Unit 6 the Widow

Unit 6 The Widow

I. Background Information

1. Elizabeth Jolley is a famous Australian fiction writer. Born in England in 1923, Jolley moved to Australia in 1959 with her husband and three children. She had trained as a nurse in England and nursed there and in Australia before starting her writing career in 1964. Her body of work includes 26 books: short stories, radio plays, collections and 12 novels in print since 1980. Jolley has won many writing awards, two of them for Cabin Fever, her tenth fiction book. She is known for her peculiar people in funny situations. For more information about Elizabeth Jolley, please visit where brief introduction about her works (which includes Cabin Fever) can be found.

2. Cabin Fever, (237p. $26.95Cdn. 1991 Harper Collins ISBN 0-06-016622-3 LC 90-55966) continues the events of her previous book, My Father's Moon, but from a different voice and 40 years later. The story is presented in bits and pieces as a successful woman psychologist recalls her war experiences and post war hard times. The book is not a complete story but only certain memories that help the woman make sense of all the pain, trouble, loss and sad times in her life. The book describes the culture of the late 1940s.

Pre-reading activities:

A woman alone writes some painful lines in a notebook. To understand why the lines are painful, we go back in time to a strange event that happened on her wedding day. A strange woman gave the couple a message about their marriage. Every year, the husband and wife discussed their unique wedding guest. The wife thought she had come from heaven; the husband thought she had the wrong shape for someone from heaven. One night, he wrote his wife a note. He wrote that it did not matter where their guest had come from. What mattered was that the word gift she had given them was true. Now that her husband has died, the woman finds the painful lines in the book remind her of him.

II. Text structure analysis

In both Unit 2 and in this unit we have found that the writer orders his details according to time sequence, or according to the progress of a certain event. This kind of writing always uses time signals, which might be any words that express the order of the time sequence.

In Passage A, Unit 6 we have found the writer uses words like:

One morning ...

The next morning ...

Part I (Para.1-2) The quotations the widow stores in a notebook remind her of the painful memory of her late husband.

Part II (Para.3-15)

The widow’s mind slipped back to her wedding ceremony at which she and her husband received a strange word gift which had a magic power.

Flashback (倒叙法)

Sequence of time & space (时空法)

Part III (Para.16-19) The message her husband left her showed that their “aunt”’s prophecy had come true---they worked hard and loved each other and that was why the widow stored the painful quotation.

Flashback (倒叙法)

Quotation (引言法)

III. Vocabulary

considerably ad. much 相当地，很多

He spent considerably more time on translating the novel.

underline vt.

1. draw a line under 划横线
   You'd better underline these words and try to learn them by heart.
2. give added attention to, so as to show importance 强调；使突出
   The Second World War underlined the importance of science and technology.
   第二次世界大战突出了科学和技术的重要性。

quotation n.

1. a sentence drawn from literature or a piece taken from a work of art 语录，引语
   You've used too many quotations in your paper. 你的论文引用内容太多。
2. the price of something 报价

The letter says they haven't got the quotation yet. 信上说他们还没有收到报价。

Blur n. sth. whose shape is not clearly seen 模糊的影子

My memory of the accident is only a blur. 我对这事件的记忆一片模糊。

vt. make difficult to see clearly 使模糊

Tears blurred my eyes. 眼泪模糊了我的眼睛。

file vi.

1. walk one behind the other 一个接一个地走

Slowly, the parents filed into the classroom and sat down.

家长们一个个慢慢地走进教室，坐了下来。

2. make a written request for a position 提出
She filed for a divorce on the grounds that he was not devoted to her.她提出离婚，理由是他对她不忠。

vt.

1. put away (papers, etc.) in order 归档

Please file those letters. 请把那些信件归档。

2. place an exhibit among the records of a court, public office, or government 提出（申请等）
They tried to file a request with the authorities.他们试图向当局提出申请。

n.

1. a store of papers on one subject 汇存的文件
2. the furniture or box for storing papers 文件夹，文件箱
3. a line of people one behind the other 纵列

cheerful

a.happy 幸福的，高兴的

The child gave a cheerful cry when he saw his mother. 孩子看到母亲时高兴地叫了起来。

sympathize (英sympathise)vi.(with)show feeling for another同情

Most people sympathize with the weak. 多数人同情弱者。

congratulate

depart leave; go away 离开

When will the plane depart? 飞机何时飞走？

Our tour departs from Shanghai.我们的旅游线路从上海开始。

convey vt. make known; communicate; express 传达
The word "home" conveys a feeling of welcome and comfort.

"家"这个字给人一种亲切、舒适的感觉。

The Russian song conveyed the feeling of sadness for the missing loved one.
那首俄罗斯歌曲表达了思念亲人的忧伤心情。

respond vi. (to)answer 回答；反应

Please respond to the question. 请回答这个问题。

When people ask us questions we usually respond to their questions by trying to answer them.

当人们问我们问题时，我们通常用回答来对问题作出反应。

grand a.

1. highest or very high in status高级的，大的
   grand jury 大陪审团
2. splendid; good 好的，妙的
   have a grand time 过得愉快

peculiar

1. strange; not usual奇怪的
The football player has got a peculiar, childlike face.

这位足球运动员长着一张奇特的、孩子般的脸。

I saw a peculiar thing today; a dog was walking down the street wearing a red hat!
今天我看到一件怪事；一条狗戴着顶红帽子在街上走。

1. special 特别的

The book has a peculiar value; it belonged to George Washington.
这本书有特别的价值；他的主人是乔治·华盛顿。

peculiarly ad.

1. strangely 奇怪地

Peculiarly, he never asked his father to help him. 奇怪的是，他从不叫他父亲帮忙。

2. especially 特别地

This question is peculiarly difficult.这个问题特别难。

fade v.

1. (cause to) lose color or freshness 使褪色

These jeans fade quickly; I don't like them.这些牛仔裤褪色快，我不喜欢它们。
2. disappear bit by bit 逐渐消失

The sound of the train faded after it went by.火车过后，声音逐渐消失。

whoever pron.

1. no matter who 无论谁，不管谁
   Whoever broke the window, he should pay for the damage.

无论谁打破了窗户，都得赔偿。

2. any person that; who任何人

Whoever wants the book may have it. 谁想要这本书，谁就可以拿。

fill with

(cause to) become full of 充满
His eyes filled with tears as he looked with love at her.

他深情地看着她，眼眶里充满了泪水。

The box was filled with gifts. 盒子里装满了礼物。

define as

state the meaning of (something such as a word) as being (something) 界定，定义为

We can define a radical as someone who has very different opinions.

我们可以把激进派界定为观点极端的人。

fill one's need

satisfy one's need 满足需要

Teachers should try to fill students' needs. 师应该尽力满足学生的需要。

bring upmention or introduce (a subject) 提起

He said he would bring up the question of the loan at the meeting.

他说他会在会上提出贷款问题。

save from

keep (something or someone) from (danger, being destroyed, etc.); make safe from danger or being destroyed 保留；抢救；免于

He was happy to learn that his village was saved from the great flood.

得知家乡幸免于这场大水，他很高兴。

Language notes

1. to fill with (L. 5) 使充满

In a society filled with concern and care, people tend to bring into fuller play their intelligence and ability.在一个充满关爱的社会里，人们会更好地发挥自己的聪明才智。

2. to begin with(L. 7)

A thousand-li journey begins with the first step.千里之行，始于足下。

3. to be clothed in (L. 11) 用…表达

Our love for motherland should be more clothed in what we do than in what we say.

与其用语言，倒不如用行动来表达我们对祖国母亲的爱。

4. to define…as… (L. 16)把…界定为

Qian Zhongshu defines marriage as a besieged city into which the outsiders desire to go and out of which the insiders attempt to come.

钱钟书把婚姻界定为一座围城，外面的人想进去，里面的人想出来。

5. with the passage of time (L. 35) 随着时间的推移

With the passage of time, the husband came to realize both love and support clothed in the wife’s daily housework.

随着时间的推移，丈夫逐渐懂得了妻子日常家庭工作中所包含的爱与支持。

6. with the birth (invention / appearance) of grandchildren (sth.) (L. 35) 随着孙子的诞生

With the birth of more high-tech products, there will be no limit to man’s enjoyment of life.

随着更多的高科技产品问世，人类对生活的享受将是无止境的。

7. to complain about her housework(L. 42)抱怨家务辛苦

It’s a fool that complains about the natural conditions and other people.

只有傻子才怨天尤人。

8. to bring up (L. 43)提起/引起

It was the demographer Mr. MA Yinchu who first brought up the issue of population which should call for more of our concern.

人口学先生马寅初第一个在我国提出人口问题需要极大关注的话题。

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