Text-related information
Issac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991)
an American short-story writer
and novelist.
Born in Poland,he came to the
USA in 1935,
His novels deal most with the heritage,
faith,and daily lives of Polish Jews,
particularly in the Warsaw Ghetto,
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1978.
New Words
1.sickly/sick
A sickly person is weak,unhealthy,
and often ill over a long period of
time,while a sick person is one who
has become ill for the moment,
------She’s a sickly child and is very
weak with the flu at the moment,
---- Strong as he is now,he was small
and sickly in his childhood.
2.possess,own,have
Possess means "own" or "have",but possess is
preferred to "own" or "have" in law as implying
one's having full right to something; thus,a
husband and wife might say that they "own" a
house when legally only the husband possesses it,
Besides,a person possesses,not "owns",a
characteristic,a quality,a power,etc,
----- He never possessed much money,but he
always possessed good health.
-----She possesses the qualities of a wise leader.
Apart from being used of people,
generation applies also to a stage of
development in the design and
manufacture of machines or equipment.
----This photo shows three generations,
my parents,my grandparents and
myself.
----When a new generation of
computers comes out,the price of older
ones drops dramatically.
4.bundle:
a bundle of sticks (that are tied
together)/a bundle of clothes (that are
wrapped up in a cloth or sheet)
He had a bundle of newspapers under
his arm,
The books were tied in bundles of
twenty.
5.laundry,
---- There's not much
laundry this week,
----- Do you do laundry
today?
----There's a self-service
laundry on the street
corner,
------ He works at the
hospital laundry.
6.launder:
-----Send these shirts
to be laundered.
-----Washing machines
have made laundering
much easier.
7.bride:新娘? other related words:
bridegroom 新郎
bridesmaid 女傧相
best man 男傧相
8.stubborn
When used of people and their
actions or behavior,stubborn often
shows disapproval,Someone who is
stubborn is determined to do what
they want and very unwilling to
change their mind,
stubborn
----He's too stubborn to apologize.
----She's as stubborn as a mule.
---The reform policy met some
stubborn resistance.
----Stubborn stains (污迹 ) can be
removed using a small amount of
this soap powder.
9.stagger
----She staggered to
the door,bleeding
from her wounds.
----She picked up the
heavy suitcase and
started off with a
stagger.
10.catastrophe:
a sudden,unexpected,and terrible
event that causes great suffering,
misfortune,or ruin
Catastrophe is often used of an event
or a situation that brings with it a
violent social or political upheaval (动荡,
catastrophe
-----The flood last summer was a
catastrophe.
----In the Greek mythology,Cassandra
was a princess of Troy who could
predict catastrophes.
11.collapse,(健康等 )垮掉；倒坍
Collapse literally means suddenly fall down
or fall inwards,When a person collapses,he
suddenly falls down because he feels tired,
weak or ill,or because he becomes
unconscious.
------The roof collapsed under the
weight of snow.
----He collapsed in the street and
died on the way to hospital.
12.mourn (I)
If you mourn someone,mourn
for (or over) someone,or mourn
someone's death,you are very
sad because they have died and
you show how sad you are in the
way that you behave,
mourn (II)
----- She mourned (for or over) her
child for many years.
------The time to mourn my father's
death is near.
------Mourn is also used of something
that you like but you no longer have or
you can no longer hope to have,
----- I mourned for the loss of my
precious youth,
------We all mourned the destruction of
the well-loved building.
13.totter,
Totter usually suggests great physical
weakness as that associates with infancy,
extremely old age,or disease.
----The child tottered across the
room,
---The old lady tottered down
the stairs.
14.load,n.v.
----Your words took a load off my mind.
----As the eldest son of the family,he is
ready to bear a heavy load of
responsibility.
----These trucks are loaded with coal.
----Have you loaded the camera (with
film)?
load:
If you refer to a load of something,
you are referring to a large amount of
it and emphasizing that it is large,
----We've talked about a load of
things,
------He has a load of friends.
15.unload:
----Have you unloaded the
parcel from the car?
----The plane unloaded the
passengers at the terminal.
----Their business is to load and
unload aircraft.
-----Let's unload the mule.
-----The ship will unload
tomorrow.
16.sunken,
A person's face or body that is
sunken seems to curve inwards,
especially because of illness or old
age,
-----His cheeks are sunken,
----sunken eyes/ship
17.contribute:
----We contributed clothing for the
flood victims.
-----Everyone is called on to
contribute ideas.
------The new policy greatly
contributed to the economic
development in this region.
18.resume:
-----We resumed our discussions after
a short rest.
-----Please don't resume reading the
text until I tell you to.
19.mutter / murmur.
To mutter means you say something quietly
especially when you are annoyed about
something.
When you murmur something you say it
very quietly,so that not many people can
hear what you are saying,
The customer muttered his dissatisfaction.
She muttered a few words to me.
"I love you," he murmured as their lips met.
20.property:
----His property will be divided equally among
his children.
----This machine is a government property.
Note that property is often used to refer to a house
and its garden,or to a piece of land owned by a
person or an institution,and the building or
buildings that are on it.
---He's got his own property,(= his own house)
---There was a dam at one edge of the property,
(= the piece of land)
21.fulfil,Fulfil implies a full realization of
what is until now a concept,a plan,etc,or
what exists potentially,
----The law has fulfilled its intended
end,
----A nurse has many duties to fulfil
in caring for the sick.
----They failed to fulfil their promise
to revive the economy.
13.undertake:
---I want you to undertake all the
arrangements.
----We could undertake the work for
the time being.
New Phrases
1.lean on:
-----The old man stopped and leaned
on his stick for a moment to recover,
----We have to lean heavily on our
parents for financial support,
2.count out:
----The old lady counted out
thirty pence and gave it to the
shop assistant.
3.at the most:
----He had been gone fifteen
minutes at the most.
----There was only room for one
more person at the most in the
boat.
4.be blessed with:
If someone is blessed with a particular
quality or skill,they have this quality or
skill which is admired or which is an
advantage to them.
---I have always been blessed with a
good appetite.
----He is blessed with a good ear for
languages; he speaks three
languages fluently.
5.a great deal of,Note that the
phrase is only used of uncountable or
abstract nouns.
---The government has
spent a great deal of money
on housing.
---We spent a great deal of
time practicing.
---There is a great deal of
concern over this issue.
6.heard of:
----I had never heard of Singer until
he won the Nobel prize in 1991.
----I gave the taxi-driver the name of
the hotel,but he said he had never
heard of it.
7.stand on one’s feet:
----I have been stood on
my feet all day.
----She stood on her feet
and demanded that
everyone listen to her.
LANGUAGE POINTS
(1) But this washwoman,small and
thin as she was,possessed a strength
that came from generations of
peasant forebears,-- Although this
washwoman was small and thin,she
had a strength that had been passed
down to her from her previous
generations of peasants.
然而这个洗衣妇，虽然又瘦又小，却具有世代当庄稼汉的祖辈所遗传下来的那一股精力 。
as:
In a formal style,as can be used,with a
special word order,to mean "although",
and the construction suggests a very
emphatic (显著的 ) contrast.
---Black and blind and poor as Stevie
was,he had a happy childhood.
----Tall as he was,he was not a good
basketball player,
(2)? She was a real find.
-- We were lucky to have
found such an exceptionally
good washwoman,
她真是个千寻难觅的好帮工 。
find,n,a person or place that is very suitable
for a particular purpose and that has been
discovered by chance; something valuable,
interesting or useful which has been
discovered after a search or an investigation
----They've got this new singer,and she's a
real find.
----This actor was the theatrical find of the
year.
-----This rare edition of Dreams in the Red
Mansions was a great find I made in a
second-hand bookstore.
(3) And the drying!
= And just think of all the drying she had to
do! (which was not easy for her either)
还有晾衣服的活儿 !
(4) Only God knows what the old woman
had to endure,.,-- The old woman had to
endure a great deal of hardships.
If you say "God knows","God only knows",
or "only God knows" you are emphasizing that
you don't know something or that you find a
fact or event very surprising,
-----God knows where they have gone!
----The rain will stop God knows when.
----God knows what mixture he had drunk
the night before.
.
(5) She could have begged …….
-- She could have lived by begging for
money if she didn't do the washing.
The pattern "could have done
something" is usually used to express
regret,dissatisfaction,or reproach (责备 )
on the part of the speaker for something
that the subject of the pattern had not been
able to or had neglected to do.
---We could have paid more attention
to the pollution from cars earlier.
---You could have finished this
assignment during the weekend.
(6) a certain pride and love of
labor with which many members
of the labor force have been
blessed,
--(she was) proud and loved to work
hard as many people of the working
class do.
然而在她身上，具有着一份劳动阶层多数人所特有的对劳动的自豪与热爱。
(7) Nor did he ever give her money,=
And he never gave her any money
either
也从不给她一分钱。
Nor is a negative word often used after a
negative statement to introduce another
negative statement,When it occurs at the
beginning of a sentence,the predicate (谓语 ) of the sentence should be arranged in a
partially inverted (部分倒装 ) order.
-----I couldn't understand a word they said,
nor could they understand me.
-----He can't see,nor could he hear until a
month ago,
(9) These hands spoke of the stubbornness
of mankind,of the will to work not only as
one's strength permits but beyond the limits
of one's power
-- The (trembling) hands of the washwoman
suggested the determination and will in human
nature to work not only as one is physically able to
but even more than what one's physical strength
permits.
这双手诉说着人类的顽强，诉说着劳动的意志 ----不仅在体力允许的情况下，甚至在体力以外的情况下顽强坚持的那份劳动意志。
speak of,suggest the idea of; show
clearly that something happened or that
it exists.
----The woman never mentioned the
tragic death of her child,but her eyes
spoke of suffering.
----Everything in the room speaks of
the graceful taste of its owner.
(10) Under the bundle tottered the
old woman,her face as white as a
linen sheet.
= The old woman walked
unsteadily while holding up the
bundle,and her face was as white
as a linen sheet.
The first part of this sentence is in the
inverted order (倒装 ) for the purpose of a
closer connection to the previous
sentence.
The second part is an absolute clause
that describes an accompanying
circumstance (伴随状况 ),which could
easily be replaced by a clause introduced
by and.
Absolute clauses can also be used to
describe a causal (原因的 ),temporal
(时间的 ) connection,
----All our savings gone,we started
looking for jobs,
----The whole meeting in an uproar
(吵闹 ),the chairman gave up the
attempt to take a vote.
(11) But God had not yet wanted to take this
poor soul to Himself.
-- But this time the poor woman did not die.
然而上帝还不想把这个可怜的灵魂召回自己身边。
Christians believe that when people die their souls
go to Heaven and join God.
The pronoun (代词 ) Himself in the sentence when
referring to God is always capitalized (大写 ) to
show reverence (尊敬 ).
(12) I could not rest easy…
= I could not relax and be comfortable…
The word rest here is used as a link verb,The
adjectives that often appear after the link verb
rest include easy and assured.
----Never shall we rest easy with the
honors we have won.
----You can rest assured that nothing like
this will happen again.
13.God forbid,may it not happen
If you say "God forbid!" or "Heaven
forbid!" that a particular thing should
happen or be done,you mean that you
think it would be a very bad thing and you
hope that it will not happen,
----God forbid that anything should happen to
that poor man.
----I hope we don't have any trouble with the
car – God forbid!
(14) What good would such a long
life be? = What's the use of such a long life?
/ What's the purpose of such a long life?
活这么长有什么好处呢? 。
good -- n,benefit; profit; advantage
------What good will it do to fuss over (对 … 大惊小怪 ) such a small thing?
------ I'm giving you this advice for your own
good.
(15) be driven by a strong will -- be
motivated by a strong will or
personal desire
她为一种强烈的意愿所驱使,
drive -- vt,push with force,motivate
----The play Othello is about how a man
driven by suspicion and jealousy kills his
innocent wife.
----He was driven to steal by extreme
hunger.
Reading Analysis
In telling the story of the washwoman,
Singer first gives a careful description of
what she looks like and how she does the
laundering,He then relates some of the
action that reveal her character--- the
kind of person she is,Go over the text
once again quickly and do the following
Ex,XIV.
Structure Exercises of Text A
Key to Translation
1.Sickly and weak as Grandma is,
she has taken on all the house work
in the family.
2.The recording company had never
been so pleased with any singer,For
them,Stevie Wonder was a real find.
3.They had no running water
where they lived,Nor did they have
any conveniences of life such as gas
and electricity.
4.Six years passed,then seven and
eight,and nothing was heard of that
French artist,It seemed certain that
he had left the country for only God
knows where.
5.He was very ill that summer,but as
soon as he felt better in the fall,he
resumed his writing and finished his last
novel in two months.
6.Driven by a strong will,Alex finally
fulfilled the task he had undertaken.
7.With the help of the doctor and the
nurses,the patient recovered quickly
and in a few weeds was able to stand
on his feet once more.
8.It was really sad to watch the old
man’s wrinkled face,which spoke of
all that he had borne / endured in his
life.
Structured Writing
My grandfather is a strong man,He
worked for many years in a steel
factory and has thick arms and
powerful shoulders,When we were
little children,we used to climb on him
and hang from his arms,But my
grandfather is also a kind man,He has
soft white hair and there is always a
smile on his face which lets you know
how friendly he is,
Once,when I was about 8 years
old,my grandfather told me he
loved me,but I was wrong to
scare my grandmother the way I
had,He gave me a hug and then
let me go out to play,In that
moment,I learned from my
grandfather how important it is
to be strong,but also to be
caring.
TEXT B
on one’s mind,troubling one's thoughts
When you have something on your mind,you feel
worried about it,but when you have something in
mind (not in your mind),you are considering it as
suitable for some purpose.
-----My assistant resigned,so I've got a lot on my
mind right now.
----With that on his mind,he is unable to sleep
well.
---Who do you have in mind for the job?
1) At 16,I liked nothing better than
getting behind the wheel of our
family pickup,but this time there
was something on my mind,
-- When I was 16,I was usually very
excited to have a chance to drive our small
family truck,but this time I was worrying
about something.
credit
Credit is a period of time that someone
is allowed before they have to pay for
goods or services that they have bought
or before they have to pay back money
that they have borrowed,
----I bought it on credit.
----This store does not give credit.
(2) whether they are "good for it"
-- whether they could be trusted to buy
things on credit
purchase /buy
purchase,n,an article that has just been
bought vt,buy
It is often used of a transaction of some
importance and implies negotiations or
other efforts to obtain it,One buys
(rather than purchase) a dozen eggs,a
glass of beer,or a new hat,but one
purchases (or buys) a car or a house,
-----This is the most expensive
purchase I have ever made.
-------Employers are encouraged to
purchase shares of stock in the firm.
cynical,（对人性或动机）怀疑的
----They've grown rather cynical about
democracy.
----He is cynical about the possibility of finding
true love.
(4) Those three words had opened a
door to an adult's respect and
trust,
-- Simply because he learned I was
James Williams' son,the farmer
showed respect and trust for me.
那小农场主像招呼邻里似地点点头。
这几个字打开了通向成年人尊敬与信任的大门。
P 6,open the door to,make possible;
create an opportunity for
----This agreement opens the door to
advances in technology.
----Smiles can open the door to a
friendship.
do wrong,commit sin; do evil
Wrong in the expression is a noun,A
wrong is an immoral or unjust action or
situation,especially one that causes pain
or worry to people.
-----You didn't do wrong by refusing
him.
----He remembered the wrong done to
him.
(6) We had a stake in one another
-- and in ourselves.
-- Every member of our family had a
shared interest in the good name of the
whole family.
我们 --- 以及我们自己内部 ---彼此都互相依存，休戚与共。
stake 利害关系 ；赌注
A stake is the amount of money which a gambler
bets on a horse in a race,on a throw of a dice (骰子 ),
etc,In extended use,if you have a stake in
something such as a business,property,or idea,you
have a share or an interest in it,usually of a financial
kind,
---- We must give young people a stake in the
country's future.
----He has a deep stake in this business.
----He lost his stakes when the horse finished last.
(7) A good name,and the responsibility
that came with it,forced us children to be
better than we otherwise might be,
-- Because of our responsibility to keep our
family's good reputation,we children always
behaved ourselves,But for this good name,
we might not have behaved as well as we did.
好名声，以及由此带来的责任，促使我们这些当孩子的成为好人 ---比在其他情况下我们要能成为的那种人更好。
think of oneself:
regard,.,as 把,.,看作
----I didn't expect that my innocent
remark would be thought of as an
intentional insult.
----He thought of himself as a hero.
out of habit,出于习惯
----He smokes out of habit,not for pleasure.
----I only do it out of habit.
P 10,eventually/ in the end,
finally / at last
All of which mean that something happens after a
long period of time,But:
Eventually especially means that something happens
after a long delay,
---The train was over three hours late,We eventually
got home at a quarter to twelve.
---The fire in the office block was eventually
brought under control,but not without a struggle.
In the end implies a long period of
time during which a lot has
happened.
----At first I didn't want to go with
them but in the end I agreed.
-----I spent all afternoon trying to mend
the shower,In the end I gave up and
called a plumber.
Finally especially implies the
experience of much doubt or difficulty
----Jim finally decided,after much
thought,to leave his job.
-----They finally succeeded in tracing
the girl's parents.
And at last suggests a long period
of waiting or travelling.
-----At last the rain stopped and they
were able to continue their game.
-----I walked for several hours
along a dusty road and at last I
came to the edge of a large town.
restore,bring something back
----The sea air restored his health.
----The army was called in to restore
law and order.
(8) If pride in a good name keeps
families and neighborhoods straight,
a sense of shame is the reverse side of
that coin,
-- Just as pride in a good name
encourages people to act well at home
and in public,the sense of shame when
they do something bad will lead them to
avoid any bad behavior.
如果说，对好名声的自豪感能使家庭及邻里保持正直，那么，羞耻感也能从相反的方面起到同样的作用。
reverse,the opposite argument,point
of view,situation,etc,(论点、看法、事物等的另一方面 )
The reverse side of a coin is the back side of
it,If you say that something is the reverse
side of a coin,you mean it is the opposite
way of looking at the situation you have
been discussing,
----The English ￡ 1 coin has a royal coat of
arms on the reverse side,
----Let us look at the reverse side of the coin.
abuses,wrong use 滥用；妄用
----The book is about the uses and
abuses of power.
---I won't abuse your trust.
out of wedlock,Wedlock is a word of old
use,The expression out of wedlock refers to
parents who are not married,
-----A child born out of wedlock is an
illegitimate child (非婚生子 ).
(9) none of these wrong things are
the deep embarrassment they
should be,
-- people are not embarrassed by any
of these wrong things which should
be embarrassing.
没有一件再让人产生那种应有的窘困难当的愧疚感。
be committed to,
be morally dedicated to; be bound
as by a promise to
----Everyone must be committed to the
job or the project will fail.
----He was thoroughly committed to
achieving equal rights for women
workers.
Influence,have an effect on,affect
-----Will you use your influence with
him not to do it?
-------He was a bad influence on
children.
------The weather seems to influence
her mood.
------Her writing has obviously been
influenced by Virginia Woolf.
portray:
To portray someone or something
means to show them by artistic means,
for example in a painting,book,film,
or play,
------This painting portrays the view of
a small town.
-----This biography portrays the
growth of a movie star,
sustain
make something continue to exist over a
period of time Sustain may center
attention on the fact of constantly holding
up by supplying physical or mental
nourishment (营养 ) needed for strength.
-----A light meal won't sustain us
throughout a day.
----The runner can sustain the same pace
for hours.
-----We do not have sufficient resources to
sustain the project for long,
civilization:
Civilization refers to the state of having a high level
of social organization,culture,and a comfortable
way of life,and a civilization is a society which has
a high level of social organization,culture and a
comfortable way of life,
----Civilization may be destroyed by another world
war.
----The plane crashed in the jungle,several hundreds
of miles from civilization.
---China is one of the world's earliest great
civilizations,
think twice,think very carefully before
deciding to do something
----You should think twice about traveling
with someone you are not very familiar with.
(10) kids don't think twice about bad
language
-- young people do not hesitate to use
bad language； it just seems normal to
them.
(然而，在电影与音乐节目中出现的污言秽语的鼓动下,)孩子们想也不想就会随口说出粗野无礼的脏话。
care about,mind,be worried or
concerned about
----It's good to know that you care
about us.
----All she cares about is her social life.
legacy,
Legacy is used to refer to either the money or
property that one receives after someone has
died or the situation or attitude that a person,an
event,or a period of history leaves behind and
the influence that it has on the future.
----He was left a legacy by his
grandparents.
---These buildings are a legacy of the
last government.
uphold:
1,support; prevent from being weakened or taken
away
2,declare to be right; confirm Uphold is usually
followed by such nouns as decision,verdict (裁决 ),
policy,principle,custom,tradition,system,etc,as
its object.
---Judge Davis upheld the county court's
decision that the gun had been obtained illegally.
---It's the duty of a police officer to uphold
the law.
to this day,until now
----To this day I can't forget her
facial expression at that moment.
----To this day I still don't know
why he did it.
know of,have heard of
---- I know of the town,but I've
never been there.
-----Do you know of any way to
remove an ink stain?
pave the way:
If one thing paves the way for another,it
creates a situation in which the other
thing is more likely to happen or can
happen more easily.
---- The agreement paves the way for a
lasting peace.
----This meeting paves the way for
further cooperation between China
and Europe.
TEXT C
Michael Jordan 1963--
Michael Jordan is widely considered the
greatest basketball player of all time and
in the 1990s was perhaps the most popular
athlete in the world,Playing for the
Chicago Bulls of the NBA between 1984
and 1998,Jordan led the league in scoring
10 times,won five Most Valuable player
trophies and led his team to six national
championships,among other honors,
Michael Jordan (II)
He was noted for his exceptional
scoring ability,exciting drives to the
basket,and ability to perform at his
best in a game’s most important
moments,Jordan’s fame has also
been enhanced by his role as a
corporate spokesman for such
businesses as Coca Cola,McDonalds,
and Nike,whose,Air Jordan” line of
basketball shoes became popular the
world over.
Public Relations (I)
Public relations are activities
undertaken to promote in the public
mind a favorable feeling towards a
corporation,institution,product,or
person,Many professional athletes
hire a public relations agent to
arrange and publicize,for example,an
athlete’s trip to a hospital to visit sick
children which would improve public
for example,an athlete’s trip to a
hospital to visit sick children which
would improve public
opinion of this athlete,The writer’s point
is that Jordan did not hire such an
agent,which demonstrates that he truly
cared about these children and was not
simply using them as an opportunity
for good publicity.
Difficult Sentences and Phrases
Text C
1,This is why Jordan is Jordan,
-----This is the reason why Jordan is
such a great and respected figure.
2,to build people up to incredible
heights,then happily knock them
down
----to praise people very highly first
in order to viciously criticize them
later
3,The first journalist to really rip into
Jordan is sure to make a national name for
himself,
------A journalist who takes the lead in
attacking Jordan will certainly become known
nationwide.
4,The day after the column ran
------the day after the column was
published in the newspaper.
5,Here it comes,
----- the writer thinks that a
criticism of Jordan will now
follow.
果然来了，我心里在想 。
6,alerted me to this
___ called this to my attention.
没有哪个广告代理人提醒我注意这件事