be hard on somebody 对某人严厉、对某人苛刻，够......受

　　His father is strict with him or even hard on him. 他父亲对他要求很严，甚至很苛刻。

　　对这个小男孩不要太严厉了，他不是故意这么做的。Don't ______ ______ ______ the boy; he didn't ______ ______ do it.

　　now that 既然

　　She has a very heavy responsibility now that she has to take care of her younger brother after her father's death.

　　Now that I have read the article about wildlife chain, I understand why you make a study of it.

　　Ex.

______ you've got a chance, you might as well make full use of it. (1999 全国)

A. Now that B. After C. Although D. As soon as

I'd better go and have a try ______ there is an advertisement for a traveling salesman.

A. where B. so that C. though D. now that

3. Unlike watching TV, reading is a highly active process (过程) ________ it requires attention as well as memory and imagination. （2005 江苏）

A. until B. but C. unless D. for

4. ______ he has been trained every day, his football skills have been picked up.

A. For B. Since C. If D. Though

　　bore v. 使（人）厌烦，使厌倦，烦扰，无聊

　　 n. 令人讨厌的人或事

　　bore sb. with sth. 用某事去烦某人

　　boring adj. 令人厌烦的，乏味的

　　bored adj. 无趣的，烦人的，（对某人/某事）厌倦的

　　be/get bored with sb/sth 对......感到厌倦

　　The long speech bored us all. 那冗长的演讲使我们都感到厌烦。

　　a boring job/book/evening无聊的工作/书/夜晚

　　There was a bored expression on her face. 他脸上有一种厌倦的表情。

　　Are you bored with my story? 我的话使你感到厌烦吗？

　　Ex.

1. Mr. Smith, of the speech, started to read a novel.

A. tired; boring B. tiring; bored

C. tired; bored D. tiring; boring

　　stay up 熬夜；挺住，没有倒塌

　　The Senior Three students often stayed up far into the night going over their lessons.

　　They must make sure that the bridge will stay up in earthquakes.

　　after all有两个含义：

　　1）"要知道，别忘了......"，用来进一步说明或提醒对方。

Of course he was quite rude that day, but after all, he is your brother.