1、,Text A Discovery of a Father Sherwood Anderson(1876-1941),Sherwood Anderson was approaching middle age when,giving in to long-deferred ambitions, he left a successful business career to become a writer. Living in Chicago, New Orleans, and Paris, meeting literary people, he worked furiously to make

2、up for his late start, producing novels, short stories, essays, and an autobiography. His short fiction provided a model for younger writers, whose careers he encouraged by literary advice and by practical help in getting published as well (he had stimulated Hemingway in his quest for stylistic simp

3、licity, Faulkner in his search for the proper subject matter). Winesburg, Ohio, which appeared in 1919 near the beginning of his literary career, remains a major work of experimental fiction and was in its time a bold treatment of small-town life in the American Midwest.,Anderson was born in a south

4、ern Ohio family headed by a father whose training and skill as a harness maker were becoming useless in the new world of the automobile. A heavy drinker and gifted storyteller, Andersons father kept his family on the move in search of work; the stamina and tenderness of his mother supplied whatever

5、coherence and security there was in this nomadic life. Not until Anderson was sixteen, did they settle down in the town of Clyde, Ohio, which became the model for Winesburg. Andersons schooling was irregular and he never finished high school. He held a variety of jobs and finally had his own success

6、ful business. But in secret he wrote fiction and found increasingly that the need to write conflicted with his career. In 1912 he abandoned his business and his marriage.,In Chicago, he met the writers and artists whose activities were creating the Chicago Renaissance, including the novelist Theodor

7、e Dreiser, and the poets Edgar Lee Masters and Carl Sandburg. His first books reveal three of his preoccupations: the individual quest of self and social betterment, the small-town environment and the distrust of modern industrial society. Winesburg and his later works add two more concernsthe inter

8、est in human psychology and the sense of conflict between inner and outer worlds., In both style and structure Andersons works were important influences on other writers: he encouraged simplicity and directness of style, made attractive the use of the point of view of outsider characters as a way of

9、 criticizing conventional society, and gave the craft of the short story a decided push toward stories presenting a slice of life or a significant moment as opposed to panorama and summary. He never was able, however, to forge the complex unity readers expect in longer fiction. Although he continued

10、 writing for two decades, he never repeated the success of Winesburg, the coherently structured collection of individual tales. His best later work was also in short stories, published in three volumes: The Triumph of the Egg (1921), Horses and Men (1923), and Death in the Woods and Other Stories (1

11、933).,Questions for comprehension,What kind of father the author previously desire? Why did he dislike his own father and think of him as foolish and ridiculousa windbag and a good-for-nothing? How does his mother feel about his father? What happened one day that changed the authors opinions of his

12、father completely? Can you list several qualities the father has? Can you retell the anecdote of the father and General Grant in the wood the day the General was to meet Robert Lee?,flow (n.)(p.1),It works only in the veins, where the blood flow is slower. (a moving liquid, gas or electrical current

13、) She watched the frantic flow of cars and buses along the street. / It would monitor traffic flows and provide feedback to motorists. (a number of people or things move steadily in large groups, usually without stopping),A French-based pharmaceuticals company ran into cashflow problems and faced li

14、quidation. (information or money moving freely between people or organization) In that moment a flow / surge of hatred went / flowed through my blood. ( intense feeling, often apparent to other people) He had been replying for some 40 minutes already and was still in full flow. (talking fluently and

15、 easily and likely to go on talking for some time),Lunch at Harrys Bar was in full flow when David made a splendid entrance. (the activity has started and is being carried out with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm) Theres nothing I can do about the problem, so I might as well go with the flow.

16、(to let things happen or let other people tell you what to do, rather than trying to control what happens yourself),flow (v.),Undesirable consequences flow from these misconceptions / the psychological effects can flow from childhood experiences of physical abuse. (result naturally from) The wine fl

17、owed and we danced the night away. (there is a great of that thing in the place) His words flowed more readily. (speaking smoothly and without hesitation),druggist(Am.)(p2)=chemist(Br.),someone qualified to sell drugs and medicines a druggist or druggists is a shop where drugs and medicines prescrib

18、ed by a doctor are sold. drugstore(Am.) is a shop selling prescribed drugs and medicines, and also cosmetics, some household goods, drinks and snacks. drug: chemical substance drug: cocaine, heroin, marijuana, drug abuse,The American Civil War(1861-65),It was the greatest war in American history.3 m

19、illion fought - 600,000 died. It was the only war fought on American soil by Americans, and for that reason Americans have always been fascinated with The Civil War. Hundreds of books, movies and documentaries have (and are) being created about this war. Abraham Lincoln was the President of the Unio

20、n. Gen. McClellan was the second general-in-chief of all Union forces, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was the last army commander in the war.,The Confederate States of America,Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederacy of 11 states Gen. Robert E. Lee was the last army commander of the Confederates,

21、 and a general of military tactics.,In the middle of the war, Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasized enlisting black soldiers in the Union army. The war to preserve states was turned into a war to abolish slavery. Over 620,000 A

22、mericans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors returned home as amputees.,Presbyterian(p4): belonging or relating to a Protestant church, which is governed by a body of official people all of equal rank,the Old Testament (first part of the Bibl

23、e that deals with the relationship between God and the Jewish people) the New Testament(dealing with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and with Christianity in the early church) different sects of Christianity: Catholics(with the Pope as its leader and based in the Vatican in Rome),Protestant(a

24、 brunch of the Christian church which separated from the Catholic church in the sixteenth century, including the Church of England, its name derives from their protesting against a decree of Charles V. 1529) Puritan(a group of English Protestants who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,

25、 living in a strict or religious way, avoiding physical pleasures ) Anglican(a member of the Church of England) Baptist(a Christian who believes that baptism is necessary) Quaker(a member of a Christian group called the Society of Friends, emphasizing equality among Christians),Institutions: monaste

26、ry for monks; convent for nuns; Ways of showing religious piety: fasting, penance, pilgrimage, confession to priests, living in seclusion, Religious hierarchy: Pope, Red Cardinal(for the Catholic church), priest(for the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox church), vicar(Br. a priest for the parishes of

27、the Church of England) ; minister(a member of the clergy, esp. in Protestant churches),Other Religions,Islam (its member is a Muslim, believing in the Koran; Sabbath is a day for rest) Judaism(the religion of the Jewish people; based on the Old Testament of the bible and the Talmud猶太教法典) Buddhism(it

28、s founder is Buddha-Siddhartha) Taoism道教(calling for a simple life not interfering with the course of natural events) Shintoism(Shinto is Japans traditional religion),good(p4): to emphasize the great extent or degree of sth.,We waited a good 15 minutes. This whole things got a good bit more dangerou

29、s.,Loaf(p5):lounge, idle away time,Soldiers loafed at street corners. We had been at Cambridge together, she studying medicine and me loafing around.,Wonder(n.)(p.6):sth. surprising and unexpected happened,Its a wonder that it took almost ten years. The building collapsed at midnight, but the wonder

30、 was that Oliver was not seriously hurt.,Wonder(n.):A quality in sth. that causes people to feel astonishment or great admiration,1.The snow forest is a wonder of ravishing winter in the North. 2.He almost lost himself in the lecture on the wonders of space and space exploration.,Wonder(n.):a feelin

31、g of surprise, pleasure, or amusement,Cross shook his head in wonder, “How did you manage to do that?” I was expressing some amazement and wonder at her good fortune.,Other usages of wonder(n.),wonder boy / wonder drug Under such circumstances, it is little wonder that they experience difficulties.

32、Small wonder that / No wonder he remained silent for two decades to conceal the truth. A few moments of relaxation can work / do wonders on the overstressed fire-fighters.,Just / all the same(p.10):仍然，照舊,Matt is weak and dependent, but you love him all the same. There are jokes that she did not unde

33、rstand but laughed at just the same. Luckily, Nancys father and her attorney were one and the same person.,orderly(p.12),A medical orderly 軍隊(duì)中的衛(wèi)生員 A latrine orderly 負(fù)責(zé)打掃廁所的勤務(wù)兵,ranks in the army,(Recruit) Private列兵 Corporal 下士 Sergeant 中士 Staff Sergeant上士 Warrant Officer準(zhǔn)尉 Second Lieutenant少尉 Lieuten

34、ant 中尉 Captain上尉 Major少校,Lieutenant Colonel中校 Colonel上校 Brigadier準(zhǔn)將 Major General少將 Lieutenant General中將 General上將 Field Marshal/General of the Army元帥/五星上將,To call it quits: decide to stop,After twenty years as a general manager, he has decided to call it quits. Lets call it quits after this deal. T

35、hey raised $630,000 through listener donations, and then called it quits. You can decide whether there is hope in working for mutual happiness, or if you should call it quits.,show up(p21): appear,A man who puts a wedding ring on the finger of a womans skeleton as a joke gets more than he bargained

36、for when she shows up as a zombie and claims that she is now legally his bride. (Corpse Bride),Smash(p21):to break or be broken into pieces; to move forward with force and shattering effect,Crash: to break noisily Clash: a noisy and usu. metallic sound of collision; a conflict of opinion,His elder s

37、on was killed in a plane _ a few years ago. The President said he was resolute to _ terrorism. There have been a number of _ between police and demonstrators. The golden bangles鐲子 on her arms _ and jingled.,Down and out: out of work without money窮困潦倒，落魄,He looked unshaven, shabby, and down-and-out. When you are down and out, everybody may look down on you. Who could expect him to be down and out when he was the presiden