Vocabulary

1. corporate

adj. of or belonging to a corporation

e.g. It is said that the new product create a good chance to display our corporate culture.

2.  visualize

vt. imagine; conceive of; see in one’ s mind

e.g. He attempted to visualize his grandfather’ s appearance. 

3. inquisitive

adj. inquiring or appearing to inquire；showing curiosity

e.g. I am inquisitive about what is your opinion on this matter.     

4. jot

n. a brief (and hurriedly handwritten) note

e.g. Let me jot down your phone number before you leave.

Jot down=note down=take down=mark down=put down

5. disapprove

v. deem wrong or inappropriate

e.g. His attitude of disapproving our plan made me quiet disappointed.

Disapprove of = object to = disagree with = be against 

6. Margin

n. the boundary line or the area immediately inside the boundary

e.g. We came to the margin of the wood.

7. mull

v. reflect deeply on a subject

e.g. I sat there and tried to mull things over in my mind.

careful consideration = ripe deliberation = sufficient reflection = chew over 

Phrases

1. come/get to grips with

be in charge of, act on, or dispose of 

e.g. He volunteered to go to the remote mountainous region to come to grips with poverty and disease there.

2. It’ s safe bet that 

a future prospect or potential 

e.g. It’ s safe bet that she will lose her best friend because of such a small case.

Similar patterns: It’s possible that/ It’s more likely that/ It has great possibility that/ It’s probably that

3.   (it) beats me.

Similar patterns: I’ve no idea./ I know nothing about that./ be ignorant of/ be in the dark about

Sentences

1. It is not surprising that modern children tend to look blank and dispirited when informed that they will someday have to “go to work and make a living”. (Para. 1)

To look blank means that modern children show no sign of understanding or emotion about the corporate workplace, they seem unresponsive and have blank looks.

Dispirited: low in spirits, or depressed.

2. It is a safe bet that the average systems analyst is as baffled about what a space salesman does at the shop as the average space salesman is about the tools needed to analyze a system.(para. 6) 

The expression it is a safe bet means that the speaker or writer is sure about something (they would be willing to risk money to confirm it).

average: lacking special distinction, rank, or status

In this sentence the writer is saying he is quite sure that neither the systems analyst nor the space salesman knows about each other’ s work and what they actually do.

3. The machines that make things make them in such a fashion that they will quickly fall apart in such a way that repairs will be prohibitively expensive.  

The sentence means that the machines make things in such a way that they will break or fall into pieces so that they can’t be cheaply repaired. It is implied that the things are made to be short-lasting so that the manufacturers can sell more later.