Unit 10 A Debt to Dickens_海不会不蓝

This text first tells us about the most indelible experiences the writer went through when she lived an isolated life as a child in the remote Chinese countryside. Next, the text describes and relates how she discovered and read and digested Dickens’ novels. Then, it highlights the ways in which the writer benefited immensely from Dickens.

2. What is the main purpose of the writer?

The writer’s main purpose is to emphasize that she is immensely grateful to Charles Dickens, for she has been enlightened a great deal by him, and that Dickens’ novels, which deal with real life and real people and explore significant and permanent topics, constitute a rewarding heritage of mankind, and therefore are well worth reading and studying.

II. Structural analysis

1. How is the first paragraph associated with the last one?

In the first paragraph the writer makes it clear that she has owed Charles Dickens a heavy debt by reading his novels. And the only way to honor her obligation is to write down what Charles Dickens did for her. In the last paragraph, the writer says she was deeply influences by him.Thus, the concluding part of the narrative text is naturally connected with the beginning part.

2. Work out the structure of the text by completing the table.

Paragraph(s)	Main idea
1	It introduces the setting and the relationship between the writer and Charles Dickens.
2-3	The writer recalls her isolated childhood life in a remote Chinese countryside, her unpleasant experiences and the painful feeling she had because she was a foreigner.
4-6	The writer narrates and describes her experiences as a voracious reader.
7	The writer highlights Dickens’ great influence upon her.

Key to the Exercises

Text comprehension

I. Decide which of the following best states the author’s purpose of writing.

II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.

1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. F 6. F

IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.

1. With shy, bitter smiles on her face, she tolerated the farm folks’ mocking ,yet kind laughter as they looked at her yellow, curling hair and blue eyes. To them, she understood, she looked exotically strange.

2. Her parents were so busy that they hardly had any time to attend to her.

3. She was too short to get hold of the dusty, blue books on the high shelf.

4. She read from page to page an old edition of the novels, printed in small letters, and found the friends she could play with.

5. All the people at home were asleep but her parents, who were still working very hard.

Vocabulary

I. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own words.

1. for a long time

2. wanted; desired

3. imagine

4. in great danger

5. paying lip service in a seemingly sincere manner

6. interpreted all things as either right or wrong

II. Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or phrase taken from the box in its appropriate form.

1. alien

2. beyond the reach of

3. winding

4. voracious

5. dip into

6. obligation

7. in peril

8. heed

9. indecision

10. zest

III. Choose a word or phrase that best completes each of the following sentences.

1-8 ABDCABCD

IV. Fill in each blank with one of the two words from each pair in its appropriate form and note the difference in meaning between them.

1. a. foreign b. foreign c. alien d. alien

2. a. decline b. descended c. descended d. declining.

3. a. people b. folk c. Folk d. peoples

4. a. households b. households c. homes d. home

V. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each sentence in the sense it is used.

1. Synonym: invaluable (matchless, precious)

2. Antonym: sociable (accompanied, collective)

3. Synonym: unreliable (untrustworthy)

4. Antonym: full (plenty, abundant)

5. Synonym: attention (notice, regard)

6. Antonym: ascend (rise, arise)

7. Synonym: stay (remain)

8. Antonym: native (familiar, local)

VI. Rephrase each of the following sentences with the word given in capital letters.

1. You have the legal obligation to ensure your child receives a proper education.

2. They spent a surprisingly immense amount of time getting the engine into perfect condition.

3. Sorry to descend on you like this, but we had no time to phone.

4. Mark and I managed to straighten up the house before our parents got home.

5. I think I must be coming down with flu—I've been feeling wretched all day.

6. The government resolved to take further actions against corruption.

7. The young English teacher thought so highly of poetry that he taught it with missionary zeal.

8. There's one rule for her and another rule for everyone else and it's mere hypocrisy.

Grammar

I. Complete the following sentences with the appropriate form of the verbs given.

1. had been cut

2. was travelling

3. was told

4. be opened

5. was climbing

6. was composed

7. were made

8. will have been sold

II. Put the following sentences into the passive. Mention the agent where necessary.

1. These instructions could be understood by anyone with the smallest intelligence.

2. The old theatre is being pulled down.

3. The fauna of the Galapagos Islands was studied by Darwin.

4. The work is not going to be completed on time.

5. By the end of the 1960s, the United States could no longer be described as a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant nation.

6. I don't like being stared at.

7. The family was brought up against fresh problems by the move.

8. Special emphasis was laid on the choice of words by the author.

9. It is rumoured that there will be an earthquake in the next two weeks.

10. The reservoir is going to be completed ahead of schedule.

III. Rewrite the short passage using the passive whenever possible.

America was discovered by Columbus in 1492. Later the new continent was explored and colonised by the Europeans. The native civilisations were eventually destroyed by the colonial powers and America was transformed into an outpost of European civilisation: in fact English, Spanish, Portuguese and French are nowadays used as official languages.

IV. Rewrite the following sentences, using "the passive + infinitive."

1. He is believed to have special knowledge which may be useful to the police.

2. This engine is claimed to be twice as powerful as the previous one.

3. You are expected to work late if need be.

4. He is understood to have been in poor health for some time.

5. He is known to be a good teacher.

6. The ship is supposed to have been sunk.

7. You are known to have been in town last night.

8. Both sides are said to have agreed to a settlement.

V. Join the two sentences into one, using the words and phrases given.

1. You will miss the bus unless you hurry up.

2. As the weather was fine, we decided to climb the mountain.

3. Farmers rotate their crops so that the soil will remain fertile.

4. Since no one is against the proposal, we will adopt it.

5. Harvest comes not every day, though it comes every year.

6. I didn't reach the station until after the train had left.

7. All things are difficult before they are easy.

8. I will write when I have finished the book.

Translation

I. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. 债务一般是负担，但这绝对不是普通的债务，因此也不是负担，只不过是深藏在心中不吐不快的那种温馨感激之情

2. 她喜爱在河岸的岩石或泥泞的滩涂上散步，观看垂挂在流淌的黄色河水中那硕大四方的渔网被拉出水面，屡屡看见的也许是出水的一张空网，但偶尔也会看到闪着银光、扭动着身躯的一条条大鱼

3. 她走进走廊上一个不为人知、只有身材娇小灵活的孩子才挤得进去的角落，打开一本印得密密麻麻的旧版书，在书中找到了自己的伙伴。

4. 他教导我：粗鲁的背后也许藏着和蔼，而和蔼是世上最美好的东西，善良是世上最完美的东西。

II. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words and phrases given brackets.

1. Some students long to study what they want to, not what they are asked to

2. Many volunteer workers rendered a valuable service to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

3. The world economy is in a desperate situation, so all the governments must take desperate measures to cope with it.

4. Scissors, knives, matches, and medicine must be kept beyond the reach of children.

5. I always keep a sum of at least 1,000 yuan on hand, in case of an emergency.

6. Honest people despise lies and liars.

7. It was a long time before I began to feel at home in English.

8. Because of the financial recession, some of those running small and middle-sized businesses are, so to speak, up to their necks in debt.

9. He is a man that always mouths fine words about people to their faces and speaks iii of the behind their backs.

10. I was greatly scared by the zest demonstrated by those radicals.

Integrated skills

I. Dictation

It is simple enough to say / that since books have classes / — Fiction, biography, poetry / — we should separate them / and take from each what it is right / that each should give us. / Yet few people ask from books /what books can give us. / Most commonly we come to books / with blurred and divided minds, / asking of fiction that it shall be true, / of poetry that it shall be false, / of biography that it shall be flattering, / of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. / If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, / that would be an admirable beginning. / Do not dictate to your author: / try to become him. / Be his fellow-worker and accomplice.

II. Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word you think appropriate.

(1) guest

(2) certain

(3) damage

(4) pages

(5) although

(6) intimacy

(7) mark

(8) practice

(9) where

(10) earlier

Writing

Each of the following sentences contains a misplaced modifier. Put it in the right place.

1. Tonight, he said he'd call me. / He said he'd call me tonight.

2. The mother found her kids dancing joyfully on the lawn.

3. The young man badly needs someone to guide him onto the fight path.

4. Students who frequently miss classes fail the course. / Students who miss classes fail the course frequently.

5. Today, readers of all ages enjoy the poetry of Emily Dickinson, an author who did not receive much attention until after her death.

6. As we see it, a more challenging curriculum could be offered.

7. Gesturing wildly, the thief stalked his victim. / The thief, who was gesturing wildly, stalked his victim.

8. Shortly after he married, the poor fellow became seriously ill and died.

9. The students enjoyed Professor Brown's class on modem films.

10. The shop assistant handed a vanilla ice-cream cone covered with chocolate to the boy.

Listening Exercises

Attraction of a Bookshop

Listen to the following passage and supply the missing information.

Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or merely you are there to buy a book as a present . You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings .

The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book .

You soon become engrossed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment – without buying a book, of course.

This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. You can wander round such places to your heart’s content . If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting , “Can I help you, sir?” You needn’t buy anything if you don’t want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing.

Then, and only then, are his services necessary. Of course you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led you there , the assistant should retire carefully and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book .

You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel . This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section.

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