Unit Two Friendship
Section A
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803~1882),American poet and philosopher
A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your successes. -- Doug Larson (1902~1981), English middle-distance runner
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.
-- Charles Caleb Colton (1780~1832), English author and clergyman Friendship is a treasure that always helps us overcome any kind of difficulty. Friendship is a comfort which always understands worries and emotions. Friendship is a blessing because it teaches the way to live.
I consider friendship to be one of the most important things in life. They say “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. That’s partly true. But a real friend should also be able to share your happy moments -- without feeling jealous. A good friendship is one where you accept and forgive faults, understand moods, and don’t feel hurt if a friend doesn’t feel like seeing you. Of course, honesty is an essential part of any relationship. We should learn to accept our friends for what they are. Although family life is fulfilled, it isn’t enough! Both my wife and I get tremendous satisfaction from our friends, married and single, male and female -- and we both have our separate friends too. We certainly do! And as I say, our friends give us a lot of pleasure. After all, friends should not be people with whom you kill time. Real friendship, in my opinion, is a “spiritually developing” experience. 核心词汇：
available estimate correspondence neighborhood tough shrug urge postpone reference absolutely reunion mostly awful destination skip practically 重要短语：
a couple of be lost in choke up come up every now and then go ahead go by hang out keep up
keep in touch (with) kind of /sort of know by heart not much of a on one’s mind or something in the distance 经典句式：
might/may (just) as well look /sound /smell /taste /feel as if 写作技巧：非正式文体的记叙文
文化背景知识
1. Halloween 万圣节
在西方国家，每年的１０月３１日，有个“Halloween”是传统节日。这一夜是一年中最“闹鬼”的一夜，所以也叫“鬼节”。 万圣节在孩子们眼中，是一个充满神秘色彩的节日。夜幕降临，孩子们便迫不及待地穿上五颜六色的化妆服，戴上千奇百怪的面具，提上一盏“杰克灯”跑出去玩。“杰克灯”的样子十分可爱，做法是将南瓜掏空，外面刻上笑眯眯的眼睛和大嘴巴，然后在瓜中插上一支蜡烛，把它点燃。
收拾停当后，一群群装扮成妖魔鬼怪的孩子手提“杰克灯”，跑到邻居家门前，威吓般地喊着：“要恶作剧还是给款待”、“给钱还是给吃的”。如果大人不用糖果、零钱款待他们，那些调皮的孩子就说到做到：好，你不款待，我就捉弄你。他们有时把人家的门把手涂上肥皂，有时把别人的猫涂上颜色。这些小恶作剧常令大人啼笑皆非。当然，大多数人家都非常乐于款待这些天真烂漫的小客人。所以万圣节前夜的孩子们总是肚子塞得饱饱的，口袋装得满满
的。
Section A
I 课文简评
本文是一篇非正式文体的记叙文。在文章的第一部分（第1--20段）通过与出租车司机的对话，作者得知了司机对没有和他老朋友埃德保持联系而后悔。第二部分（第21--35段）作者在读完信后体会到出租车司机和他老朋友埃德的真挚的友谊。文章的第三部分（第36段）突出了作者的写作目的和文章主题。与司机的对话使得作者明白了一个朴素的道理：珍惜你所拥有的友谊，赶快提起笔来给朋友写封信。
II 写作技巧
本文的绝大部分实际上是司机与作者之间对话的再创作，因此该文为非正式文体，文中有许多日常生活中地道口语的范例，同时也展示了口语和书面语的差别。文中的许多对话比较简短，而且不完整，如：“(Is the letter) From a child or maybe a grandchild?”, “(I have) Enjoyed talking with you”等等。除此之外，一些单词和短语在书面语中是不常用的，如：sort of, you know, it’s no fun to do sth., not much of a hand at doing sth.等。
III 核心词汇 1. available 用法：a. （1）（指物）可用的：We have already used up all the available space. 我们已经使用了所有可用的空间。
All the available money has been used. 所有可用的钱已经花完了。
（2）可得到的：There are no tickets available for tonight’s concert. 今晚音乐会的票搞不到。
You will be informed when the book becomes available. 这本书有货时就通知你。
（3）（指人）可会见的：I’ll be available on Tuesday morning. 我周二上午有空。 That man is not available for the job. He has other work. 那个人无暇做这份工作，他有别的工
作要做。
典型考题: Convenience foods which are already prepared for cooking are _______ in grocery stores.
A. ready B. approachable C. probable D. available
答案为D。译文：方便食品在杂货店里可以买到。available可得到的，找得到的； ready准备好的； approachable可靠近的， 接近的；probable 可能的。
2. estimate
用法： v. （1）估计： It’s impossible to estimate his ability. 不可能来估计他的能力。 I estimate her age at 35. 我估计她35岁。
（2）（与for连用）估算（费用）： We asked our builder to estimate for the repair of the ceiling. 我们要求营造商估算一下修理天花板的费用。
n. （1） 估计；估价： According to the official estimate, over 100 people were killed in the armed conflict. 通过官方估计，大约100人在枪战冲突中死亡。 Can you give me a rough estimate of the cost? 你能大略估算一下成本吗？
（2） （对某人性格的和对事物质量的）判断：They held totally different estimates of her character. 他们对她的性格有不同的判断。
I agree with your estimate of the situation. 我同意你对形式的判断。
典型考题：Before he started work, I asked the builder to give me an______ of the cost of repairing of the roof.
A. assessment B. estimate C. announcement D.
evaluation
答案为B。 译文：在修理之前， 我让修理工估计一下修缮屋顶的费用。Estimate“估计”，强调进行评估得出的结果，常与动词give搭配。 assessment “估价，评价”，强调估价这一行为；announcement“宣告，宣布”；evaluation“评价，估价”，常有肯定，正确的含义。 记忆法：estimation n. 判断，意见，认为 （go up /down in sb’s estimation 增加/降低对某人的尊敬）
overestimate 高估 underestimate 低估 3. correspondence 用法：n.
（不可数名词）通信（联系），信件， 函件：She has a lot of correspondence to deal with. 她有大批的信件需要处理。
典型考题：It is no ________ that a large number of violent crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol.
A. coincidence B. correspondence C. inspiration D. intuition
答案为A。译文：大量的暴力犯罪是在酒精的下实施的，这决非巧合。coincidence巧合的事情；correspondence 相应， 通信；inspiration 灵感； intuition 直觉。 考点：keep up correspondence with sb. 与某人保持通信联系
记忆法：correspond vi. （1） （与to连用）对应，相当：The American Congress corresponds to the British Parliament. 美国的国会相当于英国的议会。
（2） （与with 连用）相符，一致，通信：Your account of events correspond with hers. 你说的情况跟她说的相符。 4. neighborhood
用法：n. （1）地段，街坊，四邻：She is liked by the whole neighborhood. 邻近的人都喜爱她。
We live in a rather rich neighborhood. 我们住在很富裕的住宅区。
（2）邻近地区， 附近：We want to live in the neighborhood of London. 我们想住在伦敦附近。
记忆法： 构词：后缀—hood与名词或形容词结合构成名词，表示“??的状况”或“??的集体”：childhood（童年）；考点：in the neighborhood of （1）??附近 （2）大约
典型考题：His debts are _________a thousand dollars.
A. in accordance with B. in the neighborhood of
C. in correspondence with D. in relation to
答案为B。 译文：他的债务大约一千美元。in the neighborhood of 大约；in accordance with 与?一致，根据；in correspondence with 与?符合；in relation to 与?有关。 辨析：neighborhood neighbor都有“邻近”的意思。
neighborhood意为“邻近的住家或地区”：The mayor ordered a probe of housing conditions in the neighborhood. 市长下令调查附近的住宅情况。 neighbor “邻居”，指人，其谓语动词用单复数均可。My neighbor are from other city, but they are very kind. 我的邻居们是来自其它地方的，但他们很热情。
5. tough
用法：a. （1）坚强的，能吃苦耐劳的：Camels are tough and hardy creatures. 骆驼是能吃苦耐劳的动物。
You need to be tough to survive in the jungle. 要在丛林中生存下来你必须要坚强。
（3）困难的，难对付的：It is tough finding a job these days. 近来很难找到工作。
典型考题：Polar explorers have to be extremely ______ to endure the climate and other hardships. A. hard B. rough C. tough D. brave
答案为C。 译文：极地探险者必须相当结实才能经得住那气候和其他艰辛。tough 结实的，吃苦耐劳的； hard （工作）困难的；rough （人）粗野的，（东西）粗糙的，（海洋）波涛汹涌的； brave勇敢的。
辨析：tough hard difficult arduous 都有“困难的”意思。
tough所表示的“困难的”含义是“很难做，难对付，不容易，需要努力”。She is a pretty tough customer. 她是为很难对付的顾客。
difficult所表示的“困难的”含义是“克服某种障碍，需要特别的技能，才智，知识或勇气”。此外，常常用以表示难以应付或难以对付。As usual, the police will have a difficult time. 和往常一样，警察的日子将不好过。
hard是个最普通用词，是easy的反义词，有时还可以表示“艰难的”。Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success. 弗兰克回想起他早年的艰苦岁月和漫长的成功道路时，他微笑了。
6. shrug
用法：n. 耸肩（表示冷漠，怀疑，不知等）：She gave a shrug and walked away. 她耸了耸肩就走开了。
He gives us such explanation on this issue, and then he gives a shrug. 就此问题他给出了如此的解释，然后耸了耸肩表示无奈。
v. 耸肩（表冷漠等）： I asked her where Tom was, but she just shrugged. 我问她汤姆在哪里，她只是耸了耸肩。
I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism. 我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。