Lesson 10
The Richer, the Poorer
Structure of the Text
Part 1 (Para. 1):
The two sisters’ contrasting financial
conditions in old age.
Recall on every earlier crucial stage of
Part 2 (Paras.2—19): their lives.
Their
reunion
in
old
age
and
Part 3 (Paras.20—34 ):
similar opinions they share on life.
Comparison and Contrast
The story is a good example of comparison and contrast. It
concentrates on the differences of the two sisters’ lifestyles
and experiences from childhood to old age. The focus is on
Lottie’s life while Bess’s is briefly touched upon in contrast.
The story opens with the two sisters’ contrasting financial
conditions in old age. Then point-to-point method of
organization is employed. One aspect of Lottie’s, usually
narrated in detail, is followed by a brief account of the same
aspect of Bess’s. The climax is their reunion in old age, when
they, for the first time, seem to share similar opinion on life.
Point of View
The story is written from Lottie’s point of view.
Much of the space is devoted to description of
Lottie’s opinions, views and reflections. The
reader can enter her mind and learn what goes
on there. So when we read such descriptions,
we should not be satisfied with their surface
meaning but should go deeper and find out
what they imply.
The Use of Both Formal and
Informal Expressions
We find informal words and expressions are used
alongside formal ones. But toward the end of the
story when Lottie’s lifestyle of “all work and no play”
begin to change, she speaks in a very colloquial style.
Her speech at the end of the story is a good example.
But in the first half of the story and much of the
second when Lottie is working wholeheartedly to
prepare for her old age, the writer uses more formal
words and expressions.
Comparison & Contrast Between
Lottie & Bess
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Lottie :
has one simple aim in life: to work hard, save hard,
and prepare for her old age. She tried hard to earn money even
when she was a little girl. She looked after babies, ran errands
for the old, worked as a clerk after school in a store, and
finally got a job in a restaurant. She never stopped working
and she never spent money if she could help it. She never
married and lived all alone. Now when she reached her sixties,
she had a house, a bank account, but she obviously had not
enjoyed life.
Bess:
Lottie’s sister, was a entirely different story.
She liked to go outside & play when she was a child.
She never worried about the future. She married young
to a second-rate horn player. They were always poor
and lived like Gypsies. But they loved each other and
obviously enjoyed life. By the time she reached her
sixties, she had lost her husband and she had no
children and she had nothing in the world she could call
her own. But she had no regret about her life.
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1.ambition: desire for advancement or distinction,
or for specific attainment
be full of ambition
ambitious: adj. full of ambition
eg: He is ambitious of success in life.
2.clarity: clearness
clarify: make or become clearer to see or easier to
understand =(refine simplify explain)
eg: Can you clarify the situation?
clarification: n.
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3.conscience: moral sense of right and wrong
a clear conscience 无愧于心
search one’s conscience 扪心自问 自我反省
stir the conscience 唤起．．的良心
upon my conscience凭良心说
on one’s conscience: causing one feelings of
guilt
conscientious: adj. =(righteous faithful
responsible cautious)
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4.contrast: n. (to) difference so revealed, thing or
person having noticeably different qualities
v. (with) set in opposition to reveal contrast
compare and contrast比较 对比
In/by contrast（一般用于句子开头）
in contrast to/with 与．．相比 与．．相反
5.dismal: causing or showing gloom; miserable
=(gloomy depressing)
dismal weather
The news was as dismal as ever.
这消息还是叫人提不起精神
A dismal performance in the election
在选举中差劲的表现
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6. embrace: n. the act of holding sb. Close to you as a
sign of love
v. hold closely in the arms as a sign of affection
=(accept adopt include grasp comprise etc.)
eg: She embraced her son before leaving.
embrace an offer, opportunity
The term ‘mankind’ embraces men, women and
children.
人类一词包括男人，女人和儿童
7.emerge: come up or out into view ; become known or
recognized =(appear arise)
antonym :submerge
n. emergence
eg: The moon emerged from behind the clouds.
No new evidence emerged during the enquiry.
emerge into在…里出现
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8.enhance: increase (the good qualities of sb/sth); make
(sb/sth) look better
=(boost improve enrich)
eg: enhance the status, reputation, position of sb.
Those clothes do nothing to enhance her appearance.
9.fantasy: [u] imagination when completely unrelated
to reality =fancy
eg: live in a fantasy world
[c] product of the imagination; wild or unrealistic
notion
eg: Stop looking for a perfect job, it’s just a fantasy.
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fantastic: adj. wild and strange; impossible to carry out, not
practical ;excellent very large extraordinary =fantastical
eg: fantastic dreams/stories
fantastic proposal
Their wedding cost a fantastic amount of money.
fantasticate: vt.
10.frugal: careful and thrifty with money and food ; of life
in which such care is shown生活俭朴的；costing little
small in quantity
eg: a frugal housekeeper
They lived a very frugal existence, avoiding all
luxuries.
a frugal meal of bread and cheese
frugally: adv. frugality: n.
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11.grieve: cause great sorrow to sb. feel a deep
sorrow because of loss
eg: Your mother is grieved by your refusal to
return home.
Their daughter died over a year ago, but they
are still grieved.
grieve for/ over /about sb(sth)因（失去）感到悲
痛
grieve at/over/about sth（对某事）感到后悔
grievous: adj. causing suffer; (of sth bad) severe
or serious
eg: grievous news/ losses/
wrongs/pain/wounds/fault/crime
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12.indulge: allow oneself to have what he likes or wants;
to satisfy; allow sb to enjoy the pleasure of sth
eg: They indulge their child too much; it’s bad for his
character.
Will you indulge my curiosity and tell me how much it
cost?
indulge in a long hot bath
indulgent: adj. inclined to indulge eg: indulgent
parents
indulgence: n. state of being allowed whatever one
wants ;hobby
13.miserly:1)like a miser; mean or selfish 2)barely
adequate
eg: miserly habits
miserly allowance/share/portion
miser: n.
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14.threadbare: 1)(of clothes )worn thin; shabby
2)too often used or too well known to be
effective
eg: a threadbare carpet/coat
a threadbare joke/argument/plot
15.wistful: full of or expressing sad or vague
longing(尤指过去的或不可得的事物 )
=sorrowful/ desirous
eg: wistful eye
a wistful mood
wistfully: adv. signing wistfully发愁的叹息
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16.freshman =fresher
sophomore junior senior graduate
Phrases
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1.Lottie had a bank account that had never
grown lean.
=Lottie always had quite a sum of money
deposited in the bank.
lean (adj.) :small in amount or quality; meagre
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2.She looked after babies, she ran errands for
the old.
=She earned some money by babysitting and
making short trips for the old people.
go on/run errands for sb : to go somewhere
for other people to take a message , to buy sth.
To deliver goods, etc.
Eg: When I was a child, I liked to run errands
for my parents.
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3.When the dimes began to add up to dollars, she lost
her taste for sweets.
=when her saving grew considerably, she was too old
to want candy any more.
add up to : to amount to; to lead to a particular result
Eg: These numbers add up to 100.
add (sth.) up : calculate the total of (two or more
numbers or amounts)
Eg: Add up all the money I owe you.
add to sth : increase sth.
Eg: The bad weather add to our difficulties.
add …to… (idiom) 1)add fuel to flames
2)add insult to injury
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4.Bess grieved because she had no child, not having
sense enough to know she was better off without
them.
=Bess felt sorry that she had no children. She was not
sensible and practical enough to know that with
children, their conditions would have been worse still.
be better off : to have more money ==be wealthy/rich
be badly off
5.The years, after forty, began to race.
=after one reach forty, one grew old rapidly.
6.Lottie, trapped by the blood tie,……
blood tie :family relationship
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7.When she was through the room looked so fresh and
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be through (with sth./sb.) : to finish; to have no
further relationship
Eg: I’m through with all the painting.
We hope you are through with drugs.
8.She knew she would have redo that room, too, and
went about doing it eagerly.
go about sth./doing sth : to start working on sth.
Eg :How should we go about planting these trees?
He went about improving his pronunciation.
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9.You’ve too much catching up to do waste a minute
of a waking hour feeling sorry for yourself.
=You’ve got to do too many things to make up for
what you’ve missed in life, so you shouldn’t waste a
minute on self-pity.
waste sth. (in) doing sth./on sth.: to use more of sth.
than necessary or useful
Eg: You’ve just wasting your time trying to talk him
out of the idea.
She never wasted her money on fancy clothes.
waking hours: the hours when you are not sleeping
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10.I know I’m too old to kick up my heels,….
kick up one’s heels: to be relaxed and enjoy
oneself; to die
Eg: He plans to kick up his heels and go on a trip
to Europe when he finishes his book.
He kicked up his heels by a sudden shoot.
kick one’s heel: to have nothing to do while
waiting for sb./sth.
Eg: we’re just kicking our heels until the next
semester begins.