Lesson Fifteen

1. Lesson Fifteen Touched by the Moon

2. Structure of the Text • Part 1 (paras. 1—2 ) On the way to a friend’s house, I was awe-struck by the moonrise in Manila and mentioned the moon’s influence on my friend’s life. • Part 2 (paras. 3—4 ) During the visit to the northern India, the author witnessed the beautiful moon over mountains and the plain respectively. • Part 3 (para. 5) In the Philippines, the author watched the full moon over the sea.

3. Structure of the Text • Part 4 (paras. 6—7) The author viewed the whole nature and revealed the relationship between man and nature. • Part 5 (paras. 8—10) The author rethought the modern life and expressed the willingness to live close to nature.

4. Words & expressions • 1. awe: n. a feeling of respect mixed with fear and wonder; v. to fill with awe • e.g. They were ~d into silence by the great man. • awesome: expressing or causing feelings of ~; remarkable, outstanding, marvelous • ~struck / ~stricken: filled with, made silent or showing ~ • e.g. They sat in awestruck silence after hearing the truth at last.

5. 2. chink • Chink: refers to a narrow opening or crack, such as that between boards in the wall of a shed, through which the wind blows or one may peep • e. g. All one could see through the ~s in our bamboo awning were a few desolate villages.

6. 3. clay • clay: fine-grained earth which becomes more plastic when water is added, and can be moulded and dried to make bricks, pottery etc. • e.g. • to moisten / wet one’s ~ : to drink • feet of ~: a surprising fault or weakness in the character of sb who is admired and respected • e.g. Why are people always surprised when they discovered that their heroes have feet of ~?

7. 4. crag • crag : a high, steep, rough and rugged rock or mass of rocks • e.g. cragsman (a person accustomed to or skilled in climbing crags) • craggy: having many crags; steep, rugged and rough in appearance; cragged • e.g. ~ hill • I was attracted by Abraham Lincoln’s ~ face.

8. 5. cyclo-: circle, ring • bicycle, tricycle, motorcycle • circular: in the shape of a circle • circus: a circular area (for acrobatic, clown, and trained animal performance) • cyclic: moving in recurrent circles • cyclone: a storm in which wind whirls round and round in a circle • circulate: move around in a circle; to be distributed to a circle of readers

9. 6. gigantic • gigantic: suggests an extremely large size or amount, mostly used exaggeratedly or figuratively • big: emphasize the magnitude of weight, volume or extent • large: preferable to big in formal style, normally not used to modify such nouns as success, progress, advance, promotion, development, change, etc., for which big or great are ready choices • great: sounds emotional, suggesting attracting or surprising magnificence or giantness; it is commonly used with nouns denoting personal qualities, like courage, confidence, ability, wisdom, etc.

10. 7. harsh • harsh: unpleasant in causing pain to senses; physically disagreeable, lacking any comfort; severe, cruel • e.g. • ~ voice / noise (rough, jarring) • ~ daylight (too strong for the eyes) • The cloth is ~ to the touch.(with a rough surface) • He is too ~ with the children. • His family couldn’t survive the ~ winter. • The prisoner suffered much ~ treatment at the hands of his jailers.

11. 8. shape • v. form, fashion, mould in a definite shape • e. g. childhood experiences that ~ a person’s character • ~ the clay before it dries out • ~ a folktale into a narrative poem • ~ up or ship out: used to tell sb that if they don’t improve, or work harder etc., they will have to leave their job or position • e.g. He finally faced up to his drug problem when his band told him to shape up or ship out.

12. 9. worship • e. g. ~ sb as deity / God • People go to the church to ~ God. • His admirers ~ped at his feet. • Many pilgrims ~ at the shrine. • n. ancestor / book / hero / idol / nature ~ • They bowed their heads in ~. (to show their respect)

13. Language points in text • Touched by the moon: being close to nature

14. 1. “Drive” • Drive • 1) to move or travel in a vehicle • e.g. Shall we stop for dinner or shall we drive on ? • 2) to take (sb.) in a vehicle • e.g. Don’t worry. I’ll drive you to the airport. • 3) to force to go • e.g. we should drive the invaders from our country.

15. 4) to force someone into a usu. unpleasant condition or undesirable course of action. • e.g. The noise is driving me out of my mind. • 5) to force to go somewhere by hitting • e.g. drive the nail into the wood

16. “drive” VP • Drive at: to mean or suggest indirectly; hint • e.g. I see perfectly what you are driving at? • Drive away • e.g. The rioters fired shots in the air to drive away news photographers. • Drive off: to force away or back; repel • e.g. The army drove off the enemy with much loss of life. • Drive sb. crazy (insane, mad, out of his mind, round the bend, up the wall)

17. 2. Moon • n. • a full moon • a crescent moon • ask/cry for the moon: demand sth. impossible • bark at the moon • promise sb. the moon

18. Moon v. • Moon about/around: to move about or pass time lazily or in a dreamlike state, with no purpose, interest, etc. • e.g. Stop mooning around. • Moon over: to be in a dreamlike state of unsatisfied desire for (esp. a person) • e.g. She spent the whole day mooning over her favorite movie star.

19. 3.jungle • Jungle: thick tropical forest • forest: a large area thickly covered with trees • wood: a small forest • grove: an area planted with a particular type of fruit tree, such as an orange grove, a bamboo grove, etc. • P.381

20. 4. Be typical of • Be typical of :having the usual features or qualities of a particular group • e.g. • That’s typical of you. • He ran away, which is very typical of him. • It was typical of our luck that it happened to be raining.

21. 5. Point to • Point to: to show sb. sth. by holding up a finger toward it • e.g. • He pointed to the front door. • Critics point to the continuing instability of the company. (emphasize) • Point sth. at sb.: to aim sth. at sb. • e.g. All of a sudden, he pointed a gun at me. • Point out: to tell sb. Sth. That s/he did not know or has not thought about. • Good friends are supposed to point out each other’s mistakes.

22. 6. White noise • White noise: noise coming from a radio or television which is turned on but not tuned to any program

23. 7. Drum into • Drum into: keep coming into; put (an idea, rule, etc.) firmly into (someone’s mind) by continuous repeating • e.g. drum a rule into sb.’s head(ear) • She drummed it into the children that they must not cross the road alone. • *It took him hours to drum these points home.