大学英语精读第三册课本学习知识和单词(董亚芬版).doc

,. Unit 1 Text A young man finds that strolling along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually he must appear in court for trial…… A Brush with the Law I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court. In happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time. One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall. It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt. But what for? I asked. "Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence, he said. What offence? I asked. Theft, he said. Theft of what? I asked. Milk bottles, he said, and with a perfectly straight face too! Oh, I said. It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps. Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties youth countercultrue. As a result, I want to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, How long have you been following me? in the most casual and conversation tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character. A few minutes later a police car arrived. Get in the back," they said. Put your hands on the back of the front seat and dont move them. They got in on either side of me. I wasnt funny any more. At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them Id been looking for a job. Aha, I could see them thinking, unemployed. Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates Court the following Monday. Then they let me go. I wanted to conduct my own defence in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor. We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to give evidence. My trial didnt get that far. The magistrate dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police. And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. I had the right accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitors case quite obviously revolved around the fact that I had a brilliant academic record. Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you, he said to me reproachfully. What did the mean? Presumably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, Look here, do you know who youre talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me! Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way. NEW WORDS brush n. brief fight or encounter 小冲突；小接触 process n. course; method, esp. one used in manufacture 过程；制作法 arbitrary a. based on ones own opinion only, not on reason 任意的；武断的 circumstance n. (usu. pl.) conditions, facts, etc. connected with an event or person 情况，环境 subsequent a. following, later 随后的，接下去的 fate n. what will happen or happened to sb. or sth. 命运 due a. expected; supposed (to) 预期的；约定的；到期的 temporary a. lasting only for a limited time 暂时的 stroll a. walk at leisure 散步，闲逛 obvious a. easily seen or understood; clear 明显的，显而易见的 downfall n. ruin 垮台；衰落 employment n. ones regular work or occupation; job 职业；工作 wander vi. move about without a purpose 闲逛；漫游 commit vt. do (sth. wrong, bad, or unlawful)干（坏事），犯（错误、罪） arrestable a. deserving to be arrested offence (AmE offense) n. crime; the hurting of feelings; something unpleasant 罪行；冒犯；不愉快的事 straight face a face or expression that shows no emotion, humor, or thought 板着的脸 petty a. small; unimportant 小的；不足道的 doorstep n. a step in front of a door regard vt. consider in the stated way 把……看作；把认为(as) counterculture n. a culture, esp. of the young who oppose the traditional standards and customs of their society 反主流文化 unconcerned a. not worried; untroubled; indifferent 无忧虑的；淡漠的 casual a. careless; informal 漫不经心的，随便的 conversational a. of or commonly used in talking 会话（用）的 confirm vt. make certain; support 证实，肯定；确定 belief n. something believed; trust 相信；信念；信仰 thoroughly ad. completely; in every way 完全地，彻底地 thorough a. disreputable a. having or showing a bad character; having a bad name 声名狼籍的 worldly a. experienced in the ways of society 老于世故的 au fait a. (F) familiar 熟悉的；精通的 aha int. a cry of surprise, satisfaction, etc. 啊哈！ magistrate n. civil officer acting as a judge in the lowest courts 地方法官 conduct vt. direct the course of; manage 处理；主持；引导；指挥 defence (AmE defense) n. the act of defending in court the person who has been charged 辨护 solicitor n. (esp. in Britain) lawyer who advises clients on legal matters and speaks on their behalf in lower courts （初级）律师 witness n. a person who gives evidence in a court of law; sth. serving as evidence or proof 证人；证据 trial n. the act or fact of examining and deciding a civil or criminal case by a law court 审判 dismiss vt. (of a judge) stop (a court case) 驳回，对……不予受理 cost n. (pl.) the cost of having a matter settled in a law court. esp. that paid to the winning party by the losing party 诉讼费 award vt. give by a decision in court of law; give or grant by an official decision 判给；授予 accent n. way of speaking typical of the natives or residents of a region, or of any other group 口音；腔调 respectable a. deserving respect 值得尊敬的 reliable a. that may be relied or depended upon 可靠的，可信赖的 given prep. taking into account; if allowed or provided with 考虑到；假定 obscure a. not clearly seen or understood 模糊的；晦涩的 guilty a. having broken a law; showing or feeling that one has done wrong 有罪的；内疚的 revolve v. (cause to) go round in a circle （使）旋转 brilliant a. causing great admiration or satisfaction; splendid 辉煌的；卓越的 courtroom n. a room where a law court is held 审判室 meanwhile ad. during the same period of time 同时 gloomily ad. depressedly, dejectedly 忧郁地；沮丧地 complain vi. speak in an unhappy, annoyed, dissatisfied way 抱怨 complaint n. reproachfully ad. 责备地 presumably ad. probably outrage vt. arouse anger or resentment by injury or insult 引起……的气愤 successful a. having done what one has tried to do; having gained a high position in life, ones job. etc. 成功的；有成就的 apologize vi. say one is sorry 道歉，谢罪 apology n. PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS take sb. to court start an action in law against sb. 对某人提出诉讼 a couple of (informal) a small number of, a few, usually two 少数，几（个）； 一对 save up keep for future use; put money away in the form of savings 储蓄 take ones time do sth. in a leisurely manner; not hurry 慢慢来，不着急 at first at the beginning 起先 turn out prove to be 结果；证明是 call on ask (sb.) to do sth. esp. formally 要求 stand a chance have an opportunity; be likely to do or get sth. 有机会，有希望 revolve around have as a center or main subject turn against (cause to) oppose, be hostile to PROPER NAMES Richmond 里士满（英国地名） Richmond Magistrates Court 里士满地方法院 Unit 2 Text Aunt Bettie is faced with a difficult decision. A wounded Union soldier is found hiding in a farmhouse near her home. She has to decide whether to help him or let him be captured. What will she choose to do? The Woman Who Would Not Tell Janice Keyser Lester "I never did hate the Yankees. All that hated was the war.……" Thats how my great-aunt Bettie began her story. I heard it many times as a child, whenever my family visited Aunt Bettie in the old house in Berryville, Virginia. Aunt Bettie was almost 80 years old then. But I could picture her as she was in the story she told me —— barely 20, pretty, with bright blue eyes. Bettie Van Metre had good reason to hate the Civil War. One of her brother was killed at Gettysburg, another taken prisoner. Then her young husband, James, a Confederate officer, was captured and sent to an unknown prison camp somewhere. One hot day in late September Dick Runner, a former slave, came to Bettie with a strange report. He had been checking a farmhouse half a mile away from the Van Metre home, a farmhouse he thought was empty. But inside, he heard low groans. Following them to the attic, he found a wounded Union soldier, with a rifle at his side. When Aunt Bettie told me about her first sight of the bearded man in the stained blue uniform, she always used the same words. "It was like walking into a nightmare: those awful bandages, that dreadful smell. Thats what war is really like, child: no bugles and banners. Just pain and filth, futility and death." To Bettie Van Metre this man was not an enemy but rather a suffering human being. She gave him water and tried to clean his terrible wounds. Then she went out into the cool air and leaned against the house, trying not to be sick as she thought of what she had seen —— that smashed right hand, that missing left leg. The mans papers Bettie found in the attic established his identity: Lt. Henry Bedell, Company D, 11th Vermont Volunteers, 30 year old. She knew that she should report the presence of this Union officer to the Confederate army. But she also knew that she would not do it. This is how she explained it to me: "I kept wondering if he had a wife somewhere, waiting, and hoping, and not knowing —— just as I was. It seemed to me that the only thing that mattered was to get her husband back to her." Slowly, patiently, skillfully, James Van Metres wife fanned the spark of life that flickered in Henry Bedell. Of drugs or medicines she had almost none. And she was not willing to take any from the few supplies at the Confederate hospital. But she did the best she could with what she had. As his strength returned, Bedell told Bettie about his wife and children in Westfield, Vermont. And BedelL listened as she told him about her brothers and about James. "I knew his wife must be praying for him," Aunt Bettie would say to me, "just as I was praying for James. It was strange how close I felt to her." The October nights in the valley grew cold. The infection in Bedells wounds flared up. With Dick and his wife, Jennie, helping, she moved the Union officer at night, to a bed in a hidden loft above the warm kitchen of her own home. But the next day, Bedell had a high fever. Knowing that she must get help or he would die, she went to her long-time friend and family doctor. Graham Osborne. Dr. Osborne examined Bedell, then shook his head. There was little hope, he said, unless proper medicine could be found. "All right, then," Bettie said. "Ill get it from the Yankees at Harpers Ferry." The doctor told her she was mad. The Union headquarters were almost 20 miles away. Even if she reached them, the Yankees would never believe her story. "Ill take proof," Bettie said. She went to the loft and came back with a blood-stained paper bearing the official War Department seal. "This is a record of his last promotion," she said. "When I show it, theyll have to believe me." She made the doctor writer out list of the medical items he needed. Early the next morning she set off. For five hours she drove, stopping only to rest her horse. The sun was almost down when she finally stood before the commanding officer at Harpers Ferry. Gen. John D. Stevenson listened, but did not believe her. "Madam," he said, "Bedells death was reported to us." "Hes alive," Bettie insisted. "But he wont be much longer unless he has the medicines on that list." "Well," the general said finally, "Im not going to risk the lives of a patrol just to find out." He turned to a junior officer. "See that Mrs. Van Metre gets the supplies." He brushed aside Betties thanks. "Youre a brave woman," he said, "whether youre telling the truth or not." With the medicines that Bettie carried to Berryville, Dr. Osborne brought Bedell through the crisis. Ten days later Bedell was hobbling on a pair of crutches that Dick had made for him. "I cant go on putting you in danger," Bedell told Bettie. "Im strong enough to travel now. Id lie to go back as soon as possible." So it was arranged that Mr. Sam, one of Betties neighbors and friends, should go and help Bettie deliver Bedee