Module 4 A Social Survey

高考詞匯

sound vi. 聽起來

bother vt. 打擾；煩擾；麻煩

approach vt. 接近

starve vi. 餓死

park vt. 停車

exchange vt. 交換

afford vt. 買得起；有能力支付

survive vi. 死里逃生；大難不死

hometown n. 家鄉(xiāng)

tourist n. 旅游者

rent n. 租金

district n. 地域；區(qū)域；行政區(qū)

harbour n. 海港

gallery n. 美術館；畫廊

traffic n. 交通

organisation n. 組織

occupation n. 職業(yè)

attractive adj. 有吸引力的；吸引人的

fortunate adj. 幸運的；吉祥的

local adj. 地方的；局部的

pretty adv. 很；相當

常用短語

put up 修建；張貼

so far/up to now/till now 到目前為止

get away from 擺脫

a great many 許多；大量

a number of 許多；大量

go up 上升；上漲

make it 做成某事

表外詞匯

contact vt. 聯(lián)絡；聯(lián)系（某人）

survey n. 調查

neighborhood n. 四鄰；街坊

suburb n. 城郊；郊區(qū)

nuisance n. 令人討厭的；人或事

architecture n. 建筑

committee n. 委員會

household n. 家屬；家人

employment n. 就業(yè)；工作；職業(yè)

fascinating adj. 迷人的；吸引人的

unemployed adj. 失業(yè)的；沒有工作的

gorgeous adj. 美麗的；宜人的

professional adj. 專業(yè)的

manual adj. 用手的；手的

過渡詞匯

fight vt. 與……打仗

vi. 打仗；搏斗；對抗

n. 打架；戰(zhàn)斗；打仗

1. 現(xiàn)在完成時；

I’ve seen quite a lot of China...

They’ve just completed it.

I’ve worked for it for four years now.

They’ve put up a lot of high-rise buildings recently.

It has been six years since we last saw each other， you know.

We’ve had very good weather this winter so far/till now/up to now.

2. 現(xiàn)在完成時與一般過去時的區(qū)別。

詞匯短語園地

1. sound vi. 聽起來

n. 聲音；聲響

sound可作連系動詞，意為“聽起來”，后面接形容詞或分詞作表語，不能接副詞。

What he said sounds reasonable.

他說的聽起來是有道理的。

She didn’t sound surprised when I told her the news.

我把消息告訴她時，她好像并不感到驚訝。

比較：sound， voice和noise的區(qū)別

1. sound做名詞表“聲音；響聲”，統(tǒng)指人所聽到的任何聲音。a sound是“一種聲音”，sounds是“多種”聲音。

We heard sounds of laughter from the next room.

我們聽到隔壁房間傳來陣陣笑聲。

2. voice特指人發(fā)出的聲音，指嗓音、說話聲、歌唱聲。

She has a loud/high/charming voice.

她的嗓音很大/很高/很悅耳。

3. noise指音量大而難聽的聲音。

Stop making so much noise！

別吵了！

2. pretty adv. 相當；很；非常

pretty 可以作副詞，也可以作形容詞。

（1） 副詞用法：pretty good相當好；pretty soon很快；pretty easy相當容易。

I’m pretty sure I’ll be going.

我相當肯定我會去的。

It’s pretty hard to explain.

這事很難解釋清楚。

（2） 形容詞表“漂亮的；可愛的”，一般用于女子或小孩。

The pretty girl is very shy and always hides behind her mother.

這個漂亮的女孩很害羞，總是藏在她媽媽的后面。

You look so pretty in that dress.

你穿那條連衣裙真漂亮。

3. bother vt. vi. 打擾；煩擾；麻煩

（1） bother with/about sth 花費精力、時間（做某事）

It’s not worth bothering with an umbrella—the car is just outside.

不必打傘，汽車就在外面。

（2） bother sb about/with sth 使（某人）煩惱；給（某人）造成麻煩

I’m sorry that I have to bother you with this problem.

對不起，我不得不用這個問題來麻煩你了。

（3） bother to do sth 煩心 / 費事做某事

He didn’t even bother to say thank you.

他甚至沒有說聲謝謝。

（4） 在口語中，Don’t bother主要用于謝絕對方主動提出的善意幫助，意為“不用費心、不用麻煩”。

— Shall I help you with the washing up？

要不要我?guī)湍阆赐耄?/p>

— Don’t bother. I’ll do it later.

不必麻煩了，我等一會再洗。

4. approach vt. 接近

It is not allowed to approach the forbidden area.

這里是禁區(qū)，不許接近。

As you approach the town， you’ll see the college on the left.

快到市鎮(zhèn)時就可以看見左邊的學院。

5. afford vt. 買得起；有能力支付

afford直接跟名詞或動詞不定式作賓語，常和情態(tài)動詞can或be able to連用。

He can afford the apartment.

他能買得起這套住房。

We weren’t able to afford to buy such an expensive car at that time.

我們那時買不起這么昂貴的汽車。

6. exchange vt. 交換

（1） exchange sth （with sb） （與某人）交換某物

Juliet and David exchanged glances.

朱麗葉和戴維相互看了看對方。

I shook hands and exchanged a few words with the manager.

我與經(jīng)理握手，相互交談了幾句。

（2） exchange A for B 用A去換B

You can exchange your current for dollars in the hotel.

你可以在旅館把你的錢兌換成美元。

May I exchange this for something？

我可以把這個換別的東西嗎？

exchangeable adj.可交換的；可交易的；可兌換的

7. fortunate adj. 幸運的；吉祥的

（1） be fortunate in 在……方面很幸運

He is fortunate in having such nice friends.

他真幸運，有這樣好的朋友。

（2） be fortunate to do sth 做某事很幸運

You are very fortunate to have such a pleasant house.

你真幸運，有這么好的房子。

（3） fortunate （for sb） that （對某人）幸運的是……

It’s very fortunate that we have Emma here.

真幸運，愛瑪和我們在一起。

fortune n. 財富；運氣

unfortunate adj. 不幸的

fortunately adv. 幸運地

8. attractive adj. 有吸引力的；吸引人的

...be attractive to sb ……對某人有吸引力

Her beauty is very attractive to him.

她的美貌對他很有吸引力。

Mr Li is becoming attractive to her.

李先生變得對她具有吸引力了。

attract v. 吸引；使喜愛；引起……好感

attraction n. 吸引（力）；有吸引力的人或物

9. survive vi. vt. 死里逃生；大難不死；艱難度過

Of the six people injured in the plane crash， only two survived.

在飛機墜毀中受傷的六個人中，只有兩個人活了下來。

（1） survive from sth 從……幸存下來

Some strange customs have survived from earlier times.

有些奇異的風俗是從早年留存下來的。

（2） survive on 靠……活下來；靠……生活

I can’t survive on ￡40 a week.

一個星期40英鎊，我無法維持生活。

（3） survive as 作為……生存下去

He survived as party leader until his second election defeat.

直至第二次參選失敗他才不再擔任黨的領導人。

10. contact vt. n. 聯(lián)絡；聯(lián)系某人

（1） contact sb 聯(lián)絡、聯(lián)系某人

If you are free， please contact me.

如果你有空，請聯(lián)系我。

Contact the police immediately.

立刻與警方聯(lián)絡。

（2） be in contact with 和……有聯(lián)系

Have you been in contact with your sister recently？

最近你和你的姐姐有聯(lián)系嗎？

（3） be out of contact with 和……沒有聯(lián)系

I have been out of contact with her for three years.

我和她失去聯(lián)系已有三年。

（4） lose contact with 與……失去聯(lián)絡

In the World War II， too many friends lost contact with each other.

在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)中，許多朋友失去了聯(lián)系。

（5） stay/keep in contact with 與……保持聯(lián)系

Though they haven’t seen each other for a long time， they still stay in contact with each other on the Internet.

盡管已很長時間沒見面了，他們?nèi)栽诰W(wǎng)上保持聯(lián)系。

（6） make contac with 與……取得聯(lián)系

They made contact with headquarters by radio.

他們用無線電跟總部取得了聯(lián)系。

（7） come into contact with 與……接觸；碰見

There I came into contact with some artists.

在那兒我接觸了一些藝術家。

11. a number of 許多；大量

a number of，the number of，numbers of 均修飾可數(shù)名詞，區(qū)別如下：

（1） a number of 許多；大量（謂語動詞用復數(shù)）

A number of students have read this book.

很多學生都讀了這本書。

（2） the number of ……的數(shù)目（謂語動詞用單數(shù)）

The number of giant pandas is growing.

大熊貓的數(shù)量在增加。

（3） numbers of 很多（謂語動詞用復數(shù)）

Huge numbers of birds have flocked together by the lake.

成群的鳥聚集在湖畔。

12. a great many 許多；大量

a great many修飾可數(shù)名詞復數(shù)（謂語動詞用復數(shù)）

The young couple has traveled a great many cities since they got married.

這對年輕夫婦自從結婚后已經(jīng)旅行了很多城市。

A great many students were sent to the West to help the children there.

大量學生被派往西部幫助那里的孩子。

比較：a great many和a great many of的區(qū)別

（1） a great many后直接修飾名詞，名詞可以有修飾語。

a great many students/a great many young students

（2） a great many of后主要接：

①代詞：a great many of them

②受冠詞修飾的名詞：a great many of the students

③受these， those修飾的名詞：a great many of these students

④受物主代詞修飾的名詞：a great many of my students

⑤受所有格修飾的名詞：a great many of Tom’s students

13. put up 修建；建立；樹立

put up a building/fence/memorial/tent

蓋樓房 / 架籬笆 / 修紀念碑 / 搭帳篷

（1） 慫恿；唆使

I can’t believe he’d do a thing like that on his own. He must have been put up to it by some of the older boys.

我不相信他會主動干那種事，一定是有些年齡大的男孩子叫他干的。

（2） 提升；使升高

She put her hair up.

她把頭發(fā)挽在頭上。

（3） 提高；增加

My landlord is threatening to put the rent up by 10 a week.

我的房東要挾說要把每周租金提高10英鎊。

（4） 留某人住在家中

We can put you up for the night.

我們可以招待你過夜。

（5）（在戰(zhàn)斗、競賽中）顯示；表現(xiàn)

They surrendered without putting up much of a fight.

他們沒怎么抵抗就投降了。

（6） 推薦；提名

The Green Party hopes to put up a number of candidates in the General Election.

綠黨希望提出若干候選人參加大選。

（7） 張貼；置……于明顯位置

put up a notice/a poster 張貼通知 / 海報

跟蹤導練（一）

閱讀理解

Below is a discussion on a website.

1. Who would miss the family most？

A. Jaime.B. Jayne.

C. Miko.D. Paola.

2. Who would feel most uncomfortable without the news media？

A. Steve.B. Jaime.

C. Roger.D. Tomas.

3. Who would miss mobile phone least？

A. Paola.B. Tomas.

C. Miko.D. Steve.

4. How many of the seven persons would miss food or drink？

A. One.B. Two.

C. Three.D. Four.

選詞填空

從下列方框里10個單詞中選擇8個適當單詞的正確形式填入下列各句中，使其句意完整。每個單詞只使用一次。

1. Sorry to ____ you， but there is a call for you.

2. I was ____ enough to visit many parts of the world.

3. I kept trying to ____ the waiter’s attention.

4. My mother was ____ tired after work.

5. Many ____ from all over the world visited the Great Wall.

6. Some of these ____ were done completely by guess and by God.

7. The soprano’s voice ____ clear and sweet.

8. The shop is in a one-way street， which make it very difficult for ____ .

單句改錯（下列各句每句有1個錯誤。）

1. Tim is one of the best student in my class.___

2. Sophie is a six-years-old girl， but she can play

the piano very well.___

3. The job sounds really excited to me. I’ll take it.___

4. Don’t bother get dinner for me today； I’ll eat out.___

句子翻譯

1. 這個游戲相當不錯，我和我的同學都喜歡玩。

2. 你的主意聽起來很糟糕。我不會同意。

3. 美國位于加拿大南部。海南省位于中國南部。

4. 這是我第一次來到這個美麗的城市。

單項選擇

1. The traffic accident ___ a large crowd.

A. movedB. covered

C. calledD. attracted

2. They ___ a tent by the fire.

A. put upB. put off

C. put outD. put on

3. ___ students are required to take part in the boat race.

A. Chinese ten young strongB. Ten Chinese strong young

C. Young strong ten ChineseD. Ten strong young Chinese

4. He has ___ money to buy food， so he will go hungry soon.

A. manyB. few

C. moreD. little

5. He’s ___ sure that I can get a good job there.

A. hardlyB. enough

C. prettyD. too

6. The supermarket is not far from here. It is only a ___ .

A. ten-minute walkB. ten-minute’s walk

C. ten minutes walkD. ten-minutes walk

7. Don’t bother your father ___ it now； he is very tired.

A. withB. by

C. atD. to

8. ___ the houses were built after the earthquake.

A. A great dealB. A great many of

C. A great deal ofD. A great many

跟蹤導練（二）

選詞填空

從下列方框里10個單詞中選擇8個適當單詞的正確形式填入下列各句中，使其句意完整。每個單詞只使用一次。

1. Teaching is my ____ . I learn a lot from teaching.

2. The weather here is so ____ that I want to go out.

3. Do you mind if I give you some ____ advice？

4. The whole ____ get up early and have breakfast together.

5. ____ is very heavy.I will be late for the meeting.

6. The passengers landed as soon as the ship reached the ____ .

7. In the old days， dragon boat races were ____ only by Chinese people.

8. The workshop has shut down and the workers are ____ .

單句改錯（下列各句每句有1個錯誤。）

1. I have stayed at my aunt’s since two weeks.___

2. John has broken his left leg. His mother is worried him.___

3. It was 3 years since my father gave up smoking.___

4. There is a heart breaking news report about starve children.___

句子翻譯

1. 你看過瑪麗的照片了嗎？多漂亮的女孩??！

2. 我還沒有完成作業(yè)，因此我媽媽不會讓我出去。

3. 他目前失業(yè)，而且他失業(yè)已經(jīng)有五個多月了。

4. 我從早飯起就沒有吃東西。餓死我了！

單項選擇

1. Zhao Lan ___ in this school for two years so far.

A. studiedB. studies

C. has studiedD. was studying

2. We ___ Xiao Li since she was a little girl.

A. knowB. had known

C. have knownD. knew

3. ___ of the teachers in our school ___ about one hundred.

A. The number； is B. A number； is

C. A number； are D. The number； are

4. — How long have you studied in Chengdu？

— ___ I came to China.

A. AfterB. As

C. SinceD. When

5. She ___ from Paris yet.

A. hasn’t returnedB. didn’t return

C. doesn’t returnD. hadn’t returned

6. The time is ___ . We must be on board.

A. approachingB. arriving

C. closing D. getting

7. I won’t go to the concert because I ___ my ticket.

A. lostB. lose

C. have lostD. had lost

8. Tom ___ a letter to his parents last night.

A. writtenB. was writing

C. wroteD. has written

完形填空

I spent two months with an American family last year when I studied in America. It is said， “The best house is in the USA， the best wife is in Japan， and the best food is in China.” So I took 1 and pleasure to cook “the best food” for my American family.

Each day， regardless of my poor skill of cooking， I performed （表演） my play in a 2 way： change the dishes’ color， the meat’s type or the soup’s style. Thus， my American friends could discover the 3 of eating Chinese food. Because of my 4 job， I was often rewarded （獎勵） by their expressions of appreciation such as “very tasty”， “excellent”， etc.

But the joke was here. Yesterday， I cooked Sichuan style 5 for dinner. I was pleased at my achievement. When all the family members arrived at the table， they first looked 6 at the fish， then looked at me. “Why do all the fish have their heads？” they asked. “It’s 7 ！”

Another 8 thing is： the American friends often said to me “Help yourself ” as they brought home fruits or other things. According to Chinese tradition， I would simply smile in answer to their kindness 9 actually helping myself to any of the food. In return， I said “Help yourself” to them whenever I brought home fruits. Dear me， no matter how much or how often I brought home food， as long as it was nice to their taste， they 10 hesitated （猶豫） to use their hands to “Help themselves” until all was finished.

1. A. worryB. attentionC. proudD. pride

2. A. similarB. newC. scientificD. simple

3. A. wayB. joyC. secretD. importance

4. A. hardB. amusingC. professionalD. attractive

5. A. meatB. fishC. soupD. egg

6. A. disappointedlyB. excitedlyC. surprisedlyD. patiently

7. A. brilliantB. amazingC. harmfulD. horrible

8. A. embarrasingB. strangeC. interestingD. fascinating

9. A. forB. thanC. withoutD. with

10. A. usuallyB. seldomC. neverD. always

跟蹤導練（三）

選詞填空

從下列方框里10個單詞中選擇8個適當單詞的正確形式填入下列各句中，使其句意完整。每個單詞只使用一次。

1. Hong Kong Special ____ is part of China.

2. When will dinner be ready？ We are ____ .

3. I’ve got to pay my ____ this morning.

4. I often ____ stamps with him.

5. As I ____ the woods， a rabbit ran out of the trees.

6. Some kinds of ____ labour have been replaced by machines.

7. The headmistress found her a great help and not a great ____ .

8. Can you hear someone calling in the ____ ？

單句改錯（下列各句每句有1個錯誤。）

1. I have bought this watch for ten years.___

2. How long have you borrowed the book written by Lu Xun？___

3. Have you ever gone to any English-speaking countries？___

4. He has come back for a week and he lives in Beijing.___

句子翻譯

1. 自從2006年以來，他一直住在這兒。

2. 我迄今在部隊已經(jīng)待了五年多了。

3. 到目前為止，他離家兩個多星期了。

4. 會議已經(jīng)結束半個小時了。

單項選擇

1. — Where ___ John ___ ？

— To the library. He ___ there for an hour.

A. has； been； has goneB. has； gone； has been

C. did； go； wentD. did； be； went

2. Tom ___ the CD player for two weeks.

A. has lentB. has borrowed

C. has boughtD. has had

3. I am afraid your car is ___ . I can’t get through.

A. in one wayB. in some ways

C. in a wayD. in the way

4. — Do you know Yao Ming very well？

— Of course！ I ___ a lot of news about him on TV so far.

A. readB. had read

C. have readD. reads

5. We are living in an age ___ many things are done on the computer.

A. whichB. when

C. whereD. that

6. She ___ Charles for a year.

A. has been married toB. has got married to

C. marriedD. has married to

7. I like these English songs and they ___ many times on the Internet.

A. taughtB. have been taught

C. are taughtD. have taught

8. — I like blue ___ pink.

— I don’t like blue ___ pink， ___ I like white.

A. and； and； butB. and； or； but

C. or； or； andD. or； and； and

閱讀表達（閱讀下面短文，并按照題目要求用英語回答問題。）

Valencia is in the east part of Spain. It has a port on the sea， two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of a province that is also named Valencia.

The city is a market centre for what is produced by the land around the city. Most of the city’s money is made from farming. It is also a busy business city， with ships， railways， clothes and machine factories.

Valencia has an old part with white buildings， coloured roofs， and narrow streets. The modern part has long， wide streets and new buildings. Valencia is well known for its parks and gardens. It has many old churches and museums. The university in the centre of the city was built in the 13th century.

The city of Valencia has been known since the 2nd century. In the 8th century it was the capital of Spain. There is also an important city in Venezuela （委內(nèi)瑞拉） named Valencia.

1. Where do the main income of the city of Valencia come from？ （1 word）

2. How is the old part of Valencia？ （Within 9 words）

3. What is Valencia famous for？ （Within 4 words）

4. When did Valencia become the most important city in Spain？ （Within 4 words）

5. How many places have the name Valencia？ （Within 2 words）

跟蹤導練（四）

閱讀理解

Dear Tom，

I’m writing this letter slowly because I know you can’t read fast. We don’t live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happened within 20 miles from your home， so we moved.

I won’t be able to send you the address because the last family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn’t have to change their address. This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I’m not sure it works so well though： last week I put a load in and pulled the chain （拉鏈） and haven’t seen them since. The weather isn’t bad here. It only rained twice last week； the first time for three days and the second time for four days. About that coat you wanted me to send you， your uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out. Your sister had a baby this morning， but I haven’t found out what it is yet. The baby looks just like your brother.

Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up trunk. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in back. They drowned because they couldn’t get the tail gate down.

There isn’t much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love， Mom

P.S. I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.

1. Why did the family move to the new place？

A. To avoid possible danger.

B. To get close to their friends.

C. To live in a newly-built house.

D. To enjoy the good weather of the new place.

2. What happened to Tom’s friends？

A. They missed Tom much.

B. They were friendly to the family.

C. Two of them died in a traffic accident.

D. Three of them left the hometown like Tom.

3. Who is the writer of this letter？

A. Tom’s mother.B. Tom’s brother.

C. Tom’s sister.D. Tom’s friend.

4. What can we learn from the passage？

A. The baby is a boy.

B. The number of the family is four.

C. The son will receive a coat without buttons on it.

D. The son couldn’t send letter because the address was taken.

選詞填空

從下列方框里10個單詞中選擇8個適當單詞的正確形式填入下列各句中，使其句意完整。每個單詞只使用一次。

1. She ____ me as soon as she arrived.

2. John has been out of ____ for three months.

3. This is a（n） ____ city full of ancient buildings.

4. He is poor， so he can’t ____ to buy a new bike.

5. Her parents died in the accident， but she ____ .

6. The ____ people are always very friendly towards tourists.

7. I won’t let either of you guys get in a（n） ____ .

8. He was sorry to have ____ the pretty girl.

單句改錯（下列各句每句有1個錯誤。）

1. Quite a lot of children in Africa cannot afford go to school.___

2. They were given food and clothes in exchange with work.___

3. I rang the bell three times， but no one answered to it.___

4. His brother has been to Stone Forest twice before he came to Yunnan.___

句子翻譯

1. 許多人參加了賽跑，但只有一些人堅持跑到底。

2. 房價已經(jīng)上漲。我們買不起這套如此昂貴的房子。

3. 我們在鄉(xiāng)村買了一所小房子以躲避喧鬧的城市。

4. 你最近和她聯(lián)系了嗎？我有五個月沒收到她的來信了。

單項選擇

1. They walked home because they couldn’t ___ a taxi.

A. affordB. support

C. payD. cost

2. You can take anything from the shelf and read， but please ___ the books when you’ve finished with them.

A. put upB. put back

C. put onD. put off

3. — Can I help you， sir？

— I’d like to exchange this shirt ___ a larger size.

A. forB. with

C. ofD. to

4. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower ___ tens of thousands of visitors since 1995.

A. attractedB. had attracted

C. has attractedD. will attract

5. — Did you see a red car ___ in front of our shop？

— Red one？ It left just a moment ago.

A. parkedB. parking

C. parkD. to park

6. Byrd and his men ___ able to take a great many photographs of the mountains.

A. wereB. was

C. hasD. has been

7. The price ___ ， but I doubt whether it will remain so.

A. went upB. was going up

C. has gone upD. will go up

8. Judy will help the student she ___ in England last year.

A. was meetingB. met

C. has metD. had meet

Nobel Prize

諾貝爾獎

Nobel， born on October 21， 1833 in Stockholm， invented the nitroglycerine high explosive in 1867. He was successively engaged in the detonation technology and the synthesis material research in Sweden， Germany， France， England and Italy.He obtained 355 invention patents in his life， winning a very big property. Nobel died in Italy on December 10， 1896.

According to Nobel’s will， part of his inheritance， altogether $9，200，000， were put in bank as a fund， with interest every year （approximately $200，000） for the people making prominent contribution to physics， chemistry， biology， medicine， literature as well as cause of peace. In 1968， the economy prize was set up.

Every year on December 10 Nobel prizes were issued. According to the convention， physics， chemistry and the economy prizes are issued by Sweden Imperial Academy of science. The biology prize and the medicine prize were issued by the Rollin medicine surgery research institute in Stockholm. The literature prize is issued by the Sweden Literary Academy. The peace prize is issued by Norwegian Parliament. Each awarding unit is equipped with a Nobel committee which is made up of five people responsible for evaluation. Nobel’s candidates were recommended by the academies of science， universities and the previous prize-winner around the world. The Nobel prize consists of a gold medal， a certification and a bonus.

諾貝爾于1833年10月21日生于斯德哥爾摩，1867年發(fā)明硝化甘油烈性炸藥。他先后在瑞典、德國、法國、英國和意大利從事爆炸技術和合成物質研究，一生共獲得355項發(fā)明專利，贏得了一筆很大的財產(chǎn)。1896年12月10日，諾貝爾病卒于意大利。

根據(jù)諾貝爾的遺囑，他將遺產(chǎn)的一部分，共920萬美元，作為基金存入銀行，用每年的利息（約20萬美元）獎勵給對物理、化學、生物學或醫(yī)學、文學以及在和平事業(yè)方面對人類有突出貢獻的人。1968年，諾貝爾獎又增設了經(jīng)濟學獎。

每年12月10日頒發(fā)諾貝爾獎。按慣例，物理、化學和經(jīng)濟學三種獎項由瑞典皇家科學院頒發(fā)；生物學或醫(yī)學獎由斯德哥爾摩加羅林醫(yī)學外科學研究院頒發(fā)；文學獎由瑞典文學院頒發(fā)；和平獎由挪威議會頒發(fā)。每個授獎單位設有一個由五人組成的諾貝爾委員會，負責評選工作。諾貝爾獎的候選對象，由世界各國的科學院、大學和前獲獎者推薦。諾貝爾獎包括一枚金質獎章、一張獎狀和一筆獎金。