VOA慢速英语:Marking the 20th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

1.I now lift this pen to sign this Americans with [Disabilities] Act and say let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.

tumble down倒塌

let是使役动词，后面跟宾语和宾语补足语。

2.Hip-hop artist Rick Fire says conditions are far better than they were twenty years ago.

far better，far修饰比较级better.

far用作副词，可用来修饰动词、副词、介词短语、比较级、最高级、以及与 too(太)连用等。如：

Did you drive far? 你开车走了很远吗?

They didn’t walk far. 他们没有走多远。

He is far past fifty. 他大大超过了五十岁。

He worked far into the night. 他工作到深夜。

My friend lives far away [off]. 我的朋友住在很远。

He is far more careful than I am. 他比我仔细得多。

He runs far faster than you. 他比你跑得快得多。

It is far the best film that I’ve ever seen. 那是我看过的最最好的电影。

He was at the station far too early. 他去车站去得太早。

【注】far 可修饰比较级或最高级，但除极个别情况外，一般不能修饰原级，如不能说 far good, far difficult 等。能受 far 修饰的原级形容词主要的有 wrong, short, different 等。如：

This edition is far different from the earlier one. 这个版本与早先那个版本大不相同。

同样地，far 修饰副词，主要用来修饰 away, off, out, back 等表示“位置”的副词，一般不用来修饰 quickly, hardly, recently等原级副词。

3.If we are going to build something -- how we build it, how we construct it, so that it would be accessible to people of all types of disabilities.

so that在这里引导目的状语从句，以便……

例句：I will give you all the facts so that you can judge for yourself.
      我会给你所有的事实以便你可以自己判断。

4.It's deemed you have been possessed by the devil, or put out on the street, a shame to your family and really left to live very subhuman lives.

It形式主语

it作形式主语时可以把句子真正的主语移到句子后面去，使句子变得平稳，以免主语太长，头重脚轻。it 作形式主语主要有以下几种类型：

1)It + is /was + 形容词/ 名词+不定式

It is easy to criticize others. 批评别人时很容易的。

It's better to be early. 早点去好一些。

2)It + is / was + 形容词/ 名词 + 动名词

It is no good eating too much chocolate. 吃太多巧克力不好。

3)It + is /was + 形容词/ 名词 + that 从句

It is a pity that I didn't know that. 很可惜我不知道。

4)It + 及物动词 +宾语 +不定式

It costs me 50 Yuan to repair my watch. 我花了50 元钱修表。

It makes me sick to think about it. 想到那个东西我就恶心。