptive article in a
newspaper or an event, a situation, etc. suitable
for suck an article.
After Reading
Summary of Text A
With the Internet we can escape into another world
at the click of a button. For many this is a dream
come true. For others, a nightmare. Those who do
not trust the Internet argue that it is all too easy to
be sucked into a virtual world. Keeping in touch
with your friends by email is fine, but for those who
rely on it completely, communicating face-to-face
tends to be too emotional and unbearable. At times
they may feel this so strongly that they have to flee
from real human contact, hurrying to get back on
line to the comfort and safety of a less demanding
world.