Detailed Reading

I. Difficult Sentences

1. Most of her holds contained thousands of cartons of canned or dried foods. The other holds were loaded with five-hundred-pound bombs packed delicately in padded racks. Our destination was a big base on the island of Tulagi in the South Pacific.
Why was it necessary for the writer to offer so many details of his voyage?
(=The details indicate that this Thanksgiving was unusual, explaining why the writer felt the need to celebrate it in an unusual way.)

2. ... this Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily preparing a traditional dinner featuring roast turkey.
Paraphrase this part.
(=… on this Thanksgiving morning we were busy preparing a traditional dinner which included mainly roast turkey.
“Feature” here means “to include as a special part”. )

3. I made my way out there, breathing in great, deep draughts while walking slowly about, still wearing my white cook’s hat.
Analyze the structure of the sentence.
(=在这个长句中有三个 -ing 分词：breathing、walking 和 wearing。breathing 为 made my way out 的伴随状语，walking 与 while 连用表示与 breathing 这一动作同时发生，wearing 为 walking 的伴随状语。)
Translate the sentence into Chinese.
(=我信步走去，一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱着步，头上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。)

4. It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key to an answer could result from reversing the word “Thanksgiving” — at least that suggested a verbal direction, “Giving thanks.”
Translate this sentence into Chinese.
(=大概过了半个小时我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把Thanksgiving 这个词前后颠倒一下，那样一来至少文字好懂了：Giving thanks。)

5. Not one time had I ever bothered to express to any of them so much as a simple, sincere “Thank you”.
What can we infer from this sentence?
(=The author took all for granted and never expressed any appreciation. The sentence is in inverted order.)

6. I told him that whatever positive things I had done since had been influenced at least in part by his morning school prayers.
Analyze the structure of the sentence.
(=whatever positive … morning school prayer 是宾语从句。I had done since 是定语从句，修饰 whatever positive things; since 为副词，修饰 had done; in part 在这里意为 partly。)

7. and my reading of their letters left me not only astonished but more humbled than before.
Analyze the structure of this part.
(=leave 常用于结构：leave sb. adj./past participle，adj./past participle（此处为 not only astonished but more humbled than before）为宾语补足语。)
Translate this sentence into Chinese.
(=我读了信，既觉得震惊，又深感卑微。)

8. Rather than saying they would forgive that I hadn’t previously thanked them, instead, for Pete’s sake, they were thanking me — for having remembered, for having considered they had done anything so exceptional.
Paraphrase the sentence.
(=They didn’t say they would forgive me for not thanking them, but instead, for God’s sake, they thanked me for having remembered what they had done and for having thought they had done something special to me.)

9. A glance at Grandma’s familiar handwriting brought back in a flash memories of standing alongside her white rocking chair, watching her “setting down” some letter to relatives.
What does the sentence mean?
(=His grandma’s handwriting reminded the writer of many sweet memories of his childhood with her. “Setting down” here means “writing”.)

10. I wept over the page representing my Grandma’s recent hours invested in expressing her loving gratefulness to me.
Paraphrase the sentence.
(=I was moved to tears that my grandma had spent hours recently in expressing her loving gratefulness to me.)

II. Words & Expressions

under way:  in position or operation, having started and making progress

- It’s been under way for fifty years and it still has a long way to go.

- A battle to conquer nature is under way.

Collocation:

all the way  自始自终

any way   无论如何

by the way  顺便说

by way of  经由；通过…的方法

put away:  remove (sth.) to a place where it is usually stored

- Put the books away neatly on the shelf. 

- He has a habit of putting away his tools after work.

get to sth./doing sth.:  begin to give serious attention to or deal with

- Recently I’ve got to wondering why I am doing the part-time job.

- I’ll get to the accounts as soon as I can.

reverse: vt.  turn around to the opposite direction; exchange the position of

- The rise, the first in 10 months, reversed the downward trend in the country’s jobless rate.

- Why don’t you reverse the order so that I perform first and he performs second? 

Collocation:

in reverse     向相反方向；倒（退）；逆（行、转等）

just the reverse   正好相反，恰恰相反

suffer/sustain a reverse  遭受挫折（或失败）；吃败仗

the reverse of    …的反面；绝不是…，远非… 

turn over:  think about; consider

- 他在心里反复考虑这件事情。

(=He turned the matter over in his mind.)

- She sat there quietly, turning over the problem.

Collocation:

turn aside   避开，撇开

turn (away) from  对…感到厌恶

turn down   关小；拒绝

turn up     开大；出现

repay: vt.  pay back; reward

- She repaid me the money.

- How can I ever repay you for your kindness? 

gratitude: n.  being thankful; thankfulness (followed by to sb./ for sth.)

- He showed me his gratitude by inviting me to dinner.

- She expressed her gratitude for our help.

Collocation:

feel gratitude     心怀感激

show gratitude    表露感激之情

deep/profound gratitude  深切的谢意

everlasting gratitude  永远的感谢

sincere gratitude    诚挚的谢意

specific: adj.  relating to one thing and not others; particular 

- He uses a specific tool for each job.

- 试卷回答要明确具体。

(=Be specific in your examination answers.)

CF: specific, special, especial & particular

均有“特殊的、特别的”的意思。

specific 意思是具体的、特定的、明确的。例如：

- He gave us a specific statement of the case.

(=关于这个案子他向我们作了详尽的陈述。)

special 意思是特殊的、专门的，强调某事物的特殊性或特殊用途。例如：

- This is a special case, deserving special treatment.

(=这是一个特别案例，值得特殊处理。)

particular 意思是特殊的、特别的。强调事物的独特性、突出性。例如： 

- This particular case is an exception to the rule.

(=这个特殊个案是个例外。 )

especial 是 special 的旧式的正式用语，用于强调。例如： 

- We have an especial need of help at this time.

(=我们这个时候需要特别帮助。 )

Translate the following sentences into English, using the above words. 

我需要一个明确的回答。  (=I want a specific answer.)

没有什么特别的。    (=Nothing special.)

故事就发生在那一天。  (=The story happened on that particular day.)

他特别不喜欢流行音乐。  (=He has an especial dislike for pop music.)

on one’s behalf / on behalf of sb.:  for sb.; in the interests of sb.; as the representative of sb.

- My husband can’t be here today, so I’m going to speak on his behalf.

- 律师代表当事人说话。

(=The lawyer spoke on behalf of his client.)

impress: vt.

1. fix in sb.’s mind; make the importance of (sth.) very clear to sb. 

Pattern:

impress upon/on sb. that-clause; impress upon/on sb. sth.

- My father impressed on me the value of hard work. 

2. cause (sb.) to feel admiration or respect 

- I am impressed by/with his performance.

diminish: v.  make or become smaller or less

- His illness diminished his strength. 

- 我们的友谊决不会因时间的流逝而减弱。

(=Time will never cause our friendship to diminish.)

CF: decrease, diminish & reduce

这三个动词都有“减少”，“使减少”之意。

decrease 特指数量的减少。例如：

- The population of the village has decreased to 400.

(=该村的人口已减到400.)

diminish 表示“带走或分离出去，而使物体的数量受损”。有时指某事物的价值突然降低。例如：

- An occasional outburst did not diminish my respect for her.

(=一次偶然发火并没有减少我对她的尊重。)

reduce 特别强调人为地减少或降低。例如：

- The workers reduced their wage demands.

(=工人们降低了他们的工资要求。)

expose: vt.  leave uncovered or unprotected

- He enjoys exposing his skin to the sun.

- 作为战时摄影记者，她遇到了很多危险。

(=As a photographer in the war, she was exposed to many dangers.)

Pattern: be exposed to

immerse: vt.  cover completely in a liquid; absorb deeply

- He lay immersed in a hot bath.

- 她专心致志地工作，因而没有注意到我。

(=She was so immersed in her work that she didn’t notice me.)

CF: immerse, dunk & dip

这几个词均有“浸（入）”的意思。

immerse 是正式用语，指把某物完全浸入液体中，也可以指陷入或专心于某事。例如：

- I immersed myself in work so as to stop thinking about her.

(=为了不再想她，我使自己完全沉浸在工作之中。)

dunk 是非正式用语，指将某物部分置于液体中，动作慢且轻。例如：

- She used to dunk her biscuits in her tea.

(=以前她总是把饼干在茶里泡了吃。)

dip 是常用词，亦指将某物部分置于液体中，但马上便从液体中提出，其特点是小心谨慎或带有试探性。例如：

- She dipped a toe in the water to see how cold it was.

(=她把脚尖浸入水中，以探知水有多凉。 )

Put into each gap one of the above words. Change the form where necessary.

1. The whole town was immersed in a festival atmosphere.

2. It’s nice to dunk oneself in a pool on a hot day.

3. He dipped the penpoint into the ink and then went on writing.

marvelous: adj.  causing wonder; excellent 

- It’s marvelous that we could see each other again.

- It is a marvelous creation by the workers. 

sprinkle: vt.  scatter (drops or particles of sth.) on (sth.); scatter in small drops 

Pattern: sprinkle sth. on/over sth.; sprinkle sth. with sth. 

- Sprinkle the top with cheese.

- He likes to eat fish sprinkled with pepper.

accord: vt. 

1) grant

- 我们给予他一个英雄凯旋式的欢迎。

(=We accorded a hero’s welcome to him.)

2) be in agreement (followed by with)

- What you have just said does not accord with what you told us earlier.

Collocation:

bring into accord   使符合，使一致

come/reach an accord  达成一致

in accord with    与…一致；与…相符合；与…调和

out of accord with   与…不一致，与…不相符合，与…不调和

successive: adj.  following one after the other

- This is his fifth successive victory.

- He made two visits on successive days.

undergo: vt.  go through; experience

- She is undergoing a surgical operation at the hospital.

- 解放前这位老工人遭受了许多苦难。

(=The old worker underwent much suffering before liberation.)

appreciate: vt.  recognize the quality or significance of; value

- Professor Li’s lecture may help students to appreciate the works of art. 

- We greatly appreciate your timely help.

- 我认为小孩对现代画往往比任何人都更有鉴赏力。

(=I think that young children often appreciate modern pictures better than anyone else.)

swift: adj.  rapid; prompt 

- He was swift to take offense.

- The river is too swift to swim in.

CF: swift, prompt, rapid & quick

这几个词均有“快的、迅速的”的意思。 

swift 是指速度很快，运动平稳或轻捷灵巧而毫不费力。例如：

- Eagles are swift in flight.

(=鹰飞得很快。)

prompt 指迅速及时，常含快得令人愉悦的意味。例如：

- Thanks for your prompt payment.

(=谢谢您迅速付款。)

rapid 用以描绘运动本身的速度，表示速度惊人。例如： 

- The youth is making rapid progress.

(=这位青年进步很快。 )

quick指即刻发生，常用来表示反应敏捷，也可指速度的快。例如：

- Quick thinking saved him from the trap.

(=机警使他免入圈套。)

Put into each gap one of the above words. Change the form where necessary.

1. What you need to do is just give your suit a quick brush.

2. This mechanic is always prompt in his duties.

3. He jumped high and swift, like a swallow.

4. The boat overturned in the rapid current.

in a flash:  instantly

- The answer to the math question came to him in a flash.

- 仪式很快结束了。

(=The ceremony was all over in a flash.)

Collocation:

an electronic flash  电子闪光灯

a news flash   电讯

a flash of lightning  一道闪电

a flash of hope   一线希望

go about: move around; behave in society; keep busy doing (sth.); set about

- 我们该怎样着手干这件工作？

(=Some people go about telling untrue stories.)

in secret: secretly 

- The meeting was held in secret.

- They found she had been meeting her boyfriend in secret.

Collocation:

a dead secret     还未泄露的秘密

keep a/the secret   保守秘密

keep sth. a secret from sb.  不把某事告诉某人

quote: vt.  repeat or copy the words of (another) 

- He quotes the Bible to support his beliefs.

- To close, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin, “One should eat to live, not live to eat.”

CF: quote, cite & repeat

这几个词均有“援引、转述”的意思。

quote 指（尽量）忠实地引用原文或他人说过的话。例如：

- Reuters quotes a Chinese diplomat as saying, “Only the people can decide the fate of their country, not super powers.”

(=路透社引用中国一位外交官的话说：“只有人民才能决定本国的命运，而不是超级大国。”)

cite 指列举事例、事实，以此证明自己的观点，不强调引用的是否是原文或原话，往往只是提及某一出处或作者的名字。例如：

- To support his argument he cited Article 68, Chapter 10, of the Charter of the United Nations.

(=为了证明自己的观点，他引据了《联合国宪章》第十章第68条。)

repeat 指口头或书面上援引他人说过的话，但一般不提及出处、来源，强调重复说出或写出别人的话，不在意是否精确。例如：

- Don’t repeat the word of others like a parrot.

(=别鹦鹉学舌。)

CF: quote, cite & repeat

Put into each gap one of the above words. Change the form where necessary.

1. I promised not to repeat the secret.

2. The judicial minister cited the latest crime figures as proof of the need for strengthening the comprehensive administration of social public order.

3. You may quote a passage from the book.

4. Be careful or somebody will overhear what you say and may repeat it afterwards.

After Reading >> Useful Expressions

认真思考      give serious thought to

真挚的文字     genuine statements

由衷的感激     heartfelt appreciation

渐渐变成一种…的习惯 graduate into a habit of …

电子媒体    electronic media

很少了解    have little awareness of

给…撒下美妙的遐想  sprinkle … with stardust

按常规     in the routine

个人经历    personal experience

最重要的事    topmost priority

冲上甲板    pound up on deck

围聚在…周围   cluster about …

一把把      fistfuls of

发生迅猛的变化   undergo swift changes

自我怀疑地    in self-doubt

摇椅     a rocking chair  

一个字母一个字母地   character by character

向…表达充满慈爱的谢意 express one’s loving gratefulness to …

靠当…为生    make a living as a

使某人意识到   give sb. an insight into

有着相似的需求   with similar needs

简单的常识    simple common sense

实现世界和平   achieve world peace

对…至关重要   be paramount for …

After Reading >> Sentence Translation

1. Yet my mind seemed to be in quest of something else — some way that I could personally apply to the close of Thanksgiving. It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key to an answer could result from reversing the word “Thanksgiving” — at least that suggested a verbal direction, “Giving thanks.”

(=可我脑子里似乎还在搜索着别的什么——某种我能够赋予整个节日以个人意义的方式。大概过了半个小时左右我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把 Thanksgiving 这个词前后颠倒一下——那样一来至少字面意义好懂了：Giving thanks。)

2. Yet my mind continued turning the idea over. After a while, like a dawn’s brightening, a further answer did come — that there were people to thank, people who had done so much for me that I could never possibly repay them.

(=可我脑子里仍一直翻腾着这事。过了片刻，如同晨曦初现，一个更清晰的念头终于涌现脑际——要感谢他人，那些赐我以诸多恩惠，我根本无以回报的人们。)

3. At least seven people had been particularly and lastingly helpful to me. I realized, swallowing hard, that about half of them had since died — so they were forever beyond any possible expression of gratitude from me.

(=至少有七个人对我有过不同寻常、影响深远的帮助。令人万分难受的是，我意识到，他们中有一半已经谢世了——因此他们永远也无法接受我的谢意了。)

4. A glance at Grandma’s familiar handwriting brought back in a flash memories of standing alongside her white rocking chair, watching her “settin’ down” some letter to relatives.

(=一看到外祖母那熟悉的笔迹，我顿时回想起往日站在她的白色摇椅旁看她给亲戚写信的情景。)

5. 那些注意力集中于感恩的人明显感觉更加幸福。他们积极乐观地看待生活。他们鲜有诉说有头疼感冒之类的身体不适症状，他们还积极参加健康有益的活动。

(=The people who focused on gratitude were just flat-out happier. They saw their lives in favorable terms. They reported fewer negative physical symptoms such as headaches or colds, and they were active in ways that were good for them.)

6. 每天花上片刻——一般最好是临睡之前——扼要记下三件当日发生的让你心存感激的事情。任何使你精神振奋的事，使你绽露笑容、心情愉悦的事，或为你的将来带来幸福感的事，都行。

(=Take a moment during the day — right before bedtime is usually best — to jot down three things that happened that day for which you are grateful. Anything that made you feel uplifted, that brought a smile to your face or your heart, or will contribute toward your future happiness, works.)

7. 过一段时间，你会发现在令你感激的条目列表中有着某种一致性。许多条目显示他人在你生活中所起的重要作用。其它条目突出一些有意义的经历。还有一些则涉及由你引发的事情，你能满怀豪情地指着说，“我促成了此事。” 

(=Over time, you’ll notice a consistency within the list of items you’re grateful for. Many entries will underscore the importance of people in your life. Others will highlight meaningful experiences. Still other items will be things that began with you, things you created that you can point to with pride and say, I made that happen.)

8. 感激之情，在向别人表示之后，几乎总能辗转返回。被感激的人更加愿意为那些使他们觉得自己有价值的人作出回报。

(=Gratitude, when expressed to others, almost always comes back around. People who feel appreciated are more willing to make an effort for those who make them feel valued.)