Great new Canadian short stories

Amber¹:  Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com.
　　In Entertainment today, we listen to an interview with the Canadian writerAlice Munro about her latest collection of short stories, The View from CastleRock.
　　Alice Munro has some 'big-name' fans (some 'famous' fans). US novelistJonathan Franzen called her the 'best fiction writer working in North America',and the British author A. S. Byatt went further, describing her as the 'greatestliving short story writer' anywhere!
　　The View from Castle Rock is a combination of autobiography², family historythand fiction. It begins back in the 19  century with Alice Munro's great, great,great grandfather's boat journey from Scotland to Canada, and stories from herfamily's past eventually lead to stories about her own life in small-towncontemporary Canada. And, as always with Munro's writing, stories aboutsmall things soon open a window of understanding on the world 'at large', onthe world 'in general'.
　　Here is Alice Munro talking to the BBC interviewer Mariella Frostrup abouthow and when she first discovered the power and wonder of books.
　　As you listen, try to catch the way her family felt about books and reading.
　　Alice Munro'I discovered books when I was 7 years old. And I'd had my tonsils out and I couldn't playoutside in the summer holidays and I started to read. I think though, in my family's life, therewas a strong feeling about books being a form of self-indulgence – reading being self-indulgence – (Frivolous, even!) and there were lots of stories about how women took toreading and it was sort of like taking to drink – you neglected your house and your childrenand there was dust under the beds and that kind of thing!'
　　Amber:  Alice Munro says that her family saw reading as 'self-indulgence' – assomething you do only for your own pleasure or satisfaction. But, Alice Munrowent on to say that because her family didn't encourage her to read books,that's probably why she enjoyed them so much!
　　Many of the stories in The View from Castle Rock are about 'poverty' – aboutnot having enough money even for basic needs such as food, clothing andhousing. They're also about 'hardship' – about the difficulties caused by a lackof money.
　　But Alice Munro explains that she grew up at a time in Canada when peoplecould 'jump into the middle class' if they had an education. As you listen to thenext part of the interview, try to catch the expression that Alice Munro uses todescribe what she was not.
　　Alice Munro'I must emphasise³ that this was not great poverty; it was the poverty of the area where I live. Ididn't grow up as an outcast at all. I grew up in the same situation as most other people Iknew, but then, when it's almost inevitable⁴ perhaps that you will jump into the middle class asyou would at that time in our country's history if you got an education.'
　　Amber:  So Alice Munro says she did not grow up 'an outcast' – 'an outcast' is somebodywho has been excluded by a particular group or by society as a whole.
　　However, Alice Munro is very interested in writing about the 'tension' – the anxious anduneasy feelings – caused by differences in wealth between people and by differences in theirposition in society. In a story called 'A Hired Girl', the servant girl narrating⁵ the story feels angry about the carelessness of the wealthy family that she goes to work for. Alice Munroexplains that she remembers feeling angry about social injustice⁶ when she was growing up.
　　As you listen, try to catch the word she uses for 'anger'.
　　Alice Munro'Oh no, I can remember it being a rage I felt at the time and it's quite unreasonable⁷ becauseall those people wanted was a servant, a good servant, and that's what her job was, but shewants to be a person in their lives and of course that isn't possible – it's not to be expected.
　　And this seemed to be a really interesting thing to write about. It's a very autobiographicalstory. And I just love exploring this kind of tension in people, in their lives.'
　　Amber:  So Alice Munro says she remembers feeling 'rage', or extreme anger, at socialinjustice when she was growing up. And she's very interested in exploring the tension insidepeople in different positions in society – inside a servant girl who wants to be 'a person' in thelives of her employers, for example.
　　Now here's a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.
　　Big-nameFictionAutobiographyAt largeSelf-indulgencePovertyHardshipAn outcastRage

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

3 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 narrating   

v.故事( narrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She entertained them by narrating her adventures in Africa. 她讲述她在非洲的历险来使他们开心。
• [Mike Narrating] Worm and I fall into our old rhythm like Clyde Frazier and Pearl Monroe. [迈克叙述] 虫子和我配合得象以前一样默契我们两好象是克莱德。弗瑞泽和佩尔。门罗。 来自电影对白

6 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。

7 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。