P1
1. The senior class: the graduating class
2. Standford University: A private co-ed institution of higher learning founded in 1885 by American railway baron Leland Standford at Palo Alto, California. The Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace houses more than one million documents on the 1st and 2nd World Wars, 20th century revolutionary movements, and international relations. It is one of the best universities in the United States, being rated second best in recent years to University of California at Berkeley.
3. misgivings: (usually plural) fear, doubt, an anxiety, lack of confidence, worry, suspicion, skepticism, uncertainty, dubiety, mistrust / certainty, confidence, trust, assurance.
4. Our generation: the young generation in the 1960s in the United States
5. The adult world: the American society run by adults. “The grown-up world” in paragraph 2 has the same reference. Both were fashionable terms used by the young to refer to their society, which they felt they did not belong to
6. Skepticism: doubtfulness; …
P2
1. Young people, in college and out: college students and other young people in society
2. in a mess: in disorder; in confusion
3. pretty much of: very much; to a considerable extend
4. the world is pretty much of a mess: the world is in serious trouble
5. full of injustice, poverty, and war: These were the major sources of dissatisfaction of the American youth in the 1960s. In the historical context, “injustice” mainly referred to racial discrimination against blacks; “poverty” began to be widely recognized in the affluent American society after 1962 when sociologist Michael Harrington revealed in his book The Other America that there were “more than 50 million poor people” living under the poverty line in the United States; and “war” referred to the Vietnam War, a war in which American troops in Vietnam began to increase gradually from 1961, and by the time of truce in 1973, it had cost more than 55000 American lives and a minimum of ＄110 billion.
6. presumably: probably; supposedly: most likely, in all probability, in all likelihood, as like as not
7. do without: wish not to have. We can do without any more silly suggestions from you.
P3
1. relevant: related, pertinent, concerning, connected, intrinsic, associated referring/ unrelated irrelevant, unconnected, extrinsic, alien.
2. (scheme) strategy: scheme, tactics, grand design, over-all plan.
3. alternative: choice, chance, option, substitute, selection, recourse
4. for all… in spite of , considering how little
5. harshness: roughness, ugliness, unprecaution.
6. irrationality: unreasonable injustice, wrongs.