Nature

The icy Defender

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Napoleon Bonaparte (1769−1821) Emperor of the French, who consolidated and institutionalized many reforms of the French Revolution. One of the greatest military commanders of all time, he conquered the larger part of Europe. During 1802--1815 Napoleon tried to gain control of the whole of

Europe. He had great success against all his enemies except Britain, whose navy under Nelson defeated the French navy at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and whose army fought the Peninsular War against him from 1808 to 1814, making him weaker in his other campaigns. In 1812 Napoleon lost half a million men when he invaded Russia in winter, and in 1814 the British, Russians, Prussians and Austrians entered Paris. They sent Napoleon to rule the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, but he collected an army around him and terurned to Paris. He was soon defeated again, at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and was sent to the island of St Helena in the south Atlantic, where he died in 1821.

The Battle of Waterloo: final and decisive action of the Napoleonic Wars,

that effectively ended French domination of the European continent and brought about drastic changes in the political boundaries and the power balance of Europe. Fought on June 18, 1815, near Waterloo, in what is now Belgium, the battle ranks as a great turning point in modern history.

Adolf Hitler(1889-1945): German political and military leader and one of the 20th

century’s most powerful dictators. Hitler converted Germany into a fully minitarized society and launched World II in 1939. He made anti-Semitism a keytone of his propaganda and policiesand built the Nazi Party into a mass movement. He hoped to conquer the entire world, and for a time dominated most of Europe and much of North Africa. He instituted sterilization( 绝育 ) and euthanasia( 无痛苦致死术 ) measures to enforce his idea of racial purity among the German people and slaughtered millions of Jews,Sinti and Roma(Gypsies), Slavic peoples, and many others, all of whom he considered inferior.

Unit 1 The Icy Defender (text explanations)

in the case of 1. The economic depression is disastrous ~ small firms.

2. Formal training will take at least 6 years ~ surgery.

In case of sth:if something happens1. In case of fire, ring the alarm bell. （万一失火，请按警铃。）(just) in case:免得，以防1. It may rain ------you’d better take an umbrella (just) in case (it does).In any caseIn no case

stand/be/get in the way Many teachers complain that they can’t make any impro

vement in teaching methods as the existing exam system is in the way.

Launch 1. 2003 年的春天，美国向伊拉克发起了大规模进

攻。

2. Many universities launched a campaign to wipe out cheating in exams last term.

3. The press launched a vicious( 恶毒的 ) attack on the President. .

America launched a large- scaled attack to Iraq in the spring of 2003.

unequaled 1. The national power of America is still ~ by now. 2. 希腊神话中的力士 (Titan) 参渗力大无穷，无人能比。

assemble 1. He called us together and told the assembled

company that the exams had been cancelled. 2. This bookcase is easy to ~. 3. 托尼正在组装一架模型飞机

The character Titan in the Greek Mythology is said to be very strong. And his strenth is ~.

decisive 1. Lincoln took ~ measures to end slavery. 2. The adoption of the euro is widely viewed as a ~ step t

oward a single European government. be/get bogged down 1. The car ~ in the mud. 2. The talks of the two sides(the labour and the mannag

ement) ~ on the question of working hours. 3.The local government got bogged down in problems of

how to handle the emission of hazardous( 危险的 ) che-micals by industrial facilities.

engage (sb.) in sth 1. They are currently engaged in lengthy trade negoti

ations. 2. The teacher tried to engage the shy boy in convers

ation. crucial 1. Regretfully, our soccer team lost the game in the la

st ~ three minutes. 2. The CET-4 test is ~ to the chinese college students.

take a gamble 1. The company took a gamble by cutting the

price of their products, and it paid off. 2. She’s taking a gamble investing all her money

in stocks. bide one’s time 1.  His political rivals are biding their time for an

attack on his policies.

at the cost of 1. Berhman saved Johnsy at the cost of his life. 2. The local government developed its economy b

ut at the cost of the environment. catch sb. off guard 1. The invitation to his wedding caught me off guar

d. 2. The reporters question obviously caught him off

guard, as he hesitated for several minutes before answering it.

casualty 1. The precise number of casualties in the mud-

rock-flow is 1800.

die from/of : have as the cause of death

1. Some animals died of starvation in the snow. 2. All the plants were dying from lack of rain.

表示死的原因， die 后既可接介词 of ，也可接 from, 两者的区别是： 一、若死因存在于人体之上或之内（主要指疾病、衰老等自身的原因 ) ，一般用介词 of 。如： die of illness (heart trouble, cancer, a fever, etc) 死于疾病 ( 心脏病，癌症，发烧等 ) 二、若死因不是存在人体之内或之上，而是由环境造成的 ( 主要指事故等方面的外部原因 ) ，一般用介词 from 。 如： die from an earthquake (a traffic accident, a lightning, a stroke, etc) 死于地震 ( 交通事故，雷击等 ) 三、若死因是环境影响到体内，即两方面共有的原因，则可用 of, from 均可。如： die of [from] a drink ( a wound, overwork, starvation, hunger and cold, etc) 死于饮酒 ( 受伤，劳累过度，饥饿，饥寒等 ) 但是在实际运用中，两者混用的情况较多。

bring to a halt 1. Our journey was brought to a halt by a s

torm.

turn the tide(against) 1. The appearance of Joan of Arc turned t

he tide of the Hundred Years’ war between Britain and France. 

thanks to: because of, owing to, on account of

1. ~ her financial support, the two children in the remote village could go to school.

2. It was ~ your stupidity that we lost the game. 3. 由于比琳达 (Belinda) 不知疲惫的努力 , 音乐会

获得了级 大的成功。 take its/a toll 1. The famine took a toll of 3,000,000 lives.