Lesson 31 Success story成功者的故事
First listen and then answer the question.听录音,然后回答以下问题。
What was Frank's first job?
Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man.
昨天下午弗兰克.霍金斯向我讲述了他年轻时的经历。
Before he retired, Frank was the head of a very large business company, but as a boy he used to work in a small shop.
在退休前,弗兰克是一家非常大的商业公司的经理,但他小时候却在一家小铺里做工。
It was his job to repair bicycles and at that time he used to work fourteen hours a day.
他那时的工作是修理自 行车,并且通常是一天工作14个小时。
He saved money for years and in 1958 he bought a small workshop of his own.
他靠多年积蓄,于1958年买下了自己的一个小铺子。
In his twenties Frank used to make spare parts for aeroplanes. At that time he had two helpers.
20多岁的时候,弗兰克曾生产飞机零配件。那时他有两个帮手。
In a few years the small workshop had become a large factory which employed seven hundred and twenty-eight people.
几年之后,小铺子已经发展成了一个雇有728人的大工厂。
Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success.
弗兰克回想着他早年的艰难经历和走过的漫长的成功之路,微笑了。
He was still smiling when the door opened and his wife came in. She wanted him to repair their grandson's bicycle!
他正笑着的时候门开了,他的妻子走了进来。她叫他去修理孙子的自行车。
New words and Expressions生词和短语
retire
v. 退休
company
n. 公司
bicycle
n. 自行车
save
v. 积蓄
workshop
n. 车间
helper
n. 帮手,助手
employ
v. 雇佣
grandson
n. 孙子
Lesson 31 自学导读First things first
课文详注 Further notes on the text1.Before he retired, Frank was the head of a very large business company, but as a boy he used to work in a small shop. 在退休前,弗兰克是一家非常大的商业公司的经理,但他小时侯却在一家小铺里做工。
(1)head在此处的意思不是人或动物的“头部”,而是“首领”、“头目”,一般出现在“the head of +名词”结构中:
John is the head of the family.
约翰是一家之主。
Frank is the head of that firm.
弗兰克是那家公司的总裁。
(2) as在这里为介词,表不“当……时”,as a boy相当于 as he was a boy。
2.It was his job to repair bicycles…他那时的工作是修理自行车……
it为“先行主语”,句子的真正主语为to repair bicycles。
3.He saved money for years and in 1958 he bought a small workshop of his own. 他靠多年积蓄,于1958年买下了自己的一个小铺子。
(1)for years表示“许多年”。
(2)of one's own为固定短语,表示“自己的”、“属于自己的”,own为代词:
He wanted a room of his own.
他想要一个自己的房间。
Do you have a house of your own?
你有自己的房子吗?
4.in one's twenties,(在某人)二十多岁的时候。
one's twenties/thirties/forties…,二十多岁/三十多岁/四十多岁……10的倍数的复数形式可用于表达近似的、非确定的数量,与所有格形容词(my等)连用时表示大约的年龄:
My aunt Jennifer is in her late thirties/early forties, but she often appears on the stage as a young girl.
我的姑妈詹妮弗已接近四十岁/四十出头,但她却常在舞台上扮演小姑娘。
5.Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success. 弗兰克回想着他早年的艰难经历和走过的漫长的成功之路,微笑了。
(1)hard意思很多,在这里指“艰难的”、“困苦的”:
She lived a hard life in those years.
那些年她的生活很艰难。
(2)one's early years指某人的早年(生活),意义相近的表达方式为early in one's life。
(3) the long road to success是一种比喻的说法,因为success是抽象名词。to在这里表示方向、目的地,意义为“朝”、“往”、“向”等,这个短语的字面意义为“通向成功的漫漫长路”。
语法 Grammar in use
1.过去进行时与一般过去时
在第7课的语法中我们学习了过去进行时。它主要表示过去某个时刻或某段时间正在进行的动作,和一般过去时经常在一个句子里使用。与一般过去时相比,它更强调动作的持续性,一般过去时则表示比较短暂的动作或事件。在叙述故事时,过去进行时往往用来表示背景:
Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man.
昨天下午弗兰克·霍金斯向我讲述了他年轻时的经历。
He was still smiling when the door opened and his wife came in.
他正笑着的时候门开了,他的妻子走了进来。
Last Sunday, I went and sat on the river bank as usual.
Some children were playing games on the bank and there were some people rowing on the river.
上星期天,我和往常一样,又去河边坐着。河岸上有些孩子正在玩耍,河面上有些人正在划船。(过去进行时描述背景)
比较典型的表示过去正在进行的动作的表达方式如:
What were you doing at two o'clock?I was looking for you everywhere.
两点钟时你在干什么?我到处找你。
I was fishing.
我那时在钓鱼。
2.used to do
我们用used to do表示过去有过但现在已不存在的习惯,以便将过去与现在形成对照。它后面经常用由but now…,but not…any more/any longer等构成的、用了一般现在时的句子以强调过去和现在的不同之处。
I used to smoke, but I don't any more/any longer.我过去常吸烟,但现在已不吸了。
He used to be a lazy boy, but now he is very hard-working.他过去是个懒孩子,但现在他很勤奋。
used to仅用于一般过去时。它的疑问句和否定句形式可以不用助动词do而用used本身:
Used he to smoke?
他过去吸烟吗?
He usedn't / used not to smoke.
他从前并不吸烟。
但比较常用的形式是did和didn't:
Did he use to smoke?
他过去吸烟吗?
He didn't use to smoke.
他从前不吸烟。
在针对used to提间时,一般也用did:
I used to be a good swimmer.
我过去是个游泳好手。
Did you really?I didn't even know you could swim.
真约吗?我以前甚至不知道你会游泳。
词汇学习 Word study
1.experience
(1)n.经历(可数):
I had an amusing experience last year.
去年我有过一次有趣的经历。
He told me about his experiences as a young man.
他向我讲述了他年轻时的经历。
(2)n.经验,体验(不可数):
They want someone with a lot of experience for this job.
他们想要一位有丰富经验的人来承担这项工作。
Does she have any experience in teaching?
她有教学经验吗?
(3)vt.经验,体验:
Have you ever experienced anything like this?
你经历过像这样的事情吗?
The village has experienced great changes since 1980.
自1980年以来这个村子经历了极大的变化。
experience的过去分词常作形容词用,表示“有经验的”、“经验丰富的”:
John is an experienced driver.
约翰是个经验丰富的司机。
2.save vt.,vi.
(1)救助,搭救,拯救:
The doctor saved the child's life.
那位医生救了这孩子一命。
They saved the child from the fire.
他们从大火中救出了这孩子。
(2)储蓄,积攒:
He saved (money) for years to buy a car.
为了买一辆车,他积攒了多年。
He used to save letters.
他过去常积攒信件。
3.work与job
作为名词,这两个单词都可以翻译为“工作”,但它们在用法上并不一样。job为可数名词,一般与“职业”、“职位”有关,或表示某人的“份内事”;work作“工作”讲时是不可数名词,常指具体的“劳动”、“作业”或“(待做的)工作或事务”等,也可能表示“上班:
It was his job to repair bicycles.
他的工作是修理自行车。
John is looking for a new job.
约翰正在找一份新工作。
I'm looking for work as a driver.
我在找一份开车的活。
I've a lot of work to do on Sunday.
星期天我有许多事要做。