新概念英語第二冊Lesson 85 Never too old to learn

Lesson 85 Never too old to learn 活到老學(xué)到老

First listen and then answer the question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
How long has Mr. Page been teaching?
    
I have just received a letter from my old school, informing me that my former headmaster, Mr. Stuart Page, will be retiring next week. Pupils of the school, old and new, will be sending him a present to mark the occasion. All those who have contributed towards the gift will sign their names in a large album which will be sent to the headmaster's home. We shall all remember Mr. Page for his patience and understanding and for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school. A great many former pupils will be attending a farewell dinner in his honour next Thursday. It is a curious coincidence that the day before his retirement, Mr. Page will have been teaching for a total of forty years. After he has retired, he will devote himself to gardening. For him, this will be an entirely new hobby. But this does not matter, for, as he has often remarked, one is never too old to learn.

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

inform v. 告訴，通知
headmaster n. 校長
contribute v. 捐助，援助
gift n. 禮物，贈品
album n. 簽名簿，相冊
patience n. 耐心
encouragement n. 鼓勵
farewell n. 告別
honour n. 敬意
coincidence n. 巧合
total n. 總數(shù)
devote v. 致力于
gardening n. 園藝
hobby n. 愛好，嗜好

參考譯文

我剛剛收到母校的一封信，通知我說以前的校長斯圖亞特.佩奇先生下星期就退休了。為了紀(jì)念這個日子，學(xué)校的學(xué)生——無論老同學(xué)還是新同學(xué)——將送他一件禮物。所有湊錢買此禮品的人都將自己的名字簽在一本大簽名簿上，簽名簿將被送到校長的家里。我們不會忘記佩奇先生對我們既有耐心又充滿理解，也不會忘記在我們不愿去上學(xué)時他給予我們的親切鼓勵。很多老同學(xué)都準(zhǔn)備參加下星期四為他舉行的告別宴會。佩奇先生退休的前一天正好是他執(zhí)教滿40年的日子，這真是奇妙的巧合。他退休后，將致力于園藝。對于他來說，這將是一種全新的愛好。但這沒有關(guān)系，因為正如他常說的那樣，人要活到老學(xué)到老。

 

　　自學(xué)導(dǎo)讀
　　課文詳注 Further notes on the text
　　1．Pupils of the school, old and new, will be sending him a present to mark the occasion.為了紀(jì)念這個日子，學(xué)校的學(xué)生——無論老同學(xué)還是新聞學(xué)——將送他一件禮物。
　　（1）old and new為pupils的非限定性定語，因為有逗號把它與句子的其他成分隔開，并且去掉它對句子的意義影響不大。有時這種兩個連用的形容詞（或分詞）相當(dāng)于狀語，這時它可以位于句子中間，也可以位于句首：
　　The workers, thirsty and tired, took a rest under the trees.
　　工人們又渴又累，在樹底下休息了一會兒。（thirsty and tired可以換到句首，相當(dāng)于狀語）
　　The villagers here, young and old, are interested in gardening.
　　這里的村民們，無論年輕的還是年長的，都對園藝感興趣。
　?。?）mark本義為“給……作記號/留痕跡”，在這里表示“紀(jì)念”：
　　He marked all the foods which were forbidden with a red pencil.
　　他用紅筆標(biāo)出所有禁吃的食物。
　　2．All those who have contributed towards the gift will sign their names in a large album…所有湊錢買此禮品的人都將把自己的名字簽在一本大簽名簿上……
　?。?）contribute通常與to/towards連用，表示“捐給”、“提供給”：
　　Before his death, he contributed a large sum of money to the church.
　　他在臨死前捐了一大筆錢給教會。
　　A few of us contributed towards Mary's present on her birthday.
　　瑪麗生日那天，我們當(dāng)中的幾個人湊錢買了份禮物給她。
　?。?）present與gift都可以表示“禮物”、“贈品”，但gift相對要正式些：
　　She has just received a beautiful birthday present.
　　她剛收到一份漂亮的生日禮物。
　　He made a gift of ￡ 60, 000 to his old school.
　　他向母校贈送了6萬英鎊。
　　3．We shall all remember Mr. Page for his patience and understanding and for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school. 我們不會忘記佩奇先生對我們既有耐心又充滿理解，也不會忘記在我們不愿去上學(xué)時他給予我們的親切鼓勵。
　?。?）這個長句子的主要框架是remember sb. for stb．（因某事記住某人），介詞for有3個并列賓語：patience，understanding和encouragement，最后這個賓語又帶有自己的定語從句，定語從句又有自己的時間狀語從句。for后面跟的可以是某人的品德、特征等：
　　Jeremy is remembered for his great sense of humour.
　　人們不會忘記杰里米那絕妙的幽默感。
　　（2）kindly在這里為形容詞，表示“仁慈的”、“和藹的”、“親切的”等，這個詞既可以作形容詞，也可以作副詞：
　　She gave me a kindly smile.
　　她對我友好地笑了一下。（形容詞）
　　Dan kindly invited us to lunch yesterday.
　　丹昨天友好地/好心地邀請我們吃午飯。（副詞）
　　I greeted her and she smiled kindly.
　　我向她打招呼，她親切地微微一笑。
　?。?）so在這里是一種非正式的用法，表示程度，相當(dāng)于very：
　　This new cheese is so good!
　　這新奶酪如此之好！
　　You are so kind!
　　你（們）太客氣了！
　　4．a(chǎn) farewell dinner in his honour, 為他舉行的告別宴會。
　?。?）farewell比goodbye要正式，可以單獨使用：Farewell?。ㄔ僖?！再會！一路平安?。┧部梢宰髅~或形容詞用：
　　He said farewell to his mother and got on the plane.
　　他向母親告別后便登上了飛機(jī)。（名詞）
　　When Frank retired, they held a farewell party.
　　弗蘭克退休時，他們開了個歡送會。（形容詞）
　?。?）in sb.'s honour作定語，表示“為向某人表示敬意”、“為紀(jì)念某人”等，也可以說in honour of sb．：
　　Many people attended the party in honour of the new manager.
　　很多人參加了為新經(jīng)理舉辦的晚會。
　　This is a farewell performance in her honour.
　　這是一場為她舉辦的告別演唱/演奏會。
　　5．a(chǎn) total of，總共。
　　total在這里是名詞，表示“總數(shù)”、“總額”、“合計”等：
　　The money she spent on the dinner party reached a total of ￡  200．
　　她為這次宴會共花了200英鎊。
　　6．devote oneself to，致力于，獻(xiàn)身于，專心于。
　　Mary devotes herself to helping the poor.
　　瑪麗致力于幫助窮苦人。
　　As a boy, Jim devoted himself to tennis.
　　吉姆小時候熱衷于網(wǎng)球。

　　詞匯學(xué)習(xí) Word study
　　1．inform
　?。?）vt. 通知，告知：
　　Who informed you about/of this?
　　誰把這事告訴你的？
　　He was informed that he would receive an extra thousand pounds a year.
　　他被告知他每年將得到1,000英鎊的額外收入。
　　（2）vi. 告發(fā)，檢舉（與against/on連用）：
　　He used to inform against his classmates.
　　他過去常打同學(xué)的小報告。
　　Several people have informed on him.
　　好幾個人告發(fā)了他。
　　2．too與enough
　　這兩個詞都可以作程度副詞，但too通常位于它所修飾的形容詞/分詞之前，enough則位于它所修飾的詞之后。在含有不定式的句型里，too經(jīng)常具有否定的含義，enough則表示達(dá)到必要的程度：
　　He's too weak to lift the box.
　　他太弱了，舉不起這箱子。
　　He isn't strong enough to lift the box.
　　他不夠強(qiáng)壯，舉不起這箱子。
　?。ㄟ@兩句話中，主要動詞的主語也是不定式的主語）
　　He is too heavy for me to lift.
　　他太重了，我不能舉起他。
　　The pear is ripe enough for me to eat.
　　這梨熟得能讓我吃了。
　?。ㄟ@兩句話中，主要動詞的主語是不定式的賓語，不定式的邏輯主語由for引導(dǎo)）
　　需要注意的是，無論有沒有for短語，不定式后面都絕不可以帶賓語。

　　練習(xí)答案 Key to written exercises
　　1．難點練習(xí)答案
　　1 This car is too expensive to buy. This car is too expensive for me to buy.
　　2 This car is cheap enough to buy. This car is cheap enough for me to buy.
　　3 The tea is too hot to drink. The tea is too hot for me to drink.
　　4 This piece of music is too difficult to play. This piece of music is too difficult for me to play.
　　5 This piece is easy enough to play. This piece is easy enough for me to play.
　　2．多項選擇題答案
　　1d  2d  3b  4a  5b  6a
　　7b  8d  9b  10b  11d  12c