|▲ |<1>prodigy |n. |[C] a young person who has unusual and very noticeable abilities for their age |奇才；天才
|| ||However, if a child could pick up the language merely by exposure he would be considered a real prodigy. |然而，如果一名儿童仅仅通过接触就能学会这门语言，他会被视作是一个真正的奇才。
| |<2> <em>narrow-minded</em> |a. |not willing to accept different ideas or customs |心胸狭窄的
|| ||He was criticized for being boring, selfish and narrow-minded. |他的无聊、自私自利、心胸狭窄受到了批评。
|| ||I think I'm not too narrow-minded in my outlook, and that I encompass different periods and ideas. |我认为自己的观点不是太偏狭，我涉及到了不同的时期和不同的思想。
| |<3> <em>long-term</em> |a. |continuing for a long time into the future |长期的
|| ||What we need is a long-term solution, not a short-term one. |我们所需要的是一个长期的解决办法，而不是一个短期的解决办法。
|| ||A new training scheme to help the long-term unemployed is expected. |人们期望有一个新的帮助长期失业人员的培训计划。
| |<4> <em>self-motivated</em> |a. |motivated by oneself |积极主动的
|| ||They were so determined to learn and they were so strongly self-motivated. |他们学习的决心如此之大，他们的自我主动性如此之强。
|| ||The children are very self-motivated but they are still very young. |这些孩子们积极性很高，但他们的年纪仍然太小。
<TITLE>Phrases and Expressions</TITLE>
||<5>spring up |appear or develop quickly and/or suddenly |涌现；突然兴起
|| |His success doesn't spring up out of nowhere. |他的成功不是凭空而来的。
|| |If the project's a success, similar constructions may spring up elsewhere. |如果这个项目成功的话，类似建筑物也许会在其他的地方涌现。
||<6>out of nowhere|happening or appearing suddenly |突然发生；突然出现
|| |He was driving too fast on the express highway when a police car appeared out of nowhere and stopped him. |他正在高速公路上超速行驶，这时不知打哪儿冒出一辆警车把他拦住了。
|| |The thought swam into her mind out of nowhere. |这想法不知从何处涌入她的脑海。
||<7>look into|examine |调查
|| |Many such crimes are looked into by special agencies rather than the police. |许多这种犯罪是由专门的机构调查，而不是由警方进行调查的。
|| |The union representative is looking into the case to see if the company is responsible. |工会代表正在调查这起案子，看公司是否负有责任。
||<8>go out of one's way to do sth. |make a special effort to do sth. |特地做某事；想尽办法做某事
|| |Mary always went out of her way to help me learn Russian before I went to Moscow. |我去莫斯科前，玛丽总是不怕麻烦地帮助我学习俄语。
|| |He could have complained to the top about my basic lack of professionalism but instead he went out of his way to try and help me. |他原本可以向上层领导埋怨我缺乏基本的职业技艺，可相反，他千方百计地试图帮助我。
||<9>in question |under consideration or discussion |考虑之中的；谈论中的
|| |If the restaurant in question adds a service charge, then there would be fewer customers. |要是那家谈论中的餐馆增收服务费，那么顾客就会比较少了。
|| |Can you give us more information about the man in question? |关于这个人你能给我们提供更多的情况吗？
||<10>step by step |gradually |逐渐地
|| |Step by step, they are approaching the crux of the problem. |一步步地，他们正接近问题的关键。
|| |The gang of robbers approached with guns, forcing them step by step into the sea. |那帮强盗拿着枪逼近，强迫他们一步一步地走到大海中。
||<11>have an advantage over |be better, more effective, and more useful than |比...处于有利地位，比...有优势
|| |She realized that she had an advantage over her mother's generation. |她意识到她比自己母亲这代人有优势。
His recent research finds that older learners have an advantage over the very young in certain aspects of language learning. |他最近的研究发现，在语言学习的有些方面，年龄较大的学习者比年龄非常小的有优势。
||<12>be in a position to do sth. |be able to do sth. because you have the ability, money, or power to do it |能够做；有条件做
|| |When I have read the whole report I shall be in a better position to comment. |读完整篇报告之后，我才能更好地作出评论。
|| |As a mother of five, I feel I am in a position to speak about how to better educate children. |作为一个五个孩子的母亲，我觉得我有资格谈论如何更好地教育孩子。
<TITLE>Proper Names</TITLE>
||<13>Einstein | |爱因斯坦（Albert Einstein, 1879-1955，美籍德国理论物理学家）
||<14>Pablo Picasso | |帕布罗·毕加索（1881-1973，西班牙画家、雕刻家，立体主义画派主要代表）
||<15>Mozart | |莫扎特（1756-1791，奥地利作曲家，维也纳古典乐派主要代表）
||<16>Karl Friedrich Gauss | |卡尔·弗里德里希·高斯（1777-1855，德国数学家）
||<17>Holland | |荷兰（西欧国家） |