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Unit 1
Growing Up
Part I Pre-reading Task
Listen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. Do you know who John Lennon was?
2. Have you ever heard the song before?
3. What does Lennon think of growing up? Is it easy or full of adventures?
4. Can you guess what the texts in this unit are going to be about?
The following words in the recording may be new to you:
monster
n. 怪物
prayer
n. 祈祷
Part II
Text A
When we are writing we are often told to keep our readers in mind, to shape what we say to fit their tastes and interests. But there is one reader in particular who should not be forgotten. Can you guess who? Russell Baker surprised himself and everyone else when he discovered the answer.
WRITING FOR MYSELF
Russell Baker
The idea of becoming a writer had come to me off and on since my childhood in Belleville, but it wasn't until my third year in high school that the possibility took hold. Until then I'd been bored by everything associated with English courses. I found English grammar dull and difficult. I hated the assignments to turn out long, lifeless paragraphs that were agony for teachers to read and for me to write.
When our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English I anticipated another cheerless year in that most tedious of subjects. Mr. Fleagle had a reputation among students for dullness and inability to inspire. He was said to be very formal, rigid and hopelessly out of date. To me he looked to be sixty or seventy and excessively prim. He wore primly severe eyeglasses, his wavy hair was primly cut and primly combed. He wore prim suits with neckties set primly against the collar buttons of his white shirts. He had a primly pointed jaw, a primly straight nose, and a prim manner of speaking that was so correct, so gentlemanly, that he seemed a comic antique.
I prepared for an unfruitful year with Mr. Fleagle and for a long time was not disappointed. Late in the year we tackled the informal essay. Mr. Fleagle distributed a homework sheet offering us a choice of topics. None was quite so simple-minded as "What I Did on My Summer Vacation," but most seemed to be almost as dull. I took the list home and did nothing until the night before the essay was due. Lying on the sofa, I finally faced up to the unwelcome task, took the list out of my notebook, and scanned it. The topic on which my eye stopped was "The Art of Eating Spaghetti."
This title produced an extraordinary sequence of mental images. Vivid memories came flooding back of a night in Belleville when all of us were seated around the supper table — Uncle Allen, my mother, Uncle Charlie, Doris, Uncle Hal — and Aunt Pat served spaghetti for supper. Spaghetti was still a little known foreign dish in those days. Neither Doris nor I had ever eaten spaghetti, and none of the adults had enough experience to be good at it. All the good humor of Uncle Allen's house reawoke in my mind as I recalled the laughing arguments we had that night about the socially respectable method for moving spaghetti from plate to mouth.
Suddenly I wanted to write about that, about the warmth and good feeling of it, but I wanted to put it down simply for my own joy, not for Mr. Fleagle. It was a moment I wanted to recapture and hold for myself. I wanted to relive the pleasure of that evening. To write it as I wanted, however, would violate all the rules of formal composition I'd learned in school, and Mr. Fleagle would surely give it a failing grade. Never mind. I would write something else for Mr. Fleagle after I had written this thing for myself.
When I finished it the night was half gone and there was no time left to compose a proper, respectable essay for Mr. Fleagle. There was no choice next morning but to turn in my tale of the Belleville supper. Two days passed before Mr. Fleagle returned the graded papers, and he returned everyone's but mine. I was preparing myself for a command to report to Mr. Fleagle immediately after school for discipline when I saw him lift my paper from his desk and knock for the class's attention.
"Now, boys," he said. "I want to read you an essay. This is titled, 'The Art of Eating Spaghetti.'"
And he started to read. My words! He was reading my words out loud to the entire class. What's more, the entire class was listening. Listening attentively. Then somebody laughed, then the entire class was laughing, and not in contempt and ridicule, but with open-hearted enjoyment. Even Mr. Fleagle stopped two or three times to hold back a small prim smile.
I did my best to avoid showing pleasure, but what I was feeling was pure delight at this demonstration that my words had the power to make people laugh. In the eleventh grade, at the eleventh hour as it were, I had discovered a calling. It was the happiest moment of my entire school career. When Mr. Fleagle finished he put the final seal on my happiness by saying, "Now that, boys, is an essay, don't you see. It's — don't you see — it's of the very essence of the essay, don't you see. Congratulations, Mr. Baker."
(797 words)
New Words and Expressions
off and on
from time to time; sometimes 断断续续地；有时
possibility
n. 可能（性）
take hold
become established 生根，确立
bore
vt. make (sb.) become tired and lose interest 使（人）厌烦
associate
vt. join or connect together; bring in the mind 使联系起来；使联想
assignment
n. a piece of work that is given to a particular person（分配的）工作，任务，作业
turn out
produce 编写；生产，制造
agony▲
n. very great pain or suffering of mind or body （身心的）极度痛苦
assign
vt. give as a share or duty 分配，分派
anticipate
vt. expect 预期，期望
tedious
a. boring and lasting for a long time 乏味的；冗长的
reputation
n. 名声；名誉
inability
n. lack of power, skill or ability 无能，无力
inspire
vt. fill (sb.) with confidence, eagerness, etc. 激励，鼓舞
formal
a. (too) serious and careful in manner and behavior; based on correct or accepted rules 刻板的，拘谨的；正式的，正规的
rigid
a. (often disapproving) fixed in behavior, views or methods; strict 一成不变的；严格的
hopelessly
ad. very much; without hope 十分，极度；绝望地
excessively
ad. 过分地
out of date
old-fashioned 过时的
prim
a. (usu. disapproving) (of a person) too formal or correct in behavior and showing a dislike of anything rude; neat 古板的，拘谨的；循规蹈矩的；整洁的
primly ad.
severe
a. completely plain; causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, etc. 朴素的；严重的，剧烈的
necktie
n. tie 领带
jaw
n. 颌，颚
comic▲
a. 滑稽的；喜剧的
n. 连环漫画（册）
antique
n. 古物，古玩
tackle
vt. try to deal with 处理，应付
essay
n. 散文，小品文；论说文
distribute
vt. divide and give out among people, places, etc. 分发，分配，分送
finally
ad. at last 最终，终于
face up to
be brave enough to accept or deal with 勇敢地接受或对付
scan
v. look through quickly 浏览，粗略地看
spaghetti
n. 意大利式细面条
title
n. a name given to a book, film, etc. 标题，题目
vt. give a name to 给…加标题，加题目于
extraordinary
a. very unusual or strange 不同寻常的；奇特的
sequence
n. 一连串相关的事物；次序，顺序
image
n. a picture formed in the mind 形象；印象；（图）像
adult
n. a fully grown person or animal 成年人；成年动物
humor
n. 心情；幽默，诙谐
recall
vt. bring back to the mind; remember 回想起，回忆起
argument
n. 论据，论点；争论
respectable
a. (of behavior, appearance, etc.) socially acceptable 可敬的；体面的；文雅的
put down
write down 写下
recapture
vt. (lit) bring back into the mind; experience again 再现；再次经历
relive
vt. experience again, esp. in one's imagination 再体验，重温
violate
vt. act against 违背，违反
compose
vt. write or create (music, poetry, etc.) 创作
turn in
hand in (work that one has done) 交（作业）
command
n.,v.命令，指令
discipline
n. punishment; order kept (among school-children, soldiers, etc.) 惩罚，处分；纪律
what's more
in addition, more importantly 而且，此外；更有甚者
contempt▲
n. 轻视，轻蔑
ridicule
n. making or being made fun of 嘲笑，嘲弄；被戏弄
open-hearted
a. sincere, frank 诚挚的
hold back
prevent the expression of (feelings, tears, etc.) 控制（感情、眼泪等）
avoid
vt. keep or get away from 避免
demonstration
n. act of showing or proving sth. 表明；证明
career
n. 生涯，事业；职业
seal
n. 印，图章
essence▲
n. the most important quality of a thing 本质；精髓
congratulation
n. (usu. pl) expression of joy for sb.'s success, luck, etc. 祝贺，恭喜
Proper Names
Russell Baker
拉赛尔·贝克
Belleville
贝尔维尔（美国地名）
Fleagle
弗利格尔（姓氏）
Allen
艾伦（男子名）
Charlie
查理（男子名）
Doris
多丽丝（女子名）
Hal
哈尔（男子名，Henry, Harold的昵称）
Pat
帕特（女子名，Patricia的昵称）
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