大一精读

Lesson Eight The Kindness of Strangers

1. In the middle of the desert, I came upon a young man standing by the roadside.(

←

1)

To come upon:

(literary) to meet, find, or discover by chance or by accident

More examples:

During their trip they came upon an unknown animal.

The other day

, I came upon a very interesting book that deals with this issue.

Compare:

“

to come upon

”

and

“

to come across

”

2. He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand (

←

1)

This is the usual gesture of hitchhikers when they ask for a free ride. The gas can obviously

is meant to explain why they need thus favor. (They have run out of has )

3. There was a time

…

when you

’

d be considered a jerk if

…

(

←

1 )

Drill students in the attributive clauses introduced by

“

when

”

in the following pattern:

-

Has he always been in such poor health?

-

No, there was time when he was as strong as a horse .

Jerk: (informal) a stupid person who does not care about the effects of his actions

4. With gangs, drug addicts,

…

lurking everywhere ,

…

(

←

1)

This

is

a

prepositional

phrase

used

as

an

adverbial

of

reason .

It could

be

turned

into

an

adverbial clause introduced by

“

as

”

:

As gangs, drug addicts,

…

are lurking everywhere,

…

Gang

: a group of cr4iminals who work together

Addict

: someone who is unable to stop taking drugs

T

o lurk

: to wait silently and secretly, ready to do wrong

5. Leaving him stranded

…

did not bother me so much. what bothered me was

…

.(

←

2)

T

o leave sb / sth done

: to make sb / sth stay in a certain state

More examples:

They left the food untouched.

Never leave the door unlocked.

Drill students in subject clauses introduced by

“

what

”

in the following pattern:

-

What did he say at the meeting yesterday?

-

I don

’

t know what he said. / I don

’

t remember what he said. / I

’

m not in what he said. / OK,

let me tell you what he said. / What he said was very funny.

6. I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator

. (

←

2)

The author was really shocked

–

how he could have been so indifferent, so unfeeling and so

unsympathetic.

Accelerator

: the part of a car that can make the car go faster when you press it

7.

…

relying solely on the hood will of his fellow Americans .(

←

3)

“

To rely on

”

and

“

to depend on

”

are sometimes synonyms. But in the following context ,

“

to

depend on

”

is the right choice :

-Are you going?

-That depends .It depends on whether I

’

m free.

Fellow Americans

: other Americans like oneself

Also

: fellow students, fellow teachers, fellow workers

8. The idea intrigued me(

←

4)

1

To intrigue: to interest greatly to fascinate to attract

9. The week I turned 37, I realized that I had never taken a gamble in my life .(

←

5)

The week I turned 37

…

:The week (when) I turned 37

…

Here

“

when

”

is often omitted. Similarly, we say

“

the day I was born

…”

,

“

the year he got

marred

…”

,

“

the night the fire broke out

…”

, etc

T

o take a gamble

: We can also say

“

to take a rest

”

,

“

to take a risk

”

,etc . Pay attention to

this kind of collocations.

10. through the land of the almighty dollar(

←

5)

the land of the almighty dollars

: the country in which money has as much power as God

(

“

it

”

here refers to the United States ). The dollar is the most powerful thing.

11.

…

and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge with a 50-pound pack on my back and a sign

displaying my destination to passing vehicles :

“

America< /p>

”

(

←

6)

The

author was

holding

a

sign

showing

people

where

he was

going. The

fact

that

he

put

down

“

America

”

as

his

destination

may

have

been

the

reason

why

he

had

been

so

well

treated. It must have caught the attention of the media and roused people

’

s patriotic feeling.

Golden Gate Bridge is in San Francisco.

12. hitched

(

←

7)= hitchhiked

13.

…

to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming

(

←

7):

… to

be careful about the cowboys in

Wyoming

More examples of

“

to watch out

”

:

Watch out for cars when you

’

re crossing the street

Watch out

！

The train is coming

14.

…

when it seemed to run contrary to their own best interests

(

←

7) :

…

When it seemed to be in a way that is opposite to their best interests. /

…

when it seemed to be

exactly what they should not have done for their own safety

T

o run contrary to

: t6o rum against; to rum counter to

“

Contrary

”

is an adverb here

15.

…

a car pulled to the road shoulder

(

←

8)

The word

“

pull

”

is often used to describe the movement of a car, e .g .

He had to pull up his car at the red light (to make the car come to a halt)

The policeman ordered him to pull over (to stop his car at the side of the road )

Shoulder

: A

m

E an area of ground beside a road where drivers can stop their cars if they have

some trouble; roadside

16.

…

old ladies dressed in their Sunday finest

(

←

8):

…

old ladies who were wearing their best

clothes

“

In

”

is often used to mean

“

wearing sth

”

More examples:

He looked very handsome in his army uniform

The boy was in black hurrying to that hotel

The boy was in rags . And he was hungry

17. I didn

’

t know whether to kiss them or scold them for stopping(

←

8)

I didn

’

t know whether

I should thank them for their kindness or criticize them for running

this risk

The

author

was

obviously

deeply

touched.

He

said

this

to

emphasize

the

kindness

and

2