Highlights from Day12

Years ago, psychologists discovered that there are two routes to achievement: conformity and originality. Conformity means following the crowd down conventional paths and maintaining the status quo. Originality is taking the road less traveled, championing a set of novel ideas that go against the grain but ultimately make things better.

1.route：途径，方法，a way of doing something or achieving a particular result，与to xx 形成固定搭配，可以与path，way作替换。

比如说：route to success/route to disaster.

2.the road less traveled：少有人走的路，这个搭配作为一些书、音乐的名字出现过多次。

The road less traveled

3.novel ideas：novel作为形容词意为新颖的，not like anything known before, and unusual or interesting.

常见搭配：novel idea/approach/method

Of course, nothing is completely original, in the sense that all of our ideas are influenced by what we learn from the world around us. We are constantly borrowing thoughts, whether intentionally or inadvertently. We’re all vulnerable to “kleptomnesia”—accidentally remembering the ideas of others as our own. By my definition, originality involves introducing and advancing an idea that’s relatively unusual within a particular domain, and that has the potential to improve it.

4.in the sense that：我认为这个句式可以理解为：某种意义上来讲…字典上并没有这个短语的解释，不过我在一个英语论坛找到一位英语老师的回复：In using the phrase, the speaker is intending to narrow down the broader topic aforementioned into a narrower aspect which s/he wishes to speak of or point out.

例句：I wouldn't describe myself as black in the sense that I do not actually have black-coloured skin - it is brown.

5.inadvertently：不经意的，无意中的，without realizing what you are doing，可以与accidentally做同义替换。

例句：Viruses can be spread inadvertently by email users. 病毒会被电子邮件用户无意中传播开来。

6.be vulnerable to：易收到攻击/责难的，a place, thing, or idea that is vulnerable is easy to attack or criticize.

例句：Their theories were badly thought out and very vulnerable to ridicule. 他们的理论不够缜密，非常容易遭人取笑。

7.advance：使发展，if scientific or technical knowledge advances, or if something advances it, it develops and improves.可以与develop做同义替换。

例句：The group’s research has done much to advance our knowledge of the HIV virus. 这个小组的研究大大增进了我们对艾滋病病毒的了解。

8.domain：an area of activity, interest, or knowledge, especially one that a particular person, organization etc deals with 〔活动﹑兴趣或知识的〕领域，范围，范畴。

例句：This problem is outside the domain of medical science. 这个问题不属于医学范畴。

Looking after the house was viewed as a woman’s domain. 料理家务被认为是女性的份内之事。 （which is not true）