Unit Three

1. Unit Three 7. Kid with a Knife (Part I)

2. Information Related to the Text • Punk A rough and unpleasant young man or boy, especially one in the habit of fighting and breaking the law (often in the phrase young punk). This is the meaning in the text. In Britain in the 1970s there was a movement among certain young people who were opposed to the values of money-based society and who expressed this especially in loud music (punk rock) that is often marked by violence, rude word, etc.

3. 2.VISA card It is a kind of credit card widely used in the States. Such cards are provided by banks and allow the holder to obtain goods and services without payment of cash, the cost being charged to his account and paid later.

4. 3. Vietnam War After the Second World War, in order to stop the reunification in Vietnam, America, allied with the puppet regime in the South of this land, started a war with the Communist guerrillas in the north. The guerilla forces were led by Ho Chi Minh. This war lasted long and ended in an American defeat. Huge numbers of American soldiers were sent to Vietnam to support the southern regime and its army. In 1965, America refused to take the advice of cease-fire talks in Geneva organized by the Secretary General in the United Nations, and intensified the war.

5. Up to June 1969, the American government had sent 50,000 American soldiers to Vietnam. Due to the great loss of life and defeats in battles, together with the opposition of the anti-war movement inside the US, America and South Vietnamese regime were forced to make a cease-fire agreement in January 1973 with the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG) and the Republic of Vietnam. Altogether, 58,000 US soldiers died in the war.

6. Difficult Language Points in the Text • I knew my old muscles were no match against his youth, but I had no intention of giving him anything without a struggle. (Line 17) 译: 我知道我这把老骨头根本不是这小子的对手，但我也绝不想让他轻易抢走我的东西。 2. For a moment the surprise action caught him off guard. (Line 20) Caught him off guard: made the young man unable to deal with the sudden attack 译：这突然的举动让他在一刹那间有些不知所措。

7. 3. Struggling to my feet, I managed to make it to the couch, where I sat a few moments to shake the cobwebs from my addled brain. (Line 30) Managed to make it to the couch: succeeded in trying to reach the couch To shake the cobwebs from my addled brain: to try my best to make my old mind clear about what had happened just now 译：我努力地站起来，设法挪到沙发跟前。我在沙发上坐了一会儿，努力地想从昏乱的脑子里理出个头绪来。

8. 4. Eddie helped me straighten up the apartment and calculated my losses. (Line 58) Straighten up: to tidy 译：埃迪帮我收拾了房间，并计算了我的损失。 5. I promised to act my age and to come down and lock at mug shots later. (Line 68) “Act my age” here refers to doing things according to the old man’s age. In other words, he should try to avoid anything too violent. 译：我答应不再莽撞，并会去警察署辨认犯案盗贼的照片。

9. 6. He had worked with his hands most of his life. (Line 78) Worked with his hands: here it means Sam had been a craftsman in his whole life. He was a wood carver. 译：他大半生都是在做手艺活。 7. He had been frugal all his life and had plenty to see him through, even with inflation the way it was. (Line 82) had plenty to see him through：had plenty of money to live till the very end of his life even with inflation the way it was: although inflation was so high 译：他一生节俭，有充裕的生活费用，尽管通货膨胀一直居高不下。

10. 8. Now, as the thought took form in my brain, I realized that I might be able to help a few youngsters who were traveling down a path to certain imprisonment or an early death. (Line 118) As the thought took form in my brain: when the idea had become clearer in my mind Who were traveling down a path to certain imprisonment: who were becoming worse and worse and would soon end up in prison. 译: 现在，随着这个想法在我的脑子里变得清晰，我意识到我可以帮助一些误入歧途的青年，甚至救他们一命。

11. Key to the Exercises: • 1. C 2. B 3. C 4. B 5. D • 1. Because he hated to be robbed, especially when robbed by a youngster. 2. On his carpet. 3. Between the table and the couch. 4. No, he wasn’t happy because he thought it too risky for the old man to fight back when being robbed. 5. Less than one year.

12. 8. Kid with a Knife (Part II)

13. Information Related to the Text • Insurance Insurance is designed to protect a person from financial disaster. Insurance can be necessary or prudent, but more often it seems like giant corporations make a lot of money pandering to people’s fear or taking advantage of their most basic needs and desires—for example, parents’ concern that their children will be provided for when they die. That said, there are certainly times and situations in which having insurance is an absolute necessity.

14. 2. US government insurance It is an agreement given by the US government in the form of contracts to pay money to those who have problems of illness, death, or accident. 3. Pension An amount of money paid regularly (esp. by a government or a company) to someone who can no longer earn (enough) money by working, esp. because of old age or illness. Old age pension: (also retirement pension) money paid regularly by the State to old people.

15. 4. Reform school A reform school is a school where teenagers who have committed crimes are sent for punishment and reform. 5. Milton General (Hospital) The full name of this hospital is called Milton Keynes General Hospital. It is located in the State of Colorado, USA.

16. Difficult Language Points in the Text • The next morning, I went down to the police station and plowed through the mug books. (Line 9) Plowed through the mug books: (fig.) to try hard to find the picture of the young robber from many pictures of robbers. 译：第二天早上， 我去了趟警察局，在一大堆罪犯的照片里翻了好半天。

17. 2…where he bought pastries of some sort and then returned to his room. (Line 28) Pasty: pie of meat, fruit, jam, etc. enclosed in pastry and baked without a dish. 译：在那里， 他买了一些馅饼类的食物，然后回到他的屋子。 3. I thought you’d be satisfied with conking me over the head and breaking my leg. (Line 92) Conking me over the head: hitting me on the head 译：你砸了我的头， 打断了我的腿，我想你该满意了吧？

18. 4. You set me up! (Line 103) “set up” means to plan something in order to deceive somebody or to trap somebody into doing something. “You set me up!” means “It was you who got me into a trap”. 译：是你陷害我！ 5. “Well, Uncle George, he’s our boy, isn’t he?” (Line 108) “He’s our boy” means he is the boy who has robbed you in your house a few weeks ago and now he should be taken to the police station and placed under arrest. 译：“怎么样，乔治叔叔？他就是我们在找的男孩，对吗？”

19. 6. Oh, I’ll explain everything to him once the kid gets straightened out. (Line 127) Straighten out: to remove difficulties, esp. bad behavior or worries, in one’s life. 译：噢，一旦那孩子改邪归正，我一定会向他解释清楚。

20. Key to the Exercises: • 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F 5. T 6. T II. 1. 因证据不足，对他的两起小偷小摸的指控被取消；但他曾因袭击和抢劫而被判监禁。 2. 看到周围没人，我便迅速把我新弄来的维萨卡塞进他的口袋里，然后匆匆走进街角的一家商店里，打电话叫来了一辆救护车。 3. 我坐在一把椅子上，从那儿可以看清他的脸。然后，我从衣袋里掏出了那只木刻松鼠。 4. 在我介绍了约翰·史密斯就是那位雕刻松鼠的男孩后，他们俩便聚精会神地讨论起了木雕，把我全忘了。

21. 9. You Call This a Mugging?

22. Information Related to the Text • Beowulf Beowulf is a very famous epic poem written in Britain in the 8th century. The whole story is about the hero called Beowulf. He killed the monster Grendel and the monster’s mother, in order to defend his people from their attacks. 2. Central Park in New York This is one of the largest urban parks in America. It is in the central part of the island of Manhanttan. It has lakes, ball parks, outdoor theatre for concerts and plays, amusement rides, running tracks, forests and meadows, etc.

23. 3. Kleenex A brand of very common and inexpensive tissue in the States. 4. Class ring In the United States, when students are in the Junior Year, they will plan various activities for their Senior Year to come. They will have special dances, class trips, and other events including their eventual graduation. One of the things they do is to select the slogan for their class or “class motto” and color them. They will use it in the various events, so that their class stands out from others.

24. As part of that planning, they will select the style for their class ring. It will usually have the initials of the school as well as their own initials, and it may have an engraving on it. The colors of the stone or jewels in the ring are a combination of the school colors and the class colors, making their ring unique from those of other members of the same school, and from other schools as well.

25. Difficult Language Points in the Text • Leftover drops of rain dribbled from greening leaves onto the soggy yellow ones that seem to inhabit the Spring as a reminder of Fall. (Line 1) Soggy: completely wet; heavy and usu. unpleasant with wetness 译：残存的雨滴从绿意萌发的树叶滴到湿透的黄树叶上，这黄树叶好像是为了让人们想起春天里还有那么一丝秋意。

26. 2. Scared excitement started welling up inside of me and I thought that maybe I should grab the old schoolbooks and make a run for it before it was too late. (Line 28) Well up: (literary) spring up 译：恐惧和兴奋开始涌上我的全身。我想我应该拿上我的破课本尽早逃离这里才对。

27. 3. I threw my raggedy Kleenex on the ground and looked carefully at my mugger who was shuffling the junk from my purse on the wet sidewalk. (Line 72) Raggedy: (also ragged) old and torn; with uneven edges or surfaces Shuffling the junk: moving the worthless things 译：我把手里皱巴巴的克里内克斯面巾纸扔到地上，然后仔细看着这个劫匪，他把我钱包里那些并不值钱的东西倒在潮湿的人行道上，正在翻找。

28. 4. I should’ve given him a karate chop or hit him with my five-pound English literature book when he wasn’t looking. (Line 90) Karate: Japanese system of unarmed combat using hands, feet, etc., as weapons 译：我本可以用我的空手道去猛击他，或者在他不注意的时候，用我那五磅重的英国文学课本去砸他的脑袋。

29. Key to the Exercises: I. 1. C 2. B 3. D 4. D II. 1. i 2.e 3.g 4.j 5.d 6.b 7.h 8.a 9.c 10.f