Unit Two

Text A All the Cabbie Had Was a Letter

Text A

Part Ⅰ Pre-reading TaskPart Comprehension questionsⅡ

Part Ⅲ Language Points

Part Ⅳ Post-questions

Part V Text Structure Part Ⅵ Translation

Pre-reading task• One day Chen and I went downtown. I wanted to buy so

me supplies. He hates shopping but came along since he speaks better Chinese than me. Also, he is a better bargainer. For these good reasons he offers to help even though it’s boring, since otherwise I would buy the wrong thing.

We help each other because we are friends. We started being friends by helping each other.

“Is it possible for Chinese and foreigners to become friends?” I’ve been asked this many times. When I first arrived from multicultural Canada, I replied, “Of course!” But now I’m not so sure.

• For me, China seems “reversed”. Relationships seem more important than the individuals involved. In North America, an individual is more important than relationships or roles. These two opposite starting points shape reality and expectations. Many say to me, “I hope we can be friends.” And what he or she wants is to practice English. Others want to be my friend because I am a foreigner and they think this makes them look good. This hurts me since I am along here and making friends is what I want, not teaching English every hour of the day or night, or being a prize. I feel used. But for Chinese, “using” is part of friendship.

How did Chen and I become friends?• When I first arrived he helped me buy what I needed, his way

of starting a friendship. I thanked him by taking him out for lunch and discovered we share many attitudes and interests --- my way of finding a friend. I saw that he didn’t just spend time with me to improve his English or be seen with a foreigner. He cares about me, and I care about him. So I call him “friend”, but later than he called me “friend”.

• Chinese friends share “things in common”: a task, a class, a hometown. You may or may not like the person, but if he or she can do something for you because of his or her position or job, you ask without the shyness a foreigner feels, enlarging friendship beyond what a North American usually means. For us, friendship can be cut, or die from separation. Chinese are friends even if they haven’t spoken for 20 years. If you shared something at one time, then all your life you are friends. This is the best of “guanxi”, “relationship”, the Wide Web that connects Chinese through time and space. Chinese invented the Internet long before Bill Gates was born.

1. Chen hates shopping but still went with Dr. Wyse because ________. A. he speaks better Chinese B. he is a better bargainer C. Wyse is his friend D. all above 2. Why was Dr. Wyse so sure that Chinese and foreigners could become

friends when first arriving in China? A. Chinese people are kind in nature. B. Dr. Wyse likes making friends with others. C. People in Dr. Wyse’s country are from different cultures. D. Chinese and foreigners are alike in many ways. 3. Why does China seem “reversed” according to Dr. Wyse? A.Chinese make use of their friends while North Americans do not. B.Chinese and North Americans are opposite in the ideas of starting a

friendship. C. People who say “I hope we can be friends” don’t really mean it. D. North Americans care about their friends while Chinese do not.

Reading comprehension

4.According to Dr. Wyse, one should ________.

A. make use of his friend

B. care about his friends

C. have many life-long friends

D. make friends with those who have the same background

5. Chinese invented the Internet long before Bill Gates was born because ________.

A. Chinese have been connected with each other by relationships among friends since very early times.

B. Chinese knew the advanced technology to connect people together in ancient times.

C. Chinese have had the skills to bridge cultural differences since early times.

D. Chinese can keep their friendship for very long time.

Keys:1. D 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. A

Questions

• After reading the above passage, can you list several differences between the Chinese and North American concept of friend and friendship?

• Do you agree with Dr. Wyse’s ideas about the Chinese concept of friend and friendship? State your reasons.

• Do you often write to your friends? If you do, tell us the fun of writing letters; if you don’t, tell us how you and your friends keep contact.

Chinese Northern American

Relationships seem more important than the individuals involved

An individual is more important than relationships or roles.

Using is part of friendship Friends care about each other.

Friendship is formed by people who are from the same place or who work or go to school together.

Business and friendship kept separate. Attitudes in common are very important.

Relationships last even if the people involved have not been in touch for a very long period of time.

Friendship can be cut or die from separation.

key

Back

Comprehension questions

How could the author know that the driver was lost in his reading?

Why did the driver sound as if he had a cold? Why did the driver decline to go on with his letter? Does the author travel a lot? Why did the driver include Ed as his family? Did the driver often see his friend? Why? What was the reason for not keeping in touch with old friends

according to the author?

Why did the author decline to read the letter? What did the first sentence of the letter remind the author of?

Why did the author feel sad about “old friend”? How did the driver and his friend get to know the latest

information about each other in the last 20 or 30 years? Why did the author want to receive such a letter from his

oldest friend?

Who wrote the letter? Why did Tom never mail the letter? What was the first thing the author wanted to do after he

arrived at the hotel? And why?

Keys The author had to tap on the windshield to get the driver’s

attention. (L2) He was very sad and was probably weeping when reading t

he letter. (L4-5) He had read the letter several times and known it well. (L

7-8) Yes, he was on the road very often. (L9-10) Ed was his oldest friend. (L13) No. He moved away from the old neighborhood. (L25-26) He didn’t seem to find the time to keep in touch with his fr

iends. (L37) It was a personal letter. He didn’t want to invade the privac

y of other people. (L40-41)

The first sentence of the letter reminded the author of himself because he often postponed writing letters to friends. (L45-46)

People were losing their old friends as time went by. (L56-57)

They sent Christmas cards with notes to tell the other what was going on about their families. (L65-68)

He was moved by the letter and wanted to have such a good old friend. (L75-76)

Tom, the driver. (L79, L85) Ed had died before he could mail it. (L84-85) He was urged to write a letter to his friend and mailed it

because it might be too late to do so. (L88-89)

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Language points 1. be lost / lose oneself in sth: to be so involved in something th

at you do not notice anything else.

e.g. It’s easy to lose yourself in the magic of this film.

I was lost in the beauty of the scenery.

c.f. feel / be lost (in the crowd): to not feel confident about what to do or how to behave, esp. among people you do not know.

e.g. Will your child feel lost at a nursery?

c.f. get lost (in sth): to be forgotten or not noticed in a complicated process or busy time.

e.g. It’s easy for your main points to get lost in a long speech

2. available: able to be used, bought or found. e.g. The university is trying to make more accommodation

available for students. an increase in the number of jobs available to women Other usages: Drugs like crack are freely / readily available. (very easy

to obtain by anyone) Every available ambulance was rushed to the scene of the

accident. (everyone that you can get) The president was not available for comment. (not before

noun not busy)

3. settle: to put in a comfortable position [+back / into / down]

e.g. Mel settled back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Mary had already settled herself in a corner where she could watch.

Other usages:

settle a quarrel / argument / dispute (to end)

settle out of court ( to come to an agreement to avoid going to a court of law)

settle a bill / account/ claim (to pay money that is owed)

settle one’s nerves / stomach (to stop being upset; to calm)

4. He sounded as if he had a cold or something: The sentence implies the sad state of mind the taxi driver was in.

or something: used when you are not sure, can not remember or do not want to give another example of something you are mentioning.

e.g. Here’s some money. Get yourself a sandwich or something. Her name was Judith, or Judie or something. Similar expression: (or) something like that: used when you can not remember or do

not want to say something exactly. e.g. She works in sales or promotion, something like that.

5. go ahead: to continue; to begin. e.g. Their solicitor is asking if you want to go ahead with the de

al. The newspaper decided to go ahead and publish the story.

6. know/learn something by heart: to know or learn something so that you can remember all of it.

e.g. You have to know all the music by heart.Other expressions: You love the boy heart and soul, don’t you? (completely) The new book gets to the heart of the controversy over

nuclear power. (to get to the most important part of) have a heart of gold / stone (to be very kind / cruel) We took heart when we saw the sign, knowing that we were

close to home. (to feel encouraged) After I leave, Joe can sing in the shower to his heart’s content.

(to do something as much as someone wants) What a great meal! You certainly know the way to a man’s

heart. (humorous to know the way to please someone)

• 7. At least they do with me because I’m on the road so much.: At least letters from home mean a lot to me because I travel a lot in a car for long distances.

8. estimate: to try to judge the value, size, speed, cost, etc of something, partly by calculating and partly by guessing.

e.g. The mechanic estimated the cost of repair at $150. It is estimated that between 70 and 90 per cent of car crimes occu

r in the daytime. It is difficult to estimate how many deaths are caused by passive

smoking each year. c.f. assess: to calculate the value or cost of something; to make a ju

dgment about a person or situation after thinking carefully about it. e.g. They assessed the value of the house at over $250,000.

It’s difficult to assess the effects of the new legislation just jet.evaluate: to carefully consider something to see how useful or valuable it is.

e.g. evaluating the success of the training schemefigure: infml, esp. AmE to form a particular opinion after thinking about a situation.

e.g. I figured that he was drunk and shouldn’t be allowed to drive

9. This isn’t family.: This isn’t a letter from my family. Family mostly refers to a group of people who are related to each other, esp. a mother, father, and their children. e.g. Do you know the family next door? While home most probably refers to the house, apartment, or place where a family live. e.g. A family of swallows had made their home under the roof

10. might / may (just) as well: usu. spoken used to suggest doing something that you do not really want to do, because you have no better ideas.

e.g. It’s no good waiting for the bus. We might as well walk .

  11. I’m not much a hand at writing.: I’m not good at writing. be of a hand at: be good at not much of a: not a good e.g. Some people may think that doing housework for others is not much

of a career. 12. keep up: to continue doing something, or to make something continue. e.g. I don’t think I can keep up this difficult task any longer. Keep up the good work! Other usages: The shortage of supplies is keeping the price up. (prevent…from fallin

g) I’m having trouble keeping up with the rest of the class. (to manage to l

earn as fast as) We sang as we marched, to keep our spirits up. (to try to stay happy, str

ong, confident, etc.)

13. correspondence: letters exchanged between people, esp. official or business letters; the process of sending and receiving letters. [U] [+with]

e.g. A secretary came in twice a week to deal with his correspondence.

All correspondence between us must cease. Other usage: There was no correspondence between the historical facts

and Johnson’s account of them. (relationship or connection)

14. I take it (that)…: used to say that you expect someone

will do something, know something, etc. e.g. I take it you’ve heard that Rick’s resigned

15. practically: esp. spoken almost.

e.g. The hall was practically empty.

Practically all my friends are from China.

16. Went to school together?: The subject is omitted. The complete sentence is like this: You went to school together? In colloquial English a declarative sentence with a rising tone may serves as a question.

17.neighborhood: a small area of a town, or the people who live there.

e.g. You are going to wake up the whole neighborhood with that noise.

I grew up in a quiet neighborhood of Boston. Other usages: Are there any hotels in the neighborhood? (in the area around) I’m hoping to buy one for something in the neighborhood of $50

0. (either a little more or a little less than a particular number or amount; approximately)

18. kind of (esp. AmE) / sort of (esp. BrE): infml (a) slightly or in some ways. e.g. I’m kind of glad I didn’t win. (b) used when you are explaining something and want to avoid

giving the details. e.g. I kind of made it look like the post office had lost his letter.

19. lose touch (with): to not speak to, write to, or see someone for a long time, so that you do not know how they are.

e.g. I’ve lost touch with all my old school friends.

When you’re living abroad it’s so easy to lose touch with what’s happening home.

 

20. a couple of: a small number of things.

e.g. I don’t know why I feel so bad, I only had a couple of drinks.

21. But I realized that old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more to himself than to me.: But I realized that the taxi driver was still thinking of old Ed when he spoke again. It seemed that he spoke more to himself than to me.

on one’s mind: if someone is on your mind, you keep thinking about it and worrying about it.

e.g. You look worried, Sarah. Is there something on your mind?

Will Jim losing his job and her mother being sick, Michelle

has had a lot on her mind lately.

22. keep / stay in touch (with sb. / sth.): to speak or write to someone when you can no longer see them as often as you used to; to have the latest information, knowledge, and understanding about a subject.

e.g. Our neighbors are moving away but I hope that we’ll still keep in touch with each other.

Through the media we are able to keep in touch with events on the other side of the world as they happens

23. come up: to appear; to happen. e.g. A lot of new questions came up at the meeting.

A vacancy has come up in the accounts department. Don’t you have a birthday coming up soon? Sorry I can’t go with you --- something has suddenly come up.

Other usages: Why don’t you come up to New York for the weekend? (to tra

vel north or towards an important place such as a big city) Come up to the front of the room so everyone can see you. (to

move near someone or something) The sun was coming up by the time I finished the essay. (to ris

e) Look, the daffodils are coming up. (to begin to be seen above t

he ground) She had come up in the world since her days on the flower stal

l. (to become richer or more successful in society)

24. shrug: to raise and then lower your shoulders in order to show that you do not know something or do not care about something.

e.g. We can’t just shrug these objections off.

25. urge: to strongly advise someone to do something; to strongly suggest that something should be done.

e.g. Brown urged her to reconsider her decision. The UN has urged restraint in the current crisis.

I urge that you read this report carefully. This course of action was urged on / upon us by all parties. Other usages: Daniel urged the horses forward with a whip. (to make move) Urged on by the crowd, the Italian team scored two more goals.

(to encourage)

26. mean to do sth.: esp. spoken, to intend to do something or intend that someone else should do something.

e.g. I’ve been meaning to phone you all week. I didn’t mean to interrupt your meal. Oh no! I never meant her to read these comments.

27. some time: a period of time. e.g. The cheering went on for quite some time.

I hadn’t seen my family for some time. c.f. sometime: at some time; at a time in the future or in

the past. e.g. We’ll take a vacation sometime in September.

Our house was built sometime around 1900.

28. postpone: to change an event, action etc to a later time or date.

e.g.We’re postponing our holiday until we have some more money.Gail and Jim have decided to postpone having a family for a while.

29. Halloween: Halloween is on the night of 31 October, when people once believed that ghosts could be seen. Now, it is a time when children have partied, dress up as witches, make lanterns out of pumpkins, and play “trick or treat”. Trick or treat is a traditional activity at Halloween. Children dress in costumes and visit houses. At each house they say “Trick or treat”. This means that they will play a “trick”, or joke, on the people in the house unless they are given a “treat”, e.g. sweets or money. Most people prefer to give treats rather than having tricks played on them.

30. have reference to: to mention. reference: (a) something you say or write that mentions another person or th

ing. e.g. Winston made no reference to what had happened. (b) the act of looking at something for information. e.g. Use this dictionary for easy reference.

Keep their price lost on file for future reference. Other usages: With reference to your recent advertisement, I am writing to requ

ire further details. (fml used to say what you are writing or talking about)

We will need references from your former employers. (a person who provides information about your character and abilities)

a list of references at the end of the article (sources of information)

31. “ Like it says there,” … “about all we had to spend in those days was time.”: “As the letter says there,” … “though we didn’t have much money we had a lot of free time.”

32. absolutely: esp. spoken completely and in every way. e.g. He’s an absolutely brilliant singer.

You look absolutely fantastic in that dress. He has absolutely no experience of marketing

33. reunion: a social meeting of people who have not met for

a long time, esp. people who were at school or college together.

e.g. our college reunion

34. …there are fewer and fewer still around.: … fewer and fewer of us are left alive.

 

35. go by: to pass.

e.g. Two years went by.

Never let a good opportunity go by.

36. hang out: infml to spend a lot of time in a particular place or with particular people.

e.g. She hangs out with a pretty wild crowd.

That’s the corner where all the boys hang out.

Other usage:

I’ve hung out the washing. (to hang clothes outside in order to dry them)

37. (every) now and then / now and again: sometimes.

e.g. I try to buy myself something new every now and then.

 

38. But for the last 20 or 30 years it’s been mostly just Christmas cards: But generally speaking we have sent only Christmas cards to keep in touch with each other for the last 20 or 30 years.

mostly: in most cases or most of the time.

e.g. I mostly worked as a researcher, writer, or teacher.

More immigrants rushed into this country, mostly Europeans.

39. Your friendship over years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because I’m not good at saying things like that.: Your friendship over the years has been very important to me, more important than I can say because I’m not good at expressing my feelings.

awful: [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is.

e.g. I have an awful lot of work to do this week.

It made him look an awful fool.

40. choke up / be choked up: to be very upset about something.

e.g. She and Mark broke up last week, and she’s pretty choked up about it.

 

41. destination: the place that someone or something is going to.

e.g. holiday destination

some team members got lost and failed to reach their destination

42. skip: pass from (one point, etc) to another, disregarding or failing to act on what comes between.

e.g. Children who skip breakfast often don’t concentrated as well as others.

Let’s skip the last item on the agenda.

I suggest we skip over the details and get to the main point.

It was a badly organized talk --- he just kept skipping around from one idea to another.

 

43. right away / now / after: immediately and without any delay.

e.g. I’ll find the address for you right away.

It’s on right after the 6:30 news. back

Post-questions

• In the conversation between the driver and himself, the author employs an informal language style. Try to find out several examples and described the features of spoken English.

• What’s the central idea of this text?

• What’s your understanding of friend and friendship? Do you have many friends? Does your friendship with them usually last long?

Keys

  1. The features of spoken English: (1) Sentences tend to be short and simple. (2) Incomplete sentences (3) Some words or phrases do not usually appear in written English. (4) Language fillers.

2. Never delay expressing your feelings to a friend.

back

Text Structure Author and driver talking about the letter (Para 1-20)

LETTER

Author reading the

letter (Para 21-35)

Author to write a letter (Para 35)

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Translation

1. 虽然搬出旧街区已经几年了，我仍然常常想起那里的朋友，并同他们保持着联系。

2. 一听说销售部有一个职位空缺，我就写信通知他。 3. 公司招收了几名营销人员，以跟上业务发展的需要。 4. 这家报纸对这一事件进行了详尽的报道，但并未指

明消息的来源。 5. 有人要求他在晚会上推迟出场，这使她多少有些生

气。

Keys: 1. I have kept in touch with my friends in the old

neighborhood, who are always on my mind, since I left there several years ago.

2. On knowing that a vacancy came up in the sales department, I informed him right away through correspondence.

3.  The company recruited a couple of marketing personnel to keep up with the demand of its expanding business.

4.  The newspaper gave a detailed account of the event with no reference to its sources of information.

5. He was kind of annoyed when he was asked to postpone making his appearance in the evening.

Text B Never Let a Friend Down

• Key Words Exercises

pillar start let down peeruneasy get rid of stuff soakswing drag extent worse stillshape despair odds gatherdraw on make it rescue highlight

1. The dress was made of silky ____________. 2. The factories on the east bank of the river have no direct link to the

motorway. ____________, there are no other means of transportation. 3.That weekend in Venice was definitely the ____________ of our tri

p. 4. I’m counting on you to support me ---- don’t __________ me ____

______. 5.If the ink ____________ through the paper, it’ll stain the table unde

rneath. 6.Considering how old the car is, it’s not in bad ____________. 7.Every few paces they stopped to __________ ahead into the gloom. 8. His mood could ____________ suddenly from great joy to complet

e despair.

9.Norman’s constant drinking drives his family to ____________.

10.Tossing in bed for a whole night, she eventually fell into an __________ sleep.

11.Tom can’t ___________ himself away from the football on TV.

12. I had to ____________ my savings to pay for the repair. 13. He opened the window to ____________ the smell of s

tale tobacco. 14.The success of a marriage depends on the ___________

_ to which you are prepared to work at it. 15. She died to ____________ her children from the blaze. 16. Tad woke up with a ____________ and felt for the ligh

t switch.

17. Against all the _____________, racing driver Lauda recovered from his terrible injuries.

18.  These tenets are the ____________ on which our faith is founded.

19. I never thought Clare would ______________ as an actress.

20. The car started to ____________ speed as it coasted d

owned the hill.

Keys

1. stuff 2. Worse still 3. highlight

4. let …. down 5. soaks 6. shape 7. peer 8. swing 9. despair

10. uneasy 11. drag 12. draw on

13. get rid of 14. extent 15.rescue

16. start 17. odds 18. pillars

19. make it 20. gather

Comprehension questions

1. Why did Royce refuse to watch the football match with Bill?

2.  Why did Bill feel worried about Royce doing the burning by himself?

3.  How did Bill make a living?

4. How old was Bill when Royce and himself searched for work together?

5. Why didn’t Royce escape when the gasoline tank exploded?

6. How could Bill stand up after he was flung through the air and fell on the ground?

7.  How could Bill save Royce out of the burning car?

8. What happened to the car after Royce was dragged out of it?

9.  How far did Bill have to travel before he could get help?

10. What did Bill learn from the tough people living in the Australian bush?

11. Where did Bill go for help?

12. What honor did Bill receive after the accident?

Keys 1. Royce promised his mother to burn off the weed

s on one of their fields. 2. Royce had a bad leg and walked with great diffic

ulty. 3. By hunting. 4. Around 50. 5.  He was pinned against the steering wheel, unabl

e to move. 6.The sight that Royce was in the burning car gave h

im the strength to stand up and to save his friend.

7.  Bill dug his heels into the sand and pulled Royce out with all his strength.

8.  The car exploded for the second time and was eaten up by flames.

9.  He had to walk almost two miles and get over three fences.

10. Never give up no matter how bad the odds and never let a friend down.

11.  Royce’s home.

12. The Bravery Medal.

Text structure• Writing on time sequence

• (Para 1-5) Bill helped Royce to burn off the weeds.

• (Para 6-10) A fire broke up and Bill saved Royce from the flames

• (Para 15-20) Bill managed to get help for Royce despite his own serious injuries.

• (Para 21-22) Bill was granted a medal by the government and receive sincere gratitude from his friend.