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3. conversationalist (n.) : a person who converses；esp. one who enjoys and is skilled at

conversation

4. anecdote (n.) : a short, entertaining account of some happening, usually personal or

biographical

5. in a flash: in a bat of an eye

6. Upbringing: the training an education received while growing up hyperbole.

Here: one who spends so much time in English pubs, a pub frequenter

7. On the rocks: metaphor. compare marriage to a ship wrecked on the rocks. break up

8. Got out of bed on the wrong side: unlucky. An ancient superstition that it was unlucky to set the

left foot on the ground first on getting out of bed 9. delve v. to search deeply

e.g.: (1) He enjoys delving into her past.

(2) Delve a little deeper if you really want to know the score.

(3) If your site isn't easy to navigate, people will not stay around to delve deeper.

10. recesses: a secluded, inner place (al. pl.) 幽深处，隐居处

e.g.：(1) I push the problem down into the dim recess of my mind.

(2) The committee is going into recess for a couple of weeks.

recess: cf. Adjourn II. Paraphrase

1. Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities. (Pae.1)

--More than other human activities, conversation helps to promote an agreeable, pleasant relationship among people.

人类的一切活动中，只有闲谈最宜于增进友谊。

2. The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from anywhere. (Par.2)

--The conversation is attractive because it does not need a special topic to start a conversation. 3.There is no winning in conversation. (Par.2)

--In a conversation, one doesn’t try to prove oneself right and the others wrong.

4. The fact that their marriages may be on the rocks, or that their love affairs have been broken or even that they got out of bed on the wrong side is simply not a concern.(Par.3) --It is not a matter of interest/ importance if? Part2: (Par.4-11)

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1. desultorily: at random, aimlessly 散漫,断断续续,不连贯,随意

desultory adj.

e.g.: (1) He broke into a desultory chat with me over his business affairs.

(2) The careful study of a few books is better than the desultory reading of many.

2. Australia:

--Nation occupying the whole of Australia, the smallest continent, between the Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean. Location

--Its capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney.

--The first settlements there were penal colonies for British convicts.

--Its aboriginal tribes, which still exist today, are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia twenty thousand years ago. 3. snobbery: the behavior of a snob

snob: a person who pays too much attention to social class and dislikes or keeps away from

people of a lower class snob

snobbish: adj.

e.g.: Is his distance a result of snobbery or shyness? 4. scamper: to run quickly, taking short steps, usu. playfully or (esp. of a small animal) in fright e.g.:(1) Giggling, the children scampered back into the house. (2) to take a scamper through Mark Twain ; (3) to scamper through Mark Twain 5. turn up one‘s nose at 看不起 cf. turn up the thumbs 赞扬

e.g.: 我讨厌人们那种对爵士乐不屑一顾的文人般的势利。

I’m bored with the intellectual snobbery of people who turn up their noses at jazz.

6. we ought to think ourselves back into the shoes of the Saxon peasant. （Par. 11）

（1）into the shoes: metaphor (Or more appropriately an idiomatic expression) to think as if one

were wearing the shoes of the Saxon peasant, i.e. as if one were a Saxon peasant.

（2）be in another’s shoes: to be in another’s position

e.g.：给我一百万，我也不愿处于你的地位。

I wouldn’t be in your shoes for a million.

一个能从别人的观念来看事情，能了解别人心灵活动的人，永远不必为自己的前

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途担心。

One that puts himself in shoes of others can learn the heartbeat of others and should never be worried about his own destiny.

II. Paraphrase

1. The glow of the conversation burst into flames. (Par. 6) Metaphor, comparing conversation to a fire. --The conversation became spirited and exciting. 2. It could still go ignorantly on. (Par. 6) --The conversation could go on without anybody knowing who was right or wrong. 3. We had traveled in five minutes to Australia. (Para 7) Metaphor.

--Though we were in an English pub, we were soon talking about Australia and the Australians. 4. The conversation was on wings. (Par. 8)

Metaphor, comparing conversation to a bird flying and soaring. --The conversation became spirited and exciting. Part3：（Par.12-17） 1. Thomas Nash: 1567–1601. English Elizabethan Pamphleteer, poet and satirist.

--noted for witty, often invective literary criticism and for The Unfortunate Traveler (1594),

possibly the best Elizabethan narrative work.

2. Thomas Dekker: (1572-1632) English Elizabethan playwright and pamphleteer

--Noted for his vivid portrayals of London life and his genial sympathy for the lower classes. 3. Clip: to abbreviate 简化

e.g.: (1) We clipped our visit by a week.

(2) She wore a diamond clip on her new dress.

4. After five centuries of growth, of tussling with the French of the Normans and the Angevins and the Plantagenets and at last absorbing it, the conquered in the end conquering the conquerors. English had come royally into its own. （Para 13）

（1）five centuries: The Normans, under William I, conquered England in 1066 and the Merry

Wives of Windsor was probably written in 1599 – a time span of roughly 500 years between the two events.

（2）tussle: to fight, struggle, contend, etc, vigorously or vehemently; wrestle

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（3）Angevins and Plantagenets: names of ruling Norman dynasties in England (1154-1399). （4）come into one’s own: to receive proper recognition 受到应有的重视

e.g.: 随着T型福特汽车的成功，汽车工业得到了应有的重视。

With the success of the model T Ford, the automobile industry came into its own.

5. pejorative: making or becoming worse; depreciative, derogatorily 贬低的、轻蔑的 6. facetious: lightly joking, esp. at an inappropriate time. e.g.: He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke. 7. Speak with the vigor of ordinary folk:

--to use the strong language that ordinary people would use in such circumstances 8. Thomas Carlyle(1795-1881): Scottish literary and political writer, historian --Birthplace: Ecclefechan, Scotland

--Best Known As: Author of Heroes and Hero-Worship

--most famous in the Victorian era, known for his dense, houghtful books on history and philosophy

--the victim of a famous misfortune

9. Edict: (n.) : an official public proclamation or order issued by authority；decree法令；命令；布告

10. Immune: immune (adj.) : exempt from or protected against something disagreeable or harmful, resistant to

e.g.: (1) He seems to be immune to criticism.

(2) The criminal was told he would be immune if he helped the police.

11. W.H. Auden (1907--73), British-born American poet

--educated at Oxford

--The1930s had been dubbed “The Age of Auden”when he was deeply affected by Marxism. His works of that period include Poems (1930) and The Orators (1932). --1939, left England and then became an American citizen in 1946.

--In the 1940's he moved away from Marxism and adopted a Christian existential view. 12. ultimatum (n.): a final offer or demand, esp. by one of the parties engaged in negotiations，the

rejection of which usually leads to a break in relations and unilateral action，the use of force etc., final demand, the tiptop, the highest最后通牒

ultimate adj.

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