Lesson 2
Two Kinds
Teaching Aims: The teaching of this lesson aims to enable students to master:
1 20 key words and about 100 other new words
2 20 key phrases and their translations
3 the way of analyzing the usage of simile in this lesson
4 the way of dividing the lesson
5 the skills of translation in ten sentences
6 the main idea stated by the author
The teaching of this lesson is divided into five parts
Part One: Background Information(in one period)
In this part, the teacher and the students are working together to offer as much
information as possible in one period. Information comes in all directions. In this way ,
views of the students can be broadened and versions of the world can be easily seen.
We follow two procedures:
I: The teacher gives a brief introduction about the background information and guides
the students to the text by asking some questions.
1 How do you understand the title of the lesson?
2 Which rhetorical speech is repeatedly used in this lesson to achieve the fixed
effects?
3 How many sections can you divide the lesson into?
4 Tell the students what difficulties they will face in understanding the lesson.
5 In telling this story, would you say the first-perｓｏn narration is more effective
than the third-person narration? Why or why not?
6 Do you find Amy Tan a skillful story-teller? If you think so
give examples to
illustrate the narrative skills, If your answer is negative, show why.
7 The narrator uses certain words to pave the way for what is going to follow next,
thus making the narration very smooth, Can
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you point out a few places where such
devices are used?
8 In telling the story, the author’s tone is sometimes ironical, sarcastic or humorous.
Could you illustrate this?
II: Some students are asked to introduce some important notes because they have got
some relevant information from the internet to help understand the lesson.
1 Note 1:Amy Tan
2 Note 2 Shirley Temple
3 Note 3 Peter Pan
4 Note 4 The Christ child lifted out of the straw manger
5 Note 7 Schumann
6 Note 8 Madame Butterfly
7 Extra Background information:
The Joy Luck Club is Amy Tan's first and most successful novel. The book
comprises a
series of short-story-like vignettes 小品文：简洁的描述性文学短文 that move back
and forth in time and space, between the lives of four Chinese women in pre-1949
China and their American-born daughters in California. It tells stories about four pairs
of mothers and daughters -- Suyuan Woo and Jin~mei (June); Ammei Hsu and Rose;
Lindo Jong and Waverly; Yin-ying St. Clair and Lena. These stories are told by seven
voices, those of the mothers and daughters except for Suyuan Woo, who is dead when
the story begins in the book. The different points of view enable the reader to look at
the bittersweet mother-daughter relations from different angles. The mothers and
daughters treat one another cautiously, playing a game of love and fear, need and
rejection. The older women, who suffered in Old China and immigrated to the United
States with new hopes, are ambitious for their daughters, but while they expect them
to succeed in America, they want them to remain Chinese. The daughters consider
themselves American and regard their mothers a source of embarrassment, for they
speak fractured 断裂的 English, behave with Chinese manners, and wear funny
looking dresses with high, stiff collars and slits up 切[割]开; 扯裂 the sides. They
want to be different from their mothers, and break loose from their mothers' cultural
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gravity 严 肃 或 庄 严 的 举 止 . They yearn to leave tradition behind. The
mother-daughter relationships are a mixture of love and hostility, expectations and
disappointments, conflicts and reconciliation 和解. When the daughters become older
and more mature, they begin to reconsider their identity and reevaluate their cultural
heritage. They discover that their mothers are "in their bones", and that heritage is not
something they can ignore and shake off easily.
After Suyuan Woo's death, her daughter Jing mei (June), is invited to sit in her
mother's seat at the mah-jongg table. At first she feels uncomfortably out of place in
this world from which she has struggled to distance herself. As the aunts talk over the
mah-jongg game about themselves and their daughters, she begins to see her mother's
generation in a different light. Finally the aunts inform Jing-mei that the two half
sisters her mother had been forced to abandon during the war are still alive and are
living in Shanghai. In the last section of the book Jing-mei tells about her trip to
China to be united with the two sisters. "The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong
border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead
tingling.发麻, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a
familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese. '
1. "Two Kinds" is fiction. Although this passage is taken from a novel, it can be
read as a
complete short story. By this we mean that it has a complete plot of its
own. As you may know, a plot is the deliberately arranged sequence of interrelated
events that constitute the basic narrative structure of a novel or a short story. Very
often a plot starts from a significant conflict. This conflict sets the plot of a story in
motion. It retains the reader's attention, builds the suspense of the work and arouses
expectation for the events that are to follow. The plot of the traditional short story
contains three parts: beginning, middle and end. It often moves through five stages:
exposition, rising action, crisis (climax), falling action and resolution. The exposition
is the beginning section in which the author provides necessary background
information. In the second stage, the conflict is developed gradually and intensified.
The crisis, also referred to as the climax, is that moment at which the plot reaches its
point of greatest emotional intensity.
Once the climax or crisis is reached, the
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tension subsides and the plot moves toward its conclusion. The final section of the
plot is its resolution it records the outcome of the conflict and establishes some new
stability. As we read "Two Kinds" we will find that this story is carefully constructed,
containing all the five stages of the plot. We will discuss them as we read along. When
we read a story, one of the first things that draw our attention is the plot. However, a
finely worked out plot is more than just a sequence of happenings. Often it tells of an
epiphany 事物本质或意义的突然显露: some moment of insight, discovery, or
revelation by which a character's life, or view of life. is greatly altered. As we read
"Two Kinds" we should try to see if there is a moment in the story that tells of an
epiphany.
2. After reading a story we often ask ourselves question like "What is the story
about?" "What
does the story mean?" or "What is the author trying to say?" Then
we are considering the theme of the story. The theme of a story is different from the
plot. While the plot tells what happens in the story, the theme shows what the story is
about. The theme of a story is the general meaning, the central and dominating idea
that unifies and controls the total work. Usually it is easier to summarize the events
than to state the theme in one's own words. Take the story we are reading here. Based
on our first reading of the story we may retell the story in our words without much
difficulty, but to state the theme we have to read the story closely and think carefully.
After reading and analyzing the whole story, we will find that the meaning of the title
"Two Kinds" is spelled out in Paragraph 72: "Only two kinds of daughters," she
shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!
Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!" This is
important for us in order to identify the central idea of the story, the theme of the story.
We may try to formulate in our own words a statement about human experience that
the author is trying to share with us readers through this work. Different readers may
come up with differently formulated statements, but they should express more or less
the same general meaning. Here is an example of a statement of the theme of "Two
Kinds". The mother's attempt to change her daughter into a prodigy and the daughter's
resistance to such change represent a bittersweet relationship between mother and
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daughter and a sharp conflict
between two generations and two cultures.
3. The story "Two Kinds" employs the first-person narration. A story can be told from
the
first
or the third person. When the first person narrative is used, the story is told by "I". In
this story, the narrator, the daughter, is one of the main characters of the story. The
whole story is narrated by the daughter. Though the narrator remains the same, the
point of view may change. Most of the story is narrated from the point of view of the
daughter as a little girl and the last part is from the point of view of the same daughter
when she has grown up. We readers should distinguish between the first person
narrator "I" and the author who wrote the story. In other words, the fictional 'I' and the
real-life author are not the same person, though in an autobiographical or semi
autobiographical novel or story, many events that "I' experience are based on the
author's own life experiences. Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club has autobiographical
elements in it, and for such a novel the first person narrative is more effective than the
third-person narrative. As the first-person narrator is part of the story, she/he can
move freely within the fictional world and approach other fictional characters. The
first person narrator addresses the reader directly. The immediate and compelling
quality of the first-person narration enables the author to capture the moment as if
it were taking place this very instant and right here. The first person is either a
participant or an eyewitness of the events. So there is authority in the first-person
narration The first person narration can also allow the reader to enter the mind of the
narrator. The narrator tells us what happens in the physical world as well as in
his/her mental world. When we read the following passage, we not only follow the
events, the external occurrences, but we are also able to perceive what is going on in
the mind of the narrator, the internal progress of the girl as a character. However,
the first-person narration has its restrictions. It is tightly controlled and limited in its
access to information. It can only tell us what the narrator sees and knows. It cannot
let the readers enter the minds of other characters. So the first-person narration is
inevitably limited and may even be biased in terms of perspectives and observations.
4. The main characters in this story are the daughter by the name of Jing mei (her
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English name
is June) and her mother (Suyuan, its meaning in Chinese is 宿愿).
There are some minor
characters including the girl's father, Soyuan's friend, Lindo,
the latter's daughter, Waverly and the piano teacher, Old Chong. The characters,
especially the main ones, are an important element of a story. Every story has a plot
and characters. As events inevitably involve people, it is impossible to discuss plot in
isolation from character. Character and plot are intimately related. In "The Art of
Fiction" Henry James asks, "What is character but the determination of incident?
What is incident but the illustration of character?" The major, or central, character of
the plot is the protagonist 主角 his opponent, the character against whom the
protagonist struggles or contends, is the antagonist. The protagonist is the essential
character without whom there would be no plot in the first place. It is the
protagonist's fate on which the attention of the reader is focused. The terms
protagonist and antagonist do not imply a judgment about either's moral worth. Many
protagonists and antagonists embody a complex mixture of both positive and negative
qualities. In our story, if the daughter is the protagonist then the mother is the
antagonist, and our job is to try to understand both of them rather than judge them
and say who is right or who is wrong. There are several
character
characterization---characterization
characterization
through
appearance;
through
methods of revealing
the
characterization
use
through
of
names;
dialogue;
characterization through action. A well-portrayed character should be what we call
dynamic or round, not static or flat.
A dynamic or round character, with richness in
personality, grows or develops in the progress of the story while a static, or flat, one
stays unchanged, more or less the same throughout the story. It is useful to bear this
point in mind when we examine our main characters as we read along.
5. Now let's have a close reading of "Two Kinds". The author divides the story into
three
parts: Part One containing Paragraphs 1 to 3 is the beginning of the story;
Part Two containing Paragraphs 4 to 76 is the middle; Part Three with Paragraphs 77
To 93 is the end of the story. Part Two can be further divided into several subsections.
Shirley Jane Temple
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Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928), later known as Shirley Temple Black, is an
American film actress and diplomat who is considered by many to be the most famous
child actress in history.
Born in humble origins in Santa Monica, California, one of her
first film roles was in Bright Eyes, for which she won a special
Academy Award. It was in that film that she sang "On the Good
Ship Lollipop"; though she often sang in her films, that was
probably her most famous song. She subsequently starred in
many films including Heidi, Poor Little Rich Girl, Dimples,
The Little Colonel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Curly Top. By the mid-1930s
she was the biggest box-office attraction in motion pictures, and the success of her
films may have saved more than one major studio from bankruptcy during the Great
Depression.
The role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, played by Judy Garland, was originally
intended for her. She also appeared at the 1998 Academy Awards.
Temple retired from film acting in her early twenties after appearing in such
successful films such as Since You Went Away, Fort Apache, and The Bachelor and
the Bobby-Soxer. Later appearances on television did not prove as popular as her
films.
Temple was married first to actor John Agar; she was then 17 and though they had one
daughter, the marriage soon ended in divorce. She married the California businessman
Charles Alden Black in 1950; they had two children. She may have looked favorably
on his admission while dating that he had never seen any of her films.
She subsequently became involved in Republican Party politics under her married
name, unsuccessfully entering a Congressional race in 1967. She went on to hold
several diplomatic posts, representing the United States in the United Nations in
1969-70 and as America's delegate to many international conferences and summits.
She was also appointed American ambassador to Ghana (1974-1976) and
Czechoslovakia (1989). In 1976, she became the first female Chief of Protocol of the
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United States which put in her charge of all State Department ceremonies, visits, gifts
to foreign leaders and co-ordination of protocol issues with all US embassies and
consultates. She also served on the board of directors of some large enterprises
including Disney, Del Monte, Bancal Tri-State and Fireman's Fund Insurance. She
received Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.
Her non-profit board appointments included the Institute for International Studies at
Stanford University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American
Ambassadors, and the World Affairs Council, the United States Commission for
UNESCO, the National Committee on U.S. - China Relations, the United Nations
Association and the U.S. Citizen's Space TaskForce.
Mrs. Black received honorary doctorates from Santa Clara University and Lehigh
University, a Fellowship from College of Notre Dame, and a Chubb Fellowship from
Yale University.
Part Two: Detailed study of the text (in five periods)
In this part, the teacher finishes the explanation of words, sentences, grammar in six
periods.
Approaches used in this part:
1 Raising questions to make the students think differently;
2 Explaining some points;
3 Discussing some topics in pairs or with the teacher
4 Communicating with the students by repeating some words, some sentences or
some explanations.
5 Asking volunteers to read each paragraph or asking
them to read together.
6 Asking them to summarize the main idea in each paragraph and in each section
separately
7 Asking them to seek some transitional paragraphs or sentences
8 Asking them to analyze the rhetorical speeches used in some sentences and master
the skills used in organizing the ideas.
9 Asking them to paraphrase as many sentences as possible
10 Making them pay attention to the special usages of some common words
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Key points in this part
Part l (Paras. 1-- 3)
6. The beginning part of the story, Paragraphs 1 to 3, provides the reader with some
background information. It tells about the mother and her hopes for her daughter. This
paves the way for the development of the conflict between the daughter and the
mother. These paragraphs show that the mother was very optimistic about the future,
and in fact she was rather ambitious for her daughter. From these paragraphs we can
deduce the reasons why the mother placed extraordinarily high hopes on the daughter.
First, she believed one could be anything one wanted to be in America. Whether she
was aware of it or not, she was influenced by and believed in the "American Dream".
Secondly, she was competing with her best friend Lindo, who had a smart daughter.
Thirdly, she had lost everything in China and had come to America with the
determination to make things better. She was transferring her own hopes to her
daughter.
7. You could buy a house with almost no money down.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence, You could buy a house without any down
payment
(首付), that is, completely on loan.
(2) Here the word "down" is an adverb, meaning "in cash or when bought'(现款), e.
g. You
can pay five dollars down and the remainder in installments.
8. "Of course you can be prodigy, too."
(1) The mother's English was not accurate in grammar, and here she dropped
the article "a"
before the countable noun "prodigy". Later we will find that she made all
kinds of
grammatical mistakes.
(2) prodigy: a young person who is extremely clever or good at doing
something, e.g.
Mozart was a prodigy.
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9. "You can be best anything'：To be grammatically correct, one should say: "You can
be the
best in anything. '
10. Auntie Lindo: One of the four women of the Joy Luck Club.
11. She is only best tricky: She is only good at being tricky（Given to or
characterized by trickery.
诡计多端的行骗术的，会耍花招的 See: sly）.
12. her family home: Why family home? Is the word "family" redundant? No. In
China, a family
home is one where a big, extended family with three or more generations live
together.
Part II (Paras. 4--76)
Subsection (Paras. 4-11)
13. Paragraphs 4 to 1l form the first subsection of the body of the story. This part is
about the
mother's unsuccessful attempt to change her daughter into a
Chinese Shirley Temple. In the
beginning the child was as excited as the
mother about becoming a prodigy. At this point, the conflict between mother and
daughter was not visible.
14. Shirley Temple: See Note 2 to the text.
15. tapping her feet: Here she was doing a tap dance 踢踏舞, a dance performed with
sharp, loud taps of the foot, toe, or heel at each step.
16. "You already know how. Don't need talent for crying": This is a remark of
reproach said in
tone of sarcasm. The mother indicated that the daughter
cried too much.
17. a beauty training school: 美容培训班
18. the Mission district: A district in San Francisco, it has been primarily a Hispanic
neighborhood for decades, where interesting restaurants, bars and specialty shops
are often
frequented by tourists,
19. Instead of getting big fat curls… an uneven mass of crinkly 绉褶多的 black fuzz
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茸毛.
(1) Shirley Temple had blond hair in big fat curls. But after the hair was done,
the narrator
looked very different from what they had hoped.
(2) an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz: 一团乱蓬蓬的黑色小卷毛
(3) crinkle: full of wrinkles, twists and ripples
(4) fuzz: thin, soft hair
我的头发没有做出我要的大卷花，而是给我弄成一头乱蓬蓬的黑色小卷
毛。1
20. "You look like Negro Chinese": She was thinking of stereotypes: White girls
have blond
curly hair, Chinese girls have black straight hair, and black girls have crinkly
fuzzy hair. 'To
the mother, the new hairstyle was even worse because the daughter now
looked like a Negro girl.
21. she lamented 遗憾, as if I had done this on purpose.
(1) lamented: To lament is to express annoyance or disappointment about
something you
think is unsatisfactory. The use of the word shows that the mother was
dissatisfied and
disappointed with the daughter. The word appears again later.
(2) as if I had done this on purpose: The girl felt that her mother blamed her for
this initial
failure. Later on we find that the mother and daughter often blamed each
other in their
intense relationship.
22. The instructor of the beauty school had to lop off these soggy clumps.
(1) lop off: to cut a part of something off, especially a branch of a tree
(2) soggy: unpleasantly wet and soft, e.g. The ground is soggy from the rain.
clump: a group of trees, bushes or other plants growing very close together.
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Here "lop
off" and "clumps" are used figuratively.
23. "Peter Pan is very popular these days": In making her hair smooth again, the girl
looked like
a boy, and so the instructor was comforting the mother and the girl by
mentioning Peter
Pan, whose hair was short, with a few straight-across bangs 刘海 above his
eyebrows.
24. In fact, in the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother. Her mother's attempt
to
change her into a prodigy roused in her many fanciful ideas and made her
quite excited.
25. I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for
size.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: I imagined myself as different types of
prodigy,
trying to find out which one suited me the best .( V.1)
(2) trying each one for size: to try something, especially clothing, to see if it is
the right size
for you.
26. a dainty 优美的 ballerina girl a small, pretty and delicate girl who dances in
ballets.
ballerina 芭蕾舞女: a woman who dances in ballets.
27. I was like the Christ child lifted out of the straw manger 马槽, crying with holy
indignity 轻蔑.
(l) For Christ child, see Note 4 to the text.
Manger: A trough or an open box in which feed for livestock is placed. 食槽用
于放置禽畜饲料的槽
(2) holy indignity: It's difficult to explain exactly what the author means here by
"holy
indignity". These words can be interpreted in different ways. In outdated
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English, the
word "indignity" means "indignation"义愤. So the sentence may mean that
Christ child cried with holy indignation when he was lifted from the straw
manger. Another way of explaining the sentence shows that the author is
being humorous here. Jesus Christ did everything with holy dignity 尊严,
such as preaching and healing the sick. But when he was a newborn baby,
and when he was lifted out of the straw manger, he cried just like other
babies, without holy dignity, but with indignity. Yet, because he was the
holy Son of God, his indignity was holy, too.
28. I was Cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage: In the fairy tale Cinderella
was left
alone in the kitchen while her stepmother and the two stepsisters had gone off to
attend the
dancing party given by the king. She felt very sad. At this moment her fairy
godmother
appeared. She asked Cinderella to go into the garden and bring the largest
pumpkin she could
find. By magic the fairy godmother changed the pumpkin into a golden coach
lined with white satin. Cinderella went to the party in the carriage, and she was
the prettiest girl at the party. The king's young son danced with her the whole
night. In the end, the Prince and Cinderella were happily married.
Sparkly: a. Brilliant animation; vivacity.生气；活力
29. beyond reproach 无可指摘;完美无缺
reproach: blame, shame, disgrace, or a source, cause, or occasion of this
sulk: v. To be sullenly aloof or withdrawn, as in silent resentment or protest.
n. A mood or display of sullen aloofness or withdrawal:
stayed home in a sulk; a case of the sulks. 生气不高兴地疏远或退出，如沉默的
反抗或对抗 When we told her she couldn't go with us, she went and sulked in
her room.
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当我们告诉她, 她不能和我们一起去时，她回房间里生闷气了。
Subsection 2 (Paras. 12--20)
30. Paragraphs 12 to 20 form the second subsection of Part Two of the story. In this
part we
learn that the mother was trying very hard to train her daughter to be a genius. As
the tests
got more and more difficult, the daughter lost heart. She said, "... something
inside of me
began to die. I hate the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations." She
decided that she
would not let her mother change her. This change of attitudes would lead to the
gradual
development of the conflict.
31. Ripley's Believe It or Not: Robert L. Ripley (1890-- 1949) was a famous
American
cartoonist. He sold his first drawing to Life magazine when he was
only 14. In 1918 he
and
later
created his first collection entitled Champs and Chumps,
changed
to
Believe
It
or
Not. All his life he was interested in the odd and the outlandish 外国气派的. He
traveled all over the world and visited several Asian countries. He was
particularly impressed by China. After coming back to the States he sometimes
dressed himself in traditional Chinese dresses and often signed his name as Rip Li.
His "Believe It or Not" syndication 企业联合组织 was carried by over 300
newspapers in 33 countries with an estimated readership of 80 million. He gave
lectures and also ran radio and TV shows.
32. Good Housekeeping: The magazine first appeared on May 2, 1885, offering
readers tips for
running a home as well as stories and articles. It became
extraordinarily popular. In 1966 its
readers numbered 5.5 million. Today Good Housekeeping contains articles about
home, food, fitness, beauty, health and family.
33. Reader's Digest: A best selling general interest magazine with a large circulation
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published in
a dozen of languages, it contains articles, short stories and sections from books
with a variety
of topics that appeal to the great masses of ordinary readers.
34. My mother got these magazines from people whose houses she cleaned…
assortment: From
this we can see that the family was not well off. The mother had to clean many
houses each
week to help support the family.
assortment; A collection of various kinds; a variety. 一批品种多样的收藏
35. Nairobi 奈洛比：capital of Kenya, Africa, far away from Finland 肯尼亚非洲中
东部国家
36.Helsinki 赫尔辛基: capital of Finland 在她告诉我答案之前，她对了对手中的杂
志，看看赫尔辛基是否能这样发音。2
37.multiplying numbers in my head： 心算乘法
38. finding the queen of hearts in a deck of cards：
(1) Put this into Chinese：在一副纸牌中找出红桃皇后来
(2) hearts: suit of playing cards marked with heart figures in red. A deck of
cards is a set of
playing cards; pack. Playing cards are arranged in decks of four suits:
spades, hearts,
diamonds, and clubs, with a total number of 52.
39. to stand on my head without using my hand：不用手扶地的倒立
40. Now Jehoshaphat 约沙王 had riches and honor in abundance: This line is taken
from 2 Chronicles of the Old Testament. Second Chronicles(旧约圣经)历代记
recount the reign of King Solomon, the revolt of the northern tribes, the kings of
Judah and the fall of Jerusalem The original passage is quite complicated with
difficult names. No wonder that the girl couldn't remember much from her reading.
Chapter 17 of 2 Chronicles says, "And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and
strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of
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Judah, and set garrisons 驻军 in the land of Judah, and in the cities of E'phrim,
which Asa his father had taken And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he
walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Ba'alim; But sought
to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments 戒律, and not after
the doings of lsrael. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand and all
Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.
0Abundance: 'A great or plentiful amount. Carpets are available in abundance. 地毯
货源充足。
The tree yields an abundance of fruit.这树结果甚多。
He wished to have money in abundance.他希望富有。
41. something inside of me began to die: Compare what the girl said in Paragraph 9,
"In fact, in
the beginning, I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. ' It was
natural for
a child to become excited when he or she is told he/she can be a prodigy. As the
tests got
harder and harder, the girl lost interest and confidence. Seeing
how disappointed her mother
was with her performances, she knew that
she was not a genius, not a prodigy. This indicates an important change in the girl.
42. I hate the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations.
(1) Why did the girl hate the tests? The girl hated the tests because they represented
hopes
that had been raised so high that failure to meet the expectations was inevitable.
(2) Put this part into Chinese: 我恨那些测试，那些过高的希望和达不到的期盼。
A.2
43. I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face... I
began to
cry: When the girl looked in the mirror, she expected to see a pretty face or she
wished that
some magic would make her face prettier. When she only saw her face in the mirror
and
16
realized that face would not change, she was so sad and disappointed that she was
trying to
scratch out the face in the mirror. We are not sure whether the author is alluding to
暗指 the
fairytale "Snow White", but we are reminded of that fairytale. Once, the Queen,
Snow White's stepmother, looked in the mirror, asking: "Mirror, mirror upon the
wall, who is the fairest of all?" The mirror answered: "You, O Queen, are the fairest
of all.' When Snow White grew up she became a beautiful girl. When the Queen
asked the same question, the answer was somewhat different: "You, Lady Queen,
though fair you are, Snow White is fairer far to see."
44. like a crazed animal: crazed: (adj.) behaving in a wild and uncontrolled way
45. Paragraph 19:
(1) What did the girl see in the mirror?
She looked at her reflection and saw an angry and powerful girl. She felt that
the true
prodigy side of her was a strong character and an independent mind.
Blink: To close and open one or both of the eyes rapidly.
(2) What new thoughts did she have now? What did she decide to do?
She had new thoughts which were filled with a strong spirit of disobedience,
rebellion
She decided not to cooperate with her mother's plans. (V.2)
(3) willful: continuing to do what you want, even after you have been told to stop
(4) lots of won'ts: When you disobey an order, you say, "I won't do it. ' So lots of
won'ts
represent disobedience and rebellion.
46.I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won't be what I'm not: The girl was
asserting her self-identity. This idea of "I'm what I'm. I'll always be myself" reflects an
aspect of American individualism which is the most important part of American value.
Growing up in America, the girl was inevitably influenced by this value. Obviously
this notion of individualism is not in conformity with the traditional Chinese family
17
education, which emphasizes the principle that the children should listen to their
parents. After the girl made up her mind to resist change, the conflict between mother
and daughter escalated 使逐步上升.
Listless: Lacking energy or disinclined to exert effort; lethargic:
reacted to the latest crisis with listless resignation. 倦怠的, 冷漠的，情绪低落的
prop v. To support by placing something beneath or against; shore up. 把…靠着；使
保持在某一位置上 He propped his bicycle against the fence. 他把自行车靠着篱笆
放好。
Prop the gate open with something.用什么东西支着大门让它开着吧。
n. One that serves as a support or stay: 后盾，靠山作为支柱或靠山的人：my
children, my props in old age.我的孩子们是我暮年的靠山
47. I got so bored I started counting the bellows of the foghorns 浓雾信号 out on the
bay.., other areas.
(1) bellow: a deep hollow sound
(2) foghorn: a horn on a ship or a lighthouse sounded as a warning during a fog
(3) on the bay: on the San Francisco Bay
(4) drill: to teach someone by making them repeat something many times, e.g. She
was
drilling the class in the forms of the past tense.
(5)other areas: The word“areas’is used because the bay was an area the girl’s
attention
was focused on
48．The sound was comforting and reminded me of the cow jumping over the
moon：The bellows of the foghorns on the bay had a quality that could rouse the
child’s imagination.
The sound reminded her of the nursery rhyme about the cow
jumping over the moon．
The complete rhyme goes like this：
“Hey，diddle，diddle，
The cat and the fiddle，
The cow jumped over the moon．
18
The 1ittle dog laughed，
To see such sport，
And the dish ran away with the spoon．”
49．
Give up on me:
to stop hoping that someone will change，do something，
ate．Etc.． She has been in a coma 昏迷 for six weeks，but doctors have not given
up on her
Subsection3 (Paras．21——28)
50．Paragraphs 21 to28 form the third subsection Part Two． While watching a
Chinese girl
playing the piano on an Ed Sullivan Show，a new idea flashed into the mother's
head．With
the new plan introduced, the conflict would develop further．
51．The Ed Sullivan Show：See Note 5 to the text．
52．Shorting out：短路
53．Paragraph 2l is one of the fine examples showing how the author uses simple but
vivid，
expressive language in her depiction. When the sound of the TV set shorted out，
the mother
would get up from her seat to adjust the set．The action was repeated so many
times that in
the eyes of the child“was like a dance between her mother and the TV set．In her
depiction，
the author uses simple and small words like“up and down，back and forth，quiet
and loud..．
54．It was like astiff“embraceless dance between her and the TV set：她和电视机好
像上演了一段舞蹈，二者不相拥抱，动作僵硬。
55．Sound dia1：a piece of equipment of an old-fashioned radio or TV set that you
turn to adjust
the volume of the sound
19
56．She seemed entranced by the music．．．playful parts．
(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese:她似乎被这音乐吸引住了。这钢琴曲不
长，但有点狂乱，有着迷人的特点，乐曲一开始是快节奏的．接着是欢快跳动的
节拍，然后又回到嬉戏的部分。3
(2)entranced：very interested in and pleased with something so that you pay a lot
of
attention to it, e.g. He was entranced by the sweetness of her voice．
Frenzy: n. A state of violent mental agitation or wild excitement.
v. To drive into a frenzy. a frenzy of enthusiasm 狂热
In a frenzy of hate he killed his enemy and revenged his father.
"在恨之入骨的冲动下,他把仇人杀了,为他父亲报了仇。
(3)mesmerizing 施催眠术：to mesmerize means to make someone feel that they
must watch or listen to something or someone，because they are so interested
init or attracted by it，e.g. He was mesmerized by her charm and beauty．
(4)1ilting 轻快活泼的调子, 轻快的动作：with a pleasant pattern of rising and
falling sound in music or voice
(5)pound: To strike repeatedly and forcefully.
57．The girl had the sauciness of a Shirley Temple．
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: The girl was Shirley Temple-like, slightly
rude but
in an amusing way. (V. 3)
(2) sauciness 灵活; 愉快; 活泼, 傲慢, 鲁莽: impertinence; rudeness in an amusing
way
(3) a Shirley Temple: of the Shirley Temple type
58. She was proudly modest like a proper Chinese girl: A proper Chinese girl was
supposed to be
modest. Knowing this, the girl tried to look modest, but actually she was proud.
59.And she also did this fancy sweep of a curtsy 屈膝礼: Like Shirley Temple, she did
20
her curtsy with a fancy sweep (花哨潇洒的屈膝礼).
60. the fluffy 蓬松的 shirt of her white dress cascaded 成瀑布落下 slowly.., a large
carnation 康乃馨。
Petal: [ petl ]n.花瓣
Put this into Chinese: 她那白色蓬松的裙子慢慢地垂落到地上，好似一大朵康乃
馨。
61.In spite of these warning signs, I wasn't worried.
What were the warning signs?
The girl had so many similarities with the narrator that she should have known what
her mother was thinking about: If that Chinese girl could be a Shirley Temple-like
prodigy, why not her own daughter? Watching that girl's performance, the mother had
a new idea-- to make her daughter learn the piano. The narrator saw those warning
signs, but she was not worried. The reason is explained in the following sentences.
62. reams of sheet music: a large amount of music printed on single sheets and not
fastened
together inside a cover, reams: (pl.) (informal) a large amount of writing on paper,e,
g.
He showed me reams of notes he had taken
63. So I could be generous in my comments when my mother badmouthed the little
girl.
(1) Why could the girl be generous in her comments?
As she knew she would not be competing with this girl, she was not jealous of
her and so
she could say nice things about the girl's performance when her mother
criticized the
girl.
(2) had-mouth: (informal, especially in American English) to find fault with, to
criticize
or disparage 贬损, e.g. His former colleagues accused him of badmouthing them
in public.
21
64. "Play note right, but doesn't sound good! No singing sound": We can see that
although the
mother did not speak grammatically correct English, she was able to express herself
sufficiently. It's clear what she meant is that the girl played the notes right but failed
to bring out the melody of that piece.
65. picking on her: To pick on someone means to blame someone for something,
especially
unfairly, e.g. Why does the boss always pick on me?
66. I knew almost immediately I would be sorry I said that: I knew immediately I had
invited
criticism by saying that.
Huff: n. A fit of anger or annoyance; a pique: 激怒一阵恼怒或烦恼；生气：stormed
off in a huff.
大发雷霆
encore: An additional performance in response to the demand of an audience. 安可节
目观众要求而加演的节目
67. Grieg: See Note 6 to the text.
Subsection 4 (Paras. 29--46)
Paragraphs 29 to 46 form the fourth subsection of Part Two. It tells about how the girl
was made to learn the piano under the instructions of Old Chong. The girl hated the
piano lessons because she didn't want to be somebody she was not. The relationship
between mother and
daughter was getting more and more tense. When her
mother was using her in competing
with Auntie Lindo, she could not put up with
her mother any more, and she decided to put a
stop to "her foolish pride". What
was she going to do? That naturally arouses our expectation. With this anticipation,
we continue our reading into the next part.
69. My mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly lessons…. until six: My
mother
would do housecleaning for Mr. Chong. As a form of payment for her
services, she got free
weekly piano lessons and a piano for her daughter to
practice on every day, two hours a day
from four until six. At this stage, the
22
little girl was too young to appreciate the efforts and
sacrifice her mother made
for her.
70.whined: 抱怨, 牢骚, 哀鸣 I complained in a sad, annoying voice.
71. My mother slapped me: This tells us two things. First, the mother was rather
quick-
tempered. Secondly, we are reminded that she was a Chinese mother.
American parents would have hesitated to use physical punishment in dealing with
their children.
72. "Who ask you be genius? Only ask you be your best. For your sake. You think I
want you be
genius?": If we put this part into more accurate English, it should be: Who asks you to
be a genius? I only ask you to be at your best. For your sake. You think I want
you to be a genius?
73.
"So ungrateful":
relationship
This reflects an important Chinese value concerning the
between parents and children. The parents do everything they can
for their children and the
children are supposed to feel grateful to their
parents. The typical American idea is that since the parents have brought their
children into this world, they have obligations for their children, and so the children
do not have to feel that they owe anything to their parents.
74. I heard her mutter (To utter or say in low, indistinct tones.) in Chinese: Note that
when the mother communicated with her daughter, sometimes she spoke English and
sometimes Chinese. She switched to Chinese perhaps when the notions were so
typically Chinese that it was easier for her to express them in her mother tongue or
when she found that what she wanted to say was too difficult for her to put across in
English.
75. "If she had as much talent as she has temper, she would be famous now":如果她
的才气和脾气一样大的话，她早就出名了。4
76. tapping his fingers to the silent music of an invisible orchestra (A large group of
musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including strings,
woodwinds, brass instruments, and percussion instruments.管弦乐团用各种乐器一
23
起演奏的一群音乐家，通常乐器包括弦乐、木管乐器、铜管乐器及打击乐器): 用
手指随着一支无形乐团的无声音乐打着拍子:
77. "Like Beethoven... We're both listening in our head": The world famous German
composer
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770--1827) began to lose his hearing when he was only
28 and his .
2nd symphony was not yet finished. This was a terrible disaster for the young
musician,
Public performance eventually became impossible, but he never
stopped composing. At first
he could not bear to let anyone, even his best friends, know of his tragedy. In a
letter he
wrote to his brother about his deafness in 1802, he said: "What humiliation when
anyone
standing beside me could hear a distant flute that I could not hear, or a shepherd
singing,
and I could not distinguish a sound! Such circumstances brought me to the brink
of despair
and almost made me put an end to my life: nothing but my art held my hand."
The disease
worsened, and he became completely deaf in 1807. In spite of his deafness,
Beethoven went
on working with all his strength, though he was never able to hear most of his
own finest music.
Frantic: Highly excited with strong emotion or frustration; frenzied: frantic with
worry. Characterized by rapid and disordered or nervous activity: made a frantic
last-minute search for the lost key. be in a frantic hurry 急如星火 be frantic with
pain 痛得发狂, 剧痛
Sonata: A composition for one to four instruments, one of which is usually a keyboard
instrument, usually consisting of three or four independent movements varying in
key, mood, and tempo.
24
奏鸣曲由一种到四种乐器演奏的乐曲，其中一种通常为键盘乐器，通常由三个
或四个独立的乐章构成，这些乐章在调、调式及速度上各不相同
78."Key! Treble! Bass! No sharps or fiats": Please refer to Words and Expressions
7,8 and 9.
Sharps: Raised in pitch by a semitone. 升半音的在音调上升高半音的
Flats: Being one half step lower than the corresponding natural key: 降半音的比相
应的正常调低半个音阶的：the key of B flat.降 B 调
79.an old, unreachable itch: The word "itch" has two meanings. An itch is an
uncomfortable
feeling on your skin that makes you want to rub it with your nails. Informally it
means figuratively a strong desire to do or have something. suffer from the itch0 发
痒; 长疥疮 have an itch for knowledge 渴望知识 vi.发痒;渴望 I itch all over.我浑
身发痒。Mosquito bites itch.蚊叮处发痒。He was itching for the curtain to rise.
他巴不得马上开演 vt.使发痒使烦扰, 使不悦 This wool shirt itches my back.这件
羊毛衫使我背上发痒。His remarks itched me.他的话使我不痛快。
Garbage can 垃圾箱; 垃圾桶
.80. keep time: to play a piece of music using the right rhythm and speed 保持正确的
节奏
There are other phrases about music with the word "time" in them. Let's have a few
examples:
He went through the motions in half time（球赛的）半场.
go through the motions: To do something in a mechanical manner indicative of a lack
of interest or involvement. 做…姿态机械地做某事，显示出缺乏兴趣或投入
She began moving her body in time to the music.
While his friends were singing, he beat time 打拍子 for them.
The girl was playing the piano for him, but he was always out of time with her.
81.He balanced pennies on top of my wrists; This is a common method piano
teachers use to
train their students: The players' fingers dance on the keyboard but their wrists
should not
25
move up and down but be kept still.
Arpeggio: The playing of the tones of a chord in rapid succession rather than
simultaneously.
琶音;快速连续而非同时地演奏弦乐器的乐音
82. He marched stiffly to show me how to make each finger dance.
(1) Here Old Chong was demonstrating to the girl how to play staccato.
(2) staccato 断奏, 断唱: (adv.) When music is played staccato, the notes are cut
short and do not flow smoothly. He was comparing playing staccato to marching
stiffly like an obedient little
soldier.
83. conducting his own private reverie 幻想: He was conducting the invisible
orchestra 管弦乐队 created by his imagination.
reverie: dreamy thinking, imagining of especially agreeable things; fanciful musing；
daydreaming
84.. I learned to play only the most earsplitting 震耳欲聋的 preludes, the most
discordant 不悦耳的 hymns; This is a metaphor, comparing her noncooperative
attitude to learning to play discordant music.
"Ear-splitting" and "discordant" are used figuratively,0 meaning that she tried her
best to be
as disagreeable as possible in dealing with her mother.
85. Over the next year, I practiced like this, dutifully in my own way: If you say that
you do something dutifully, you do what you are expected and behave in a loyal and
an obedient way, with a sense of duty. Here by adding "in my own way", the girl
meant that she practiced like that not according to her mother's expectation but to her
own plans.
86.. after church: After church service on Sunday. At the very beginning of the novel,
Jing mei
told the story about how her mother and the other three Chinese ladies met in the First
Chinese Baptist 浸信会教友 Church: My mother started the San Francisco version of
the Joy Luck Club in 1949, two years before I was born. This was the year my mother
26
and father left China with one stiff leather trunk filled only with fancy silk dresses.
There was no time to pack anything else, my mother had explained to my father after
they boarded the boat. Still his hands swam frantically between the slippery silks,
looking for his cotton shirts and wool pants.
When they arrived in San Francisco, my father made her hide those shiny clothes.
She wore the same brown-checked Chinese dress until the Refugee Welcome Society
gave her two hand- me-down dresses 旧衣服, all too large in sizes for American
women The society was composed of a group of white haired American missionary
ladies from the First Chinese Baptist Church. And because of their gifts, my parents
could not refuse their invitation to join the church. Nor could they ignore the old
ladies' practical advice to improve their English through Bible study class on
Wednesday nights and, later, through choir practice on Saturday mornings. This was
how my parents met the Hsus (Humane Society of United States 美国仁慈协会), the
Jongs, and the St. Claris. My mother could sense that the women of these families
also had unspeakable
tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes
they couldn't begin to express in their fragile
English. Or at least, my
mother recognized the numbness 麻木, 麻痹不仁 in these women's faces. And she
saw how quickly their eyes moved when she told them her idea for the Joy Luck
Club.
87. We had grown up together and shared all the closeness.., and dolls.
(1) The two girls had grown up together, like sisters they often quarreled over
crayons 有色的粉笔,蜡笔 and dolls.
(2) squabble (over/about) = to quarrel continuously about something unimportant:
争吵卷入一场不愉快的争吵，通常由琐事引起；口角 The kids are still
squabbling about whose turn it is to wash the dishes.
88. In other words, for the most part, we hated each other: In other words, we hated
each other
most of the time. Their behavior is similar to sibling rivalry 同胞抗争. Sibling
rivalry is competition between brothers and sisters for their parents' attention or love.
Although there is sibling rivalry in all cultures, it may be more common in American
27
families than in Chinese families because of different family education and family
values. In American families, every child is led to think he/she is the best. They are
encouraged to compete for everything from an early age on. If we compare the
relationships among sisters and brothers in Chinese and American
families, we can
find some differences. In Chinese families, elder sisters and brothers are
told to
look after their younger sisters and brothers. In return, younger sisters and brothers
are supposed to show respect for the older ones. In American families, more stress is
put on
individual rights and equality than on relations in which the older and the
younger siblings
have different roles to play.
Snotty: arrogant.无礼的；傲慢的
89. "Chinatown's Littlest Chinese Chess Champion": A headline in a newspaper or
magazine.
Note the alliteration used here. Alliteration and puns are often used
in newspaper headlines
in order to catch readers' attention. In the novel there is
a part told by Waverly. She learned
to play chess at an early age. By her ninth
birthday, she was a national chess champion.
Although she was still some 429
points away from grand-master status, she was touted 吹捧 as
the Great
American Hope, a child prodigy. A photo of hers appeared in Life magazine.
90. "She bring home too many trophy 奖品," lamented Auntie Lindo... "All day I..
dust off her
winnings."
(1) Like Jing-mei's mother, Auntie Lindo also spoke inaccurate English. In more
accurate
English, it should be: She brings home too many trophies. All
day she plays chess. All
day I have no time to do anything else but
clean and dust off her trophies.
(2) Note the use of words and expressions like "lamented" and "threw a scolding
look",
Auntie Lindo was very pleased with and proud of her daughter and wanted to
brag about
her to her best friend. But she knew that was against Chinese modesty. So, like
a
proper Chinese mother, she had to hide her pride and pretend to be
modest and
complaining about her daughter. She was praising her
28
daughter in an indirect way.
(3) winnings: (pl.) something won, especially money
91. "You lucky you don't have this problem": You are lucky that you don't have so
many
trophies to dust off. The tone was ironic, implying that your daughter didn't bring
home any
trophy.
92. And my mother squared her shoulders and bragged.., this natural talent.
(1) Jing-mei's mother knew her friend too well to miss the ironic tone in her remark.
She
was determined to respond to her friend's challenge.
(2) What she meant to say is our problem is worse than yours. If we ask Jing mei to
wash
dishes, she hears nothing but music. It's like you can't stop this natural talent.
(3) squared her shoulders: to push back shoulders with back straight, usually to show
determination
(4) From the above conversation we can see the two mothers' behavior was typically
Chinese. Under the same circumstances, an American parent would simply say:
"My
daughter is great! I'm proud of her!"
93. Jing-mei hated being compared to Waverly. She knew what her mother said was
not true and
that it was nothing but foolish pride that made her say so. Therefore, she was
determined to
put a stop to this.
Subsection 5 (Paras. 47~60)
Paragraphs 47 to 60 form the fifth subsection of the middle of the story. Jin~mei was
to
perform in a talent show 业余歌手演唱会 held in the church. This was a good
opportunity for parents to show off their talented children to their friends. Jing mei
29
started all right and soon made a mess of her performance. Undoubtedly this was a
heavy blow to her mother. The girl expected angry accusations from her mother. To
her surprise as well as disappointment, nothing happened when they got home. As
readers we can't help wondering what this silence means. We feel that a storm is
imminent 即将来临. If we think of the story in terms of the five stages mentioned in
Note 1 of the detailed study, then our guess is that the crisis, or the climax, of the
story is about to come.
95.Old Chong and my mother conspired 共谋 to have me play.., in the church hall.
(1) The word "conspired" reveals the narrator's relationship with her mother: They
were
opponents of the sharp conflict, conspire: to plan something harmful or illegal
together
secretly,e, g. He had conspired with an accomplice 帮凶 to rob the bank.
(2) a talent show: A talent show/contest is a competition in which people show how
well
they can sing, dance, tell jokes, etc. 才艺表演
96. Wurlitzer spinet 小型立式钢琴: Rudolph Wurlitzer was a German immigrant
and the founder of a company in Ohio, the USA, which makes and sells musical
instruments. In 1880 the first Wurlitzer piano was built in the USA.
97.It was the showpiece of our living room:这是我家起居室的唯一摆设 A.4
98. I was to play a piece called "Pleading Child" from Schumann's Scenes from
Childhood.
(1) For Robert Schumann, see Note 7 to the text.
the
Here is more information about
composer and his work. Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and
music critic, a
representative and leader of the romantic school. Among
Schumann's works are highly imaginative song cycles based on poems by Heine,
Goethe, and others, four symphonies, one piano concerto 协奏曲 and many sets of
piano pieces with titles such as Papillons (Butterflies), Carnoval, Kinderszenen
(Scenes from Childhood), and Nachtstucke (Nightpieces). His best works exemplify
30
his infusion，引入 of classical forms with intense, personal emotion. His wife was a
fine pianist and a masterly interpreter of her husband's works. Schumann's last years
were darkened by mental illness. After a nervous breakdown he entered a sanitarium
疗养院, where he died two years later. His essays include "On Music and Musicians"
(2) Scenes from Childhood is a collection of 13 little pieces for piano published in
1839.
They are written in the simple form of episodes, and each of them is provided
with a
sharply distinguished melodic 调子美妙的 core. Each piece has a suggestive
title. The introductory piece is entitled "Of Foreign Countries and People",
and the last piece "The Poet Speaks". The others include "Suppliant 恳求的
Child" (also translated as "Pleading Child"), "Funny Story", "Child Fallen
Asleep", "Reverie", "Perfect Happiness"(also translated as "Perfectly
Contented"). This collection is one of Schumann's best-known short pieces,
loved by many and suitable for students of all levels. The author chooses
"Pleading Child" for the girl to play in the talent show 业余歌手演唱会
because the title suits the situation the girl was in at that time.
(3) plead: to ask for something you want very much in a sincere and emotional
way
(4) moody. adj. Given to frequent changes of mood; temperamental.易于频繁改
变脾气的；喜怒无常的 Subject to periods of depression; sulky.一段时期内郁闷的；
抑郁的
99. repeat part: 复奏复唱部分
100. I dawdled over it: To dawdle (over) means to take a long time to do something,
e.g. Don't
dawdle : we are late already!
101.The part I liked to practice best was the fancy curtsy.., and smile.
( 1 ) Translate the sentence into Chinese：我最喜欢练习的部分是花哨的谢幕行
礼动作, 先出右脚，脚尖点在地毯上的玫瑰图案上，身子侧摆，左腿弯曲，抬头，
31
微笑。5
(2) curtsy, a gesture of greeting, respect, etc. formerly made by girls and women
and
characterized by a bending of the knees and a slight lowering of the body
102. My parents invited all the couples from the Joy Luck Club... to witness my debut
初次登场。
(1) debut：a first appearance in public as of an actor
(2) We can hardly call the girl's performance in the talent show making her
debut.
Furthermore, the word "witness" is used, instead of a common word like
"watch".
Then we realize that the narrator used these formal words with a note of
irony to imply
that her parents, to be more exact, her mother, attached too much importance
to this
occasion out of their high hopes for their daughter. They
expected their daughter to
give a successful performance to
impress their friends. A talent show held by the
church was
mainly for entertainment, an opportunity for church members to get
together, not meant for serious competition. However, Jing-mei's mother was
using
this chance to show off her daughter and compete with her
friend Linde.
103. They recited simple nursery rhymes, squawked out tunes.., enthusiastically.
(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：他们背诵简单的童谣，用微型小提琴拉
出又响又粗的调子，跳呼拉圈舞。穿着粉色的芭蕾舞短裙蹦蹦跳跳。当他们鞠躬
行礼时观众同时发出
发出啊啊的赞叹，然后热烈地鼓掌。
(2) squawk 发出叫声, 诉苦, 抗议: to utter a loud, harsh cry, as a parrot or
chicken
(3)twirl: To rotate or revolve briskly; swing in a circle; spin: 转圈敏捷地旋转或转
32
动；转圈；旋转：twirled a baton to lead the band.转动指挥棒来指挥乐队
(4)hoop: A large wooden, plastic, or metal ring, especially one used as a plaything
or for trained animals to jump through. 环大的木制，塑料或金属圈，尤指用作玩具
或训练动物从中跳过
(5) prance 昂首阔步；腾跃, 欢跃,: to rise up on the hind legs in a lively way,
while moving along；said of a horse；to move about in a way suggestive of a prancing
horse
(6)tutus: A short skirt, often consisting of many layers of gathered sheer fabric,
worn by ballerinas. 芭蕾舞短裙芭蕾女演员穿的很短的有很多层的短裙
(7)unison: in unison: In complete agreement; harmonizing exactly.完全同意；完
全协调 At the same time; at once.在同一时刻；立刻
104. This is it: This is the chance for my prodigy side to come out.
105. I looked out over the audience, at my mother's blank face... Waverly's sulky
expression.
(1) Here the narrator saw four people with four different facial expressions. The
mother
had a blank face because her feelings at this moment were mixe& She had
high hopes
and expectations and she was nervous, too. Whatever she felt she must
hide her
feelings. The father yawned, showing he didn't care so much as the mother
and he was
bored by this children's activity. Auntie Liodo's stiff－lipped smile revealed
that she
tried to put on a polite smile but only succeeded in an awkward, unnatural
smile.
Obviously she was afraid that Suyuan's daughter's success might
overshadow her own
daughter. Waverly, being a child, failed to hide her unhappy feeling very
well.
33
(2) stiff-lipped smile= awkward, unnatural smile 尴尬、不自然的笑容
(3) sulky: showing annoyance, resentment, dissatisfaction
(4)layer: 垫片; 层(板); 条 a brick layer 砌砖者 a good layer 产蛋多的鸡 a layer
of clay 一层泥土 a layer cake 夹心蛋糕
106. As I sat down l envisioned people jumping to their feet.., on TV.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence： As I sat down at the piano, I imagined
that my
performance would be such a great success that everybody would jump to
their feet in
excitement and even FA Sullivan would be so impressed that he would rush
up to
introduce me on his TV program.
(2) envision: to imagine something not yet in existence; to picture in the mind
107. A chill (A sudden numbing fear or dread. 恐惧一种突然的、使人失去知觉的害
怕或恐惧)started at the top of my head.., switching to the right track.
Trickle: To flow or fall in drops or in a thin stream.滴、淌、小量地流动或落下
To move or proceed slowly or bit by bit:慢慢地或一点一点地移动或前进：The
audience trickled in.观众一个接一个地进来了
(l) Translate this part into Chinese：一股凉气从头顶开始，然后一点点传到全
身。但我却不能停止演奏，双手好像着了魔似的。我不停地想，我的手指会调整
好，就昂火车会被扳到正确的轨道上。6
(2) bewitch:
to get control over someone by putting a magic spell on them 对...
施妖术; 迷 [蛊]惑; (妖言)惑(众)令人陶醉[销魂]We were all bewitched by the
pretty dancer.我们都为那美貌舞蹈者所陶醉。
108. I played this strange jumble.., all the way to the end.
(t) jumble, an untidy mixture of things, e.g. These notes recorded a jumble of
thoughts
and feeling. A confused or disordered mass:混乱或杂乱的一堆：a jumble of
paper scraps in a drawer.抽屉里一堆杂乱的纸屑 A disordered state; a muddle: 一团
34
乱凌乱无序的状态，混乱状态，糟糕的局面：financial accounts in a jumble.混乱
的财务帐目
(2) sour notes： notes that are gratingly 使人急躁地 wrong or off pitch
109. Maybe I had just been nervous and the audience.., anything wrong at all= When
the
performance was over, the girl was hoping that she did not play that badly after
all. Maybe
she was just imagining that she had played terribly owing to nervousness and
that the
audience had not noticed any mistakes.
110. But then I saw my mother's stricken face.
(1) When I saw my mother's stricken face, I knew that was not mere illusion= I
really gave
an awful performance. Otherwise my mother's face would not be looking so
painful and
distressed.
(2) stricken: (formal) afflicted or affected by something painful or distressing；
very badly
affected by trouble, illness, etc.
Examples:
He had to live with a stricken conscience for the rest of his life.
Supplies of medicine were rushed to the flood stricken areas.
Panic-stricken crowds swarmed into the square.
A grief-stricken mother wrote this letter to the editor of the newspaper about
the
tragedy.
111. The audience clapped weakly: Compare this with the audience's response in
Paragraph 50.
After each performance given by the little children, the audience would sigh in
unison,
35
"Awww', and then clap enthusiastically. This shows that not only her mother but
also
everybody else, except the deaf Old Chong, noticed what a poor job she had done.
quiver: To shake with a slight, rapid, tremulous movement.See: shake
112. We could have escaped during intermission.., to their chairs.
(1) Express the meaning in your own words： We had a chance to leave the show
during
intermission, but we didn't. My parents remained firm in their seats
throughout the
show, probably out of pride and some strange sense of honor.
(2) intermission: an interval of time between periods of activity; pause, as between
acts of
play 间歇
(3) anchor: An anchor is a heavy object, usually a shaped iron weight, lowered by
cable or
chain to the bottom of a body of water to keep a vessel from drifting. To
anchor
something means to keep something from drifting or giving away, etc. by
or as by
anchor; to fasten something firmly so that it cannot move. 抛锚; 紧固; 紧
紧扣牢
The tiger anchor ed fast to its prey.这只老虎紧紧地抓住猎物不放。
113 .
juggled flaming hoops while riding a unicycle.
(1) juggle: to keep three or more objects moving through the air by throwing and
catching
them very quickly）耍杂耍 to juggle with balls 用球玩把戏 耍，弄 She
likes to juggle ideas. 她爱动脑筋。
(2) unicycle: a one-wheeled vehicle straddled by the rider who pushes its pedals
uni
z (prefix) one; having or consisting of one only (e. g. unicellular,
unisex)
36
Compare: bicycle, tricycle
114. The breasted girl with white makeup who sang from Madama Butterfly...
mention.
(1) breasted：Here are some phrases with the word "breast": bare-breasted, smallbreasted, large-breasted, etc.
(2) white makeup: The girl was singing an aria 独唱曲, 咏叹调, 唱腔 sung by
the Japanese geisha (艺妓) Cio-Cio" San in Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.
Cio-Cio-san falls in love with the American naval officer Pinkerton and is married to
him against her family's strong opposition.
Pinkerton returns to the USA with the fleet. When Cio-Cio-San comes to know that
her
husband has betrayed her and is married again to an American woman,
she takes her
own life. In the opera, as a Japanese geisha, Cic－Cio-San
wears heavy white makeup.
(3) honorable mention., a special honor in a competition for work that was of
high quality
but did not get a prize (没有进名次的)优秀奖
115. a tricky violin song: 技巧性很强的小提琴曲
tricky: requiring great skill or care
116.. Auntie Lindo said vaguely, smiling broadly: When the family friends came up to
Jing-mei's
parents after the show, they were supposed to say something nice about Jing-mei's
performance. However, the poor job Jing Mei had done made it hard for them to
make comments. What Auntie Lindo said was a general, ambiguous comment,
thus "vaguely". But her smile was broad and genuine, unlike the stiff-lipped smile
on her face before Jing Mei played, for now she felt relieved because her friend's
daughter had not able to outshine her own daughter.
Braid: To fasten or decorate (hair) with a band or ribbon. 加边用带子或丝带系上或
装饰（头发）
Punch: To hit with a sharp blow of the fist.
Subsection 6 (Paras. 61-- 76)
37
117. Paragraphs 61 to 76 form the last subsection of the middle part of the story. The
girl assumed that her failure at the show meant she would never have to play the piano.
Yet two days later her mother urged her to practice as usual. She refused and the
mother insisted. They had the most fierce quarrel they had ever had. This is the crisis
or climax of the story when the plot reaches a point of the greatest emotional intensity.
(1) devastate: To lay waste; destroy.变成废墟，荒芜；破坏 To overwhelm; confound;
stun:
推翻；挫败；打昏：was devastated by the rude remark.被粗鲁的言论搅昏了头
(2)gawker: 笨人; 腼腆的人 a gawk's errand; vi.徒劳;做笨拙的动作, 呆视 n.伸长脖
子呆看的人(3) hum: To emit the continuous droning sound of a bee on the wing;
buzz.
发嗡嗡声蜜蜂翅膀发出的持续的嗡嗡声；嗡嗡声
To give forth a low, continuous drone blended of many sounds: 发出嘈杂声发出各
种持续、低沉、混在一起的嗡嗡声：
The avenue hummed with traffic.大路上的车辆发出混杂的声音
(4)accusation: A charge of wrongdoing that is made against a person or other party.
118. I assumed my talent-show fiasco(A charge of wrongdoing that is made against a
person or other party.惨败)…, play the piano again: Since my talent show ended in a
ridiculous failure, I took it for granted that my mother had given up on me and would
not make me play the piano again.
Stun: To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow.使昏厥、不省人事，被或好
象被重击了一般 To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise.使震聋 To stupefy, as with
the emotional impact of an experience; astound. 使目瞪口呆使昏厥的一击；使吃惊
的举动
119. I wedged myself more tightly in front of the TV.
(1) I pushed myself more tightly in front of the TV (to show her reluctance to go
away for
the piano practice).
(2) A wedge is a piece of wood, mental, etc. that has one thick edge and one
pointed edge
38
and is used especially for keeping a door open or for splitting wood.
To wedge is to force something firmly into a narrow space. 挤入, 插入
wedge oneself into a crowd 挤在人群中间 be wedged (in) between two
persons 夹在两人当中 wedge a window to prevent it from rattling 用楔将窗
户塞紧, 使不作响 He wedged himself through the narrow window.他从狭窄
的窗户中挤了过去。
(3) budge: To move or stir slightly:（略为）挪动，微微移动：The child was stuck
tight and couldn't budge.这孩子被紧紧地卡住，动弹不得 To alter a position
or attitude:改变立场或态度：had made the decision and wouldn't budge.已经
决定了，不容更改
120. 1 wasn't her slave. This wasn't China: In her mind, a daughter was as obedient as
a slave in
China She regarded herself as an American and was determined not to be a
Chinese daughter. This shows that this mother-daughter conflict was not only
between two generations but also
between two cultures.
121. She was the stupid one：She was to blame for what happened at the talent show.
She was
the one who caused the ridiculous failure.
122. I saw her chest heaving up and down in an angry way.
(1) I saw her breathing hard in great anger.
(2) To heave means to swell up, bulge out; to rise and fall rhythmically; to make
strenuous 使劲的, 紧张的" spasmodic 痉挛的, 间歇性的 movements of the throat,
chest, or stomach in order to pant, breathe hard or gasp.
123. "No!" I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged: This
"No"
signifies disobedience and rebellion.
Her true self had finally emerged and she
found
strength in her true identity.
yank v.To pull on something suddenly. Jerk; n.A sudden vigorous pull; a jerk.
39
Snap: To open, close, or fit together with a click:发出吧嗒一声后打开，关上或合在
一起：
The lock snapped shut. The jacket snaps in front.锁吧嗒一声关上了。夹克猛地一声
在前面合上了
124. She was frighteningly strong: 她的力气大得吓人。
125. throw rug: American English for a scatter rug, a rug for covering only a limited
area
126. Only two kinds of daughters. Those who are obedient and those who to follow
their own
mind.., obedient daughter.
(1) Put this part into Chinese: 只有两种女儿：顺从的和自行其事的。这个家
里只能有
顺从听话的女儿。
(2) These words clearly reveal the mother's firm belief in parental authority.
Her
traditional Chinese views convinced her that daughters should listen to and
obey their
mothers' commands. She was aware that American daughters were not
obedient. She
wanted her daughter to have a Chinese character in the American
circumstances.
The meaning of the title "Two Kinds" is spelled out here: "Only two kinds of
daughters,"… "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only
one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!" This is important for
us to identify the central idea of the story, the theme of the story. We may try to
formulate in our own words a statement about human experience that the author is
trying to share with us readers through this work. Different readers may come up with
differently formulated statements, but they should express more or less the same
general meaning. Here is an example of a statement of the theme of "Two Kinds". The
mother's attempt to change her daughter into a prodigy and the daughter's resistance
40
to such change represent a bittersweet relationship between mother and daughter and
a sharp conflict between two generations and two cultures.
127. As I said these things I got scared: She got scared because she knew those were
terrible
things for a child to say to his/her parent. It means declaring that you have
decided to
disown your family.
128. It felt like worms and toads 蟾蜍 and slimy 粘糊糊的 things crawling.., had
surfaced, at last.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence and tell why the narrator felt this way:
When I said
those words, I felt that some very nasty thoughts had got out of my chest,
and so I felt
scared. But at the same time I felt good and relieved, because those nasty
things had
been suppressed in my heart for a long time and now they had got out at
last.(V.4)
(2) Here the author uses a simile to describe her feeling vividly. Worms and
toads are
among things that a child is likely to associate with nasty feelings. This is
one of the
examples that show how the author uses a child's point of view
successfully. Other
examples are found in her earlier references to Peter Pan, Cinderella,
and the nursery
rhyme of the cow jumping over the moon
(3) slimy: covered with a thick slippery substance that looks or smells
unpleasant
129. "Too late change this": It's too late to change this. I will always be your mother
and you
41
will always be my daughter.
shrilly 尖锐地, 刺耳地
130. And I could sense her anger rising to its breaking point.., it spill over.
(1) This means: I could feel that her anger had reached the point where her
self-contro1
collapsed, and I wanted to see what my mother would do when she lost
complete
control of herself.(V. 5)
(2) breaking point: the point at which one's endurance, self-control, etc.
collapses under
trial
(3) spill: To cause to fall:使…跌下：The rider was spilled by his horse.骑手被
马掀翻在地
131. Alakazam: Alakazam is part of the series of names. A magician says abra,
kadabra.
alakazam, and a miracle will happen.
132.
…and her face went blank, her mouth closed.., a small brown leaf, thin,
brittle(Likely to break, snap, or crack, as when subjected to pressure:), lifeless.
(1) Put this part into Chinese: 她的脸部失去了表情，嘴巴紧闭，双臂无力
地垂下。她退出了房间，神色惊异，好像一小片枯黄的树叶被风吹走，那样单薄、
脆弱、毫无生气。7
(2) What would one expect the mother to do when her daughter said those
terrible words!
She would fly into a great rage and probably she would punish the daughter
for being so ungrateful. Maybe she would scold her and slap her. After all she
was a quick-tempered
woman and she had scolded and
slapped her daughter before for less sufficient reasons
Yet
nothing of the sort happened. She said nothing and did nothing.
(3) What magical effect did those words produce?
magic words.
Those words were like
transforming the mother, in a flash of a second,
42
from a frighteningly strong woman
into a silent, stunned and helpless woman like a small thin leaf blown
away. She looked as if she had been defeated by an invisible enemy.
133. At this critical point, a careful reader must have many questions. What brought
this sudden
change in the mother? Why could these words work like magic words and
produce such a
dramatic effect? The complete answer cannot be found in this part of the story.
One has to
read the whole novel. But at least some clue can be inferred; the loss of the babies
was an
unspeakable secret of the mother for "we never talked about" them. By saying "I
wish I
were dead! Like them," the girl must have hurt the mother so deeply that she was
powerless to react. If we read the whole novel we will find that this secret had
stuck with
the mother all her life. When the girl was told that her mother had lost her first
husband
and her baby daughters back in China, she naturally thought they were dead. Yes,
the
husband died in the war. But what about the babies? Why did her mother never
talk about
them? Was there a secret? The reader is held in suspense until the very end of the
novel:
the baby girls were not dead；they were abandoned by their mother! The mother
felt guilty
all her life but had never given up efforts to find the lost daughters. At the same
time she
gave all her love to and placed all her hopes on her American-born daughter. So
when Jin~
43
Mei said she wished she were dead like them, the words were so cruel and hurtful
to her
mother. The two daughters were finally found, but only after the mother's death.
At the
end of the novel, Jing-mei was going to China to see them for her mother. Only
then did her
father tell the whole secret to her. He told her how her mother was fleeing from
the gunfire
in the Anti-Japanese War with her two baby daughters, what she suffered and why
she had
to abandon them. The following part is what the father told to the daughter:
"After fleeing Kweilin, your mother walked for several days trying to find a main
road. Her thought was to catch a ride on a truck or wagon, to catch enough ride until
she reached
Chungking, where her husband was stationed.
.. The roads were filled with people, everybody running and begging for rides
from passing trucks. The trucks rushed by, afraid to stop. So your mother found
no rides, only the start of dysentery 痢疾 pains in her stomach.
Her shoulders ached from the the babies swinging from scarf slings 钩悬
带. Blisters 水泡 grew on her palms from holding two leather suitcases. And then
the blisters burst and began to bleed. After a while, she left the suitcases behind,
keeping only the food and a few clothes. And later she also dropped the bags of
wheat flour and rice and kept walking like this for many miles, singing songs to
her little girls, until she was delirious 神志昏迷 with pain and fever.
Finally, there was not one more step left in her body. She didn't have the
strength to carry those babies any farther She slumped：沉重地落下 to the
ground. She knew she would die of her sickness, or perhaps from thirst, from
starvation, or from the Japanese, who she was sure were marching right behind
her.
She took the babies out of the slings and sat them on the side of the road,
then lay down next to them. You babies are so good, she said, so quiet. They
44
smiled back, reaching their chubby 圆胖的 hands for her, wanting to be picked up
again. And then she knew she could not bear to watch her babies die with her.
When the road grew quiet, she tore open the lining of her dress, and stuffed
jewelry under the shirt of one baby and money under the other. She reached into
her pocket and drew out the photos of her family, the picture of her father and
mother, the picture of herself and her husband on their wedding day. And she
wrote on the back of each the names of the babies and this same message:
"Please care for these babies with the money and valuables provided.
When it is safe to come, if you bring them to Shanghai, 9 Weichang Lu, the Li
family will be glad to give you a generous reward. Li Suyuan and Wang Fuchi."
And then she touched each baby's cheek and told her not to cry. She
would go down the road to find them some food and would be back. And without
looking back, she walked down the road stumbling and crying, thinking only of
this one last hope that her daughters would be found by a kindhearted person who
would care for them She would not allow herself to imagine anything else.
She did not remember how far she walked, which direction she went, when
she fainted or how she was found..."
Part III (Paras. 77-93)
I34. Paragraphs 77 to 93 form Part Three, the end of the story. This concluding part is
narrated
from a different point of view. Now the daughter had grown up from a little
girl to a mature woman. This part is divided into two subsections. Paragraphs
77 to 89 form the first subsection in which the clash between mother and
daughter subsided. They stopped
quarreling and made peace with each other.
Subsection l (Paras. 77 --89)
135. In the years that followed, I failed her so many times... I dropped out of college.
(1) These sentences sum up what happened in the many years that passed
between the time
when the daughter was a small child and when she was thirty. Although
45
this part is
still narrated by the daughter, now she had grown up to be a mature
woman. While the narrator remains the same, the point of view has
shifted.
(2) I failed her so many times: This is explained by the next sentences: I didn't
get straight
As. I didn't become class president.
I didn't get into Stanford.
I
dropped oot
college.
(3) fall short of expectations: to faiI to meet the expectations
(4) dropped out of college: 退出, (中、小学生)中途退学, 脱离, 不参与; [美
俚](因对传统的道德观和价值观不再抱幻想而)退出习俗社会
136. The lid to the piano was closed, shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams:
When
the lid to the piano was closed, it shut out the dust and also put an end to my
misery and
her dreams. (V. 6)
137. "No, this your piano. Always your piano. You only one can play": No, this is
your piano.
It has always been your piano. You are the only one who can play.
138. "You could been genius if you want to': You could have been a genius if you had
wanted to.
After so many years, this is the first time that the mother said such
encouraging words to
the daughter. These words show that the mother knew her own daughter very
well. She
fully recognized her natural talent and clearly knew that she did not want to try
her best.
139.
And she was neither angry nor sad: This calm tone shows that she had
completed
46
reconciled herself to the reality.
Disprove: To prove to be false, invalid, or in error; refute.
证明…不真实；证明…虚假或不正确；反驳
140. And after that, every time I saw it ... I had won back.
(1) the bay window: 凸窗 a window or set of windows jutting 伸出 out from
the wall of a building and forming an alcove 凉亭 within, usually with glass
on three sides
(2) Why did the daughter feel proud and see the piano as a trophy she had won
back? The
piano had become a symbol. When she was forced to learn to play it, it
was a symbol
of her misery and her mother's dreams. When her mother offered it to her for
her Thirtieth birthday, the offer meant forgiveness and reconciliation.
Now she heard her mother praising her. Her mother's appreciation was like
a trophy that she had won at long last.
Subsection 2 (Paras. 90-93)
141. Paragraphs 90 to 93 are the second half of the concluding part of the whole story.
It is
narrated a few years later after the previous scene. Now her mother had died.
This part not
only brings the story to its end but also contains an epiphany 事物真谛的顿悟,
a moment of discovery, insight, and revelation, by which the narrator's view is
altered.
142. tuner: a person who tunes musical instrument (a piano tune) 调音师
143. (1) recondition: to put back in good condition by cleaning, or repairing
(2) sentimental: of susceptibility to tender, romantic, or nostalgic feeling.
伤感情绪对温柔浪漫的或怀旧情绪的敏感
144. all the colors I hated= The colors were too bright, loud for a refined,
sophisticated taste.
145. moth proof: treated chemically so as to repel the clothes moths
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proof：(combining form) treated or made so as not to be harmed by something,
or to be
protected from or against; resistant to, unaffected by, e.g.
a fireproof wall,
waterproof
boots, a bulletproof car
146. I rubbed the old silk against my skin.., take them home with me: What the
daughter did
has symbolic meanings. It tells us that she loved and missed her mother and she
decided to
keep those typical Chinese dresses as part of her Chinese heritage.
147. And for the first time, or so it seemed, I noticed the piece.., longer, but faster.
(1) Translate these sentences into Chinese: 第一次，或好像感觉是第一次，我
注意到右边的乐曲。它的名称是心满意足。我也试着弹这首曲子。它的
曲调比较轻松，但节奏同样流畅，不是很难。祈求的孩子较短较慢，而
心满意足根更长更快些。8
(2) or so it seemed: Since she practiced "Pleading Child" so often she must
have seen the
other piece on the right-hand side, but at that time with all her attention
concentrated
on "Pleading Child", she simply didn't notice it.
148. And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the
same song.
(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 在我弹了几遍后，我意识到，原来
这两个曲子是同一首歌的两个组成部分。
(2) What did the narrator mean when she said they were two halves of the
same song? Why does the author end the story this way? The last sentence
is very meaningful. At this stage, the narrator was able to see that her
childhood was made up of two sides.
Although there were unhappy moments, on the whole it was filled with
perfect
happiness. The titles of the two different piano pieces
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are clearly suggestive. When she was a little girl, she only saw one side of
her childhood. She couldn't understand her mother, regarding her mother's
hopes and expectations as tormenting pressure that only brought misery to
her. So she saw herself as a pleading child. Now as she realized how her
mother loved and appreciated her, she felt perfectly contended. This last
sentences is significant because it contains the narrator’s epiphany, a
moment of insight, discovery or revelation, by which the character’s view is
greatly altered.
Part Three :Summary and discussion(in two periods)
1.Which rhetorical speech is repeatedly used in this lesson to achieve the fixed
effects?
2 How many sections can you divide the lesson into?
3 Tell the students what difficulties they will face in understanding the lesson.
4 In telling this story, would you say the first-perｓｏn narration is more effective
than the third-person narration? Why or why not?
5 Do you find Amy Tan a skillful story-teller? If you think so
give examples to
illustrate the narrative skills, If your answer is negative, show why.
6 The narrator uses certain words to pave the way for what is going to follow next,
thus making the narration very smooth, Can
you point out a few places where such
devices are used?
7 In telling the story, the author’s tone is sometimes ironical, sarcastic or humorous.
Could you illustrate this?
Part Four: Assignments
In this part, all the assignments will be listed , the teacher will assign them to the
students after each two periods.
1 seek out some information about each note on the internet and hand them in to the
teacher
2 read the whole lesson
3 memorize the new words
4 prepare for the discussions
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5 do the exercises
6 pre-review of the next lesson
7 write a composition
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