新视野大学英语第三版第二册课文语法讲解_Unit4

*a welcoming smile 热情的微笑 *a surprising number of 数量惊人的

13 I always had an excellent reputation. My concentration was solely on my studies to get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)

Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only concentrated on studies in order to get excellent grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student also have fun?

14 College is supposed to be a time of great learning and also some fun. I had

nearly achieved a great education, and graduation was just one semester away. But I hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no component of fun! I needed a boyfriend. (Para. 3)

Meaning: College is definitely a nice place for education but should have some fun as well. Throughout my years at col ege, I had devoted all my time to study but hadn’t had any fun yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a boyfriend to enrich my col ege life.

15 Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal that semester became: Be ambitious and grab the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)

Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome, pleasant and attractive. My ambition for that semester, therefore, was to find the cutest boyfriend at col ege.

16 I worried what he’d think of me. (Para. 4)

Meaning beyond words: Her concern about how Butch would look at her shows that she

was becoming more interested in him and cared about his real thinking.

17 True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in sexual attitudes was taking place, but I was a traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways that seemed common on campus. (Para. 4)

Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era when sexual attitudes were changing dramatical y, but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready for the new sexual practice seemingly common on campus.

18 Butch looked superb! I was not immune to his personality, but I was scared. (Para. 4)

Meaning: Butch looked extremely wonderful. I was surely influenced by his personality, but I felt scared.

19 The night when he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend, I went along with him. (Para. 4)

Meaning: That night when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his girlfriend, I did not

have any objection.

Meaning beyond words: She has apparently changed her perception of Butch, from being merely curious about him at first to becoming cautious about his wild, dynamic personality later; from being fearful of failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving of

being his girlfriend.

20 And then I suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his girlfriend? How did that happen?” (Para. 4)

Meaning beyond words: Al of a sudden, she realized that she had made a mistake because she was not real y ready to have a boyfriend yet.

Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used to express surprise. For example: *Gosh, I didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！ *Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！ *Gosh, there’s a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。

21 Then he whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m going to marry you one

day and I will be a lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)

Meaning: Then he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said that he would marry me and I could eventual y see him become a lawyer.

22 I was laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never marry this guy. He’s a rebel without a good future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring student life. I just want to have fun.” (Para. 5)

Meaning: Though I agreed to be his girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a rebellious boy

without a bright future. Therefore, I was not very serious about our relationship. To me, the

only purpose to date him was to get away from my boring student life.

23 Sure enough, the following month, I found out he had failed all his courses. (Para. 6)

Meaning: Just as I had expected, he didn’t pass any of his courses.

24 Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the university. (Para. 6)

Meaning: As a consequence, the university was going to dismiss him from the school.

25 To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I knew there was hope, so I led him to the college secretary for reconsideration. (Para. 6)

Meaning: What upset me was that he seemed to accept his fate. As I knew there was stil a hope, I took him to the col ege secretary to see whether the decision could be changed.

26 “You are going to graduate with a BA in political science from UPenn and

proceed to the College of Law,” I told him, lodging an appeal on his behalf, which was approved. (Para. 7)

Meaning beyond words: What she did for her boyfriend indicated their relationship had

come to a new stage. Besides encouraging him to consult with the col ege secretary and submitting the appeal on his behalf, she also planned for his future career. She told him he had to continue his studies at law school.

Note: Besides a noun, “proceed to” can also be fol owed by a verb phrase. For example: Having said how much she liked my idea, she then proceeded to make critical comments *about it. 说完她是多么喜欢我的点子，她接着就提出了批评性的意见。

27 Butch was granted reconsideration. And, once we became steadies, he coordinated his studies and social life, passing all of his classes. He eventually studied law. (Para. 7)

Meaning beyond words: Here we see the turning point of the relationship between the two. Her suggestions did work well with Butch since he was granted reconsideration. As soon as they became steady lovers, Butch balanced his studies and social life and passed every course. Final y, he studied law as had been planned.

Note: Steady can also be used as a noun, as is in the text. It’s an old-fashioned American way to describe a boyfriend or girlfriend that someone has been having a romantic relationship with.

28 Despite Butch’s somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always a perfect gentleman and deserves a lot of credit for that. (Para. 8)

Meaning: In spite of Butch’s a little wild character, he was always a perfect gentleman in

essence, for which he should be given recognition.

29 True, he’d sometimes take the liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss on my lips right in front of my astonished friends who watched and disapproved. (Para. 8)

Meaning: Without my permission, sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to show his love in front of my friends, who were astonished and resented what he did.