1. If you are not moving ahead ， you are falling behind
fall behind （ sb ） ： to go more slowly than other people so that they gradually move further ahead of you ； to be less successful than someone else 落伍、落在后面
eg： She was leading in the 800-metre race ， but fell behind in the last second.
在800米比赛中她一直领领先，在最后的一秒里落在了别人的后面。
eg：Germany has fallen behind France and Britain in the production of airliners
德国在大型客机生产方面不如法国和英国。
fall behind with/on sth.to fail to pay for sth. or to do sth. when it is due拖欠；跟不上
eg：Don‘t fall behind with the rent ， or you’ll be told to leave. 不要拖欠房租，不然的话，房东就会叫你搬走。
eg：I‘ve fallen far behind with my maths homework. I don’t think I‘ll ever be ableto catch up .
数学作业我已经落下不少，永远也赶不上了。
eg：She falls behind with her studies 她学习跟不上
2. This attitude results in a nation of peoplecommitted to
commit oneself/be committed to （doing ） sth： v. （1）transport， convey：传送
传递消息to say/have said that someone will definitely do sth. or must do sth .决心做；承诺做
eg： Think carefully before you commit yourself to working at weekends .好好考虑之后再决定是不是同意周末工作
eg： The government is committed to improving housing conditions for low-income people
政府承诺要为低收入居民改善居住环境。
eg： From then on， he was committed to working hard 从那时起，他就决心要好好学习。
3. Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully， the other being labor Americans are often thought to be a squandering nation.
the other being labor 独立主格结构
eg： There are many children singing， each having flouwers in his or her hands.
有许多孩子在唱歌，每人手里都拿着花
4. Weare slaves to nothing but the clock
be slave to/of to 受——的支配或影响；成为——的奴隶
eg： A lot of young people nowadays are slaves of/to fashion . 如今有不少年轻人拼命赶时髦。
eg： He is slave to drink. 他是个酒鬼
5. Time is treated as if it were something almost tangible——Americans treat time as if it were something solid ， which you can seize and control
treat……as：consider…as： 把——看作/视为
eg：Don‘t treat me as a child， I’m eighteen years old. 不要把我当小孩子看了，我18岁了。
eg：You‘d better treat his words as a joke. 你最好把他的话当作玩笑。
tangible： 能摸得着的；有形的
6. We budget it，kill it ， cut it ，account for it.
budget time： 计划时间steal time： 挤出时间kill time： 消磨时间 cut time： 减少时间
account for time 解释时间 account for sth 对——作出解释/说明
eg： Jane was upset because her son couldn‘t account for the three hours between his last class and his arrival home .
简因此感到不高兴，因为儿子说不清放学之后到回家之前的三个小时之间他究竟干了什么。
eg： She has to account to her husband for every penny of the moneyhe gives her for house keeping
丈夫给她持家的钱是怎么花的，她得一笔一笔地向他交代清楚。
eg：He couldn‘t account for why he was late. 他解释不清他为什么迟到。
account for sth 说明原因
eg： Bad mews from home may account for his recent depression. 他近来情绪低落可能是因为家里出了事。
eg： Icy roads account for the increase in accidents . 路面结冰是造成交通事故增加的原因。
account for （数量上）占——
eg： Girl students account for more than 50% in our school. 女学生在我校占一半以上。
7. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime.——Many people are keenly aware that life is short
acute： keen；sharp；quick 敏锐的；尖锐的，（疾病等）急性的
eg：Some animals have an acute sense of smell. 有些动物的嗅觉很敏锐。
a sense of responsibility 责任感a sense of shame 羞耻感a sense of security 安全感
a sense of hearing 听觉 sense： 感觉
8. Oncer the sands have run out of a person‘s hourglass ， they cannot be replaced .
Once： 一旦
eg：Once you have come， you must stay. 既来之，则安之。
the sands：（古代计时用的）沙漏中的沙；（喻）时间；光阴；寿命 the sands of time 时光
the sands of（one‘s ）life寿命 The sands are running out.
run out of： 用完；耗尽
eg：I‘m running out of money this month. Could you please land me some
我这个月的钱快花光了，你能借我点吗？
9. We want every minute to count .
count： to be of value or importance 有价值，有意义
eg： First impressions of people do count 人们的最初印象确实重要
eg： We have only a few bullets left ，so make each one count
我们只剩下几发子弹了，每一发都要真正派上用场
eg： Such men do not count for anything 这种人毫不足取。
10 A foreigner‘s first impressionof the U.S.…
Impression： 印象
eg：What‘s your first impression about Beijing？ 你对北京的第一印象如何？
under pressure：： 不得不如此；压力下
eg：I don‘t want to work under pressure 我不喜欢在不得已的情况下做事。
11.City people appear always to be hurrying to get where they are going， restlessly seeking attention in a store， elbowing others as they try to complete their errands.
elbow ：肘
eg：to push roughly with one‘s elbows in the specified direction
He elbowed his way through the crowd.他从人群中挤出。
12.If you don‘t， waiters will hurry you.
Hurry sb：催促某人赶快
eg：Hurry him or he‘ll be late.催他快点，要不他会迟到的
13.………but they are also quite high strung.
high strung： very sensitive and easily excited， string up 受惊
14.You also find drivers will be abrupt.
abrupt：突然的；粗鲁的；无礼的
to finish or be through 完成
eg：an abrupt manner.无礼的态度