Unit 8
Fourteen
Steps
purposes
1,To get students know life’s value,
2,To understand the purpose of writing,
3,To reinforce some basic linguistic
knowledge by doing various types of
exercises,
Structural analysis of the text
Main idea of each part,
Part I (1-2)—About the author’s first life which
could be further divided into two phases,
Part II (3-5)—The author depicts his life
afflicted by the disease,especially the
difficulty in climbing the 14 steps,
Part III (6-8)—The author tells us about his
shameful experience from which his third life
began,
Part IV (9-10)—The author’s reflection on the
incident and his life philosophy,from which he
discovered the true value of life,
About the Text
1,What does the author mean by, And I managed to keep my
health and optimism,to a degree,because of 14 steps”?
In a way,the daily exercise of climbing helped to keep his
physical capability (health),which in turn made him
optimistic that he could continue living,
2,Why does the author call these steps,14 miserable steps”?
Because the fact that everything in his life (his home,his job,
his wife and his sanity) seemed to totally depend on these 14
steps made him miserable,
3,How did the author re-evaluate the 14 steps after the auto-
repair incident?
The author came to be aware that some people who had the
same or more serious adversity were always ready to offer
help,For him the 14 steps were not the whole thing in his life,
There are other people he should give help to when he was
struggling against the adversity (to climb the 14 steps),
some difficult sentences,words or phrases
1,Here hobbled a bitterly disillusioned cripple,a man
who held on to his sanity and his wife and his
home and his job because of 14 miserable steps…
Here walked a sad man with little hope for his
future,and everything he owned at that time (his
home,his job,his wife and his normal life)
depended on his painful effort to climb these 14
steps,
2,In the next few frozen seconds the shame and
horror of that moment penetrated and I was sick
with an intensity I had never felt before,
In the next few seconds I was filled with such
great shame and horror that I was speechless,I
had never been so sick about what I had done
before,
Language
Points
be inclined to
to be likely or tend to
Middle-class victims are more inclined to
contact the police,
他生性懒惰。
He's inclined to be lazy,
我倾向于认为他真反对这一计划。
I am inclined to believe that he is really
opposed to the plan,
Care for
look after
He is very good at caring for sick old people,
当他生病时，他的儿子照顾他。
His son cared for him when he was ill.]
to have a liking; to have a wish
我不愿让他看这封信。
I don't care for him to read this letter,
我妻子其实不喜欢喝茶,她喜欢喝咖啡。
My wife doesn't really care for tea; she likes coffee
better,
With the aid of
? with the help of 借助于,通过,..的帮助
The bacteria can only be seen with the aid of a high-
power microscope,
? in aid of
用以援助,..; 作为援助,..之用
raising fund in aid of the sick
募捐帮助病人
? first aid
(对伤病人员的 )急救
Hold on to
? to keep one’s grip on; not to let go of
Hold on to your ticket—you might need it on
the return journey,
我们曾想着卖掉这家具，但是我们决定保留下来，
它可能很值钱。
We were thinking of selling this old furniture,
but we’ve decided to hold on to it,It might
be valuable,
lead up to
to come before and result in
(向上 )一路通过,作为,..的准备 (或先导 )
The book describes the trial and the events leading
up to it in great detail,
为了弄清楚委员会的决定，有必要分析一下作出这
个决定的过程。
In order to understand the committee’s decision it
is necessary to examine the process that led up to
it,
interval
There is a two hours' interval to the
next train,
It snowed at intervals this week,
这星期 不时 下雪。
每隔很短时间就开出的火车
trains leaving at short intervals
他总是间隔一定时间访问我一次。
He visits me at regular intervals,
penetrate
to enter or pass
我们的眼睛无法 穿透 黑暗。
Our eyes could not penetrate the darkness,
森林中 弥漫着 树枝和树叶烧焦的气味。
A smell of burnt branches and leaves penetrated
the woods
Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East,
西方观念逐渐传入东方。
Translation
1,He is inclined to lose his temper when he is playing with his
younger brother,
2,Since the accident he’s only been able to walk with the aid
of a stick,
3,I think that’s true to a degree,but the situation is not quite
so simple,
4,My father said that if we believed that something was true,
we should hold on to it,
5,He’s very disillusioned at the government’s handling of the
economy,
6,We were all set to go on vacation when we heard the news,
7,The sun’s rays can penetrate the sea to a depth of 20
metres,
8,His flattering words led up to a request for money,
Dictation
With the invention of the radio,newspaper publishers
wondered how broadcasting would affect them,Many feared
that the radio as a quick and easy means of keeping people
informed would displace the newspaper industry altogether,
Others hoped that the brief newscast heard on the air
would stimulate listeners’ interest in the story so they’d buy
the paper to get more information,This second idea turned
out to be closer to the truth,Radio and print actually
supported each other,However,this is not always the case,
Take television and motion pictures for example,With the
popularization of TV,the motion pictures suffered greatly,
Movie attendance dropped when people chose to stay at
home and be entertained,
Translation
Fourteen
Steps
purposes
1,To get students know life’s value,
2,To understand the purpose of writing,
3,To reinforce some basic linguistic
knowledge by doing various types of
exercises,
Structural analysis of the text
Main idea of each part,
Part I (1-2)—About the author’s first life which
could be further divided into two phases,
Part II (3-5)—The author depicts his life
afflicted by the disease,especially the
difficulty in climbing the 14 steps,
Part III (6-8)—The author tells us about his
shameful experience from which his third life
began,
Part IV (9-10)—The author’s reflection on the
incident and his life philosophy,from which he
discovered the true value of life,
About the Text
1,What does the author mean by, And I managed to keep my
health and optimism,to a degree,because of 14 steps”?
In a way,the daily exercise of climbing helped to keep his
physical capability (health),which in turn made him
optimistic that he could continue living,
2,Why does the author call these steps,14 miserable steps”?
Because the fact that everything in his life (his home,his job,
his wife and his sanity) seemed to totally depend on these 14
steps made him miserable,
3,How did the author re-evaluate the 14 steps after the auto-
repair incident?
The author came to be aware that some people who had the
same or more serious adversity were always ready to offer
help,For him the 14 steps were not the whole thing in his life,
There are other people he should give help to when he was
struggling against the adversity (to climb the 14 steps),
some difficult sentences,words or phrases
1,Here hobbled a bitterly disillusioned cripple,a man
who held on to his sanity and his wife and his
home and his job because of 14 miserable steps…
Here walked a sad man with little hope for his
future,and everything he owned at that time (his
home,his job,his wife and his normal life)
depended on his painful effort to climb these 14
steps,
2,In the next few frozen seconds the shame and
horror of that moment penetrated and I was sick
with an intensity I had never felt before,
In the next few seconds I was filled with such
great shame and horror that I was speechless,I
had never been so sick about what I had done
before,
Language
Points
be inclined to
to be likely or tend to
Middle-class victims are more inclined to
contact the police,
他生性懒惰。
He's inclined to be lazy,
我倾向于认为他真反对这一计划。
I am inclined to believe that he is really
opposed to the plan,
Care for
look after
He is very good at caring for sick old people,
当他生病时，他的儿子照顾他。
His son cared for him when he was ill.]
to have a liking; to have a wish
我不愿让他看这封信。
I don't care for him to read this letter,
我妻子其实不喜欢喝茶,她喜欢喝咖啡。
My wife doesn't really care for tea; she likes coffee
better,
With the aid of
? with the help of 借助于,通过,..的帮助
The bacteria can only be seen with the aid of a high-
power microscope,
? in aid of
用以援助,..; 作为援助,..之用
raising fund in aid of the sick
募捐帮助病人
? first aid
(对伤病人员的 )急救
Hold on to
? to keep one’s grip on; not to let go of
Hold on to your ticket—you might need it on
the return journey,
我们曾想着卖掉这家具，但是我们决定保留下来，
它可能很值钱。
We were thinking of selling this old furniture,
but we’ve decided to hold on to it,It might
be valuable,
lead up to
to come before and result in
(向上 )一路通过,作为,..的准备 (或先导 )
The book describes the trial and the events leading
up to it in great detail,
为了弄清楚委员会的决定，有必要分析一下作出这
个决定的过程。
In order to understand the committee’s decision it
is necessary to examine the process that led up to
it,
interval
There is a two hours' interval to the
next train,
It snowed at intervals this week,
这星期 不时 下雪。
每隔很短时间就开出的火车
trains leaving at short intervals
他总是间隔一定时间访问我一次。
He visits me at regular intervals,
penetrate
to enter or pass
我们的眼睛无法 穿透 黑暗。
Our eyes could not penetrate the darkness,
森林中 弥漫着 树枝和树叶烧焦的气味。
A smell of burnt branches and leaves penetrated
the woods
Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East,
西方观念逐渐传入东方。
Translation
1,He is inclined to lose his temper when he is playing with his
younger brother,
2,Since the accident he’s only been able to walk with the aid
of a stick,
3,I think that’s true to a degree,but the situation is not quite
so simple,
4,My father said that if we believed that something was true,
we should hold on to it,
5,He’s very disillusioned at the government’s handling of the
economy,
6,We were all set to go on vacation when we heard the news,
7,The sun’s rays can penetrate the sea to a depth of 20
metres,
8,His flattering words led up to a request for money,
Dictation
With the invention of the radio,newspaper publishers
wondered how broadcasting would affect them,Many feared
that the radio as a quick and easy means of keeping people
informed would displace the newspaper industry altogether,
Others hoped that the brief newscast heard on the air
would stimulate listeners’ interest in the story so they’d buy
the paper to get more information,This second idea turned
out to be closer to the truth,Radio and print actually
supported each other,However,this is not always the case,
Take television and motion pictures for example,With the
popularization of TV,the motion pictures suffered greatly,
Movie attendance dropped when people chose to stay at
home and be entertained,
Translation
