Lesson Nine.doc

Mark TwainMirror of AmericaExplanation of the Text:Mirror: reflection, representationPara. 1Most Americans remember Mark Twain as the father of Huck Finns idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood and Tom sawyers endless summer of freedom and adventure. Mark Twain is known to most Americans as the author of The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and its sequel (5si:kwEln.续集篇,) Huckleberry Finn, which are generally acknowledged to be his greatest works. Father here means the author or the man who created these two unforgettable characters.Huck Finns idyllic cruise through eternal boyhood: Huck Finns simple and pleasant journey through his boyhood which seems eternal.idyllic ai5dilik, i5dilik Simple and carefree:简朴且无忧无虑的：an idyllic vacation in a seashore cottage在海边的小屋度过的田园诗般的假日Idyll n. 田园诗cruise v. intr.To sail or travel about, as for pleasure or reconnaissance ri5kCnisEns 侦查，观测 巡游，航行，航游为娱乐或侦察而进行航行或巡航n. a sea voyage for pleasure 巡游，漂流cruiser 5kru:zE n.巡洋舰，警察巡逻车Eternal is a hyperbole hai5pE:bEli （n.修辞夸张法）， a rhetorical device of exaggeration, deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect. There are a thousand reasons why more research is needed on solar energy.Eternal: ever-lasting, permanentTom sawyers endless summer of freedom and adventure： endless is also a hyperbole; it parallels the word eternal. Eternal Summer, because all the adventures of Tom Sawyer described in the book are supposed to have taken place in one particular summer.Indeed, this nations best-loved author was every bit as adventurous, patriotic, romantic, and humorous as anyone has ever imagined. every bit as used to emphasize that one thing is equally good, important, etc. as something elseEvery bit: altogether, completely, entirely 从头至尾，完全，全然1 She is every bit as (just as) intelligent as her sister.2 The end was every bit as good as the beginning.3 He wants to get elected every bit as much as his brother does.4 The old Ford looks every bit like a detective car.5. The gardens are every bit as impressive as the castle itself.给人以深刻印象adventurous: Mark Twain was adventurous in every sense of the word. He was always trying new things, and always going to new places. Even in his literary career, he was never satisfied with what he had achieved.Patriotic 7pAtri5Ctik, 7peitri- : Refers to Mark Twains profound love for his country with its robust people and beautiful scenery and its lofty ideals （崇高理想）. It may also refer to his pride in the American traditions and the American language.patriot peitritn.爱国者; 爱国主义者He was represented as a true patriot.他被描绘成真正的爱国主义者。Humorous: His works are so full of humor that he is considered Americas greatest humorist.I found another Twain as well-one who grew cynical, bitter, saddened by the profound personal tragedies life dealt him, a man who became obsessed with the frailties of the human race, who saw clearly ahead a black wall of night.I found another Twain as well: I found another aspect of TwainCynical: sarcastic, sneering愤世嫉俗的seeing little or no good in anything and not believing in human progress.denying the sincerity of all peoples motives and actions or the values of livingbitter: sharp, acid, tart，bitingSadden: depress, frustrateDeal: Vt. Assign, give分给，分配，分发 Its your deal.该你发牌了obsessed with the frailties of the human race: continually distressed by moral weakness of the human race.Obsession Obsess：trouble in mind, preoccupy greatly念念不忘，对忧心忡忡verb I or T If something or someone obsesses you, or if you obsess about something or someone, you think about them all the time. 使着迷，使缠绕，是心神不宁e.g.1. The whole relationship obsessed me for years.2. She used to obsess about her weight.Be obsessed with: Be preoccupied with unable to stop thinking about something; too interested in or worried about something:1. Why are people so obsessed with money?2. Youve always been obsessed with making money. 你总是一心想着挣钱。frailty: weaknesses, weak pointsa black wall of night: (metaphor) hopelessness and despair前途黑暗Para 2Tramp printer, river pilot, confederate guerrilla, prospector; starry-eyed optimist, acid-tongued cynic: All these nouns are in apposition to the noun manTramp: moving or travelingTramp printer 流动印刷工pilot 引航员，舵手a steersman, a person licensed to direct or steer ships into or out of a harbor or through difficult watersprospect (SEARCH) verb I to search for gold, oil or other valuable substances on or under the surface of the earth: 勘探to prospect for oil/goldprospector: gold miner探矿者starry-eyed: 5stB:ri romantic, dreamywith the eyes sparkling in a glow of wonder, romance, visionary dreams 幻想的, 过分乐观的acid-tongued: sharp, sarcastic in speech or languagesharp-tonguedsilver-tongued adj.雄辩的honey-tongued adj.甜言蜜语的sweet-tonguedsmooth-tongued adj.油嘴滑舌的,花言巧语的glib-tongued; sleek; oily The man Who became Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens and he ranged across the nation for more than a third of his life, digesting the new American experience before sharing it with the world as writer and lecturer. ranged across the nation: wandered or traveled freely across the nationfree ranging chickendigest: absorb or understandthe new American experience: Twain lived in the stirring years in American history - The American-Mexican War; the Civil War; the Gold Rush; the westward expansion; The American-Spanish War; the rapid development of capitalism along with the first economic depression, etc.as writer and lecturer: When denoting professional status, sometimes, no article is used, especially when two or more professions are mentioned together, e.g. soldier and statesman, poet and diarist.日记作者He adopted his pen name from the cry heard in his steamboat days, signaling two fathoms (12 feet) of water-a navigable depth. His popularity is attested by the fact that more than a score of his books remain in print, and translations are still read around the world.signal: indicate, meaningfathom 噚fathomableunfathomableattest: prove, demonstrateto show something or to say or prove that something is true:1. Thousands of people came out onto the streets to attest their support for the democratic opposition party.2. The number of old German cars still on the road attests (to) the excellence of their manufacture.score (TWENTY) noun C usually singular plural score FORMAL20 or approximately 20He lived to be three score years and ten (= until he was 70 years old).translations: the translated versions of his workspublications: published thingsemissions : the emitted pollutantPara. 3The geographic core, in Twains early years, was the great valley of the Mississippi River, main artery of transportation in the young nations heart. core: centermain artery of transportation in the young nations heart: Main channel of transportation in the young nations heart.artery: 运输动脉channels or means of transportationheart: central part Both artery and heart are used metaphorically.Keelboats, flatboats, and large rafts carried the first major commerce.Keelboat龙骨船a large shallow freight boat with a keel, formerly used on Mississippi Missouri, etc. (A keel is the chief timber or steel piece extending along the entire length of the bottom of a boat or a ship and supporting the frame.)flatboat 平底船the first major commerce: commerce: ( an abstract noun)merchandise, various commoditiesThey were the first major commerce because later other commodities such as oil and steel took their place.Lumber, corn, tobacco, wheat, and furs moved downstream to the delta country; sugar, molasses, cotton, and whiskey traveled north. Lumber木材: timber sawed into beams, planks, board, etc. of convenient sizes. Compare lumber and timber-in American usage, timber is wood suitable for building houses, ships, etc., whether cut or still in the form of trees, but in British usage, timber and lumber mean the same thing.Furs: animal skins with fur on itDelta country三角地带: Delta is the 4th letter of Greek alphabet, which looks like a triangle. Therefore anything in the shape of delta, especially a deposit of sand and soil formed at the mouth of some rivers, is called a delta.molasses mE5lAsiz n.糖蜜 noun Ua thick dark brown liquid made from sugar plants which is used in cooking; thick dark syrup drained from raw sugar, usually used as a singular noun.In the 1850s, before the climax of westward expansion, the vast basin drained three-quarters of the settled United States.climax: highest point, highlight，peakwestward expansion: When America became independent, there were only thirteen states along the Atlantic Ocean. By 1850, the United States had expanded to the Pacific coast. Events in this westward expansion include the massacre of the native Indians, the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Texas Annexation (1845), the push into Oregon (1846), Mexican Cession (1848), and the Gadsden Purchase. In 1848, gold was found in California. The news spread far and wide and people rushed there to seek their fortune. It was known in American history as the “gold rush”, and this rush reached its climax in the 1860sdrained three-quarters of the settled United States: Drain means to receive the waters of this area and carry them to the ocean. Here the meaning is that the river drained a vast basin, and the basin made up 3/4 of the populated area of the U.S. of that time.Drain: 喝光，耗尽brain drainoutflow of brainoutflow of talentcoversettle: populatea thickly/densely settled city a thinly/scarcely populated cityPara. 4Young Mark Twain entered that world in 1857 as a cub pilot on a steamboat. cub noun Ca young lion, bear, wolf, etc.a cub reporter 初出茅庐的记者cub: inexperiencedpilot (SHIP) 领航员，引水员noun Ca person with detailed knowledge of an area of water, such as that around a port, who goes onto a ship to direct it safelyThe cast of characters set before him in his new profession was rich and varied-a cosmos. cast of characters: (alliteration) the set of actors in a play or a movie. Used here figuratively, it means people of all sorts.cosmos 5kCzmCs 宇宙the universe considered as a system with an order and patternThe word is used figuratively here, meaning a place where one can find all types of characters万花筒He participated abundantly in this Life, listening to pilothouse talk of feuds, piracies, lynchings, medicine shows, savage waterside slums. Pilothouse操舵室: an enclosed place on the upper deck of a river boat in which the helmsman or pilot stands while steeringfeud noun C fju:d n.不和, (部落或家族间的)世仇, 封地, 争执an argument which has existed for a long time between two people or groups, causing a lot of anger or violence:a family feuda 10-year-old feud between the two countriesa bitter feud over landpirate (SAILOR) noun Ca person who sails in a ship and attacks other ships in order to steal from thempiracy noun UPiracy is alive and flourishing on the worlds commercial sea-lanes.pirate (COPY) verb T to illegally copy a computer program, music, a film, etc. and sell itpirated a pirated videopirated softwarelynch verb T 处以私刑If a crowd of people lynch someone who they believe is guilty of a crime, they kill them without a legal trial, usually by hanging (= killing using a rope round the neck).medicine shows游医表演：Show by the entertainers who travel from town to town, accompanied by quacks kwAk 江湖医生，庸医, 骗子. An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment.冒牌医生未经训练而装作医生并提供药方和治疗的人 A charlatan冒充内行者，骗子; a mountebank. 5mauntibANk 庸医，江湖郎中) and fake Indians, selling cure-alls, snake-bite medicine, etcsavage: crude, primitive, uncivilizedAll would resurface in his books, together with the colorful language that he soaked up with a memory that seemed phonographic. All would resurface in his books: All would reappear in his books. Resurface means to reappear or reemerge after a period of submersion of hiding.the colorful language that he soaked up with a memory that seemed phonographic: soak up: absorb, take inthe colorful language that he took in mentally with a good memory that seemed to be able to record things like a phonograph 5fEunErB:f n.留声机, 电唱机gramophone in British usageSoak up: absorb, take in 吸收1. The soft cloth soaked up the milk spilt on the table.2. This sandy soil soaks up moisture very quickly.3. The boy soaks up new information like a sponge.His memory is as accurate as a phonograph.Para. 5Steamboat decks teemed not only with the main current of pioneering humanity, but its flotsam of hustlers, gamblers, and thugs as well. Steamboat decks were filled with people of pioneering spirit (people who explored and prepared the way for others) and also lawless people or social outcasts such as hustlers骗子, gamblers and thugsTeem with: be filled with, be crowded withTeem with : be full of, be filled with 充满，充足， 多产1. The river teems with fish.2. The article teems with blunders.3. This harbor teemed with oceangoing commerce.这个海港曾经有过繁盛的海外贸易。4. By noon the beach was teeming with people.到中午时， 海滩上已是人头济济。thug 暴徒，凶手 a violent criminalnoun Ca man who acts violently, especially to commit a crime:Some thugs smashed his windows.current (MOVEMENT) noun C1 a movement of water, air or electricity, in a particular direction:to swim against/with the currentHe was swept out to sea by the strong current.Switch off the electric current before touching that machine.Main current: The main group or stream具有开创精神人类的主流Pioneering: creative, initiativePioneering humanity: Human beings with initiative spiritflotsam literal: the remains of damaged shipsfigurative: useless, worthless things or people 残渣余孽noun U (ALSO flotsam and jetsam)1 pieces of broken wood and other waste materials found on the beach or floating on the sea:We wandered along the shore, stepping over the flotsam that had washed up in the night.2 anything or anyone that is unwanted or worthless:Theres nothing important in what he says; its all flotsam and jetsam. 他说的话没什么紧要，尽是废话。The homeless sleep in doorways and stations - we step over their bodies like so much human flotsam.Both current and flotsam are used figuratively here.Flotsams of: containHustler: Cheater, deceivernounCsomeone who tries to obtain esp. money by dishonest or illegal methodsAmerican slang: streetwalker; tramp; prostitute; From them all Mark Twain gained a keen perception of the human race, of the difference between what people claim to be and what they really are. keen perception: intense insight, understanding or knowledge gained by perceiving 察觉，感觉the difference between what people claim to be and what they really are: (antithesis) 【修】对语, 对句, 对偶(如:Give me liberty, or give me death. 不自由, 毋宁死。) the difference between words and deeds, between what they preach and what they practice. People often claim to be kind, generous, honest, etc., whereas in reality, they are seldom what they say they are.His four and a half years in the steamboat trade marked the real beginning of his education, and the most lasting part of it. Trade: occupationWhat do you do by trade?This part of life had the most lasting effect on his life or writing.In Later life Twain acknowledged that the river had acquainted him with every possible type of human nature. Those acquaintanceships strengthened all his writing, but he never wrote better than when he wrote of the people along the great stream.Those acquaintanceships: his personal knowledge of those thingsPara. 6 When, railroads began drying up the demand for steamboat pilots and the Civil War halted commerce, Mark Twain left the river country. railroads began drying up the demand for steamboat pilots：because of the railroads there was no more demand for steamboat pilots.dry up (END) phrasal verb 使干涸If a supply of something dries up, it ends:His main source of work had dried up, leaving him short of money.Dry up: make sth. no longer neededDry up: make sth. become no longer needed 使枯竭，使停止，停止提供1. His power of invention dried up.2. His main source of work had dried up, leaving him short of money.3. The separation of many years has dried up their intimacy.多年分离使他们不再亲密无间。Civil War halted commerce: The Civil War brought commerce to a temporary stop. Commerce means trade here, that is the buying and selling of goods, especially when done on a large scale between cities, states, or countries.Halt: stopCommerce: trade, selling and buying of goodsThe river country: the river area 密西西比可一带He tried soldiering for two weeks with a motley band of Confederate guerrillas who diligently avoided contact with the enemy. He tried soldiering: He experimented with soldiering. To soldier means to serve as a soldier. It suggests a profession.the Confederate （美国南北战争时）南部邦联的支持者Motley: of many different kinks, MixedIronyadjective before nounconsisting of many different types and therefore appearing strange or of low quality:Theres a motley assortment/collection of old furniture in the house were renting at the moment.The people who turned up to the meeting were a motley crew (= a group consisting of many different types of people).A motley crew of educators and students gathered at the seminar.Most Ivy League fr