新视野大学英语第三版读写教程第二册Unit4-College-sweethearts课文
狐狸分饼-九一八事变简介
新视野大学英语第三版读写教
程第二册
Unit4-College-
sweethearts课
文语法讲解
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
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 eyeshe said as he gazed at my
face. He kept
staring at me all night 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
pretend
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
that
semester
cutest boyfriend I can find.
be
cute. My goal
became: Be ambitious and grab the
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
seemed common
for the
on
new ways
that
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:
How did that happen?Then he whispered
sweet words in my ear and
said,
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,I told him, lodging
an
appeal on his 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,
Then my brain 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 who are still
madly in love with each other. Our
love
commenced with a casual attraction but bloomed
into a mature love
and rich life.
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.
新视野大学英语第三版读写教
程第二册
Unit4-College-
sweethearts课
文语法讲解
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
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 eyeshe said as he gazed at my
face. He kept
staring at me all night 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
pretend
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
that
semester
cutest boyfriend I can find.
be
cute. My goal
became: Be ambitious and grab the
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
seemed common
for the
on
new ways
that
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:
How did that happen?Then he whispered
sweet words in my ear and
said,
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,I told him, lodging
an
appeal on his 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,
Then my brain 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 who are still
madly in love with each other. Our
love
commenced with a casual attraction but bloomed
into a mature love
and rich life.
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.