1、 Background Information+Arthur Hailey:the author of a number of bestselling novels.Born in Luton,England,in 1920,he was educated in English schools until age fourteen.After a brief career as an office boy,he joined the British Royal Air Force in 1939 and served through World War II,rising through th
2、e ranks to become a pilot and flight lieutenant+In 1949 Hailey immigrated to Canada,where he was successively a real estate salesman,business paper editor and a sales and advertising executive.He became,and still is a Canadian citizen.He makes his home at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas.In 1956 Arthur Hai
3、ley scored his first writing success with a TV drama,Flight into Danger,which later became a motion picture and a novel,Runway Zero-Eight(1958).Background Information His Works+The sensational Hailey bestsellers include:+The Final Diagnosis(1959),+In High Places(1962),+Hotel(1966),+Airport(1968),+Wh
4、eels(1971),+The Moneychangers(1975).+Though a Canadian himself,he set+the scene of most of his works in the+United States.Each of his books deals with one particular field of society.This is made clear by the titles of his books.It is this peculiarity of his that is value to those who are eager to l
5、earn about contemporary American society.Background Information About the Novel The St.Gregory Hotel is the largest in New Orleans,Louisiana.For 4 days from Monday evening to Friday,the hotel goes through a succession of dramatic events.With the hotels mortgage due by the weekend and with no chance
6、of getting further renewal,the owner,Warren Trent,reluctantly makes up his mind to sell his hotel to a chain hotel owner,Curtis OKeefe.+Peter McDermott,the assistant general manager,has to tackle several other knotty problems:handling an attempted rape which has occurred in one of the hotels rooms;c
7、atching a professional thief operating in the hotel;pacifying a whole convention of several hundred dentists to putting up a member of the convention-a black doctor.Then there is the Duke of Croydon.About the Novel+The Duke is an internationally famous statesman and the newly-appointed British ambas
8、sador to Washington.He and his wife occupy the best suite in St.Gergory.On Monday evening while driving back with his wife from a gambling house,the Duke and the Duchess,however,drive away.The hit-and-run becomes top sensational news in New Orleans.About the Novel About the Novel The hotels chief ho
9、use detective Ogilvie notices the battered car when it comes back.Instead of reporting this to the police,he goes to see the Duke and the Duchess.He promises to keep quiet about what he knows and asks for a large sum of money in return for the favour.About the novel HotelTHE DUKE,NOW TOTALLY AT A LO
10、SS AS TO HOW TO ACT,HIDES BEHIND THE SKIRT OF HER WIFE.THE DUCHESS UNDERSTANDS THAT TO GET THEMSELVES OUT OF THIS MESS,THE CAR HAS TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THE SOUTH WHERE PEOPLE ARE ALERTED ABOUT THE HIT-AND-RUN.SO SHE OFFERS TO PAY OGILVIE MORE THAN HE HAS ASKED ON CONDITION THAT HE DRIVES THE CAR TO C
11、HICAGO UP IN THE NORTH.THE GREEDY DETECTIVE AGREES.AT ONE OCLOCK THURSDAY MORNING OGILVIE GETS THE CAR OUT OF THE GARAGE.+He is seen leaving by one person only,by Peter McDermott,the assistant general manager.Though it strikes him as odd,Peter does not link this up with the hit-and-run until late th
12、at afternoon when he witnesses the funeral of the two victims of the accident.He contacts police headquarters right away.By this time,+Ogilvie has crossed Louisiana and Mississippi,driving by night and concealing the car by day.He thinks that everything is going smoothly,little knowing that he is al
13、ready being followed by the Highway patrol cruisers.In Tennessee,he is caught and sent back to New Orleans.+At first the Duchess tries to deny everything,but doesnt succeed in convincing the police.The Duke then decides to go over to police headquarters before they come for him,wishing to save the l
14、ittle shreds of decency left in him.He takes an elevator to go down.This elevator which has been out of order for some time and badly in need of repair breaks down.As it goes down,one set of clamps holds and the other fails.The elevator car twists,buckles and splits open,throwing the Duke nine floor
15、s down to the cement ground.He dies instantly.+However,the novel ends with a pleasant surprise.A sick,old eccentric man staying in the hotel turns out to be an extremely wealthy man from Montreal,Canada.Earlier,he fell seriously ill and was saved by Peter and his girl friend.To show his gratitude an
16、d repay their kindness,he buys the hotel from its former owner and makes Peter the new executive vice-president,with complete authority to run the hotel as he thinks fit.+1.Type of literature:a piece of narration+-character,action,conflicts,climax and denouement+2.Main idea+3.Organization:+-introduc
17、tion+-development+-climax+-conclusion+The story happened in a hotel named St.Gregory in New Orleans,Louisiana which is in the south of US+Part 1:pars 1-21.Both parties are equally strong in power.+Part 2:pars 22-47.The power of Duchess is gradual declining,until she has completely collapsed,while th
18、e power of Ogilvie is increasingly strengthened and then plays a dominating role in their conversation.+Part 3:Pars 48-74.The conversation goes friendly,like a talk between friends rather than rivals.Ogilvie still plays a dominating role.Although Duchess is under the control of Ogilvie,she is ready
19、to counterattack when it is possible.+Part 4:Pars 75-109.By making full use of Ogivlies greed,Duchess seizes the opportunity to turn the defeat into victory(反败为胜反败为胜)+A.Appreciation-Characterization:Ogilvie:Appearance:piggy eyes(small,narrow eyes lost in the mass of flesh)+Gross jowled face(gross:bi
20、g,fat,jowl:the fleshy,hanging part under the lower jaw)+Obese body/Thick,fleshy fingers/Speaks in falsetto(an artificial way of singing or speaking,in which the voice is placed in a register much higher than that of the natural voice)Bulbous countenance+Ungrammatical sentences and slangs+e.g.“pretty
21、 neat set-up you folks got.”:+Neat:nice,set-up:arrangement of furniture.+e.g.“like that car of yours.The one you keep here in the hotel.Jaguar,aint it?”+e.g.f you want it the other way,just say so.+e.g.sos:so as so that+e.g.pretty neat set-up you folks got.Neat is slangy,meaning nice,fine+e.g.“I tol
22、d you cut it out!”+e.g.Dont play games,lady.This is for real.Slang+unscrupulous,greedy+e.g.he lit the fresh cigar.“now were getting somewhere.”+Get somewhere:make progress.+e.g.“but I come to you first”+(to show his cunning,greedy,ill nature,take the advantage of others misfortune,)+tactful1).the Du
23、ke and Duchess were excessively frayed when the muted buzzer of the outer door eventually sounded.2).(paragraph 2)the Duchess dispatched her maid,and instructed the male secretary to go out for a walk.It indicates that she is well-prepared for the coming of intruder.3).“in what conceivable way does
24、my concern you?”to make sure of her puzzle,whether Ogilvie mentions the car purposely or occasionally.well-educated,a woman of strong character,firm In contrast with Ogilvie,the Duchess always speaks with good grammar,and formal diction.+e.g.+1).the Duchess looked pointed at the half-burned cigar+lo
25、ok pointed at:directly and sharply at the cigar.The Duchess tries to intimidate him with her superior social position.+2).“would you kindly put that out.”-a period instead of a question mark,indicating it is an order rather than a request.1).“would you kindly put that out.”-a period instead of a que
26、stion mark,indicating it is an order rather than a request.2).seated herself in a straight-backed chair.Ogilvie remained standing.She sits and he stands.It shows their different social status,sitting on a straight-backed chair indicates her superiority.3)The Dutchess of Croydonthree centuries of inb
27、red arrogance behind her-did not yield easily.Duchess:imperious,dominating4).springing to her feet,her face wrathful“You unspeakable blackguard!How dare you!”hearing this,she cant stay calm but lose her temper.Duke:(according to the novel:famous statesman,newly-appointed British ambassador to Washin
28、gton),fond of gambling,liquor and women,coward,weak-minded,submissive to his wifee.g “Aah!”:an emission from the Duke.His wife shot him a swift warning glance.Shot him:look at him sharply.It indicates that she plays a dominant role in the family.+The function of cigar+Pay attention to an important t
29、ool,a symbolthe cigar(read all sentences referring to the cigar)+A series of acts with cigar:+e.g.He came in with a cigar.+Knocked off its ash,+flipped the butt,fell on the carpet.+waved the cigar in front of her.Notes:Lord 对有侯、伯、子、男世袭爵位贵族的尊称The Lords 英国上议院+DuchessOgilvie+Would you kindly+put that o
30、ut.+A wave of cigar accompanied him+Her lips tightened +Taking the time,butt fell on the carpet+Wrinkled her nose,+no comment +Leisurely puffing a cloud of cigar smoke+He paused to puff again+This cigar bothering you1 wearily,in a gesture of surrender,the Duchess of Croydon sank back into her chair.
31、(a sign of declination of her power)+2 clasping her hands to conceal their trembling:she is unyielding.+3.his eyes sardonically on the Duchess as if challenging her objection.But beyond wrinkling her nose in distaste,she made no comment.Sign of decreasing of her power,and sign of increasing of his p
32、ower.+4.The Duchess interrupted.“Then you dont know!You dont know anything for sure!”+It seems to Duchess that everything mentioned is based on Ogilvies presupposition,because he hasnt provided any valuable evidence for the crime.+Conclusion:she is unyielding and firm lady.She hasnt given up yet.She
33、 will grasp any opportunity to fight back.+5.the Duchess breathed.“Go on.”:she gradually turns to be obedient.1the house detective took his time,leisurely puffing a cloud of blue cigar smoke:(The description of his smoking act.Leisurely puffing:he gets a bit tired of the first round of verbal attack
34、.)2.grinning,at the Duchess:(Ogilvie speaks the details very slowly:he is enjoying the moment of humiliating the Duchess.)The discussion about the evidenceheadlight trimming;headlight glass;the blood.Question one:which evidence is the most important?Answer:the blood,which is the fatal evidence of ki
35、lling.+How does Ogilvie arrange the three evidences in his words?+Answer:he first mentions headlight,then the glass,finally the blood.+Ogilvie has waited for mentioning about blood for so long,which is the trump card(王牌)of the evidences，and which is the reason why he dares to humiliate again and aga
36、in however,When he mentions the last fatal evidence,instead of saying“there is very important evidence,that is blood”,+He actually slides to the topic mentioning about the blood very casually,“even without the brush trace an the blood,oh yeah+I.”.but the effect of such calm words is a death blow to
37、the Duchess.“oh my God!,”a hand to her face,the Duchess turned away.And such effect is what indeed Ogilvie wants.Ogilvie knows clearly,in front of the arrogant firm lady,harsh and tough words mean nothing.+He deliberately chooses the casual way to mention the deadly evidence,which achieves the stron
38、g impact on the Duchess.+Conclusion:he is a sophisticated man.+Part three:+A.Unlike the situations in the previous two parts,the conversation tends to become friendly,and it goes on in a somewhat casual way.Ogilvie and Duchess are more like friends than rivals.It seems they are discussing and try to
39、 work out a solution to a problem together.+e.g.+Duchess -balancing-Ogilvie+Her husband asked,“What do you propose to do?”pp.48+You want money,dont you?You came her to blackmail us.”“All I come for was to help you people out of the trouble.But I got to live.”“Youd accept money to keep silent about w
40、hat you know?“I reckon I might.”The end of round three:the conversation is with less gun-powder and more friendlyPart fourAppreciationBy making full use of Ogivlies greed,Duchess seizes the opportunity to turn the defeat into victory(反败为胜).After the deal is made:Duchess Take the complete control of
41、the situation,Powerful,demanding -off-balance-Ogilvie-submissive,obedient+1.blackmail:the obtaining of money or advancement by threatening to make known unpleasant facts about a person or group+Croydon:The name of a manor supposed to belong the Duke+Duke/Duchess+marquis(marquess)/marchioness+count/c
42、ountess+viscount/viscountess+baron/baroness+2.suite:a set or rooms.A suite in a hotel is usually expensive.The suite the Croydons are staying in is St.Gregory Hotels largest and most elaborate,called the Presidential Suite.+3.cryptic:hidden,secret,mysterious+4.excessively frayed+excessive:derog.too
43、much,too great,too large+Excessive rainfall washes out valuable minerals from the soil.+If you sell the article at that price,the profit will be excessive.+excessive profit+fray:a.to cause rope,cloth etc.to become thin or worn by rubbing,so that loose threads develop+frayed button holes+His shirt is
44、 frayed at the neck/elbows.+b.to cause a persons temper,nerves,etc.to become worn out+His nerves were frayed by the noises in the street.+5.eventually:in the end,especially after a lot of delays,problems,or argument.+All men will eventually die.+6.dispatch:(fml.)to send away/off with promptness for
45、a particular reason or in order to carry out a particular task+The cruiser despatched boats to rescue the survivors.+7.errand:a short journey made to get sth.or to carry a message+I have no time to run errands for you!+Ive got a few errands to do in town.+8.terrier:any of several types of small acti
46、ve dogs,originally used for hunting(for pictures,see Longman)+*image 1*狗图+wolfdog 狼狗,+hound 猎狗,+Pekinese 京吧,+pug-dog 狮子狗,+bull dog 牛头犬 etc.+9.tension:(Here)anxiety,nervousness,worry+The doctor said that tension made her ill.+an untrusting or possibly dangerous relationship+International tension shou
47、ld be reduced when this agreement is signed.+10.accompany:to go or come together with+Lightning usually accompanies thunder.+Ill be very glad to accompany you to the church.+11.pointedly:directly,in a noticeable and often unfriendly way,+12.offensive:causing unpleasant or hurting feelings+to have an
48、 offensive manner/language+offensive:(n)attack+spring offensive,counter offensive+offend:to hurt the feelings of+His words offended me.+13.piggy eyes:small eyes lost in the mess of flesh.+piggy:dirty,greedy+You are a pig(dirty,greedy,ill-mannered)+Ive made a pig of myself.+14.sardonically:disdainful
49、ly,showing a feeling of being too good or important to consider a matter or person seriously,scornfully,cynically+15.gross:unpleasantly fat,vulgar,not refined+gross weight/net weight+16.jowl:the lower part of the side of the face,esp.loose skin and flesh near the lower jaw.+17.gaze:steady fixed look
50、+18.appoint:to provide with complete and elegant furnishings or equipment+well/badly/luxuriously appointed room+19.encompass:to surround on all sides,to form a circle about,enclose+The enemy encompassed the city.+cf:compass:an instrument for showing direction+a pair of compasses+20.set-up:the arrang
