critical a. ①決定性的，關鍵性的 ②批評的，批判的 ③有危險的

　　例：Your decision is critical to our future. 你的決定對我們的將來至關重要。The first 24 hours after the operation are the most critical. 病人手術后24小時是最危險的。搭配：be critical about 愛挑剔：Tom’s parents are highly critical about the school. 湯姆的父母對學校極度挑剔。拓展：critically a. 嚴重地，危急地

　　聽力擴展：

　　A: You look kind of unhappy. Do you want to talk about anything?

　　B: It seems like I can’t write a good paper for this teacher. It feels like he hates me or something.

　　A: I’m sure it isn’t that serious. Is this your first year taking English writing classes? Maybe you just have a lot to learn from this teacher.

　　B: Yeah, that may be, but then why does he only show me my errors and never say anything about what I might have done right? It seems kind of unfair, and a little unkind.

　　A: I could see why you think that. Just don’t give up.

　　B: I suppose you might be right, but I think he should be a little less critical.

　　A：你看起來有點不高興。有什么要說的嗎?

　　B：看起來我寫不出一篇讓這老師滿意的文章，我覺得他不喜歡我。

　　A：肯定沒那么嚴重。你這是第一年上英文寫作課吧?也許你得多跟老師學學。

　　B：也許吧，但他為什么只指出我的錯誤，卻從來不說我文章好的方面呢?這好像有點太不公平了，而且也太不近人情了。

　　A：我理解。千萬別放棄。

　　B：也許你是對的。不過我覺得他不應該這么挑剔.

　　【注】or something 〈口〉或諸如此類的事物

　　culture n. ①文化 ②培養，栽培

　　例：She is a woman of considerable culture. 她是一個文化修養很高的女子。The culture of the mind is vital. 修身養性是極其重要的。拓展：cultural a. 文化的

　　聽力擴展：

　　A: What’s the exact difference between the west culture and the east one? Could you give me some examples?

　　B: My pleasure! You never know how polite British people are in public places. Whatever they go to buy tickets or food, they all like to queue up! They comply so much with public order.

　　A：西方文化和東方文化到底有什么不同?你能舉些例子嗎?

　　B：愿意效勞。你絕對想不到英國人在公共場合多么有禮貌!他們無論是去買票還是買食物，都自覺排隊，非常遵守公共秩序。【注】comply with 服從，遵從