Detailed Reading

I. Difficult Sentences

1. “I mow your lawn,” he said. (Para. 2)
How many times is the sentence — “I mow your lawn.” — repeated in the text? Why is it repeated?
(The sentence is repeated four times. That’s because it shows Tony’s determination in finding a job, and his optimistic view that people would help a man who needed a job.)

2. Well, what do you do with such determination and hope? (Para. 12)
Paraphrase the sentence.
(It is hard to refuse a person who is determined and hopeful to get a job.)

3. My wife and I were delighted with what we felt was a satisfying end of the story. (Para. 16)
1) Paraphrase the sentence.
(My wife and I were happy with what Tony had achieved, and thought that the whole thing had thus been settled.)
2) Was Tony satisfied with this end?
(Tony was not satisfied. He kept on working hard until he fulfilled his better dreams.)

4. From then on, it was interesting to see that any discarded odds and ends around our place — a broken screen, a bit of hardware, boards from packing — Tony would gather and take home. (Para. 21)
1) Why did Tony take home the discarded odds and ends?
(Tony bought a house, which was a complete wreck. To fix and decorate it, and, above all, to save money, he took home the discarded odds and ends.)
2) Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(从那以后，只要我家附近有什么被人扔弃的零星杂物，坏了的屏风啦，五金器具啦，包装纸板啦，托尼都要收起来拿回家，看他这个样子真是有意思。)

5. He had hunted around the edge of town until he found a small, abandoned piece of property with a house and shed. (Para. 26)
1) What does “property” refer to?
(“Property” refers to the farm he wanted to buy.)
2) Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(他在小镇周边到处找，终于找到一处没人要的一小块地产，有一幢房，还有间小棚。)

6. He grew in stature in my mind. (Para. 30)
1) Paraphrase the sentence.
(He grew taller and greater in my mind. His social status greatly improved in my mind.)
2) Describe the change of Tony’s social status in Mr. Crawford’s mind.
(When Mr. Crawford first met Tony, Tony was “about five-foot-seven or eight, and thin”, and his English was broken. He remained standing when he talked to Mr. Crawford. He did not have high social status. After he bought his farm several years later, he “seemed to stand a little straighter”, and he “had a look of confidence”. He and Mr. Crawford “sat down and talked”. His social status improved enough to allow him to sit down with Mr. Crawford. After he passed away, Mr. Crawford thought “he stood as tall, and as proud, as the greatest American industrialists.”)

7. Tony did not begin on the bottom rung of the ladder. He began in the basement. (Para. 32)
1) What does “ladder” refer to? And what does “basement” refer to?
(“Ladder” refers to the way to success. “Basement” refers to Tony’s starting point. He was worse than ordinary people. He had nothing to help him seek his American Dream.)
2) What can you infer from the sentence?
(Tony had nothing when he arrived in the United States, and he built up from nothing.)

8. But, after all, the balance sheets were exactly the same. The only difference was where you put the decimal point. (Para. 32)
1) What do balance sheets refer to? And what does decimal point refer to?
(Balance sheets are used to show whether a person or a company is financially successful. Here they are used to judge a person’s life achievements. If the decimal point is moved, a number will become either smaller or bigger. Here it shows the difference in the amount of money Tony and the greatest industrialists had made.)
2) What can you infer from the sentences?
(What Tony and the greatest industrialists achieved was exactly the same. The only difference was that they had different financial success.)

II. Words & Expressions

turn away:  refuse to help (sb.) or allow (sb.) to enter a place

- 他拒绝了所有的应征者。 (He turned all the applicants away.)

- He turned away several people who didn’t have the tickets.

Collocation:

turn down                  拒绝；调低

turn in                                  交还，上交

turn into                     使变成

turn off                       关；拐弯

turn out                      生产，制造；证明，结果

turn over                    仔细考虑

turn up                        出现，来到；开大，调大

work out:  plan; solve; calculate

- 他们已经设计出把宇宙飞船送上太空的方法。 (They’ve worked out a method of sending a spacecraft to the space.)

- The accountant has worked out your share of the expense at 1,000 yuan. (会计已算出你的那份花费为1,000元。)

Collocation:

work at                       从事于，致力于

work up                      引起，激起，逐渐上升

weekly:

1. adj. happening once a week or every week

- He thinks his weekly wage of 400 yuan is enough.

2. adv. once a week; every week; by the week

- 《21世纪报》每周出版一次。 (21st Century is published weekly.)

3. n. a publication issued once a week

- Business Weekly                                 《商业周刊》

- Publishers’ Weekly (美) 《出版商周刊》

- a twice weekly                                             半周刊 

do with:

1) (used in questions with “what”) deal with

- Tell me what you did with yourself this week.

- The child didn’t know what to do with himself for excitement.

2) tolerate

- 我不能忍受他和他的无礼。 (I can’t do with him and his impoliteness.)

3) (often with “could”, “can”) desire

- I could do with a cup of tea.

Collocation:

do without                                                      没有…也行，将就

do away with                                        废除，去掉

do for                                                                         代替，适合…

do good (to)                                          对…有益

do over                                                            重复

determination: n.  the ability to continue trying to achieve what you have decided to do even when this is difficult

- He has great determination to learn English well.

personnel: n.

1) the department in a large organization that deals with employees; human resources (uncountable noun, used with a singular or plural verb).

- personnel administration                人事管理

- personnel department                     人事部/处/科

- personnel director                                      人事部长/处长/科长

2) all the persons working in an organization, in the army, etc. (often used with a plural verb)

- The personnel of the company has been increased.

- 全体员工都允许参加晚会。 (All personnel were allowed to take part in the party.)

NB:

此外注意与 personal 的区别。

personal: 个人的，私人的，亲自的，秘密的

- Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted. (如同她们的个人生活一样，妇女的历史是支离破碎且断断续续的。)

Translate the following into Chinese.

- a personal appearance (亲自出面)

- I have something personal to tell you. (我有私人的事要告诉你。)

capacity: n.

1) the ability to understand or do sth.

- His capacity for remembering things is interesting.

2) the ability to hold or contain sth.; the maximum amount that can be contained

- The trunk is filled to capacity.

CF: capacity, ability, capability & proficiency

这些词都可以表示“能力”的意思。

capacity 用于物时，指容纳接受的能力，如容积、容量、生产能力；用于人时，指潜在的能力，多用于才智、道德，尤指接受能力、领悟性、敏感性等。

ability 既指天赋的能力，也指培养造就而获得的本领；主要用于人，指已经表现出来的实际能力，尤指人的思维能力。

capability 较多用于人，指胜任某项工作的能力、本领。

proficiency 正式用语，带有技术性，指对业务的精通和熟练。

Fill in the blanks with the words given above.

1. Her mental ability is very great.

2. The film is beyond the capacity of the children.

3. Proficiency in several foreign languages is needed for work as a traveler’s guide.

4. He has the capability of solving practical problems.

skilled: adj.

1) having skill; trained; experienced

- a skilled worker (技术熟练的工人)

2) needing skill

- skilled work (技术性工作)

CF: skilled & skillful

skilled, skillful 表示“有技术的，熟练的”时可以互换。

skilled 通常是指受过正规训练，有多年实践经验而掌握某项专门技术。

skillful 是指人聪明，做事很灵巧，尤指手的灵巧。

- He is a skilled / skillful surgeon.

- 罗斯的父亲是个熟练的机械师，因而她也很会修理自行车。 (Rose’s father is a skilled mechanic so she has become skillful at repairing bicycles too.)

for sale:  available to be bought   待售，供出售

- The company will put the houses for sale.

- Not for Sale. (非卖品。)

Collocation：

on sale                                                    上市，出售；减价，贱卖

a sale on credit                  赊购

on sale or return               包退包换的，无法销售可以退货的

call on:

1) visit sb. for a short time

- I’ll call on him tomorrow.

2) summon; appeal

- 他们号召全市工人支持这次罢工。 (They called on the workers of the city to support the strike.)

3) invite; require

- The host of the party called on the Chairman to speak.

Collocation：

call for               邀约；要求；需要

call off                取消

call up                打电话；召集；使人想起

call in                 顺路到某处；收回

loan:

1. vt. lend

- The bank loaned me some money.

- The artist loaned her pictures to the museum.

2. n.

1) sth. lent, esp. a sum of money

- The dictionary is a loan, not a gift.

- Does the loan carry any interest?

2) lending

- 我可以借你的打字机用一下吗？(May I have the loan of your typewriter?)

Collocation：

ask for the loan of请求借用…

have the loan of …借…

on loan出借的

a domestic (foreign) loan                            内（外）债

a public / government loan                         公债, 国库券

a loan for consumption                                消费贷款

a loan on security                                                   担保贷款

a gift (interest-free) loan                                      无息贷款

a long-term loan                                                              长期贷款

a mortgage loan                                                              抵押贷款, 抵押借款

character: n.

1) the particular collection of qualities that make sb. / sth. different from others

- He has a strong but gentle character.

- 品质的培养应是教育的重点。 (Character building should be the main point of education.)

- The new buildings have changed the character of the village.

2) person in a play, movie, etc.

- I find all the characters in his new play very real.

3) letter, sign or mark used in a system of writing or printing

- a Chinese character (一个汉字)

- 汉字看起来像是一幅幅小图画。 (The characters in Chinese writing look like small pictures.)

CF: character, characteristic, feature & personality

这些词都是名词，都有“性格”、“品质”、“特征”的意思。

character  指成年人已经充分发展的生活方式，而且往往与品格有关。

characteristic 指某物的任何方面，不涉及全局的重要性，但常指有代表性的一个侧面，常用于科技领域。

feature 通常指外貌的特征或特别的、附加的、有吸引力的东西。

personality 偏重指一个人表现出来的无法明确阐述的整个情绪方面的特点，不与形容词连用时表示情感上的吸引力。

Fill in the blanks with the words given above and translate the sentences into Chinese.

1. An aquiline nose was her best feature. (鹰钩鼻是她最明显的特征。)

2. He can read a guy’s character at the first glance. (他一眼就可以看出一个人的品质。)

3. He has character but no personality. (他有性格但没有个性。)

4. A psychological report lists every possible characteristic of the person being studied.

(一份心理学报告列举了研究对象所有可能有的特性。)

confidence: n.  the quality of being certain of one’s abilities or of trusting other people

- I took them into my confidence.

- I have every confidence in your ability to succeed.

- 我告诉你这件事是因为绝对相信你会保守秘密的。 (I am telling you this in strict confidence.)

send for:  ask for the arrival of

- I was seriously ill and my father had to send for a doctor.

- Do you want to send for the police?

hunt: v.

1) search thoroughly (for)

- 警察在山中搜索逃犯。 (The police are hunting for the escaped criminal in the mountain.)

- They were hunting the area for a new apartment.

2) go after (wild animals) for food or sport

- We often go out hunting in the holiday.

abandon: v.  give up completely and forever

- The cruel father abandoned his newborn daughter.

- One of my classmates had to abandon the trip because of his father’s illness.

property: n.

1) land, buildings or both together

- Little property was left in the small country after the war.

2) The thing or things that sb. owns

- The factory is my uncle’s private property.

- public property                                   公共财产

- personal property                    动产

- real property                                      不动产

sometime: adv.  at a time that is unknown or has not yet been fixed

CF: sometime, sometimes & some time

sometime   在某时候, 曾经

sometimes  有时，不时，间或

some time  一段时间

- 我希望明年某个时候你再来。 (I hope you will come again sometime next year.)

- 我有时会收到他的信。 (I sometimes hear from him.)

- 我已经等了你一些时候了。 (I have been waiting for you for some time.)

sponsor:

1. v. support by giving money, encouragement or other help

- The exhibition was sponsored by the Society of Culture.

- 一些大公司赞助了这次的时装表演。 (Some large companies sponsored this fashion show.)

2) n. one who puts forward or guarantees a proposal

- a sponsor country           主办国

approach:

1. v. come near or nearer to

- The boys had approached the tunnel when they played the game.  

- 性能近乎完美。 (The performance approaches perfection.)

- The young teacher is easy to approach and all the students like to answer her questions.

2. n. way  

- 每个人的学习方法都不一样。 (Everyone has his own approach to study.)

pass away:  die

- He passed away peacefully.

Collocation:

pass by                                          不注意，忽视

pass down                           使传下来

pass over                             对…不加考虑

pass out                               失去知觉，昏倒

pass off                                终止，停止

handle:

1. v.

1) manage; control

- How to handle the contradiction correctly among the people is important to steady development. (正确处理人们内部的矛盾对稳定发展很重要。)

2) touch, lift, or hold with the hands

- Wash your hands before you handle the white paper.

2. n. a part that is designed to be held or operated with the hand

- The handle is not well fixed.

above all: most important of all

- He was concerned above all with the truth of the accident.

Collocation：

after all                       毕竟, 终究, 归根结底

at all                                               完全, 全然

first of all                    首先

in all                                      总计；总的说来

all but                                   几乎, 差一点；除…外全部

all in all                       总之

balance:

1. n.

1) the difference between the credit and the debit side; a remainder

- a bank balance (银行余额)

- 剩下来的工资全用来购买花卉栽培的新书上了。 (The balance of the wages was devoted to new books on flower culture.)

- You may keep the balance.

2) a weighing device

- The balance is an apparatus for weighing, not for you to play.

3) a state of equilibrium

- 孩子骑在他的新自行车上用双腿保持平衡。 (The child could keep his balance with his

legs on his new bicycle.)

2. v.

1) keep or put sth. in a steady position

- I’m trying to balance on the ball on one foot in order to win the prize.  

2) show equal totals of debits and credits

- My accounts balance for the first time this year!