发布时间 : 星期六 文章A Payment Greater Than Money更新完毕开始阅读3750a4fec8d376eeaeaa316d
a. very large or great 势不可挡的
vivid
a. that produces a sharp clear picture in the mind 清晰的
vividly ad. 清晰地
novel n. 小说
classic
a. of the highest quality 最佳的，经典的
anthropology n. 人类学
innocent
a. 1. (of things) harmless 无害的 2. (of people) simple 单纯的
pastime
n. something done to pass one's time in a pleasant way 消遣
breeze n. 微风
breezy
a. 1. merry, light, and bright in manner 轻松活泼的，愉快的 2. 有微风，通风的
forgettable
a. that can be easily forgotten 易被忘记的，可能被忘的
hammock n. 吊床
Phrases and Expressions
cut down 砍倒
on purpose 特意，故意
fall into 属于
think up
虚构, 编造，想出
clear up
澄清，解除，解决
in the meantime 与此同时
a down payment 定金，（分期付款的）初付款额
take one's time 不着急，慢慢来
seek out 找出
as though 好像，仿佛
plunge into 使陷入
Proper Names
Louisville
路易（斯）维尔（美国肯塔基州北部城市）
Ky.=Kentucky
肯塔基（美国州名）
Ballou
巴卢（人名）
Andre Schwarz-Bart
安德烈.施瓦茨巴特（人名）
the Holocaust
（第二次世界大战期间纳粹对犹太人的）大屠杀
Margaret Mead
玛格丽特.米德（人名）
Samoa (Islands)
萨摩亚群岛（南太平洋）
Dartmouth College 达特默思学院
Text B
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, think over the questions.
1. Which of the following words can best describe the character of your mother? A. open B. frank C. kind
D. talkative E. shy
2. Can you give one or two examples to support your choice?
Now read the passage and try to find out what the author thinks of her mother.
My Mother's Desk
1. I'm sitting at my mother's desk, a mahogany secretary with a writing leaf that folds down to reveal rows of cubbyholes and tiny drawers—even a sliding secret compartment. I've loved it since I was just tall enough to see above the leaf as Mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, staring at the ink bottle, pens and smooth white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most delightful thing in the world. 2. Years later, during her final illness, Mother reserved various items for my sister and brother. \communicating with this gift, a communication I'd craved for 50 years.
3. My mother was brought up in the Victorian belief that emotions were private. Nice people said only nice things. I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she expressed it in action. But as a teen-ager I yearned for heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
4. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was \lived \She was willing to accept the relationship on these terms.
I was not. 5. As years passed and I raised my own family, I loved the equilibrium Mother's visits brought to our home, her sense of humor, the way she sat at the piano and filled the house with music. But still I kept trying to draw from her what she could not give, a sharing of the deep places of her heart.
6. At last I set my feelings down on paper. Only one page, the letter took all day to write. I told Mother I loved her and thanked her for our harmonious home. Forgive me, I wrote, for having been critical. In careful words, I asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
7. I mailed the letter and waited eagerly for her reply. None came.
8. Eagerness turned to disappointment, then resignation and, finally, peace. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even gotten to Mother. I only knew that having written it, I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. For the last 15 years of her life we enjoyed a relationship on her terms — light, affectionate, cheerful.
9. Now the gift of her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work.
10. My sister stored the desk until we could pick it up. Then it stayed in our attic for nearly a year while we converted a bedroom into a study. 11. When at last I brought the desk down, it was dusty from months of storage. Lovingly, I polished the drawers and cubbyholes. Pulling out the secret compartment, I found papers inside. A photograph of my father. Family wedding announcements. And a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times.
12. Send me a reply, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.
New Words
mahogany n. 1. 红木 2. 赤褐色
Secretary
n. 1. 写字桌，上部附有书橱的写字桌 2. 秘书 leaf
n. 1. 活动桌板 2. 叶，叶子
cubbyhole
n. （书桌等的）格架
drawer