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UNIT 7
Text A
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
The passage you are going to read is entitled "A Friend on the Line". Before you read it, think about the questions.
1. What kind of passage does it seem to be? Is it a story or a science report?
2. What does the phrase "on the line" probably mean?
3. What do you expect the passage may tell you about?
Now read the passage and check your answers.
A Friend on the Line
1. Even before I finished dialing, I somehow knew I'd made a mistake. The phone rang once, twice -- then someone picked it up.
2. "You got the wrong number!" a husky male voice snapped before the line went dead. Mystified, I dialed again.
3. "I said you got the wrong number!" came the voice. Once more the phone clicked in my ear.
4. How could he possibly know I had a wrong number? At that time, I worked for the New York City Police Department. A cop is trained to be curious -- and concerned. So I dialed a third time.
5. "Hey, c'mon," the man said. "Is this you again?"
6. "Yeah, it's me," I answered. "I was wondering how you knew I had the wrong number before I even said anything."
7. "You figure it out!" The phone slammed down.
8. I sat there for a short time, the receiver hanging loosely in my fingers. I called the man back.
9. "Did you figure it out yet?" he asked.
10. "The only thing I can think of is ... nobody ever calls you."
11. "You got it!" The phone went dead for the fourth time. Chucking, I dialed the man back.
12. "What do you want now?" he asked.
13. "I thought I'd call... just to say hello."
14. "Hello? Why?"
15 "Well, if nobody ever calls you, I thought maybe I should."
16. "Okay. Hello, Who is this?"
17. At last I had gotten through. Now he was curious. I told him who I was and asked who he was.
18. "My name's Adolf Meth. I'm 88 years old, and I haven't had this many wrong numbers in one day in 20 years!" We both laughed.
19. We talked for ten minutes.
Adolf had no family, no friends. Everyone he had been close to had died. Then we discovered we had something in common: he'd worked for the New York City Police Department for nearly 40 years. Telling me about his days there as an elevator operator, he seemed interesting, even friendly. I asked if I could call him again.
20. "Why would you want to do that?" he asked, surprised.
21. "Well, maybe we could be phone friends. You know, like pen friends."
22. He hesitated. "I wouldn't mind ... having a friend again." His voice sounded a little tentative.
23. I called Adolf the following afternoon and several days after that. Easy to talk with, he related his memories of World Wars I and II, the Hindenburg zeppelin disaster and other historic events. He was really attractive. I gave him my home and office numbers so he could call me. He did -- almost every day.
24. I was not just being kind to a lonely old man. Talking with Adolf became important to me, because I, too, had a big gap in my life. Raised in orphanages and foster homes, I never had a father. Gradually, Adolf took on a kind of fatherly importance to me. I talked about my job and college courses, which I attended at night.
25. Adolf warmed to the role of counselor. While discussing a disagreement I'd had with a supervisor, I told my new friend, "I think I ought to have it out with him."
26. "What's the rush?" Adolf cautioned. "Let things cool down. When you get as old as I am, you find out that time takes care of a lot. If things get worse, then you can talk to him."
27. There was a long silence. "You know," he said softly, "I'm talking to you just the way I'd talk to a boy of my own. I always wanted a family -- and children. You're too young to know how that feels."
28. No, I wasn't I'd always wanted a family -- and a father. But I didn't say anything, afraid I wouldn't be able to hold back the hurt I'd felt for so long.
29. For his 89th birthday I made a two-by-five-foot greeting card signed by the cops in my office and bought a birthday cake. I didn't tell Adolf I was coming, but I thought we should finally meet face to face. A postman was sorting mail as I entered the building. My heart pounded with excitement as I looked at Adolf's name on the mailbox. I wondered if Adolf would accept me in person or reject me as my father had. When there was no answer to my knocking on the door, the postman said "there is no one there."
30. "You a relative?" he said.
31. "No. Just a friend."
32. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "Mr Meth died yesterday."
33. For a moment, I couldn't answer. I thanked him and went out, misty-eyed. Slowly, I felt a warmth surging through me. I heard Adolf's voice shouting, "Wrong number!" Then I heard him asking why I wanted to call him again.
34. "Because you mattered, Adolf ... because I was your friend."
35. I put the unopened card on my car seat, and got in.
36. "Adolf," I whispered, "I didn't get the wrong number. I got you."
New Words
husky
a. 嘶哑的
male
a. 男性的，雄的
n. 男子
mystified
a. puzzled 迷惑的,困惑的
click
v. to make a short, sharp sound 发出喀嚓声
cop
n. a policeman 警察
c'mon
int. (=come on) 得了吧,别装腔作势了
yeah
ad. (=yes) 是,是的
slam
v. to put, throw or knock with force 砰地放下,猛击
loose
a. not firmly fixed 放松的,松弛的
loosely
ad. 松松地
chuckle
v. to laugh quietly 暗笑
elevator
n. 电梯
hesitate
v. to hold back (as in doubt) 犹豫
tentative
a. uncertain 犹豫的,迟疑不决的
zeppelin
n. 策柏林飞艇(一种硬式飞艇)
disaster
n. a great or sudden misfortune: a terrible accident 灾难,大祸
historic
a. notable or memorable in history 历史上著名的
gap
n. an unfilled space 空白
orphanage
n. a home for orphans 孤儿院
foster
a. 收养孤儿的，收养的
fatherly
a. 1.父亲般的
2.父亲的
importance
n. being important 重要,重大
role
n. 作用，职责，任务
counselor
n. 1. an adviser 顾问
2. a lawyer 律师
supervisor
n. a person who supervises 监督人,管理人
caution
v. to warn 告诫,警告
n. the warning words 告诫,警告
postman
n. a man employed to deliver letters. etc. 邮递员
mailbox
n. a letter-box 信箱
misty-eyed
a. 眼泪汪汪的
warmth
n. 温暖，暖流
surge
v. 涌起，奔腾
Phrases and Expressions
figure out
1.计算出
2.想出
get through
(讲话等)被理解,被接受
take on
具有(特性等), 呈现(新面貌等), 承担
warm to
爱好, 对...感兴趣
have it/ something out with someone
通过争论或斗争同某人解决纠纷, 与某人就某事讲个明白
cool down
(使)平静下来, (使)变凉
hold back
控制,抑制
face to face
面对面
in person
当面,亲自,本人
Proper Names
Adolf Meth
阿道夫.梅思(人名)
Hindenburg
兴登堡(波兰南部城市扎布热(Zabrze)的旧称)
Text B
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, look at the questions.
1. What was the problem that the author came across while he was at the airport?
2. What were the reactions that the author met from those working at the airport?
3. What is the implied meaning of "Fly Pan Am. You'll never forget the experience"?
Now try to find out the answers as you read the passage.
Sorry Sir, Sorry, Sorry
1. "We've got a small problem," I said to the man at the Pan Am check-in desk in Washington. "I'm booked in on this flight to London, but I've only today discovered that they tore off the Washington to London part of the ticket on the shuttle from the New York, leaving the shuttle ticket still here."
2. "That's all right," he said, "you'll just have to buy another ticket."
3. "I beg your pardon."
4. "You will have to buy another ticket."
5. "You're joking."
6. "No, sir. That's the rule."
7. "But I booked on this flight. You can see from the front of the schedule. And presumably my details are in the computer. I can't possibly have used the ticket because the flight hasn't gone yet."
8. "No, but someone else could use it. Sorry, there's nothing I can do about it."
9. "Can I see the supervisor?"
10. "You can, but he will say exactly the same thing. He's round the corner. I'll keep a place here for you."
11. After a long discussion, if that's the right word, with the supervisor (who did make an attempt to ring Eastern Airlines to see if they had filed the mistake) I was told there was no alternative but to purchase a ticket and claim it back later.
12. I went back to my place at the front of the queue and asked, reluctantly, for a ticket.
13. "Sorry, sir" he said, "I can't sell you a ticket, this is bookings only. You'll have to go down there to the ticket sales counter".
14. "But you told me to come back here."
15. "Sorry, I cannot sell you a ticket from here."
16. Knowing a brick wall when I am speaking to one, I joined the other queue for tickets and, with less than an hour for take-off, I was standing no.3 behind a group of youths and a lady from Yugoslavia with her family.
17. The trouble was the computer, which was having a problem and could not call up the details of the lady's booking. Not for five minutes. Not for ten minutes. Nor even after 50 minutes when the plane was about to take off. Every attempt to try to book at another desk was met with the same answer, "We can't deal with new tickets until all the bookings have been dealt with." Back to the supervisor. No luck. One of his deputies said, "Don't worry, you will get on."
18. With the plane five minutes' overdue for take-off, I finally got a vacant ticket desk.
19. "One single to London, please."
20. "Sorry, sir, the plane is full up."
21. "It's what?"
22. "Full up."
23. For the umpteenth time, I recounted my story. "Do you really mean I can't even pay twice for a ticket I am already in the computer as having booked?"
24. "Sorry, sir, nothing I can do about it."
25. When my temper had cooled, I booked a flight out on the next flight the following morning via New York (cost 474 dollars).
26. It would be too simple to say that the moral of all this is "Fly Pan Am. You'll never forget the experience" -- because other airlines apparently have similar rules. But the benefits to the casual traveler of checking tickets regularly need not be understated.
Now Words
shuttlen. a plane, bus, or train which makes frequent journeys between two places 短程穿梭运行的飞机(或汽车、火车)
presumably
ad. 大概,可能
eastern
a. of, from, or living in the east part of the world or of a specified region 东方的,来自东方的
file
v. 1. 登记备案
2. 把(文件等)归档
n. 档案，卷宗
alternative
n. something that may be taken or chosen instead of one or more others 供选择的东西,供替代的抉择
a. (of two or more things) that may be had, used, done, etc., in place of another 供选择的,供替代的
purchase
v. to buy 购买
queue
n. a line of people waiting for their turn (排队等候的)一队人
reluctant
a. not willing 不情愿的,勉强的
reluctantly
ad. 不情愿地，勉强地
brick
n. 砖
take-off
n. (of an aeroplane) leaving the ground and rising (飞机)起飞
deputy
n. 副职，副手
overdue
a. beyond the time fixed (for arrival, payment, etc.) 过期的,延误的
vacant
a. not filled or occupied; empty 未被占用的,空的
umpteenth
a. 第无数(个,次)的
recount
v. to tell; give an account of 讲述,叙述
temper
n. 脾气，情绪，心情
moral
n. (由事件，故事等引出的)道德上的教训,寓意
a. 道德上的
casual
a. 1. 偶然的,碰巧的
2.临时的,不定期的
understate
v. 少说，少报，不完全陈述
Phrases and Expressions
book in
1. (为...)预订
2. 把...登记下来
tear off
撕去
round the corner
附近，即将发生
call up
1.从计算机中调出（信息）
2.使人想起，回忆起
full up
满员
Proper Names
Pan Am
（美国）泛美（全球）航空公司（Pan American World Airways的缩写）
Washington
华盛顿（美国首都）
Eastern Airlines
东方航空公司
Yugoslavia
南斯拉夫
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