第五单元
如何欢庆节日
课文A
亚历克斯·黑利二战时在海岸警卫队服役。出海在外，时逢一个倍感孤寂的日子——感恩节——他开始认真思考这一节日的意义，对许多美国人而言，这个节日已成为大吃大喝、没完没了地看橄榄球比赛的日子。黑利决定写三封不同寻常的信，以此来纪念感恩节的真正意义。
写三封感谢信
亚历山大·黑利
那是在二战期间的1943年，我是个年轻的美国海岸警卫队队员。我们的船，美国军舰军市一号已出海多日。多数船舱装着成千上万箱罐装或风干的食品。其余的船舱装着不少五百磅重的炸弹，都小心翼翼地放在有软垫的架子上。我们的目的地是南太平洋图拉吉岛上一个规模很大的基地。
我是军市一号上的一个厨师，跟岸上的人‘样，那个感恩节的上午，我们忙着在准备一道以烤火鸡为主的传统菜肴。
当厨师的都知道，要烹制一顿大餐，摆上桌，再刷洗、收拾干净，是件辛苦的事。不过，等到太阳快下山时，我们总算全都收拾停当了。
我想先去后甲板透透气。我信步走去，一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱着步，头上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。
我开始思索起感恩节这个节日来，想着清教徒前辈移民、印第安人、·野火鸡、南瓜、玉米棒等等。
可我脑子里似乎还在搜索着别的什么一某种我能够赋予这一节日以个人意义的方式。大概过了半个小时左右我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把Thanksgiving这个词前后颠倒一下——那样广来至少文字好懂了：Giving thanks。
表达谢意——就如在祈祷时感谢上帝那样，我暗想。对啊，是这样，当然是这样。
可我脑子里仍一直盘桓着这事。
过了片刻，如同晨曦初现，一个更清晰的念头终于涌现脑际——要感谢他人，那些赐我多恩惠，我根本无以回报的人们。令我深感不安的实际情形是，我向来对他们所做的一之泰然，认为是理所应当。我一次也没想过要对他们中的任何一位真心诚意地说一句简单的谢谢。
至少有七个人对我有过不同寻常、影响深远的帮助。令人万分难受的是，我意识到，他们中有一半已经谢世了——因此他们永远也无法接受我的谢意了。我越想越感至懂愧。最后我想到了仍然健在的三位，几分钟后，我就回到了自己的舱房。
我坐在摊着信纸的桌旁，回想着佃门各自为我所做的一切，试图用真挚的文字表达我对他们的由衷的感激之情：父亲西蒙·A·黑利，阿肯色州派恩布拉大那所古老韵农业机械师范学院的教授；住在田纳西州小镇亨宁老家的外祖母辛西娅·帕尔默；以及我的初中校长，退休后住在亨宁以北6英里处的里普利的洛纽尔·纳尔逊牧师；
我的信是这样开头的广出海在外度过的这个感恩节，令我回想起您为我做了那么多事，但我却从来没有对您说过自己多么想感谢您——”我简短回忆了他们每位为我所做的具体事例。
例如，我父亲的最不同寻常之处在于，从我童年时代起，他就让我深深意识到要热爱书籍、热爱阅读。事实上，这一爱好渐渐变成一种家庭习惯，晚饭后大家围在餐桌旁互相考查近日所读的书以及新学的单词。我对书籍的热爱从未减弱，日后还引导我自己撰文著书。多少次，当我看到如今的孩子们如此沉迷于电子媒体时，我不由深感悲哀，他们很少，或者根本不了解书中所能发现的神奇世界。
我跟纳尔逊牧师提及他如何每天清晨和集合在一起的学生做祷告，以此开始小镇初中的一天。我告诉他，我后来所做的任何有意义的事，都至少部分地是受了他那些学校晨祷的影响。
在给外祖母的信中，我谈到了她用了种种方式教我讲真话，教我与人分享，教我宽恕、体谅他人。我感谢她多年来让我吃她烧的美味菜肴，离开她后我从来没吃过那么可口的菜肴。最后，我感谢她，因为她在我的生命中撒下美妙的遐想。
睡觉前，我这三封信都送进了船上的邮袋。我们抵达图拉吉岛后都寄了出去。
我们卸了货，又装了其它物品，随后我们按熟悉的常规，再次出海。一天又一天，一星期又一星期，我个人的经历渐渐淡忘。我们在海上航行时，有时会与邮船会合，邮船会带给我们家信，当然，这是我们视为最紧要的事情。
每当船上的喇叭响起广大伙听好!邮件点名!”200名左右的水手就会冲上甲板，围聚在那两个站在宝贵的鼓鼓囊囊的灰色邮袋旁的水手周围。两人轮流取出一把把信件，大声念出收信水手的名字；叫到的人一边从人群中挤出来，一边应道广来了，来了!”
一次“邮件点名”带给了我外祖母、爸爸以及纳尔逊牧师的回信——我读了信，既震惊又深感卑微。
他们没有说他们原谅我以前不曾感谢他们，相反，他们却向我致谢，天哪；就因为我记得他们做的事，并认为他们做了不同寻常的事。
身为大学教授的爸爸向来特别留意不使用任何过于感情化的文字，因此，当他信中写道，在教了许许多多的年轻人之后，他现在认为自己最优秀的学生当中也包括自己的儿子时，我知道他是多么地感动。
纳尔逊牧师写道，他那平凡的老派校长的岁月随着学校里发生的如此迅猛的变化而告结束，他也怀着自我怀疑的心态退了休。“说我做得不对的远远多于说我做得对的，”他写道，接着又说我的信给他带来了令人振奋的信心：自己的校长生涯还是有其价值的。
一看到外祖母那熟悉的笔迹，我顿时回想起往日站在她的白色摇椅旁看她给亲戚写信的情景。外祖母一个字母一个字母地慢慢拼出一个词，接着再写下一个词，因此写满一页要花上几个小时。外祖母最近花费不少工夫对我表达了充满慈爱的谢意，读着老人家的信我禁不住流泪——从前是她给我换尿布的呀!
许多年后，我从海岸警卫队退役，试着靠写作为生，我一直不曾忘记那三封“感谢”信是如何使我认识到，大凡人都暗自期望着有更多的人对自己的努力表达谢意。
现在，感恩节又将来临，我自问，对此文的读者，对我们的祖国，事实上也是对全世界，我有什么祝愿，因为，用一位善良而且又有智慧的朋友的话来说，“我们究其实都是十分相像的凡人，有着相似的需求。”当然，我首先祝愿大家记住这一简单的常识：实现世界和平，这对我们自身的存亡至关重要。
此外我还有别的祝愿——这一祝愿是如此强烈，我将这句话印在我所有的信笺底部现并褒扬各种美好的事物。”
第五单元
如何欢庆节日
课文B
如同春节那样，散居各处的美国人到感恩节就回家团聚。埃伦；古德曼在等待子女回家的同时，思索着当子女长大离家，常常在远方定居之后，父母与子女关系的不断变化。
何处是家？
埃伦·吉德曼
“孩子们要回家过节了。”
我们在相互交流着感恩节的菜单和节日安排时，我的朋友郑重其事地这么说。
我愣了一下，不由对我俩用词相同感到有趣。“从什么时候起，”我问道，“咱们成了把长大成人的子女叫做‘孩子’的人?”
想到时光流逝，想到我们自己的母亲仍把我们叫做“丫头”，我俩不由得笑出声来，随后她止住了笑。
“从什么时候起，”我的老朋友问道，“我们的孩子成了到节假日才回家的人?”两人心头一时又酸又甜。
(1)这个星期是我们的朋友们将小辈带回家的时候，是急切地把子女从人满为患的机场接回去的时候。我们忙乱地安排子女、侄子侄女、堂兄弟表姐妹什么的在餐桌旁一一就坐，就跟摆放在特殊场合才偶尔一用的精美餐具似的。
这些精力旺盛的后辈不再穿林过河而归。他们挤过检票处，使劲把行李塞进座位上方满满的行李箱。他们搭乘航空公司的客机飞回家，那些公司老板心里想着客满的航班，祈祷着好天气持续下去。
(2)这个星期美国人挤满飞机和公路，都想回到他们已不再居住却仍称之为家的地方。这证明了家庭具有能给人带来喜悦的吸引力。回家过节。
但我的老朋友很微妙地触及了另外一个事实，即这个国家一代又一代的人分散在天南地北。我们的家庭生活原本平平淡淡，没有变化，孩子抽屉里的袜子、他们脸上任何一道不悦神情都一清二楚，现在却要迎接他们回家，把他们安置在指定的客房里。
我们相互拥有探视权，我的朋友说。她是位母亲，住在电话区号为617的地方，盼望着迎接分别住在区号为415和011地区的子女回家。我们保持联系，我们互通信息，我们相互问好，再依依道别。但我们仍试图学会如何把团圆的“美好时光”压缩得短些，但相聚的次数要多些。
我的朋友并没有抱怨。我们谁都不想回到那美好的往昔。千度显得空落落的老巢如今觉得宽宽敞敞。
更重要的是，我们把子女养育成人，是要他们眺望远方。我们跟他们说，世界是你们的，去拥有这个世界吧。他们一个个去拥有世界了，有的去了305，有的去了215，有的去了406。毕竟，这就是美国的生活方式。
于是我们收发电子邮件，我们旅行，想到如今保持联系——至少是虚拟的联系——要比我们自己父母年轻时便捷得多，不由心存感激。翻门为“孩子们”创建自己的生活而深感欢欣。
然而，偶尔我们脑子里会掠过一个不那么爱国的念头。难道这就是美国方式，家庭成员相距如此遥远，这种与感恩节同样独特的不同寻常的国民传统?
我们是一个迁徙者的国度，由清教徒前辈移民创立，有意或被迫离乡背井者曾在这里居住。我们的民族神话建立在离开家园、重新开始这一诱惑之上。(3)我们西进，再西进，期待得到最后那片最好的土地，而那却只是路上一个小站而已。
就连罗伯特·弗罗斯特那最为人所知、最美国化的定义——“家就是那个当你不得不前往时，他们必须接纳你的所在”——也带有其潜台词，家不是羁留之所。 ．
作为中年人，我和朋友见过年长者从独立的住宅搬入公寓套间，从北方迁往南方，老了的太阳鸟仍迁徙不已。在一代又一代人的夹层的另一端，我们留意着自己子女的用词。他们星期二“回家来”，星期天“回家去”。
今天，许多美国人觉得难以回答“你是哪里人”这个问题。我们是否都拥有双重籍贯?国民对越发薄弱的家庭纽带的关注难道更着眼于地域，而非我们的情感?
这些问题在十一月的气氛中并不显得重要，我们的话题也从子女归来转到火鸡填料里加栗子的好处与缺陷。毕竟这是欢庆团圆之时，不是默想离别痛苦的时候。
Unit 5 Giving Thanks
Text A
Content Questions
1. He wrote them on a ship on the way to theislandofTulagiin the South Pacific on Thanksgiving Day, 1943.
2. Preparing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner featuring roast turkey made the writer extremely busy.
3. The writer was thinking about Thanksgiving.
4. He decided to write letters to show gratitude to those who had helped him in his life.
5. He had always accepted what they had done for him, but never expressed to any of them a simple “Thank you.”
6. He decided to write to his father, his grandmother, and the Rev. Lonual Nelson, his grammar school principal.
7. His father had impressed upon him from boyhood a love of books and reading.
8. He remembered that each morning Nelson would open the school with a prayer over his assembled students.
9. He recalled how his grandmother had taught him to tell the truth, to share, and to be forgiving and considerate of others. And he thanked her for her delicious food and for all the wonderful things she had done for him.
10. His reading of their letters left him not only astonished but also more humbled than before, because they all thanked him rather than saying they would forgive him for not having previously thanked them.
11. The writer learned that one should learn to express appreciation for others’ efforts.
12. The writer wished for all people the common sense to achieve world peace, and find the good and praise it.
Text Organization
1.
Parts | Paragraphs | Main Ideas |
Part One | Paras. 1-9 | On Thanksgiving Day 1943, as a young coastguardsman at sea, the writer came up with the idea of expressing his gratitude to people who had helped him before. |
Part Two | Paras. 10-16 | The writer wrote three thank-you letters to his father, the Rev. Nelson and his grandmother. |
Part Three | Paras.17-23 | The writer got three letters in reply. |
Part Four | Paras. 24-26 | The writer wishes everyone to find the good and praise it. |
2-
Correspondents | Letters Sent | Letters Received |
Father | Thanks him for teaching the writer from boyhood to love books and reading. | Tells the writer how he, as a teacher and a father as well, felt content with his own son. |
The Rev. Nelson | Thanks him for his morning
school prayers. i | Tells the writer about his retirement coupled with self-doubt, and the reassurance brought to him by the writer's letter. |
Grandmother | Thanks her for teaching the writer how to tell the truth, to share and to be forgiving, and for her good cooking and her sprinkling the writer's life with stardust. | Expresses her loving gratefulness to her grandson. |
Language Sense Enhancement
I. 1) decades 2) undergoing
3) had done wrong 4) welcome reassurance
5) appreciated 6) brought back
7) relatives 8) accomplish
9) consume 10) representing
Language Focus
Vocabulary
1. 1) sprinkled 2) in turn
3) reversed 4) repay
5) at sea 6) traditional
7) statement 8) longed for
9) in secret 10) unloaded
11) weep 12) under way
2. 1) stretch out 2) make out
3) hope for 4) turns (it) over
5) put away 6) brings back
7) got to 8) go about
3. 1) As supplies of traditional fuels diminish, people are working to increase the use of solar
energy.
1.
2) We accord high priority to meeting the challenges of economic and environmental development in the region.
3) While it is true that children of today are exposed to more information than were children of the past, it does not follow that they automatically become more sophisticated.
4) Since she borrowed those books from the library she has been immersed in British history and culture.
5) Everything changed in a flash on June 1, 2000 when he lost both legs in a serious traffic accident.
4. 1) I'd like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has been so considerate of my well-
being. My heart is filled with gratitude that words cannot express.
2) After everyone assembled on the playground amid the noise and excitement of the spectators, our coach again impressed on us the need to do our best in quest of excellence.
3) Everything I saw in my hometown was marvelous. I could hardly believe that it had undergone such swiftchanges through cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers and the rest in the past few years.
II. Collocation
1, fond of 2. sick of
3. thoughtful of 4. confident of
5. conscious of 6. critical of
7. guilty of 8.ashamed of
■
III. Usage
1. To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.
2. It is cooperation, rather than conflict, that will enable you to achieve your success.
3. Ann made students think for themselves rather than telling them what to think.
4. I think I'll stay at home this evening rather than go / going out.
1. Most people are content to let perfect days happen at random rather than plan / planning for them.
Comprehensive Exercises
I. Cloze
(A)
1) at sea 2) Turning over
3) reverse 4) got to
5) repay 6) gratitude
7) assembled 8) immersed in
9) unloading 10) swift
(B)
1) Instead 2) possessions
3) richer 4) breath
5) cherish 6) special
7) specific 8) shining
9) miracles 10) gift
II. Translation
1.
1). Grandma took it for granted that food prices would soar, so she bought a lot of rice.
2). I can quote you several instances of her dedication to science.
3). The 1980s saw the start of the swift development of some special economic zones inChina.
4). Tension between the two countries stemmed in part from the latest spy affair.
5). Peter has worked in a law firm for many years. You can consider having him as your lawyer to act on your behalf when you need legal help.
2.
Amid the atmosphere of Thanksgiving George was immersed in the diary left to him by his father, who died at sea after he completed two successive trips around the world. The diary brought back every moment George had spent with his father and many of the specific things his father did on his behalf. George's father used to impress on him the need to undergo all kinds of hardship in quest of excellence. He also taught him that nothing in the world could be taken for granted. Even today, George still remembers how his father would quote Aesop's famous saying "Gratitude is the sign of noble souls" and tell him to accordthe greatest importance to it.
Chinese Translations of Texts A&B
