Text I

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Unit 11

• Text I
• A Friend in Need

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Cultural Background

• Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
• British novelist, playwright and short story
  writer. He was best known for his novels, and his
  novel Of Human Bondage (1915) has strong
  autobiographical elements. Besides, Maugham was
  expert in short story writing, which was known
  for plots and story telling skills. He has
  written 100 short stories, dealing with spies,
  and the domestic and overseas life of the English
  people, of which our text was one.

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Questions for Discussion

• Judging from the title, what do you expect the
  text to be about?
• What are some of the qualities you look for in a
  real friend?
• Have you got a friend like that? If you have,
  tell us something about your friend.

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Main Idea

• This is a story about Edward Hyde Burton, a
  ______, who appeared ________and his namesake
  Lenny Burton. Lenny Burton was a young man good
  at ______ but he had no steady job. One day Lenny
  went to Edward Burton to ask ______. Burton told
  him that if he could _______ , he would ______.
  Burton knew it would be _______ for Lenny to do
  so. Lenny accepted the challenge and _____. When
  Edward Burton was asked about it, he replied
  _________.

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Style of Writing

• This text is another piece of persuasive writing.
  Maugham uses narrationa story within a storyas
  his technique to convince the reader of his point
  of view, that first impressions of a person are
  often more wrong than right.

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Language Points

• They are more (right)than (wrong)--- they are
  right more than they are wrong
• Their research work demonstrates more accuracy
  than originality.
• On hearing this, he felt more offended than
  flattered.

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• for my own part--- as far as I am concerned,
  speaking for myself
• For my own part, I dont mind having one more
  lesson on ecosystem.
• For my own part, I am in favor of using some
  euphemisms to avoid unpleasantness of daily life.

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• in accordance with sth.---in agreement with sth./
  in harmony with sth.
• Every citizen should act in accordance with the
  law.
• His actions are not always in accordance with his
  words.
• Every thing goes on in accordance with the plan.

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• strike---impress, have an effect on the mind or
  the body
• How does this idea strike you?
• This plan strikes me as ridiculous.
• What struck me was that he was not telling the
  truth.
• An idea suddenly struck me. (occurred to me)
• The room strikes you as warm and comfortable when
  you enter.

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• kind, kindly, kindliness
• kindhelpfulinterested in the happiness of
  others showing sympathy, thoughtfulness or love
  and care for others
• kindlyfriendly, pleasant
• kindlinessfriendliness, pleasantness
• She is a kind old woman. She is a kind-hearted
  and sympathetic old woman.

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• She is a kindly old woman.She is a friendly and
  amiable old woman.
• His kind criticism at last made her realize the
  seriousness of her mistakes. (?????)
• kindly criticism (????????)

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• spicy hot, flavored with sth., exciting or
  interesting because somewhat improper
• Sichuan dishes are known to be hot and spicy.
• The newspaper offers spicy details of the film
  stars love affairs.

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• something of an athleterather an athlete, a
  fairly good athlete
• She is something of a pianist.
• The soldier found himself something of a hero.
• presentlysoon, shortly, immediately, at the
  present time
• We were not sure if Peter would come to the
  party. Presently he appeared.
• Presently I heard her leave the house.
• Shes presently working on her PhD.
• Presently we have no vacancy in the office.

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• What do you say to sth?How about--?/ Would you
  like sth?
• What do you say to a cup of coffee?
• remit (vb.)forgive, excuse payment of a debt, a
  punishment (remission n.) send money by post
  (remittance n.)
• His prison sentence has been remitted. (??)

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• The taxes have been remitted.
• Kindly remit by check. (??)
• When can you remit me the money?
• He has got a remission of six months. (??)
• Who has gained remission from tax payment? (???)
• Please return the completed form with your
  remittance. (??)

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• instinctaptitude, gift
• Birds can fly by instinct.
• My first instinct was to refuse, but on second
  thoughts I accepted.
• broke(sl) penniless
• He was stony/flat broke after his failure in the
  stock market.

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• creditbelief of others that payment will be made
  later
• No credit is given at this shop. (payment must be
  in cash)
• His credit is good only for 50.
• If you are rich, you can get unlimited credit.
• buy/sell sth. on credit

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• be down and out ????
• Out of work and with a big family to support, he
  was down and out.
• all to pieces have a breakdown (?????)??
• When he heard the news, he went to pieces.
• After the accident, she seemed to have gone to
  pieces.

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• be driving at sth. ---trying to say/do
• I wish I knew what they were really driving at.
• He talked on and on, but nobody seemed to
  understand what he was driving at.
• Note This phrase is always used in the present
  continuous tense , the object is always what
• Compare drive sth, home (make sth. understood)
• To drive home the point he was making, the
  speaker produced some official statistics.

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• on account of---because of
• We didnt have a good time because the picnic was
  held in the gym on account of the rain.
• It is a great pity that baby died eight days
  after it was born on account of illness.
  
  

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• be taken aback---be shocked or confused esp. by
  sth. unpleasant or unexpected
• The teacher was quite taken aback by his
  students retort.
• She was taken aback by her sons rude way of
  speaking.

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• dissipate scatter, dispel, disperse,waste
  foolishly
• The mist quickly dissipated as the sun rose.
• Her sons letter dissipated all her fears and
  anxiety.
• He soon dissipated his fortune. (??)
• dissipated adj. ???,???
• He led a dissipated life.
• A life of dissipation is harmful both to himself
  and his family.

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• constitution ????,????
• Britain has an unwritten constitution, and US
  has a written one.
• The scientists studied the constitution of the
  solar spectrum. ???????
• Only people with a robust constitution can manage
  to do the work.

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Text II

• Nicholas Monsarrat (1910-1979)
• Nicholas Monsarrat, British author, was educated
  at Cambridge where he studied law, and then spent
  two years in a solicitors office.He joined the
  Royal Navy during World War II, and was later
  sent to such countries as South Africa and
  Canada. His works include several outstanding
  books about the sea, and his most famous novel is
  The Cruel Sea (1951), one of the classic novels
  of the Second World War, which gives a vivid
  account of life aboard a small ship in wartime
  North Atlantic, and depicts the fierce battle
  between the British and the German navy.

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• The Cote dAzur, Cap dAntibes ????
• It is a magnificent peninsula, consisting of a
  narrow strip of land along the coast of the
  Mediterranean Sea, in Southern Europe, and famous
  resorts lining the French Riviera.
• Port ?????
• A type of wine. It used to be customary for women
  to leave the dining-room and let the men drink
  and discuss politics or business after dinner.

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The Dinner Party

• This is a short story about ruined friendship. My
  uncle, a rich man in the lavish pride of manhood,
  once on his fifty-fifth birthday invited his old
  friends to a dinner party for twelve people. All
  the guests present were distinguished in fame,
  wealth or rank. In the middle of the party, the
  guests took turns to admire a rare solitaire
  diamond ring of a princess. But later, the ring
  was nowhere to be found, however hard they
  searched the dining-room. Since nobody else had
  entered or left the

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• room, one of the intimate friends must have
  stolen the ring. Some guests asked to be
  searched, but my uncle insisted that there would
  be no searching in his house. And he promised to
  make amends for the loss of the diamond ring.
  After this incident, my uncles world was
  overturned. He never returned to his lonely house
  where the dinner party was hosted, and when he
  died, he was a comparatively poor man.