Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars（Vocabulary and Useful Expressions）

t：excellent.and this sentence uses exaggeration.
s5：in the second paragraph，“in fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins.” why don’t we use “ruin” instead of “ruins”？
t：“ruin” can be an uncountable noun，which means a situation in which you have lost all your money，your social position，or the good opinion that people had about you.
e.g.with the collapse of grain prices，small farmers are on the brink of financial ruin.
while “ruins” means the part of a building that is left after the rest has been destroyed.
e.g.the ruins of a bombed-out office block
s6：in the second paragraph “two-thirds of the people died or were injured during the earthquake.” can we use “wound” to take the place of “injure”？
t：no.to injure someone means causing physical harm to someone，for example in an accident or an attack.to wound someone means injuring someone，especially by making a cut or hole in their skin using a knife，gun，etc.
e.g.（1）one of the players injured his knee and had to be carried off.
（2）gunmen killed two people and wounded six others in an attack today.
s7：in the third paragraph “everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed.” can we use the word “ruin” to take the place of “destroy”？
t：no.“destroy” means to damage something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.if you “ruin” something good or useful，it then usually exists，but no longer has its good qualities or features.
e.g.（1）the school was completely destroyed in the big fire last night.
（2）too much sugar can ruin your teeth.
s8：in the third paragraph，“people were shocked.”what’s the meaning of the sentence？
t：“shock” here means to make someone feel very surprised and upset and unable to believe what has happened.
e.g.the murder of such a young child deeply shocked the whole community.
s9：so the sentence in our text means people were surprised.
t：yes.but there is a slight difference between “shock” and “surprise”.if something is，comes as，or gives you a shock it is unexpected and often very bad.
e.g.it came as a great shock to hear she was leaving home.
but a surprise is something that is unexpected，but is not necessarily bad.
e.g.what a nice surprise! i didn’t even think you were in the country!
s10：in the third paragraph，“people began to wonder how long the disaster would last.” what does the word “l(fā)ast” mean in this sentence？is it an adjective？
t：no，it is not an adjective but a verb.“l(fā)ast” here means to continue for a particular length of time.