1．(教材P26)After this, interest faded and the number of manned flights dropped off.

　　从这以后，兴趣减弱，载人飞行的数量也在减少。

　　drop off 下降，减少；入睡，睡着；让......下车，把......放下

　　写出下列句中drop off的含义

　　①Traffic in the town has dropped off since the by­pass opened.下降，减少

　　②I dropped off and missed the end of the film.入睡，睡着

　　③Drop me off at the next stop; I can walk straight there.让......下车

　　drop out　　　　　　　　 退出；退学；掉出来

　　drop in/by 顺便拜访

　　drop in on sb. 顺便拜访某人

　　drop in at some place 顺便拜访某地

　　④James started an engineering degree but dropped_out after only a year.

　　詹姆斯开始攻读工程学学位，但仅一年后就辍学了。

　　⑤Would you drop_by/in when you are in town?

　　你来城里时就来玩好吗？

　　2．(教材P26)Due to China's rapidly developing space programme, this could be sooner rather than later.

　　由于中国的太空项目发展迅速，这一目标可能会更快实现而不是推迟。

　　rather than而不是......；与其说......倒不如说......(用作连词，连接两个并列成分，也可用作介词)

　　①We will have the meeting in the classroom rather than in the great hall.

　　我们是在教室里开会，不是在大厅里。

　　②I enjoy surfing the Internet in my spare time rather than going (go) hiking.

　　闲暇之余，我喜欢上网，而不喜欢远足。

　　rather than常用于以下结构中：

　　③I always prefer to start early rather than (to)_leave everything to the last minute.

　　我总是愿意早些开始，而不愿把所有的事情都留到最后。

[名师点津]　rather than是高中阶段非常重要的短语，学习时要注意以下两点：