Period 5-6: Text Analysis(II)

Detailed Study of theText

1. She seemed frozen in an eternal panic lest the bath towel slip down any farther... (para. 2)

lest: (formal) for fear that; to make sure that sth would not happen, e.g.

   We ran as fast as we could lest we miss the train.

   He did not tell his fatber about the exam result lest he get mad at hirn.

Note: The subjunctive mood is used in the clause "lest" introduces.

Do not mix up "farther" with "further." The former refers to physical distance whereas the latter to degree, time and all other figurative uses, e.g.

   The next village turned out to be much farther than we had thought.

   We will discuss it further tomorrow.

   Furtherdevelopment of our economy will strain our resources too.

2. Beyond the leopard was a naked, muscular gentleman... (para. 2)

Pay attention to the following words in which "-ed" is pronounced as /-id/:

a naked man; a learned professor; that blessed morning; a wicked boy; the wretched life; our beloved country; ragged pants; my aged parents (but not in "a man aged 45"); rugged individualism; dogged efforts

3. ... I was not integrated. I was, if anything, disintegrated. (para. 4)

—用我们现在的话说，我和周围不是很合拍，实际上，正相反，应该说我是一个出格调皮的孩子。

integrated: forming a part of a harmonious group

disintegrated: Here, it is used by the author to mean the direct opposite of "integrated," and therefore means some kind of trouble maker. (Notice that this is not the way the word is normally used.)

if anything: on the contrary, e.g.

   He is not known for his generosity. He is, if anytbing, quite miserly.

   The weather forecast says tbat it will not be warmer this winter. lt will, if anything, be even colder than last year.

4. Or was there more sense in drinking than there appeared to be? But if not, and if drinking were in fact ruinous to health—and Mr Houghton was ruined, there was no doubt about that—why was he always talking about the clean life and the virtues of fresh air? (para. 16)

Some variations of the "There + be" pattem such as:

There seems to be.. . ; There appeared to be... ;There are supposed to be... ; There was said to be… ; There were believed to be... ; There are likely to be.. . ; There are bound to be...

the clean life: It normally refersto a life without vices or moral sins.

the virtues of fresh air: theadvantages of fresh air

Mr Houghton obviously did not practice what he preached. He was a hopeless alcobolic, which had ruined his health, and he obviously did not like outdoor life. Yet he kept talking about a clean life and the virtues of fresh air.

5. Mr Houghton was given to high-minded monologues about the good life, sexless andfull of duty. (para. 20)

be given to: to be habitually inclined to do (sth), e.g.

   He is much given to blowing his own trumpet.

   She was given to hasty decisions.

   They were much given to senseless gossip.

high-minded monologue: a highlymoral speech

Obviously in Mr Houghton's clean life, there is no place for alcoholic drink, sex, and other worldly pleasures. This is, of course, ironical. The use of the word "sexless" is particularly funny in view of the fact that his eyes are always riveted on girls passing by.

seven deadly sins: 傲慢、嫉妒、暴怒、懒惰、贪婪、暴食和色欲

相对于七罪宗，天主教列出了七美德。

色欲（Lust）— 贞洁（Chastity）[或忠诚（Faith）]

暴食（Gluttony）— 节制（Temperance）

贪婪（Greed）— 慷慨（Charity）

懒惰（Sloth）— 勤勉（Diligence）[ 或希望（Hope）]

暴怒（Wrath）— 耐心（Patience）[或坚韧（Fortitude）]

嫉妒（Envy）— 宽容（Kindness）

傲慢（Pride）— 谦虚（Humility）[ 或正义（Justice）

6. If either happened to be prominent in current affairs, no argument could make Mr Hougbton think well of it. (para. 21)

— If either country became the center of attention, nobody could talk him into liking that country. It implies that Mr Houghton’s attitude was based on nothing but prejudice.

think well of sb: to have a good opinion of sb; to think favorably of sb; to like sb

Compare: to think ill ofsb

7. Through him I discovered that thought is often full of unconscious prejudice, ignorance and hypocrisy. It will lecture on disinterested purity while its neck is being remorselessly twisted toward a skirt. (para. 23)

— Through him I discovered that what people call thought is often full of prejudice, ignorance and hypocrisy.

Note: The pronoun "it" stands for"thought" in grammar, but actually refers to Mr Houghton. The word"skirt" stands for girls in general. lt is a common figure of speechcalled "metonymy"(转喻) in which an idea is evoked or named by means of a term designating some associated notion. It is vulgar to refer to a girl as a skirt.

More examples:

   The world is watching closely what the White House will do next.

   Democracy favors the vote rather than the bullet. (Vote stands for elections, and bullet stands for military solutions.)

   They have no intention of turning their swords into ploughs. (Sword stands for war and plough stands for peace.)

   Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

8. Technically, it is about as proficient as most businessmen's golf, as honest as most politicians' intentions, or as coherent as most books that get written. (para. 23)

— This ironical sentence shows that the author not only considers those people incompetent, dishonest and incoherent, but also despises most businessmen, distrusts most politicians and dislikes most publications.

9. I delighted to confront a pious lady who hated the Germans with the proposition that we should love our enemies. (para. 24)

— I was happy to point out the inconsistency of a pious lady who hated the Germans by quoting to her the Bible which says that Christians should love their enemies.

confront sb with sth: to oppose sb defiantly

10. … I no longer dismiss lightly a mental process which for nine tenths of the population ... (para. 24)

— I no longer consider the way grade-three thinkers think unimportant because they account for nine-tenths of the people and therefore have great power. I know now that ignorance, prejudice and hypocrisy are very powerful enemies. 由于她，我不再轻视这种占人口百分之九十的人所使用的思考方式，因为这是他们一生能够达到的与思想最接近的地步。

11. She claimed that the Bible was literally inspired.

literally inspired: a true historical record; a factual account of God's divine plan and prophecies. This is the belief of fundamentalists(原教旨主义者).

—她认为《圣经》是根据事实写成的。

原教旨主义或基本教义派，也称“原理主义”、“基要主义”或“基要派”，是指某些宗教群体试图回归其原初的信仰的运动，或指严格遵守基本原理的立场。

他们认为宗教内部在近代出现的自由主义神学(liberalism→ modernism)使其信仰世俗化、偏离了其信仰的本质，因而作出回应；一般提倡对其宗教的基本经文或文献做字面的、传统的解释，并且相信从这些阐释中获得的教义应该被运用于社会、经济和政治生活的各个方面。《大英百科全书》认为原教旨主义有两层意思：（1）它是一种保守的基督教思想，它抵制19世纪后期、20世纪初期很有影响的自由主义或现代主义的神学倾向；（2）它是一种有自己的组织和机构的保守运动，旨在宣传原教旨主义的五个基本要点。原教旨主义者认为它们是构成真正基督教信仰必不可少的成分；认为《圣经》是神的启示，是绝对真理。

其核心主张的五个基本要点是：（1）承认《圣经》字句无错误；（2）耶稣基督是神的儿子，基督就是神；（3）耶稣是童贞女马利亚所生；（4）基督为人类的罪恶而受难；（5）基督将复活且会以肉身再临人世，那时人类将接受神的审判。

 

12. To find out the deficiencies of our elders satisfies the young ego but does not make for personal security. It took the swimmer some distance from the shore and left him there, out of his depth. (para. 29)

satisfy one's ego: to make one feel proud of one's ability and cleverness

be out of one's depth: to be in water that is too deep for you to stand in and breathe

— The author uses this metaphor to express the idea that grade-two thinking has its limitations. It does not have anything positive to offer.

13. But these grade-one thinkers were few and far between. They did not visit my grammar school in the flesh... (para. 30)

— They did not visit my grammar school in the flesh: No grade-one thinkers could be found in my school although I had read or heard about such people.

few and far between: very few(used as a predicative)

More idiomatic pairs of adjectives like this:

safe and sound; dead and gone; cut and dried; hale and hearty; short and sweet; null and void; meek and mild; free and easy; fair and square; black and blue

in the flesh: as actual people

14. I was irreverent at the best of times. Political and religious systems, social customs, loyalties and traditions, they all came tumbling down like so many rotten apples off a tree. (para. 31 )

irreverent: lacking proper respect for official, important or holy things

at the best of times: used when you imply that it could be a lot worse

— Notice how the author compares political and religious systems, social customs, loyalties and traditions to rotten apples which stink and are completely useless. In view of the background against which this essay is written, it isnot too difficult to guess what specific systems, customs, loyalties and traditions he is referring to.

15. But you would be wrong. I dropped my hobby and turned professional. (para. 35)

— But you guessed wrong. I did not drop my hobby and give up thinking. Instead I went further and became a professional thinker.