chapter6.2--handout

Background Information

Fox-trot (狐步舞)

I remember being surprised by his graceful, conservative fox-trot.(我记得我当时看到他跳着优雅的老式狐步舞感到很诧异。)

B-1

狐步舞起源于美国黑人舞蹈,1914年夏,美国演员哈利·福克斯(Harry fox)从模仿慢步行走时的动作,得到灵感,设计出了狐步舞这一新的舞蹈形式,从此,狐步舞迅速在全美风行。舞曲4/4拍,每分钟30小节左右。

B-2

跳狐步舞时要求身体挺直,膝关节放松,臀部和髋要固定。由于狐步舞的特点是舞步平稳、自由悠闲、动作流畅、行云流水,加上音乐优雅、恬静、婉柔流利,故上身动作多变,大多数采用了反身动作位置,使其舞蹈特性更加文雅,跳舞舞步变化多样,需要舞伴之间配合更加默契,同时狐步舞技术中大量运用了足跟旋转,更加突出了舞蹈特性。

Cigar (雪茄)

雪茄,一种烟草(tobacco)制品,由干燥及经过发酵的烟草卷制而成,吸食时把其中一端点燃,然后在另一端用口吸咄,产生烟雾。

B-3

柏拉图和其老师苏格拉底(Socrates)以及学生亚里士多德(Aristotle)并称为希腊三贤。另有其创造或发展的概念包括:柏拉图思想、柏拉图主义(Platonism)、柏拉图式爱情(Platonic love)等。

B-4

雪茄的烟草的主要生产国是:巴西、喀麦隆、古巴、多米尼加共和国、洪都拉斯、印尼、墨西哥、尼加拉瓜和美国以及东南亚的菲律宾。

B-5

从前的绅士的家中设有专门的空间来享受“雪茄时间”(Cigar time). 当然,这也许只是绅士时代的旧风,战场上的卡斯特罗(Fidel Castro)和大船上的海明威(Ernest Miller Hemingway)同样可以享受到抽雪茄时的沉静。



Vocabulary

commotion

n. 混乱,喧闹;暴动(sudden noisy confusion or excitement )

原文:There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion...
还是那些同样的人,或者至少是同一类的人、同样的源源不绝的香摈、同样的五颜六色、七嘴八舌的喧闹……

💧commotion 由com-和-motion构成,com-表示with, together; -motion表示action, 结合在一起就是“the act of moving together”(引申为“暴乱,喧闹”). 比如:The crowd waiting outside was causing a commotion.
在外面等待的人群眼看就要发生骚乱。

oblivion

n. 遗忘;湮没(the state in which sb/sth has been forgotten and is no longer famous or important)

原文:Tom appeared from his oblivion as we were sitting down to supper together.
我们正在一起坐下来吃晚饭时,汤姆又从默默无闻中出现了。

💧oblivion 表示“被埋没,不为人所知”, 常见的搭配有:slip/sink/pass into oblivion. 比如:Wind power presents too many advantages to be allowed to sink into oblivion. 风能具有很多优点,不该被忽视。



Crush Your Problems

  1. Moved by an irresistible impulse, / Gatsby turned to Tom, / who had accepted the introduction / as a stranger. 刚才介绍的时候汤姆只当彼此是初次见面,此刻盖茨比突然情不自禁地掉脸朝着他。
    💧表达精讲
    ①moved by 在这里表示“受……驱使”,相当于caused by.
    ②an irresistible impulse “一种无法抑制的冲动”;impulse指“突然的冲动,欲望 ”,相当于urge, 而do sth on impulse就是“心血来潮地做某事”。
  2. Perhaps his presence / gave the evening / its peculiar quality of oppressiveness / — it stands out / in my memory / from Gatsby’s other parties that summer.
    也许是由于他的在场,那次晚会有一种特殊的沉闷气氛——它鲜明地留在我记忆里,与那个夏天盖茨比的其他晚会迥然不同。
    💧表达精讲
    ①its peculiar quality of oppressiveness 指Tom的在场(his presence)给晚会带来了一种特殊的沉闷压抑的气氛;
    这里指Tom在Gatsby的派对上展示出一副居高临下的姿态,让人很有压迫感。
    ②stand out...from... 表示“和……区别开,不同”。
  3. Or perhaps / I had merely grown used to it, / grown to accept West Egg / as a world complete in itself, / with its own standards / and its own great figures, / second to nothing / because it had no consciousness of being so, / and now / I was looking at it again, / through Daisy’s eyes.
    要不然,或许是我本来已经逐渐习惯于这一套,逐渐认为西卵是一个独立完整的世界,自有它独特的标准和大人物,首屈一指因为它并不感到相形见绌,而此刻我却通过黛西的眼睛重新去看这一切。
    💧句式拆解
    这个句子需要先补上省略的部分再来看整体的框架:Or perhaps I had merely grown used to it, (that is,) I had grown to accept West Egg as a world...with..., (and a world) second to nothing because..., and now I was looking...
    💧表达精讲
    ①grow used to sth 也就是become used to sth “习惯(做)某事”,这里的grow是连系动词(used是形容词);
    ②grow to do (accept, like, hate) 是“逐渐改变看法、产生某种感觉(接受、喜欢、讨厌)”,这里的grow是实意动词;
    ③second to nothing 表示“不亚于任何……,首屈一指”(to be the best); second only to 则是“仅次于”;
    ④it had no consciousness of being so 指West Egg从来不觉得低人一等(never thinking of itself as being inferior).
  4. It is invariably saddening / to look through new eyes at things / upon which / you have expended your own powers of adjustment.
    要通过新的眼睛去看那些你已经花尽气力才适应的事物,那总是令人难受的。
    💧表达精讲
    ①things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment “你已经花尽气力去适应的事物”;expend在这里表示“耗尽”(to use up),后面可以跟energy, time, effort etc.
    ②powers 以复数形式出现,表示“(全部)体力,智力”,比如:At 26, he is at the height of his powers and ranked fourth in the world.
    26岁时,他处于巅峰状态,排名世界第四。
  5. Tom and Daisy stared, / with that peculiarly unreal feeling / that accompanies the recognition / of a hitherto ghostly celebrity of the movies.
    汤姆和黛西目不转睛地看着,认出来这是一位一向只在银幕上见到的大明星,几乎不敢相信是真的。
    💧表达精讲
    ①unreal feeling that accompanies the recognition of 表示“当认出……的时候产生了一种不真实的感觉”;
    ②a hitherto ghostly celebrity of the movies “一位迄今为止只在电影里看到的明星”;hitherto指“迄今为止”(up to this time);ghostly强调这些明星看起来不像是真人(real human), 平时只能在大银幕上看到。



Content Analysis

Tom和另外两个同行的东卵人骑马经过Gatsby家顺道拜访,结果Tom在知道Gatsby竟然认识自己的妻子Daisy后非常不悦,于是在下周的派对上他和Daisy一起出现了。这次的派对和以往的不同之处在于,它的真正目标——Daisy终于现身了。

Gatsby既殷勤又得意地向Daisy和Tom介绍出席派对的社会名流,比如电影大导演和明星,以显示自己的派对有多么高级。但不要忘记了,从Tom第一次拜访Gatsby家起,他对Gatsby的鄙夷就已经显而易见了——

💧Clue1: The East Eggers are evidently contempt at the West Eggers.

Evidence 1: We’ll all come over to your next party, Mr. Gatsby,” she suggested. “What do you say?” “Certainly; I’d be delighted to have you.” “Be ver’ nice,” said Mr. Sloane, without gratitude. “Well — think ought to be starting home.”
"我们都来参加你下次的晚会,盖茨比先生,"她提议说,"你看好不好?" "当然好了。你们能来,我太高兴了。" "那很好吧,"斯隆先生毫不承情地说,"呃——我看该回家了。"

Evidence 2: “My God, I believe the man’s coming,” said Tom. “Doesn’t he know she doesn’t want him?” “She says she does want him.” “She has a big dinner party and he won’t know a soul there.” He frowned.
"我的天,我相信这家伙真的要来,"汤姆说,"难道他不知道她并不要他来吗?" "她说她要他来的嘛。" "她要举行盛大的宴会,他在那儿一个人都不会认得的。"他皱皱眉头。

Mr. Sloane和Tom的语气里都透露着明显的鄙夷和不满。尤其在Tom看来,Gatsby丝毫没有自知之明。尽管Gatsby有这样一座华丽的豪宅,但西卵人的身份决定了他并不属于Tom所处的上流社会。

除此之外,Tom对Gatsby和Daisy相识的态度也暴露出了他的虚伪和两面性——

💧Clue 2: Tom is a hypocritical and double-standard person.

Evidence 1: “By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish.”
"天晓得,也许我的思想太古板,但是这年头女人家到处乱跑,我可看不惯。她们遇上各式各样的怪物。"

看到这里不知道大家有没有想起Tom曾经也对Jordan这样评头论足过:“She’s a nice girl,” said Tom after a moment. “They oughtn’t to let her run around the country this way.”(Chapter 1.6)

而Tom自己却从不收敛地四处带着情妇Myrtle招摇:His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew. (Chapter 1.7)

所以Tom说那些太太们跟着别的男人们(crazy fish)乱跑的时候,不也是在说自己就是crazy fish么?

此外作者其实也暗暗地对Tom进行了讽刺:在英文里有这样一句习语:be on (one's) high horse, 指“在道德上居高临下”(to adopt an attitude of moral superiority). 而当时Tom就是骑着马来的,这里作者暗指Tom should both literally and figuratively "Get off his high horse"(字面上:“他应该从马上下来”;隐喻含义:“他应该放下自己的高傲姿态”)。



Today's Bonus

💧Introduce Friends to Other Friends 如何得体地介绍朋友

After an instant’s hesitation he added: “the polo player.” “Oh no,” objected Tom quickly, “not me.”(踌躇片刻之后,他又补充说,"马球健将。" "不是的,"汤姆连忙否认,"我可不是。")Gatsby为了显示自己的体面,介绍Tom为马球健将。今天来学习在日常生活中该怎样得体地介绍朋友吧~

  1. Bring your friends together.
    If you are at a party or some social gathering, bring your two friends together. 在聚会上或是其他社交场合,首先把两方的朋友都叫在适合介绍和谈话的地方。
    预先让对方知道要介绍朋友认识,如果对方尚在犹豫,你可以说:
    I really want you to meet my friend Bob. He’s the biggest football fan I know.
    我真的很想让你见见我的朋友鲍勃。我认识的人里面没有比他更迷足球的了。
    I’m going to introduce you to this person that I think you’ll like.
    我想你会喜欢这个人的,所以我要介绍你们认识。
    这样可以给对方一个心理预期,也是良好对话甚至友谊的开始。
    T-1
  2. Make the necessary introductions.
    It may be less awkward and more formal if you do the introducing. 当把朋友聚在一起,像Gatsby这样,最好由你来做介绍,可能就不会那么尴尬,反而会更加正式。
    介绍时可以说:
    Bob, this is Barnaby Smith. Barnaby, this is Bob Robertson.
    Bob,这位是Barnaby Smith. Barnaby, 这是Bob Robertson.
    除非对方更喜欢别人叫他/她的昵称,不然的话在介绍时要使用对方的全名哦。
    T-2
  3. State why you wanted to introduce these two people.
    You should explain your reason and let them know why you thought they would be friends. 朋友们肯定好奇为什么你会介绍他们认识,说清楚介绍他们认识的理由,这样他们对彼此也有个基本的认识,也是接下来谈话的很好起点。
    I thought I’d introduce you to each other because you are such big fans of football.
    我想我应该介绍你们认识,因为你们都是足球迷。
    You’re both new to town so I thought I’d introduce you to each other.
    你们俩都是刚搬来这儿的,所以我想把你们介绍给彼此认识。
    T-3

朋友们都认识了以后,你最好可以一起聊天,避免刚认识的朋友会尴尬或不适。除非你的两个朋友真的很投缘,聊得很投机,否则不要马上离开。

你在认识新朋友的时候,有什么有趣的小事发生吗?欢迎分享哦~

results matching ""

    No results matching ""