exercise5

Exercise 5. Guess the meaning of the italicized words in the following sentences, using the context clues.

1. They must condense, that is, reduce or make shorter the length of a reading passage.

2. Every year the leaves fall from the trees and decay; in other words, they turn moist and dark and gradually fall to pieces, being no longer connected with the source of their life. This is the process of decay.

3. After the earthquake hit the country, people's lives were chaotic, or in a confused condition.

4. Children who wear rags, in other words, old worn-out clothes to school are sometimes laughed at by their schoolmates.

5. Rules of grammar can not be profitably studied in abstract, that is to say, without examples.

6. The chlorophyll, or green coloring matter in the plants, uses the energy in the sun's rays to combine the carbon dioxide in the air with water and minerals in the soil.

7. Another problem of American's youth is pregnancy among young women. In other words, each year one million teenagers become mother-to-be.

8. Gold can be fire-refined, that is, melted and held at a temperature at which other less impurities will be oxidized(使氧化)and float to the surface.

9. Sometimes the police are not absolutely sure that someone has committed a crime, but suspect him of having done it, in other words, they think it likely or probable that he has done it.

10. Some books are anthologies, that is, a collection of works by a number of authors.

11. Children who play in the street are liable to be killed or injured by cars. This means that children who play in the street are likely to be killed or injured by cars.

12. Often people of high status and rank enjoy certain privilege, i.e., right granted as special benefit, advantage, or favor.

13. Living things struggle to subsist, i. e., to live on the available food or means of existence. What is science based on? Ultimately science has an empirical basis, that is to say, it is based on observation of natural phenomena. It is based on the resemblances, contrast, and relationship which scientists find between appearances, events and situations in nature.

14. The enemy surrendered, i.e.,put down their weapons and walked with their hands over their heads.

15. In the coming decade, that is to say, from 1990 to 2000,China is to establish an educational system with Chinese characteristic.

16. X-ray therapy, that is, treatment by use of X-rays, often halts the growth of the tumor(肿瘤）.

17. Mary felt perturbed, that is, she was greatly disturbed by her sister's action.

18. Discipline in schools is enforced by the teachers and sometimes senior students. They use the threat of certain punishments to compel the students to obey them, in other words, they enforce discipline by threats of punishment.

19. When he assesses the tax he determines its amount on the basis of certain criteria ,

i. e. ,standards or principles on the basis of which something is measured for its value.

20. Weather experts say that a drought is imminent, likely to occur at any time this year or next.

21. There has been an upsurge of interest in this aspect of reading difficulty, which has been variously described as word blindness, dyslexia or specific reading disability.

22. His questions are irrelevant and annoying ; they are not related to the subject we are learning.

23. The perimeter, or the distance around the circle, is six meters.

24. Red has the longest wavelength, that is , the distance between each wave is longer in red light than in any other color.

25. Once the water is allowed to move, it acquires kinetic energy, or energy of motion at the expense of potential energy.

26. Most individual plants and animals become weak in an adverse environment .Many die and many become sterile, that is, unable to reproduce.

27. The critical temperature, or critical point, is the temperature at which a piece of steel is properly hardened.

28. We often analyse things in order to evaluate them , i . e., assess them in terms of a scale of value.

29. Children often take for granted their parents' efforts to take care of them, that is, they consider their parents' work as something natural and expected.

30. The powerful poison was imperceptible when mixed in liquid; that is, it could not be tasted, seen or smelled.

31. Shrugging, or lifting the shoulder, is a typical French gesture to show that one doesn't know or doesn't care about something.

32. A logical way to write about a process is in order of time, or chronologically. A writer begins with the first step in a process and describes the sequence in order until he reaches the last step.

33. The molecules of a gas try to spread out, or in other words, to diffuse.

34. Current approacher in educational theory are concerned with the extent to which children actually participate in classroom procedures, and the extent to which they are merely passive observers, or nonparticipants.

35. People do not want to keep garbage in their houses for more than a day or two. They want to remove it, destroy it, or to deal with it in some way, in other words, they want to dispose of it or get rid of it.

36. Although they were yelling and screaming, she remained aloof, that is to say, she paid them no attention at all.

37. He draws a quadrilateral, i .e. , four-sided geometric figure.

38. To reveal something is to show it, to allow or enable it to be seen, or to make it known especially when it was hidden or secret before.

39. A logical argument is an argument which is consistent. A consistent argument is an argument which does not contain any contradictions, An argument which contains contradictions(矛盾)is inconsistent.

40. He wanted to become a pediatrician, that is a doctor specializing in the care and diseases of children.

41. A tapeworm consists of numerous segments. when a new segment forms, older ones move to the back of the animal. Each segment contains hermaphroditic sexual organs, that is organs of males and females.

42. The ball is hollow, that is to say, it has a space inside.

43. Recently many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension, or in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read.

44. People say he is a professional ghost writer, that is, a person who writes speeches, books, articles, etc. for another person who is named as or presumed to be the author.

45. It is largely on his advice that a seller will fix a“reserve price”, that is, a price below which the goods cannot be sold.