Neil denies breaking the window， but I‘m sure he did. 内尔否认打破了窗户，但我肯定是他干的。
2.degrade ： v. 降级，贬低
派生词：grade n. 等级，级别
de- 是前缀表示 “reduce， remove， down， showing an opposite”的意思。
相关词汇构词法： code - decode ； value - devalue ； form - deform ； merit - demerit；
3.ineffective： 无效的
反义词：effective a. 有效的；
II.课文分析
Eyewitnesses say is was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s. As the sun rose over the fields of Huntsville， Alabama， in the American South， the convicts got down from the trucks that had brought them there. Watched over by guards with guns ，they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway， Interstate 65. The BBC‘s Washington correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she sent this report：
1.chain gang 用铁链拴在一起劳动的囚犯队
2.Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s.
目击者说这仿佛是直接取自20世纪50年代黑白电影的一幕。
句中宾语从句省略了引导词that . straight为副词，意为“直接地”
3.Watched over by guards with guns， they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway， Interstate 65. 他们在荷枪实弹的警卫的看守下，步伐一致地迈动双腿，向着65号州际公路路边走去。
watched over 为过去分词短语作伴随状语。
make one‘s way to 去往，朝…走去
the highway，interstate 65 （美国）65号州际公路
“They wore white uniforms with the words ‘Chain Gang’ on their backs and ，in groups of five， were shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. The prisoners will work for up to 90 days on the gang： they‘ll clear ditches of weeds and mend fences along Alabama’s main roads. While they are working on the sang， they‘ll also live in some of the harshest prison conditions in the United States. There’ll be no televisions or phone calls； many other day-to-day privileges will be denied.”
The authorities in Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-introduction of chain gangs in the State after a gap of 30 years （the last gangs were abolished in Georgia in the early 1960s）。 Many people believe it is an effective may to get criminals to pay back their debt to society.
发表于 2007-11-10 11:36:25