1. Section A I’m Toast the Battle Against “Smart” Appliances

2. Preparation Getting the Message Direction: Direction: Complete the following entences with the correct answers according to the text. 1. By “driving customers up the wall”, the author means that the appliance manufacturers plan to make the customers____. A. excited B.frightened C. satisfied D. angry 2. The author thinks an improved refrigerator should ______. A. know know when it’s out of milk B. when the milk is out of date C. refuse to let us open its door when we are eating too much D. be able to communicate with its owner

3. Preparation Getting the Message Direction: Direction: Complete the following entences with the correct answers according to the text. 3. The greatest problem with the appliances we have now is that________. A. they don’t have enough features B. we don’t like their features C. we don’t know how to operate them D. they are too expensive 4. The worst thing about a refrigerator that tells you when the milk is out of date is that________. A. the voice is not pleasant B. the voice is recorded C. you feel confused as to how it knows it D. you don’t know who else it’s telling about it

4. Reading Through Main Idea Main Idea The author expresses her negative opinions about “smart” appliances. At the beginning of the text, the author tells us that the appliance manufacturers want to have us live in houses where “all appliances are connected to the Internet, sharing information”. The author directly points out that she does not like this idea. She supports her idea by talking about the trouble she has with her own “smart” appliances. The examples show that they are slow and useless although they have so many features. Then the author goes on to point out what the appliance manufacturers want to do is just to give us more features while ignoring the real need of customers. So the author appeals to the customers not to buy such “smart” appliances.

5. New Words toast appliance manufacturer refrigerator bowl likewise effective improvement Fridge disturb feature industry button equip remote cassette recorder power figure beer declare Inform comprehension urge

6. Phrases and Expressions be toast drive somebody up the wall be out of right now be faced with at random give up what’s worse figure out beyond comprehension come to

7. Detailed Study of Text A 1. Recently, The Washington Post printed an article explaining how the appliance manufacturers plan to drive customers up the wall.drive customers up the wall 2. I stand there, holding two remote controls, pressing buttons at random, until eventually I give up and go turn on the dishwasher. at randomgive up 3. You will not know how your refrigerator knows this, and, what’s worse, you will not know who else your refrigerator is informing about it.what’s worse 4. Yet, to make the refrigerator stop, you’ll have to read a whole book written in terms that are beyond comprehension.

8. to drive somebody up the wall: drive somebody into a state of great anger or near madness （非正 式）使某人勃然大怒；几乎疯狂 e.g. I just can‘t live with Bob, who always drives me up the wall. 我就是受不了鲍勃，他老是让我生气。 e.g. His lack of order drove his girlfriend up the wall. 他没 有条理，女友为此很生气。

9. at random: aimlessly: 任意地；随机地；漫无目的地 e.g. The people for the experiment were chosen completely at random. 实验对象完全是随意挑选的。 e.g. Dirty dishes were piled at random. 脏碟子胡乱地堆 着。

10. what’s worse: worsening a situation that is already difficult or dangerous 更糟的是 e.g. Her husband was injured, what's worse, her child was sick. 她丈夫受了伤，更糟的是，她孩子也病了。 e.g. His car was stolen, what's worse, he came across two robbers on the way home. 他的车被偷了，更糟的是， 他在回家的路上又遇到了两个劫匪。

11. beyond comprehension: impossible to understand 无法 理解 e.g. How he finished it so quickly was beyond my comprehension. 我不明白他怎么这么快就完成了。 e.g. How Tom won the prize was well beyond everyone's comprehension. 没人弄得明白汤姆是怎样得奖的。