1、UNIT 5 WRITING THREE THANK-YOU LETTERSAlex HaleyALEX HALEY(19211992)American biographer,scriptwriter,and authorbecame famous with the publication of the novel Roots:The Saga of an American Family,which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers 7 American generations as they are taken slaves to t
2、he U.S.THANKSGIVING HISTORYSecond most important holiday in the U.S.,celebrated in on the fourth Thursday in November.associated with the time when Europeans first came to North America.In 1620 the ship the Mayflower arrived,bringing about 102 people who today are usually called Pilgrims.THANKSGIVIN
3、G CELEBRATIONSThanksgiving dinnerTurkey,stuffing,mashed potatoes with gravy,sweet potatoes,cranberry sauce,sweet corn,various fall vegetables(mainly various kinds of squashes),and pumpkin pieTHANKSGIVINGGiving thanksSaying grace(谢恩祈祷)before carving a turkey at Thanksgiving dinner,Pennsylvania,U.S.,1
4、942THANKSGIVING CELEBRATIONSVacation and travel:Thanksgiving Break Thursday-SundayParadesMacys Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC“National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation”and“Presidential Pardoning”Football and other sportsMAIN IDEA By writing three“thank you”letters,the author realizes that human bein
5、gs long for other peoples appreciation for their efforts.Therefore,he encourages people to“find the good-and praise it”.WRITING THREE THANK-YOU LETTERS It was 1943,during World War II,and I was a young U.S.coastguardsman.My ship,the USS Murzim,had been under way for several days.Most of her holds co
6、ntained thousands of cartons of canned or dried foods.The other holds were loaded with five-hundred-pound bombs packed delicately in padded racks.Our destination was a big base on the island of Tulagi in the South Pacific.I was one of the Murzims several cooks and,quite the same as for folk ashore,t
7、his Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily preparing a traditional dinner featuring roast turkey.Alex Haley I decided first to go out on the Murzims afterdeck for a breath of open air.I made my way out there,breathing in great,deep draughts while walking slowly about,still wearing my white cooks ha
8、t.Well,as any cook knows,its a lot of hard work to cook and serve a big meal,and clean up and put everything away.But finally,around sundown,we finished at last.I got to thinking about Thanksgiving,of the Pilgrims,Indians,wild turkeys,pumpkins,corn on the cob,and the rest.Yet my mind seemed to be in
9、 quest of something else some way that I could personally apply to the close of Thanksgiving.It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key to an answer could result from reversing the word“Thanksgiving”at least that suggested a verbal direction,“Giving thanks.”Giving thanks as in pr
10、aying,thanking God,I thought.Yes,of course.Certainly.Yet my mind continued turning the idea over.After a while,like a dawns brightening,a further answer did come that there were people to thank,people who had done so much for me that I could never possibly repay them.The embarrassing truth was Id al
11、ways just accepted what theyd done,taken all of it for granted.Not one time had I ever bothered to express to any of them so much as a simple,sincere“Thank you”.At least seven people had been particularly and lastingly helpful to me.I realized,swallowing hard,that about half of them had since died s
12、o they were forever beyond any possible expression of gratitude from me.The more I thought about it,the more ashamed I became.Then I pictured the three who were still alive and,within minutes,I was down in my cabin.Sitting at a table with writing paper and memories of things each had done,I tried co
13、mposing genuine statements of heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to my dad,Simon A.Haley,a professor at the old Agricultural Mechanical Normal College in Pine Bluff,Arkansas;to my grandma,Cynthia Palmer,back in our little hometown of Henning,Tennessee;and to the Rev.Lonual Nelson,my grammar school
14、 principal,retired and living in Ripley,six miles north of Henning.The texts of my letters began something like,“Here,this Thanksgiving at sea,I find my thoughts upon how much you have done for me,but I have never stopped and said to you how much I feel the need to thank you”And briefly I recalled f
15、or each of them specific acts performed on my behalf.For instance,something uppermost about my father was how he had impressed upon me from boyhood to love books and reading.In fact,this graduated into a family habit of after-dinner quizzes at the table about books read mostrecently and new words le
16、arned.My love of books never diminished and later led me toward writing books myself.So many times I have felt a sadness when exposed to modern children so immersed in the electronic media that they have little or no awareness of the marvelous world to be discovered in books.I reminded the Reverend
17、Nelson how each morning he would open our little country towns grammar school with a prayer over his assembled students.I told him that whatever positive things I had done since had been influenced at least in part by his morning school prayers.In the letter to my grandmother,I reminded her of a doz
18、en ways she used to teach me how to tell the truth,to share,and to be forgiving and considerate of others.I thanked her for the years of eating her good cooking,the equal of which I had not found since.Finally,I thanked her simply for having sprinkled my life with stardust.Before I slept,my three le
19、tters went into our ships office mail sack.They got mailed when we reached Tulagi Island.We unloaded cargo,reloaded with something else,then again we put to sea in the routine familiar to us,and as the days became weeks,my little personal experience receded.Sometimes,when we were at sea,a mail ship
20、would rendezvous and bring us mail from home,which,of course,we accorded topmost priority.Every time the ships loudspeaker rasped,“Attention!Mail call!”two hundred-odd shipmates came pounding up on deck and clustered about the two seamen,standing by those precious bulging gray sacks.They were altern
21、ately pulling out fistfuls of letters and barking successive names of sailors who were,in turn,shouting back“Here!Here!”amid the pushing.One“mail call”brought me responses from Grandma,Dad,and the Reverend Nelson and my reading oftheir letters left me not only astonished but more humbled than before
22、.Rather than saying they would forgive that I hadnt previously thanked them,instead,for Petes sake,they were thanking me for having remembered,for having considered they had done anything so exceptional.Always the college professor,my dad had carefully avoided anything he considered too sentimental,
23、so I knew how moved he was to write me that,after having helped educate many young people,he now felt that his best results included his own son.The Reverend Nelson wrote that his decades as a“simple,old-fashioned principal”had ended with schools undergoing such swift changes that he had retired in
24、self-doubt.“I heard more of what I had done wrong than what I did right,”he said,adding that my letter had brought him welcome reassurance that his career had been appreciated.A glance at Grandmas familiar handwriting brought back in a flash memories of standing alongside her white rocking chair,wat
25、ching her“setting down”some letter to relatives.Character by character,Grandma would slowly accomplish one word,then the next,so that a finished page would consume hours.I wept over the page representing my Grandmas recent hours invested in expressing her loving gratefulness to me whom she used to d
26、iaper!Much later,retired from the Coast Guard and trying to make a living as a writer,I never forgot how those three“thank you”letters gave me an insight into how most human beings go about longing in secret for more of their fellows to express appreciation for their efforts.Now,approaching another
27、Thanksgiving,I have asked myself what will I wish for all who are reading this,for our nation,indeed for our whole world since,quoting a good and wise friend of mine,“In the end we are mightily and merely people,each with similar needs.”First,I wish for us,of course,the simple common sense to achiev
28、e world peace,that being paramount for the very survival of our kind.And there is something else I wish so strongly that I have had this line printed across the bottom of all my stationery:“Find the good and praise it.”Why was it necessary for the writer to offer so many details of his voyage?The de
29、tails indicate that this Thanksgiving was unusual,explaining why the writer felt the need to celebrate it in an unusual way.Most of her holds contained thousands of cartons of canned or dried foods.The other holds were loaded with five-hundred-pound bombs packed delicately in padded racks.Our destin
30、ation was a big base on the island of Tulagi in the South Pacific.this Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily preparing a traditional dinner featuring roast turkey.Paraphrase this part.on this Thanksgiving morning we were busy preparing a traditional dinner which included mainly roast turkey.“Featu
31、re”here means“to include as a special part”.Analyze the structure of the sentence.在这个长句中有三个在这个长句中有三个-ing 分词分词：breathing、walking 和和 wearing。breathing 为为 made my way out 的伴随状语的伴随状语，walking 与与 while 连用表示与连用表示与 breathing 这一动作同时这一动作同时发生发生，wearing 为为 walking 的伴随状语。的伴随状语。I made my way out there,breathing i
32、n great,deep draughts while walking slowly about,still wearing my white cooks hat.Translate the sentence into Chinese.我信步走去，一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱我信步走去，一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱着步，头上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。着步，头上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。大概过了半个小时我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把大概过了半个小时我才意识到，问题的关键也许在于把Thanksgiving 这个词前后颠倒一下，那样一来至少文字这个词前后颠倒一下，那样一来至少文字好懂了好懂了：
33、Giving thanks。It must have taken me a half hour to sense that maybe some key to an answer could result from reversing the word“Thanksgiving”at least that suggested a verbal direction,“Giving thanks.”Translate this sentence into Chinese.What can we infer from this sentence?The author took all for gra
34、nted and never expressed any appreciation.The sentence is in inverted order.Not one time had I ever bothered to express to any of them so much as a simple,sincere“Thank you”.I told him that whatever positive things I had done since had been influenced at least in part by his morning school prayers.A
35、nalyze the structure of the sentence.whatever positive morning school prayer 是宾语从句。是宾语从句。I had done since 是定语从句，修饰是定语从句，修饰 whatever positive things;since 为副词，修饰为副词，修饰 had done;in part 在这里意在这里意为为 partly。and my reading of their letters left me not only astonished but more humbled than before.我读了信，既觉得震
36、惊，又深感卑微。我读了信，既觉得震惊，又深感卑微。Analyze the structure of this part.leave 常用于结构常用于结构：leave sb.+adj./past participle，adj./past participle（此处为此处为 not only astonished but more humbled than before）为宾语补足语为宾语补足语。Translate this sentence into Chinese.Rather than saying they would forgive that I hadnt previously tha
37、nked them,instead,for Petes sake,they were thanking me for having remembered,for having considered they had done anything so exceptional.Paraphrase the sentence.They didnt say they would forgive me for not thanking them,but instead,for Gods sake,they thanked me for having remembered what they had do
38、ne and for having thought they had done something special to me.A glance at Grandmas familiar handwriting brought back in a flash memories of standing alongside her white rocking chair,watching her“setting down”some letter to relatives.What does the sentence mean?His grandmas handwriting reminded th
39、e writer of many sweet memories of his childhood with her.“Setting down”here means“writing”.I wept over the page representing my Grandmas recent hours invested in expressing her loving gratefulness to me.Paraphrase the sentence.I was moved to tears that my grandma had spent hours recently in express
40、ing her loving gratefulness to me.Its been under way for fifty years and it still has a long way to go.A battle to conquer nature is under way.under way:in position or operation,having started and making progress Collocation:all the way 自始自终自始自终 any way 无论如何无论如何 by the way 顺便说顺便说 by way of经由；通过经由；通过
41、的方法的方法 put away:remove(sth.)to a place where it is usually storedHe has a habit of putting away his tools after work.Put the books away neatly on the shelf.Recently Ive got to wondering why I am doing the part-time job.get to sth./doing sth.:begin to give serious attention to or deal withIll get to
42、the accounts as soon as I can.The rise,the first in 10 months,reversed the downward trend in the countrys jobless rate.reverse:vt.turn around to the opposite direction;exchange the position of Why dont you reverse the order so that I perform first and he performs second?Collocation:in reverse向相反方向；倒
43、（退）；逆（行、转等）向相反方向；倒（退）；逆（行、转等）just the reverse正好相反，恰恰相反正好相反，恰恰相反suffer/sustain a reverse遭受挫折（或失败）；吃败仗遭受挫折（或失败）；吃败仗 the reverse of的反面；绝不是的反面；绝不是，远非，远非She sat there quietly,turning over the problem.turn over:think about;consider 他在心里反复考虑这件事情。他在心里反复考虑这件事情。He turned the matter over in his mind.Collocatio
44、n:turn aside 避开，撇开避开，撇开turn(away)from 对对感到厌恶感到厌恶turn down 关小；拒绝关小；拒绝 turn up 开大；出现开大；出现 She repaid me the money.How can I ever repay you for your kindness?repay:vt.pay back;reward gratitude:n.being thankful;thankfulness(followed by to sb./for sth.)He showed me his gratitude by inviting me to dinner.
45、She expressed her gratitude for our help.Collocation:feel gratitude 心怀感激心怀感激 show gratitude 表露感激之情表露感激之情deep/profound gratitude 深切的谢意深切的谢意 everlasting gratitude 永远的感谢永远的感谢 sincere gratitude 诚挚的谢意诚挚的谢意 specific:adj.relating to one thing and not others;particular He uses a specific tool for each job.试
46、卷回答要明确具体。试卷回答要明确具体。Be specific in your examination answers.specific,special,especial&particular均有均有“特殊的、特别的特殊的、特别的”的意思。的意思。CF:He gave us a specific statement of the case.关于这个案子他向我们作了详尽的陈述。关于这个案子他向我们作了详尽的陈述。specific 意思是具体的、特定的、明确的。例如：意思是具体的、特定的、明确的。例如：This particular case is an exception to the rule.
47、这个特殊个案是个例外。这个特殊个案是个例外。This is a special case,deserving special treatment.这是一个特别案例，值得特殊处理。这是一个特别案例，值得特殊处理。special 意思是特殊的、专门的，强调某事物的特殊性意思是特殊的、专门的，强调某事物的特殊性 或特殊用途。例如：或特殊用途。例如：particular 意思是特殊的、特别的。强调事物的独特性、突意思是特殊的、特别的。强调事物的独特性、突出性。例如：出性。例如：especial 是是 special 的旧式的正式用语，用于强调。例如：的旧式的正式用语，用于强调。例如：We have a
48、n especial need of help at this time.我们这个时候需要特别帮助。我们这个时候需要特别帮助。我需要一个明确的回答。我需要一个明确的回答。I want a specific answer.Translate the following sentences into English,using the above words.没有什么特别的。没有什么特别的。Nothing special.故事就发生在那一天。故事就发生在那一天。The story happened on that particular day.他特别不喜欢流行音乐。他特别不喜欢流行音乐。He ha
49、s an especial dislike for pop music.specific,special,especial&particularon ones behalf/on behalf of sb.:for sb.;in the interests of sb.;as the representative of sb.My husband cant be here today,so Im going to speak on his behalf.律师代表当事人说话。律师代表当事人说话。The lawyer spoke on behalf of his client.I am impre
50、ssed by/with his performance.The gas turbine feeds on the fuel it pumps.impress:vt.1.fix in sb.s mind;make the importance of(sth.)very clear to sb.Pattern:impress upon/on sb.+that-clauseimpress upon/on sb.sth.My father impressed on me the value of hard work.2.cause(sb.)to feel admiration or respect
