新视野大学英语第三版读写教程第二册Unit4-College sweethearts课文语法解析
征兵时间-人教版初一语文教案
新视野三版 读写 B2 U4 Text A
College sweethearts
1 I smile at my
two lovely daughters and they seem so much more
mature than we,
their parents, when we were
college sweethearts. Linda, who's 21, had a
boyfriend in
her freshman year she thought she
would marry, but they're not together anymore.
Melissa, who's 19, hasn't had a steady
boyfriend yet. My daughters wonder when
they
will meet Onetheir great love. They think their
father and I had a
classic fairy-tale romance
heading for marriage from the outset. Perhaps,
they're
right but it didn't seem so at the
time. In a way, love just happens when
you
least expect it. Who would have thought
that Butch and I would
end up getting married
to each other? He became my boyfriend because of
my
shallow agenda: I wanted a cute boyfriend!
2 We met through my college roommate at the
university cafeteria. That fateful
night, I
was merely curious, but for him I think it was
love at first sight.
have beautiful
eyes
long. I really wasn't that interested for
two reasons. First, he looked like he was a
really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second,
although he was very cute, he
seemed a little
weird.
3 Riding on his bicycle, he'd ride past
my dorm as if
to be surprised to see me.
I liked the attention but was cautious
about
his wild, dynamic personality. He
had a charming way with
words
which would charm any girl. Fear came over me
when I started to fall in
love. His exciting
boy image was just too tempting to resist.
What was it that attracted me? I always
had an excellent reputation.
My
concentration was solely on my studies to get
superior grades. But for what?
College is
supposed
to be a time of great learning
and also some fun. I had nearly achieved a great
education, and graduation was just one
semester away. But I hadn't had any fun; my
life was stale with no component of fun! I
needed a just any
had to be cute. My goal
that semester became:
Be ambitious and grab
the cutest boyfriend I can find.
4 I worried
what he'd think of me. True, we lived in a time
when a dramatic shift
in sexual attitudes
was taking place, but I was a traditional
girl who
wasn't ready for the
new
ways that seemed common on
campus. Butch looked
superb! I was not immune to his
personality, but I was scared. The night
when he announced to the world that
I was his
girlfriend, I went along
with him. And
then I suddenly thought:
that happen?Then he
whispered sweet words in my ear and said,
marry you one day and I will be a lawyer. You
will see.
5 I was laughing inside and said to
myself, never marry this guy. He's a rebel
without a good future. He's my boyfriend
because I hate my boring
student life. I
just want to have fun.
6 Sure enough, the
following month, I found out he had failed
all his
courses. Consequently, he was
going to be expelled from the university. To my
disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I
knew there was hope, so I led him to the
college secretary for reconsideration.
7
are going to graduate with a BA in political
science
from UPenn and proceed to the College
of Law,
behalf, which was approved. Butch was
granted reconsideration. And, once we
became
steadies, he coordinated his studies and social
life, passing
all of his classes. He
eventually studied law.
8 Despite Butch's
somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always
a perfect
gentleman and deserves a lot of
credit for , he'd sometimes
take the
liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss
on my lips right in front of my
astonished
friends who watched and disapproved. But the truth
is we had a pure
and responsible relationship
for seven full years. Sitting by the palm trees,
hand in
hand, we would listen to
romantic songs, watch the sunset, and
weave dreams of being together with children
of our own, forever.
9 Two years passed in
a blur. One day, Butch took me by
surprise as
he knelt down and proposed
marriage holding a dozen red roses! Filled with
deep
emotion, I confessed my love for him,
woke
up from fantasy land. I cried out,
heavens. No! We're too young to tie the
knot.
We haven't even graduated from college yet! I
really loved him but was
pessimistic about our
chances for success.
10 We married five years
later.
11 Our faithful journey of love
and learning took us down rocky
roads
of hardship and on smooth easy-going
highways. It is a
long, romantic,
sometimes crazy, love story that sums up a 29-year
long
honeymoon together
as a couple
life.
who are still madly in love with
each other. Our
love commenced with a casual
attraction but bloomed into a mature love and rich
Language Points:
1 I smile at
my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more
mature than we, their
parents, when we were
college sweethearts. (Para. 1)
Meaning beyond
words: Married to her college sweetheart, the
author now is happy with her
family and two
grown daughters.
Note: College sweethearts
refer to someone with whom one is in love and by
whom one
is loved at college;
sweetheart is equivalent to lover,darling,
beloved, or dear. For example:
Well done,
sweetheart, we are all so proud of you.
做得好，宝贝，我们以你为荣。
My husband is the greatest guy
in the world; he was my college sweetheart. 我丈夫是世
界上最棒
の，大学时他就是我の恋人。
He tries to locate
his former sweetheart Melina from whom he has
heard nothing for a very long time.
他在努力寻找他以前の恋人梅利娜，他已经很久没有她の消息了。
2
Linda, who’s 21, had a boyfriend in her freshman
year she thought she would
marry, but they’re
not together anymore. Melissa, who’s 19, hasn’t
had a steady
boyfriend yet. My daughters
wonder when they will meet “The One”, their great
love.(Para. 1)
Meaning beyond words: Her
two daughters are at the age of just dating, but
they seem
to be very mature wondering
when they will meet their true love.
3 They think their father and I had a classic
fairy tale romance heading for marriage
from
the outset. (Para. 1)
Meaning beyond words:
Her daughters consider their parents’ marriage a
typical conventional
romance because they
think it aimed at marriage from the very
beginning.
Usage note: classic, classical
1 classic 用作形容词表示“经典の；精彩の；一流の”。例如：
Death on the Nile is one of the classic works
of Agatha Christie. 《尼罗河上の惨案》是阿
加
莎·克里斯蒂の经典作品之一。
口语中也会用到 classic
这个词。当你看到一场精彩の演出时，就可以说“That’s classic!”来 表达
赞美。
classic 用作形容词也表示“典型の；标准の”。例如：
London is
the classic example of the scattered city.
伦敦是标准分散型の城市。
This statement was a classic
illustration of British politeness. 这项陈述是对英国礼貌の一
个典型
说明。
classic 也可用作名词，表示“文学名著；经典作品；杰作”。例如：
We have all the standard classics of Hayao
Miyazaki at home. 我们家有宫崎骏の所有の
经典作品。
2 classical
不能用作名词，只能用作形容词，表示“古典の；经典の”。例如：
I spend a lot
of time reading and listening to classical music.
我花了很多时间阅读和聆听 古典音
乐。
Classical music is
music written by composers such as Mozart and
Beethoven. 像莫扎特 和贝多芬
所创作の音乐称为古典音乐。
莫扎特和贝多芬所创作の音乐属于古典音乐(classical music),
但这些古典音乐经久不衰， 有永
久の意义和价值，所以这些音乐也可称为经典の音乐（classic
music）。反之，在前面
有一例中
说可口可乐瓶子の设计是精彩の，一流の，所以是经典（classic）之作，但很明显
可口可乐瓶子の设计不是古典の
（classical）设计。所以，经典の（classic）作品不一定
就是
古典の（classical）作品。
Note: Classic fairy-
tale romance is used to describe a romance blessed
with unusual happiness.
Colloquially, a fairy
tale can also refer to any story extremely
unlikely to be true.
4 Perhaps, they’re
right but it didn’t seem so at the time. (Para. 1)
Meaning: My daughters’ perception may be
right, yet our romance back then was actually not
like
what they have assumed.
5 In a
way, love just happens when you least expect it.
Who would have thought that
Butch and I would
end up getting married to each other? He became my
boyfriend
because of my shallow agenda: I
wanted a cute boyfriend! (Para. 1) Meaning: Love
comes your way when you don’t really expect
it. No one thought that
Butch and I would
finally get married. He became my boyfriend simply
because I would like to
fulfill my shallow
wish: to have an attractive boyfriend in college.
Meaning beyond words: Here is the
suspense of the story – the author gives a
broad
hint that she will tell us how she
and her husband got married at last.
6 We
met through my college roommate at the university
cafeteria. That fateful night,
I was merely
curious, but for him I think it was love at first
sight. (Para. 2)
Meaning: At the school dining
hall that important night, we were introduced to
each other through
my roommate. I met Butch
just out of curiosity, but he seemed to fall in
love with
me as soon as he saw me.
7 “You have beautiful eyes,” he said as
he gazed at my face. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond
words: The author was obviously attractive to
Butch since he tried to please
her by praising
her eyes.
8 He kept staring at me
all night long. (Para. 2)
Note: Both gaze
at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly
for a long time
because of being attracted,
surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually
has the additional meaning of
“with eyes
widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great
attention”; gaze
at usually implies “in a
dreamy and unaware state of mind”.
9
I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons.
First, he looked like he was a really
wild
boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was
very cute, he seemed a little
weird. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: She wasn’t
interested in him because she got the
impression
that he was wild and strange,
which illustrates that she didn’t know much about
him at the beginning.
Therefore, it’s not true
that their romance was heading for marriage from
the start.
10 Riding on his bicycle, he’d
ride past my dorm as if “by accident” and pretend
to
be surprised to see me. I liked the
attention but was cautious about his wild,
dynamic personality. (Para. 3)
Meaning beyond words: She understood his
little trick: trying to see her by
manufacturing excuses. Though she was happy to
be the focus of his attention, she was also very
alert to his wild and dynamic personality.
11 He had a charming way with words which
would charm any girl. (Para. 3)
Meaning: He
knew how to please and attract girls because what
he said was always pleasant to
their ears.
12 Fear came over me when I started
to fall in love. His exciting “bad boy image”
was just too tempting to resist. What was it
that attracted me?(Para. 3)
Meaning: I was in
an awkward position: I started to fall in love
with him, but I was also afraid of
that. His
bad boy image was too attractive to resist, but at
the same time it was somewhat fearful. So,
what exactly was it in him that attracted me?
Note: Tempting is a present participle of
the verb tempt, used as an adjective to describe
the effect that something has on someone’s
feelings. For example, if you find something
temptingcharmingdisgustingfrightening, it
means it temptscharmsdisgustsfrightens
you. In
English there are a group of words describing an
effect that something has on your feelings and
ideas. For example:
a tempting job offer
一个诱人の工作机会
an alarming increase in racial
hostility 种族仇视の惊人增长
a welcoming smile
热情の微笑
a surprising number of 数量惊人の
13 I always had an excellent reputation.
My concentration was solely on my studies
to
get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)
Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only
concentrated on studies in order to get excellent
grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student
also have fun?
14 College is supposed to
be a time of great learning and also some fun. I
had
nearly achieved a great education, and
graduation was just one semester away. But
I
hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no
component of fun! I needed a
boyfriend. (Para.
3)
Meaning: College is definitely a nice place
for education but should have some fun as well.
Throughout my years at college, I had devoted
all my time to study but hadn’t had
any fun
yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a
boyfriend to enrich my college life.
15
Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal
that semester became: Be
ambitious and grab
the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)
Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just
an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome, pleasant
and attractive. My ambition for that semester,
therefore, was to find the cutest boyfriend at
college.
16 I worried what he’d think of
me. (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: Her
concern about how Butch would look at her shows
that she was
becoming more interested in him
and cared about his real thinking.
17
True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in
sexual attitudes was taking place,
but I was a
traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways
that seemed common on
campus. (Para. 4)
Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era
when sexual attitudes were changing dramatically,
but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready
for the new sexual practice seemingly common on
campus.
18 Butch looked superb! I was
not immune to his personality, but I was scared.
(Para. 4)
Meaning: Butch looked extremely
wonderful. I was surely influenced by his
personality, but I felt
scared.
19 The night when he announced to the
world that I was his girlfriend, I went along
with him. (Para. 4)
Meaning: That night
when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his
girlfriend, I did not have
any objection.
Meaning beyond words: She has apparently
changed her perception of Butch, from
being merely curious about him at first to
becoming cautious about his wild, dynamic
personality
later; from being fearful of
failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving
of being his girlfriend.
20 And then I
suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his
girlfriend? How did that
happen?” (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: All of a sudden, she
realized that she had made a mistake because
she was not really ready to have a boyfriend
yet.
Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used
to express surprise. For example:
Gosh, I
didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！
Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！
Gosh, there’s
a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。
21 Then he
whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m
going to marry you one day
and I will be a
lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)
Meaning: Then
he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said
that he would marry me and I
could eventually
see him become a lawyer.
22 I was
laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never
marry this guy. He’s a rebel
without a good
future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring
student life. I
just want to have fun.” (Para.
5)
Meaning: Though I agreed to be his
girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a
rebellious boy without
a bright future.
Therefore, I was not very serious about our
relationship. To me, the only purpose to
date
him was to get away from my boring student life.
23 Sure enough, the following month, I
found out he had failed all his courses. (Para.
6)
Meaning: Just as I had expected, he
didn’t pass any of his courses.
24
Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the
university. (Para. 6) Meaning:
As a
consequence, the university was going to dismiss
him from the school.
25 To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his
fate. I knew there was hope, so I led
him
to the college secretary for reconsideration.
(Para. 6)
Meaning: What upset me was that he
seemed to accept his fate. As I knew there was
still
a hope, I took him to the college
secretary to see whether the decision could be
changed.
26 “You are going to graduate
with a BA in political science from UPenn and
proceed to the College of Law,” I told him,
lodging an appeal on his behalf, which was
approved. (Para. 7)
Meaning beyond words:
What she did for her boyfriend indicated their
relationship had come
to a new stage. Besides
encouraging him to consult with the college
secretary and submitting the
appeal on his
behalf, she also planned for his future career.
She told him
he had to continue his
studies at law school.
Note: Besides a noun,
“proceed to” can also be followed by a verb
phrase. For example: Having said
how much she
liked my idea, she then proceeded to make critical
comments
about it.
说完她是多么喜欢我の点子，她接着就提出了批评性の意见。
27 Butch
was granted reconsideration. And, once we became
steadies, he coordinated
his studies and
social life, passing all of his classes. He
eventually studied law. (Para. 7)
Meaning
beyond words: Here we see the turning point of the
relationship between the two. Her
suggestions
did work well with Butch since he was granted
reconsideration. As
soon as they became steady
lovers, Butch balanced his studies and social life
and passed every course.
Finally, he studied
law as had been planned.
Note: Steady can
also be used as a noun, as is in the text. It’s an
old-fashioned American
way to describe a
boyfriend or girlfriend that someone has been
having a romantic
relationship with.
28 Despite Butch’s somewhat wild character, at
his core, he is always a perfect
gentleman and
deserves a lot of credit for that. (Para. 8)
Meaning: In spite of Butch’s a little wild
character, he was always a perfect gentleman in
essence,
for which he should be given
recognition.
29 True, he’d sometimes take
the liberty of displaying his love by planting a
kiss on
my lips right in front of my
astonished friends who watched and disapproved.
(Para.
8)
Meaning: Without my permission,
sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to show
his love in
front of my friends, who were
astonished and resented what he did.
Note: “Plant a kiss” is a figurative
use of the word plant, which means an intimate
and
publicly demonstrative kiss
showing his love to all who are watching.
30 But the truth is we had a pure and
responsible relationship for seven full years.
Sitting by the palm trees, hand in hand, we
would listen to romantic songs, watch
the
sunset, and weave dreams of being together with
children of our own, forever.
(Para. 8)
Meaning beyond words: Butch showed much
respect for her conservative perception of love.
For
seven years, they just enjoyed their
romance in a traditional way.
31 Two
years passed in a blur. One day, Butch took me by
surprise as he knelt down
and proposed
marriage holding a dozen red roses! (Para. 9)
Meaning: Two years passed so quickly that I
didn’t really remember everything clearly. One
day, I was startled when Butch, holding a
dozen red roses, knelt down to propose marriage.
Note: propose to sb. = propose marriage to sb.
32 Filled with deep emotion, I
confessed my love for him, “How roooomaaaantic!!”
(Para. 9)
Meaning: I admitted my love for
him with deep affection. It was super romantic!
Meaning beyond words: She was so happy and
thrilled to accept Butch’s marriage proposal
that she said the word romantic in a slow and
exaggerated way.
Note: In informal writing,
people would emphasize something in a similar way.
For
example:
Thank you soooooo much!
真是太太太感谢您了！
33 Then my brain woke up
from fantasy land. I cried out, “Good heavens. No!
We’re
too young to tie the knot. We haven’t
even graduated from college yet!” I really loved
him but was pessimistic about our chances for
success.(Para. 9)
Meaning beyond words: All of
a sudden, she woke up from the romantic scene.
Though she
already accepted love from Butch
and confessed her love for him, she was not sure
whether they
would get married and have a
happy ending as they were still college students.
Note: It isn’t clear whether this expression
tie the knot derives from an actual knot used in
marriage ceremonies or whether the knot
is merely symbolic of a lasting unity. Knots have
a place in many cultures and usually
symbolize unbreakable pledges. Actual knots have
certainly been used in marriage
ceremonies for some time. The word knot, although
not in the phrase
tie the knot, has been
associated with marriage since at least the 13th
century.
34 We married five years later.
(Para 10)
Meaning beyond words: Though she was
pessimistic about their chance for success of
love, she
accepted Butch’s proposal. They got
married five years later, which illustrates their
deep and true
love for each other.
35
Our faithful journey of love and learning took us
down rocky roads of hardship
and on smooth
easy-going highways. (Para. 11)
Meaning: Our
devoted and faithful love guided us both in times
of happiness and also in times of
hardship.
Note: The word rocky comes from the noun rock
combining with -y. A rocky road refers to
a road full of rocks, uneven or not flat.
Words of this group
include: muddy, stony,
grassy, snowy, rainy, etc.
36 It is a
long, romantic, sometimes crazy, love story that
sums up a 29-year long
honeymoon together as a
couple who are still madly in love with each
other. (Para.
11)
Meaning beyond
words: She felt very proud of her long-lasting
romantic, sometimes
even crazy love, which was
just like a 29-year long honeymoon for her and her
husband.
37 Our love commenced
with a casual attraction but bloomed into a mature
love and
rich life. (Para. 11)
Meaning
beyond words: Completely beyond her expectation,
love came to her as she started
with a casual
date but ended up growing into a mature love and
rich life.
Note: We usually use commence doing
sth. or commence with sth. Also, in the US, the
official collegeuniversity graduation
ceremony is called “commencement”. The word refers
to
the completion of one’s education and the
beginning of one’s new adult life.
Note:
The phrase “bloomed into a mature love and rich
life” in the text is used figuratively,
meaning their love was just like blossoms on a
tree.
新视野三版 读写 B2 U4 Text A
College sweethearts
1 I smile at
my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more
mature than we,
their parents, when we were
college sweethearts. Linda, who's 21, had a
boyfriend in
her freshman year she thought she
would marry, but they're not together anymore.
Melissa, who's 19, hasn't had a steady
boyfriend yet. My daughters wonder when
they
will meet Onetheir great love. They think their
father and I had a
classic fairy-tale romance
heading for marriage from the outset. Perhaps,
they're
right but it didn't seem so at the
time. In a way, love just happens when
you
least expect it. Who would have thought
that Butch and I would
end up getting married
to each other? He became my boyfriend because of
my
shallow agenda: I wanted a cute boyfriend!
2 We met through my college roommate at the
university cafeteria. That fateful
night, I
was merely curious, but for him I think it was
love at first sight.
have beautiful
eyes
long. I really wasn't that interested for
two reasons. First, he looked like he was a
really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second,
although he was very cute, he
seemed a little
weird.
3 Riding on his bicycle, he'd ride past
my dorm as if
to be surprised to see me.
I liked the attention but was cautious
about
his wild, dynamic personality. He
had a charming way with
words
which would charm any girl. Fear came over me
when I started to fall in
love. His exciting
boy image was just too tempting to resist.
What was it that attracted me? I always
had an excellent reputation.
My
concentration was solely on my studies to get
superior grades. But for what?
College is
supposed
to be a time of great learning
and also some fun. I had nearly achieved a great
education, and graduation was just one
semester away. But I hadn't had any fun; my
life was stale with no component of fun! I
needed a just any
had to be cute. My goal
that semester became:
Be ambitious and grab
the cutest boyfriend I can find.
4 I worried
what he'd think of me. True, we lived in a time
when a dramatic shift
in sexual attitudes
was taking place, but I was a traditional
girl who
wasn't ready for the
new
ways that seemed common on
campus. Butch looked
superb! I was not immune to his
personality, but I was scared. The night
when he announced to the world that
I was his
girlfriend, I went along
with him. And
then I suddenly thought:
that happen?Then he
whispered sweet words in my ear and said,
marry you one day and I will be a lawyer. You
will see.
5 I was laughing inside and said to
myself, never marry this guy. He's a rebel
without a good future. He's my boyfriend
because I hate my boring
student life. I
just want to have fun.
6 Sure enough, the
following month, I found out he had failed
all his
courses. Consequently, he was
going to be expelled from the university. To my
disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I
knew there was hope, so I led him to the
college secretary for reconsideration.
7
are going to graduate with a BA in political
science
from UPenn and proceed to the College
of Law,
behalf, which was approved. Butch was
granted reconsideration. And, once we
became
steadies, he coordinated his studies and social
life, passing
all of his classes. He
eventually studied law.
8 Despite Butch's
somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always
a perfect
gentleman and deserves a lot of
credit for , he'd sometimes
take the
liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss
on my lips right in front of my
astonished
friends who watched and disapproved. But the truth
is we had a pure
and responsible relationship
for seven full years. Sitting by the palm trees,
hand in
hand, we would listen to
romantic songs, watch the sunset, and
weave dreams of being together with children
of our own, forever.
9 Two years passed in
a blur. One day, Butch took me by
surprise as
he knelt down and proposed
marriage holding a dozen red roses! Filled with
deep
emotion, I confessed my love for him,
woke
up from fantasy land. I cried out,
heavens. No! We're too young to tie the
knot.
We haven't even graduated from college yet! I
really loved him but was
pessimistic about our
chances for success.
10 We married five years
later.
11 Our faithful journey of love
and learning took us down rocky
roads
of hardship and on smooth easy-going
highways. It is a
long, romantic,
sometimes crazy, love story that sums up a 29-year
long
honeymoon together
as a couple
life.
who are still madly in love with
each other. Our
love commenced with a casual
attraction but bloomed into a mature love and rich
Language Points:
1 I smile at
my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more
mature than we, their
parents, when we were
college sweethearts. (Para. 1)
Meaning beyond
words: Married to her college sweetheart, the
author now is happy with her
family and two
grown daughters.
Note: College sweethearts
refer to someone with whom one is in love and by
whom one
is loved at college;
sweetheart is equivalent to lover,darling,
beloved, or dear. For example:
Well done,
sweetheart, we are all so proud of you.
做得好，宝贝，我们以你为荣。
My husband is the greatest guy
in the world; he was my college sweetheart. 我丈夫是世
界上最棒
の，大学时他就是我の恋人。
He tries to locate
his former sweetheart Melina from whom he has
heard nothing for a very long time.
他在努力寻找他以前の恋人梅利娜，他已经很久没有她の消息了。
2
Linda, who’s 21, had a boyfriend in her freshman
year she thought she would
marry, but they’re
not together anymore. Melissa, who’s 19, hasn’t
had a steady
boyfriend yet. My daughters
wonder when they will meet “The One”, their great
love.(Para. 1)
Meaning beyond words: Her
two daughters are at the age of just dating, but
they seem
to be very mature wondering
when they will meet their true love.
3 They think their father and I had a classic
fairy tale romance heading for marriage
from
the outset. (Para. 1)
Meaning beyond words:
Her daughters consider their parents’ marriage a
typical conventional
romance because they
think it aimed at marriage from the very
beginning.
Usage note: classic, classical
1 classic 用作形容词表示“经典の；精彩の；一流の”。例如：
Death on the Nile is one of the classic works
of Agatha Christie. 《尼罗河上の惨案》是阿
加
莎·克里斯蒂の经典作品之一。
口语中也会用到 classic
这个词。当你看到一场精彩の演出时，就可以说“That’s classic!”来 表达
赞美。
classic 用作形容词也表示“典型の；标准の”。例如：
London is
the classic example of the scattered city.
伦敦是标准分散型の城市。
This statement was a classic
illustration of British politeness. 这项陈述是对英国礼貌の一
个典型
说明。
classic 也可用作名词，表示“文学名著；经典作品；杰作”。例如：
We have all the standard classics of Hayao
Miyazaki at home. 我们家有宫崎骏の所有の
经典作品。
2 classical
不能用作名词，只能用作形容词，表示“古典の；经典の”。例如：
I spend a lot
of time reading and listening to classical music.
我花了很多时间阅读和聆听 古典音
乐。
Classical music is
music written by composers such as Mozart and
Beethoven. 像莫扎特 和贝多芬
所创作の音乐称为古典音乐。
莫扎特和贝多芬所创作の音乐属于古典音乐(classical music),
但这些古典音乐经久不衰， 有永
久の意义和价值，所以这些音乐也可称为经典の音乐（classic
music）。反之，在前面
有一例中
说可口可乐瓶子の设计是精彩の，一流の，所以是经典（classic）之作，但很明显
可口可乐瓶子の设计不是古典の
（classical）设计。所以，经典の（classic）作品不一定
就是
古典の（classical）作品。
Note: Classic fairy-
tale romance is used to describe a romance blessed
with unusual happiness.
Colloquially, a fairy
tale can also refer to any story extremely
unlikely to be true.
4 Perhaps, they’re
right but it didn’t seem so at the time. (Para. 1)
Meaning: My daughters’ perception may be
right, yet our romance back then was actually not
like
what they have assumed.
5 In a
way, love just happens when you least expect it.
Who would have thought that
Butch and I would
end up getting married to each other? He became my
boyfriend
because of my shallow agenda: I
wanted a cute boyfriend! (Para. 1) Meaning: Love
comes your way when you don’t really expect
it. No one thought that
Butch and I would
finally get married. He became my boyfriend simply
because I would like to
fulfill my shallow
wish: to have an attractive boyfriend in college.
Meaning beyond words: Here is the
suspense of the story – the author gives a
broad
hint that she will tell us how she
and her husband got married at last.
6 We
met through my college roommate at the university
cafeteria. That fateful night,
I was merely
curious, but for him I think it was love at first
sight. (Para. 2)
Meaning: At the school dining
hall that important night, we were introduced to
each other through
my roommate. I met Butch
just out of curiosity, but he seemed to fall in
love with
me as soon as he saw me.
7 “You have beautiful eyes,” he said as
he gazed at my face. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond
words: The author was obviously attractive to
Butch since he tried to please
her by praising
her eyes.
8 He kept staring at me
all night long. (Para. 2)
Note: Both gaze
at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly
for a long time
because of being attracted,
surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually
has the additional meaning of
“with eyes
widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great
attention”; gaze
at usually implies “in a
dreamy and unaware state of mind”.
9
I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons.
First, he looked like he was a really
wild
boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was
very cute, he seemed a little
weird. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: She wasn’t
interested in him because she got the
impression
that he was wild and strange,
which illustrates that she didn’t know much about
him at the beginning.
Therefore, it’s not true
that their romance was heading for marriage from
the start.
10 Riding on his bicycle, he’d
ride past my dorm as if “by accident” and pretend
to
be surprised to see me. I liked the
attention but was cautious about his wild,
dynamic personality. (Para. 3)
Meaning beyond words: She understood his
little trick: trying to see her by
manufacturing excuses. Though she was happy to
be the focus of his attention, she was also very
alert to his wild and dynamic personality.
11 He had a charming way with words which
would charm any girl. (Para. 3)
Meaning: He
knew how to please and attract girls because what
he said was always pleasant to
their ears.
12 Fear came over me when I started
to fall in love. His exciting “bad boy image”
was just too tempting to resist. What was it
that attracted me?(Para. 3)
Meaning: I was in
an awkward position: I started to fall in love
with him, but I was also afraid of
that. His
bad boy image was too attractive to resist, but at
the same time it was somewhat fearful. So,
what exactly was it in him that attracted me?
Note: Tempting is a present participle of
the verb tempt, used as an adjective to describe
the effect that something has on someone’s
feelings. For example, if you find something
temptingcharmingdisgustingfrightening, it
means it temptscharmsdisgustsfrightens
you. In
English there are a group of words describing an
effect that something has on your feelings and
ideas. For example:
a tempting job offer
一个诱人の工作机会
an alarming increase in racial
hostility 种族仇视の惊人增长
a welcoming smile
热情の微笑
a surprising number of 数量惊人の
13 I always had an excellent reputation.
My concentration was solely on my studies
to
get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)
Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only
concentrated on studies in order to get excellent
grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student
also have fun?
14 College is supposed to
be a time of great learning and also some fun. I
had
nearly achieved a great education, and
graduation was just one semester away. But
I
hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no
component of fun! I needed a
boyfriend. (Para.
3)
Meaning: College is definitely a nice place
for education but should have some fun as well.
Throughout my years at college, I had devoted
all my time to study but hadn’t had
any fun
yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a
boyfriend to enrich my college life.
15
Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal
that semester became: Be
ambitious and grab
the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)
Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just
an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome, pleasant
and attractive. My ambition for that semester,
therefore, was to find the cutest boyfriend at
college.
16 I worried what he’d think of
me. (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: Her
concern about how Butch would look at her shows
that she was
becoming more interested in him
and cared about his real thinking.
17
True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in
sexual attitudes was taking place,
but I was a
traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways
that seemed common on
campus. (Para. 4)
Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era
when sexual attitudes were changing dramatically,
but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready
for the new sexual practice seemingly common on
campus.
18 Butch looked superb! I was
not immune to his personality, but I was scared.
(Para. 4)
Meaning: Butch looked extremely
wonderful. I was surely influenced by his
personality, but I felt
scared.
19 The night when he announced to the
world that I was his girlfriend, I went along
with him. (Para. 4)
Meaning: That night
when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his
girlfriend, I did not have
any objection.
Meaning beyond words: She has apparently
changed her perception of Butch, from
being merely curious about him at first to
becoming cautious about his wild, dynamic
personality
later; from being fearful of
failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving
of being his girlfriend.
20 And then I
suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his
girlfriend? How did that
happen?” (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: All of a sudden, she
realized that she had made a mistake because
she was not really ready to have a boyfriend
yet.
Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used
to express surprise. For example:
Gosh, I
didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！
Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！
Gosh, there’s
a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。
21 Then he
whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m
going to marry you one day
and I will be a
lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)
Meaning: Then
he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said
that he would marry me and I
could eventually
see him become a lawyer.
22 I was
laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never
marry this guy. He’s a rebel
without a good
future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring
student life. I
just want to have fun.” (Para.
5)
Meaning: Though I agreed to be his
girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a
rebellious boy without
a bright future.
Therefore, I was not very serious about our
relationship. To me, the only purpose to
date
him was to get away from my boring student life.
23 Sure enough, the following month, I
found out he had failed all his courses. (Para.
6)
Meaning: Just as I had expected, he
didn’t pass any of his courses.
24
Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the
university. (Para. 6) Meaning:
As a
consequence, the university was going to dismiss
him from the school.
25 To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his
fate. I knew there was hope, so I led
him
to the college secretary for reconsideration.
(Para. 6)
Meaning: What upset me was that he
seemed to accept his fate. As I knew there was
still
a hope, I took him to the college
secretary to see whether the decision could be
changed.
26 “You are going to graduate
with a BA in political science from UPenn and
proceed to the College of Law,” I told him,
lodging an appeal on his behalf, which was
approved. (Para. 7)
Meaning beyond words:
What she did for her boyfriend indicated their
relationship had come
to a new stage. Besides
encouraging him to consult with the college
secretary and submitting the
appeal on his
behalf, she also planned for his future career.
She told him
he had to continue his
studies at law school.
Note: Besides a noun,
“proceed to” can also be followed by a verb
phrase. For example: Having said
how much she
liked my idea, she then proceeded to make critical
comments
about it.
说完她是多么喜欢我の点子，她接着就提出了批评性の意见。
27 Butch
was granted reconsideration. And, once we became
steadies, he coordinated
his studies and
social life, passing all of his classes. He
eventually studied law. (Para. 7)
Meaning
beyond words: Here we see the turning point of the
relationship between the two. Her
suggestions
did work well with Butch since he was granted
reconsideration. As
soon as they became steady
lovers, Butch balanced his studies and social life
and passed every course.
Finally, he studied
law as had been planned.
Note: Steady can
also be used as a noun, as is in the text. It’s an
old-fashioned American
way to describe a
boyfriend or girlfriend that someone has been
having a romantic
relationship with.
28 Despite Butch’s somewhat wild character, at
his core, he is always a perfect
gentleman and
deserves a lot of credit for that. (Para. 8)
Meaning: In spite of Butch’s a little wild
character, he was always a perfect gentleman in
essence,
for which he should be given
recognition.
29 True, he’d sometimes take
the liberty of displaying his love by planting a
kiss on
my lips right in front of my
astonished friends who watched and disapproved.
(Para.
8)
Meaning: Without my permission,
sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to show
his love in
front of my friends, who were
astonished and resented what he did.
Note: “Plant a kiss” is a figurative
use of the word plant, which means an intimate
and
publicly demonstrative kiss
showing his love to all who are watching.
30 But the truth is we had a pure and
responsible relationship for seven full years.
Sitting by the palm trees, hand in hand, we
would listen to romantic songs, watch
the
sunset, and weave dreams of being together with
children of our own, forever.
(Para. 8)
Meaning beyond words: Butch showed much
respect for her conservative perception of love.
For
seven years, they just enjoyed their
romance in a traditional way.
31 Two
years passed in a blur. One day, Butch took me by
surprise as he knelt down
and proposed
marriage holding a dozen red roses! (Para. 9)
Meaning: Two years passed so quickly that I
didn’t really remember everything clearly. One
day, I was startled when Butch, holding a
dozen red roses, knelt down to propose marriage.
Note: propose to sb. = propose marriage to sb.
32 Filled with deep emotion, I
confessed my love for him, “How roooomaaaantic!!”
(Para. 9)
Meaning: I admitted my love for
him with deep affection. It was super romantic!
Meaning beyond words: She was so happy and
thrilled to accept Butch’s marriage proposal
that she said the word romantic in a slow and
exaggerated way.
Note: In informal writing,
people would emphasize something in a similar way.
For
example:
Thank you soooooo much!
真是太太太感谢您了！
33 Then my brain woke up
from fantasy land. I cried out, “Good heavens. No!
We’re
too young to tie the knot. We haven’t
even graduated from college yet!” I really loved
him but was pessimistic about our chances for
success.(Para. 9)
Meaning beyond words: All of
a sudden, she woke up from the romantic scene.
Though she
already accepted love from Butch
and confessed her love for him, she was not sure
whether they
would get married and have a
happy ending as they were still college students.
Note: It isn’t clear whether this expression
tie the knot derives from an actual knot used in
marriage ceremonies or whether the knot
is merely symbolic of a lasting unity. Knots have
a place in many cultures and usually
symbolize unbreakable pledges. Actual knots have
certainly been used in marriage
ceremonies for some time. The word knot, although
not in the phrase
tie the knot, has been
associated with marriage since at least the 13th
century.
34 We married five years later.
(Para 10)
Meaning beyond words: Though she was
pessimistic about their chance for success of
love, she
accepted Butch’s proposal. They got
married five years later, which illustrates their
deep and true
love for each other.
35
Our faithful journey of love and learning took us
down rocky roads of hardship
and on smooth
easy-going highways. (Para. 11)
Meaning: Our
devoted and faithful love guided us both in times
of happiness and also in times of
hardship.
Note: The word rocky comes from the noun rock
combining with -y. A rocky road refers to
a road full of rocks, uneven or not flat.
Words of this group
include: muddy, stony,
grassy, snowy, rainy, etc.
36 It is a
long, romantic, sometimes crazy, love story that
sums up a 29-year long
honeymoon together as a
couple who are still madly in love with each
other. (Para.
11)
Meaning beyond
words: She felt very proud of her long-lasting
romantic, sometimes
even crazy love, which was
just like a 29-year long honeymoon for her and her
husband.
37 Our love commenced
with a casual attraction but bloomed into a mature
love and
rich life. (Para. 11)
Meaning
beyond words: Completely beyond her expectation,
love came to her as she started
with a casual
date but ended up growing into a mature love and
rich life.
Note: We usually use commence doing
sth. or commence with sth. Also, in the US, the
official collegeuniversity graduation
ceremony is called “commencement”. The word refers
to
the completion of one’s education and the
beginning of one’s new adult life.
Note:
The phrase “bloomed into a mature love and rich
life” in the text is used figuratively,
meaning their love was just like blossoms on a
tree.