Text A   Families

　　本课主要单词

　　1.definition  n. 定义,释义

　　define  v. 解释；给…定义；明确表示

　　He simply said it was very difficult for him to give a definition for that word.（他只是说要他给那个词下个定义是很困难的.）

　　The dictionary gives us several definitions, which makes me more confused about the meaning of this word. （辞典给了我们好几个释义,这使我对该词的意思更加困惑.）

　　People define him as a genius. （人们说他是天才.）

　　I have already defined my position on that issue. （我已经明确表示了我在这个问题上的立场.）

　　2.marriage  n. 婚姻,结婚

　　marry  v. 结婚

　　married  adj. 结了婚的

　　No one expected that their marriage could break up because of a misunderstanding.（谁也没想到他们的婚姻竟会因为误解而破裂.）

　　Her second marriage lasted only 6 weeks. （她的第二次婚姻只维持了六个星期.）

　　They are in love with each other and wish to marry. （他们彼此相爱,希望结婚.）

　　Her parents said they wouldn't allow her to marry that poor young man.（她的父母说他们不会允许她与那个穷苦的年轻人结婚.）

　　He was 35, married with two children. （他35岁,已婚,有两个孩子.）

　　She was married to the young artist last month. （她上个月与那位年轻的艺术家结了婚.）

　　（请注意:要表述某人同某人结婚,不能用sb. marries / married with sb. else,而应该用sb. marries/married sb. else 或者sb. is/was married to sb. else 来表述.）

　　3.descend  v. 下降；传下,遗传；堕落

　　descendant  n. 子孙,后裔

　　ascend  v. 上升；登高；追溯到某个时期

　　ascendant  n. 优势；祖先（与descendant相对而言）         adj. 优势的

　　The sun descended behind the hills. （太阳下了山.）

　　The customs have descended to our generation. （这些习俗一直传到我们这一代.）

　　He was so poor that he descended to begging. （他穷得只好乞讨度日.）

　　As descendants of the early settlers, they were tolerant and hardworking.（作为早期移民的后裔,他们忍耐而勤劳.）

　　They are descendants of an Indian tribe. （他们是一支印第安部落的后裔.）

　　The airplane ascended into the cloud. （飞机高高飞入云端.）

　　Queen Victoria ascended ascended the throne in 1837.（维多利亚女王于1837年登上王位.）

　　His party is no longer in the ascendant. （他那一派已经优势不再.）

　　We still have the ascendant position in world politics. （我们在国际政治中仍占优势地位.）

　　4.ancestor n. 祖先,祖宗

　　His ancestors came to America on the Mayflower. （他的祖先乘"五月花”号来到美洲.）

　　Their grandfathers were the ancestors of some of the well-known families in Boston.（他们的祖父辈是波士顿几家望族的祖先.）

　　ancestry  n. [总称] 列祖列宗；血统

　　He was born of good ancestry. （他出身名门.）

　　She is an American of German ancestry. （她是德国血统的美国人.）

　　5.household  n. 家庭,户；一家人

　　adj. 家庭的,家常的

　　How many people are there in your household? （你们家有几口人?）

　　Early in the morning the household got into a car and headed for the beach.（一大早,全家人坐上汽车往海边驶去.）

　　Household chores are not just women's work. （家务杂事不只是妇女的活.）

　　Einstein is a household name in the civilized world. （爱因斯坦是文明世界里家喻户晓的名字.）

　　6.relative  n. 亲属,亲戚    adj. 相对的

　　His wife had to visit some of her relatives for a few days. （他妻子需要几天时间去看娘家的亲戚.）

　　The apes are man's closest relatives. （猿是与人类亲缘关系最为接近的动物.）

　　He told me that his aunt was his only immediate relative. （他告诉我说姑母是他唯一的至亲.）

　　All human values are relative. （人类的一切价值标准都是相对的.）

　　The Jackson's are living in relative comfort now. （现在,杰克逊一家生活过得比较舒适.）

　　7.traditional  adj. 传统的

　　tradition  n. 传统

　　Alice said she would be happy to have a traditional Chinese wedding.（爱丽丝说能有一个传统的中国婚礼她会很开心.）

　　More and more Westerners believe in traditional Chinese medicine now.（现在,越来越多的西方人相信传统中医了.）

　　He reassured his grandfather that he would keep up the family tradition by all means.（他向祖父保证,他会尽一切可能保持家庭传统.）

　　In his lecture he talked briefly about the history and traditions of the movement.（在他的讲座中,他简述了那次运动的历史和传统.）

　　8.security  n. 完全；保障；把握

　　secure   v. 保卫,保证,获得    adj. 完全的

　　We are all concerned for the security of the passengers. （我们都很担心旅客的安全.）

　　Children rely on their parents for love and security. （孩子们靠父母给他们爱和完全感.）

　　The girl delivered her speech with great security. （那个女孩满怀信心地讲演着.）

　　She felt secure only when she made sure that both doors were locked.（只有确信两道门都锁上了时,她才感到放心.）

　　We all dream of living a quiet and secure life. （我们都梦想过上平静、安定的生活.）

　　His carefulness secured him from making more mistakes. （他的细心保证了他不犯更多的错误.）

　　His father couldn't believe that he secured such a good job. （他父亲不相信他找到了这么好的一份工作.）

　　（注意:securities 指证券）

　　9.basically  adv. 基本上；从根本上说,大致说来

　　basic  adj. 基础的,根本的；初步的；主要的

　　base  n. 基础,根据；基地      v. 把…基于

　　My work is basically to train students' ability in reading and writing.（从根本上说,我的工作是训练学生的读、写能力.）

　　There are basically two types of families: nuclear families and extended families.（大致说来,有两类家庭:核心家庭和大家庭.）

　　The basic theme of these stories is more or less the same. （这些故事的主题大致相同.）

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