英语练习短文2.doc

Unit 2 My Teacher, My Salvation 1. I stepped off the ship on a gray March day in 1949, a small boy with a new American visa shoved in his pocket, a boy who had lost his mother and was emigrating to America to live with a father he did not know. I was very suspicious of the heavy, bald man who embraced my sisters and me at the dock. Still, he was the very image of American people in his gleaming black shoes, gray overcoat, and new hat.2 After several years in an elementary school class for those with low IQ there were no classes for non-English-speaking children I made it to junior high school. The first week of classes we were told to select a hobby to pursue during club houron Fridays. I decided to follow the prettiest girl in my class, who led me through a door marked Newspaper Club. And there was a sharp-tongued, no-nonsense English teacher named Marilyn Burd. Were going to put out a newspaper, she yelled, rapping her desk with a ruler, so if any of you dont want to work, I suggest you go across the hall to the Theater Club rehearsal now, because youre going to work your tails off here!3 I was soon under the spell of this formidable and eloquent woman. She drilled us on grammar and made me fall in love with literature. I was fascinated by the way she could read a story or a piece of verse, then open it up like a fan, displaying its various facets, colors, and meanings. I had considered stories to be simple adventures, but she showed me they could express feelings as well: pain, frustration, anger, and loss. And she taught me that my motherland was the foundation of Western civilization. I began to be proud of my origins.4 One day she assigned us to compose a concise essay from our own experience. Fixing me with a stern look, she added, Nick, I want you to write about what happened to your family in your homeland.5 That was the last thing I wanted to write about, and so I left the assignment until the last moment. Then, on a warm weekend afternoon, I sat in my room with a pad and pencil and stared out the window. The chorus of bird song, the buzz of insects, and the perfume of freshly cut grass distracted me. Finally I wrote the first sentence: To many people the coming of spring means the end of winter, the first birds, thoughts of love. Spring to me has a very different meaning because this was when I hugged my mother for the last time.6 I kept writing, telling how the local guerrillas occupied our village and took our home and food; how my mother planned our escape when she learned all the children were to be sent to schools in another country for the indefinite future; and how she could not come with us because the guerrillas sent her to dig an irrigation ditch in a distant village.7 I wrote about how one night we were smuggled down the mountain and into the lines of government soldiers, where a sergeant sent us to a refugee camp. It was there that we learned of our mothers torture and execution. I wrote that I could still hear the cries of my sisters when we were told my mother was taken into a cellar and shot by the guerrillas for what they called disloyalty the escape of her children.8 But I did write that I felt very lucky to have started a new life, my mothers dream for us. I ended my narrative by saying that, nevertheless, the coming of spring always reminded me of the green and gold day in 1948 when I last saw my mother.9 I handed in my essay, hoping that was the end of it, but Miss Burd had it published in the school paper. I was horror-struck until I saw that my classmates reacted with sympathy and understanding. Without telling me, Miss Burd also entered the essay in a national contest, and it won a medal.10 For the first time I began to understand the power of the written word. Meanwhile, I followed the literary path Miss Burd had set me on. I managed to finance four years of university tuition with scholarships and part-time jobs with newspapers. An article I wrote about a friend who died in the Philippines one of the first volunteers to lose his life in the Peace Corps won a national award. The award was given to me in the White House by the President. When the local paper ran a picture of me clasping hands with the President, my father clipped it, had it sealed in plastic and carried it in his breast pocket. I found it there on the day he died 20 years later.11 Miss Burd taught for 41 years. Often her students were from troubled homes, yet she would alternately bully and charm each one until the spark of potential caught fire. She retired in 1981 at the age of 62.12 Marilyn Burd is still an honored and enthusiastic guest at all our family celebrations. At my 50th-birthday picnic last summer, my sisters and I felt a painful void because my father was not there to lead the line of dancers, the way he did at every celebration during his 92 years. But Miss Burd was there, sipping wine and viewing the scene with quiet satisfaction. Her presence was a comfort.13 Life is full of opportunity, and I would have enjoyed its plenty even if I hadnt walked into Miss Burds classroom. But she was the one who directed my grief and pain into writing. She was my salvation, the one that sent me into writing and indirectly caused all the good things that came after.14 A few years ago, I answered the telephone and heard her telling me that I was to deliver the speech at her funeral. I hope, Miss Burd, that youll accept this tribute instead. ( Words: 1,008 )The End New Words and Phrases:salvation n. 1.拯救者；拯救物 2.救助；得救，获救visa n. 签证shove vt. 随便放置 v. 推，挤，撞emigrate vi. 移居国外bald a. 秃头的，无毛的gleam vi. 发微光 n. 柔和的光gleaming a. 闪光的，发亮的rap v. 敲打, 敲击rehearsal n. 排练，排演eloquent a. 雄辩的，有口才的fascinate vt. 迷住，吸引verse n. 诗，韵文facet n. （事物的）一方面concise a. 简明的，简洁的，简要的chorus n. 1.合唱（曲） 2.合唱团, 合唱队buzz n. 嗡嗡声 vi. 发出嗡嗡声distract vt. （使）人分心，分散（注意力）hug vt. 拥抱guerrilla n. 游击队员indefinite a. 1.不明确的，不确定的 2.无限期的irrigation n. 灌溉smuggle vt. 1.偷运 2.走私sergeant n. 中士；巡佐cellar n. 地下室narrative n. 叙述，记述 a. 叙述的，叙事的tuition n. 1.学费 2.教学，讲授clasp vt. 紧握，紧抓clip vt. 1.剪下（报纸或杂志上的图片、文章等） 2.剪短，修剪bully vt. 威吓，欺侮弱小enthusiastic a. 热心的，热情的void n. 1.空虚感，失落感 2.空间，空处; a. 1.空的，缺乏的 2.没有法律效力的sip v. 小口喝，啜grief n. 1.悲痛，悲伤 2.伤心的事，不幸的事tribute n. （表示敬意或情感的）礼物，赠品；颂词 Phrases and Expressionsstep off （从上）走下来put out 出版；公布；广播work ones tail off 竭尽全力干活under the spell of 对着迷learn of 获悉，得知，了解到Exercises:VocabularyIII. Complete the blanks with the words given below. Change the form where necessary. emigrate gleam facet rap distract clasp void fascinate enthusiastic sipeloquent bully smuggle concise shove1. Everyone was pushing and _ to see the princess. 2. Over the same period, more than 400,000 immigrants have come to Britain and millions of people have _ to other countries. 3. We saw the lights of the small town _ in the distance. 4. I slept for a couple of hours and was awakened while it was still dark by agentle_ on my door. 5. The main problem was that everyone seemed to assume that Gouzenko was an expert on every _ of Russian intelligence operations. 6. He dreams of publishing a _ , comprehensive survey of English literature in the form of examination questions. 7. The debate should not _ from the main issue of giving ordinary people easier access to the courts and making legal aid available to the 10 million people. 8. It is reported that the drug traffickers were beheaded yesterday for _ heroin into the kingdom. 9. In the Roman Empire, as now, dress could serve as an _ expression of social rank, ethnic origin, political allegiance, or religious belief. 10. They used to _ him and tease him; then one day on his way back from school they attacked him. 11. Abruptly the ground fell away from our feet; an awesome _ opened before us. 12. She went back to the corner and across to the nearby pub, where she sat _beer, munching a cheese sandwich, and waiting. IV. Replace the underlined words or expressions in the following sentences with words or expressions from the text that best keep the original meaning. 1. The monitor will be appointed to take notes for the meeting the day after tomorrow. 2. The politician finally decided to publish a weekly newsletter. 3. The little boy stepped off the ship, with a new American visa shoved in his pocket. He was moving to America to live with a father he did not know. 4. Miss Burd, the greatest teacher Ive ever met, drilled us on grammar and made me become fond of literature. 5. Only yesterday did I get to know