Remembering My Grandparents

Lesson 15

                                 Remembering My Grandparents

                                            Text A

    When memory began for me, my grandfather was past sixty-a great tall man with thick hair becoming gray. He had black eyes and a straight nose which ended in a slightly flattened¹ tip. Once he explained seriously to me that he got that flattened tip as a small child when he fell down and stepped on his nose.

    The little marks of laughter at the corners of his eyes were the prodnct of a kindly² and humorous nature. The years of work which had bent³ his shoulders had never dulled his humour nor his love of a joke.

    Everywhere he went, "Gramp" made friends easily. At the end of half an hour you felt you had known him all your life. I soon learned that he hated to give orders , but that when he had to, he tried to make his orders sound like suggestions.

    One July morning, as he was leaving to go to the cornfield, he said : "Edwin, you can pick up the potatoes in the field today if you want to do that. " Then he drove away with his horses.
    The day passed, and I did not have any desire to pick up potatoes. Evening came and the potatoes were still in the field. Gramp, dusty and tired, led the horses to get their drink.

    "How many bags of potatoes were there?" Gramp inquired. "I don't know. "
    "How many potatoes did you pick up?"
    "I didn't pick any. " "Not any! Why not?"
    "You said I could pick, them up if I wanted to. You didn't say I had to. "
    In the next few minutes I learned a lesson I would not forget: when Gramp said I could if I wanted to, he meant that I should want to.
    Gram hated cruelty and injustice⁴. The injustices⁵ of history, even those of a thousand years before, angered her as much as the injustices of her own day.

    She also had a deep love of beauty. When she was almost seventy-five, and had gone to live with one of her daughters, she spent a delightful⁶ morning washing dishes because, as she said, the beautiful patterns on the dishes gave her pleasure. The bird, the flowers, the clouds-all that was beautiful around her- pleased her. She was like the father of the French painter, Millet⁷, who used to gather grass and show it to his son , saying , "See how beautif ul this is ! "

    In a pioneer society it is the harder qualities of mind and character that are of value. The softer virtues⁸ are considered unnecessary. Men and women struggling daily to earn a living are unable, even for a moment, to forget the business of preserving their lives. Only unusual people, like my grandparents, manage to keep the softer qualities in a world of daily struggle.
    Such were the two people with whom I spent the months from June to September in the wonderful days of summer and youth.

                                             Text B

    He always rose early to enjoy at least two hours of solitude⁹ in the house and garden before the rest of the family came down In winter he spent most of the time reading and writing. In sum mer he liked to get out of doors to work in the kitchen garden or to take the dog for a walk in the neighbouring woods and fields Whatever the weather, there was plenty to occupy him.

 Although he was a creature of habit, there seemed to be an infinite variety in his pursuits. He wrote book reviews regularly for two of the national weeklies. He worked conscientiously¹⁰ his special subject, Indian History, and was thus one of the world authorities on it;

 he collected modern abstract paintings and so had a circle of friends amongst artists and sculptors¹¹; there was hardly anything he did not know about traditional jazz and he often entertained both British and America n jazz musicians He was a superb cook and knew a lot about French and German food.

 His family adored him and in a sense he was spoiled by them. At first glance you would have taken him for a retired¹² army officer-his bearing was erect¹³, his hair was cut short, he was fussy¹⁴ about his clothes, which were always neat, clean and conventional. He liked to keep fit, and this was reflected in his clear, steady blue eyes and healthy suntanned complexion¹⁵. He hardly ever watched TV, but enjoyed a good film and an occasional evening at the theatre.

 

                                Additional Information

    The elderly who find great rewards and satisfactions in their later lives are a small minorit.y in this country. But they do exist. They are the"aged¹⁶ elite¹⁷".
    What is most striking about these people is their capacity for growth. When Arthur Rubinstein was eighty, someone told him that he was playing the piano better than ever. "I think so," he agreed. "Now I take chances I never took before. I used to be so much more careful. No wrong notes. Not too bold ideas. Now I let go and enjoy myself and to hell with everything except the music!'

    Another reason for the success of the aged elite are the traits they' have formed earlier in their lives. A sixty-eight-year-old woman, three times married and widowed , says , "It's not just what you do when you're past sixty-five.
It's what you did all your life that matters. If you've lived a full life, developed your mind, you'll be able to use it past sixty-five. Let the young people put that in their soup and eat it. "

    Along with frankness comes humor. A sense of humor, of course, is not something that suddenly arrives at age sixty-five. It is an aid people use all their lives to cope with tension. "Humor, " says Dr James Birren, noted¹⁸ psychologist, also leads you to join with other people. "

    The ability to associate with others is another trait of the aged elite. "There are two ways to deal with stress," says Birren. "You either reach out or withdraw. The reachers seek out other people to share their problems instead of pulling away. "
    Growing, active, humorous, sharing-these are all qualities that describe the aged elite.

1 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

2 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

5 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

6 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

7 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

8 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

9 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

10 conscientiously   

adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实

参考例句：

• He kept silent,eating just as conscientiously but as though everything tasted alike. 他一声不吭，闷头吃着，仿佛桌上的饭菜都一个味儿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She discharged all the responsibilities of a minister conscientiously. 她自觉地履行部长的一切职责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sculptors   

雕刻家，雕塑家( sculptor的名词复数 )； [天]玉夫座

参考例句：

• He is one of Britain's best-known sculptors. 他是英国最有名的雕塑家之一。
• Painters and sculptors are indexed separately. 画家和雕刻家被分开，分别做了索引。

12 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

13 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

14 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

15 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

16 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

17 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。