unit2 A课文ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETTER.docx

unit2 A课文ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETTER.docx

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unit2A课文ALLTHECABBIEHADWASALETTER

ALLTHECABBIEHADWASALETTER

FosterFurcolo

HemusthavebeencompletelylostinsomethinghewasreadingbecauseIhadtotaponthewindshieldtogethisattention.

“Isyourcabavailable?

”Iaskedwhenhefinallylookedupatme.Henodded,thensaidapologeticallyasIsettledintothebackseat,“I'msorry,butIwasreadingaletter.

Hesoundedasifhehadacoldorsomething.

"I'minnohurry,”Itoldhim.“Goaheadandfinishyourletter.”

Heshookhishead.“I'vereaditseveraltimesalready.IguessIalmostknowitbyheart.”

“Lettersfromhomealwaysmeanalot,”Isaid.

“AtleasttheydowithmebecauseI'montheroadsomuch.”Then,estimatingthathewas60or70yearsold,Iguessed:

“Fromachildormaybeagrandchild?

”

“Thisisn'tfamily,”hereplied.“Although,”hewenton,“cometothinkofit,itmightjustaswellhavebeenfamily.OldEdwasmyoldestfriend.Infact,weusedtocalleachother'OldFriend'—whenwe'dmeet,thatis.

I'mnotmuchofahandatwriting.”

“Idon'tthinkanyofuskeepupourcorrespondencetoowell,”Isaid.“IknowIdon't.

ButItakeithe'ssomeoneyou'veknownquiteawhile?

”

"Allmylife,practically.Wewerekidstogether,sowegowayback.”

“Wenttoschooltogether?

”

“Allthewaythroughhighschool.Wewereinthesameclass,infact,throughbothgradeandhighschool.”

"Therearenottoomanypeoplewho'vehadsuchalongfriendship,”Isaid.

“Actually,”thedriverwenton,“Ihadn'tseenhimmorethanonceortwiceayearoverthepast25or30yearsbecauseImovedawayfromtheoldneighborhoodandyoukindoflosetoucheventhoughyouneverforget.Hewasagreatguy.”

“Yousaid'was'.Doesthatmean—?

"

Henodded.“Diedacoupleofweeksago.”

“I'msorry,”Isaid.“It'snofuntoloseanyfriend—andlosingarealoldoneiseventougher.”

Hedidn'treplytothat,andwerodeoninsilenceforafewminutes.

ButIrealizedthatOldEdwasstillonhismindwhenhespokeagain,almostmoretohimselfthantome:

"Ishouldhavekeptintouch.Yes,”herepeated,“Ishouldhavekeptintouch.”

“Well,”Iagreed,“weshouldallkeepintouchwitholdfriendsmorethanwedo.Butthingscomeupandwejustdon'tseemtofindthetime.”

Heshrugged.“Weusedtofindthetime,”hesaid.“That'sevenmentionedintheletter.”Hehandeditovertome.'Takealook.”

“Thanks,”Isaid,“butIdon'twanttoreadyourmail.That'sprettypersonal.”

Thedrivershrugged.“OldEd'sdead.There'snothingpersonalnow.Goahead,”heurgedme.

Theletterwaswritteninpencil.Itbeganwiththegreeting"OldFriend,”andthefirstsentenceremindedmeofmyself.I'vebeenmeaningtowriteforsometime,butI'vealwayspostponedit.Itthenwentontosaythatheoftenthoughtaboutthegoodtimestheyhadhadtogetherwhentheybothlivedinthesameneighborhood.

Ithadreferencestothingsthatprobablymeantsomethingtothedriver,suchasthetimeTimSheabrokethewindow,theHalloweenthatwetiedOldMr.Parker'sgate,andwhenMrs.Culverusedtokeepusafterschool.

“Youmusthavespentalotoftimetogether,”Isaidtohim.

“Likeitsaysthere,”heanswered,“aboutallwehadtospendinthosedayswastime.”Heshookhishead:

"Time.”

Ithoughtthenextparagraphoftheletterwasalittlesad:

Ibegantheletterwith"OldFriend"becausethat'swhatwe'vebecomeovertheyears—oldfriends.Andtherearen'tmanyofusleft.

“Youknow,”Isaidtohim,“whenitsaysherethattherearen'tmanyofusleft,that'sabsolutelyright.EverytimeIgotoaclassreunion,forexample,

therearefewerandfewerstillaround.”

"Timegoesby,”thedriversaid.

“Didyoutwoworkatthesameplace?

”Iaskedhim.

“No,butwehungoutonthesamecornerwhenweweresingle.Andthen,whenweweremarried,weusedtogotoeachother'shouseeverynowandthen.

Butforthelast20or30yearsit'sbeenmostlyjustChristmascards.Ofcoursethere'dbealwaysanotewe'deachaddtothecards—usuallysomenewsaboutourfamilies,youknow,whatthekidsweredoing,whomovedwhere,anewgrandchild,thingslikethat—butneverarealletteroranythinglikethat.”

“Thisisagoodparthere,”Isaid.“Whereitsays

Yourfriendshipovertheyearshasmeantanawfullottome,morethanIcansaybecauseI'mnotgoodatsayingthingslikethat.”Ifoundmyselfnoddinginagreement.“Thatmusthavemadeyoufeelgood,didn'tit?

”

ThedriversaidsomethingthatIcouldn'tunderstandbecauseheseemedtobeallchokedup,soIcontinued:

"IknowI'dliketoreceivealetterlikethatfrommyoldestfriend.”

WeweregettingclosetoourdestinationsoIskippedtothelastparagraph.SoIthoughtyou'dliketoknowthatIwasthinkingofyou.Anditwassigned,YourOldFriend,Tom.

Ihandedbacktheletteraswestoppedatmyhotel.“Enjoyedtalkingwithyou,”IsaidasItookmysuitcaseoutofthecab.Tom?

TheletterwassignedTom?

“Ithoughtyourfriend'snamewasEd,”Isaid.“WhydidhesignitTom?

'

“TheletterwasnotfromEdtome,”heexplained.“I'mTom.It'saletterIwrotetohimbeforeIknewhe'ddied.SoInevermailedit.”

Helookedsortofsorrowful,orasifheweretryingtoseesomethinginthedistance.“IguessIshouldhavewrittenitsooner.”

WhenIgottomyhotelroomIdidn'tunpackrightaway.FirstIhadtowritealetter—andmailit.

languagestudy

belostin/loseoneselfin:

beabsorbedin,befullyoccupiedwith专心致志于

Hewaslostinplayingcomputergamessohewasunawareofmyenteringtheroom.

Shewaslostinhernovel.

Ihadlostmyselfinthought.

available:

abletobeused,had,orreached可用的;可得到的

Since1990,theamountofmoneyavailabletobuybookshasfallenby17%.

Ifyoudon'twanttobuyakite,youcanmakeyourownusingdirectionsavailableinthebook.

Wehavealreadyusedupalltheavailablespace.

orsomething:

usedwhenyouarenotverysureaboutwhatyouhavejustsaid诸如此类的事

Theairfarewasahundredandninety-ninepoundsorsomething.

Here'ssomemoney.Getyourselfasandwichorsomething.

Similarphrase:

orsomethinglikethat

goahead:

continue,begin（sometimesfollowedbywith+n.）

Theboardofdirectorswillvotetodayonwhethertogoaheadwiththeplan.

Henrywillbelatebutwewillgoaheadwiththemeetinganyway.

know/learnbyheart:

memorize,rememberexactly记住,能背出

Youhavetoknowallthemusicbyheartifyouwanttobeaconcertpianist.

Thepupilsarerequiredtolearnaclassicpoembyhearteveryday.

estimate:

formajudgementabout（aquantityorvalue）估计

Iestimatethatthetotalcostforthetreatmentofthediseasewillgofrom$5,000to$8,000.

Bill'spersonalricheswereestimatedat$368million.

might/may（just）aswell:

不妨,（也）无妨Ifyousaythatyoumight/may（just）aswelldosomething,youmeanthatyouwilldoitalthoughyoudonothaveastrongdesiretodoitandmayevenfeelslightlyreluctantaboutit.

Anyway,you'rehere;youmightaswellstay.

Thepostofficeisreallybusy—we'llhavetoqueueforagestogetserved.

Wemightaswellgohome.

notmuchofa:

notagood不太好的

Somepeoplemaythinkthatdoinghouseworkforothersisnotmuchofacareer.

Heisnotmuchofafather,butheisanoutstandingprofessor.

keepup:

continuewithoutstopping保持

Theyrisklosingtheirhomesbecausetheycannolongerkeepuptherepayments.

IwassohungryallthetimethatIcouldnotkeepthedietupforlongerthanamonth.

correspondence:

1）theactofwriting,receivingorsendingletters（不可加s,但可加a,oftenfollowedbywith+n.）通信（联系）

Hisinterestinwritingcamefromalongcorrespondencewithaclosecollegefriend.

2）thelettersthatsb.receivesorsends（usedasanuncountablenoun）信件

Maryreallynevermentionsherstep-motherinhercorrespondence.

Anyfurthercorrespondenceshouldbesenttomynewaddress.

practically:

almost,butnotcompletelyorexactly

He'dknowntheoldmanforpracticallytenyears.

Iknowpeoplewhofinditpracticallyimpossibletogiveupsmoking.

neighborhood:

oneofthepartsofatownwherepeoplelive街坊;四邻

Itseemedlikeanidealneighborhoodtoraisemychildrenin.

Housesinagoodneighborhoodarelikelytobesoldatahighprice.

kindof/sortof:

（infml;"kindof"isesp.AmE,"sortof"esp.BrE）alittlebit,insomewayordegree（usedbeforev.orafteralinkverb）有几分,有点儿

Shewasn'tbeautiful.Butshewaskindofcute.

Theboy'sdescriptionkindofgivesusanideaofwhat'shappening.

losetouch（withsb.）:

meetandcontactsb.lessandlessoften,graduallystopwriting,tele-phoning,orvisitingthem失去联系

Ilosttouchwithmyformerclassmatesaftergraduation.

Inmyjobonetendstolosetouchwithfriends.

acoupleof:

（infml）afew,morethanonebutnotmany几个;一对,一双

Doyouhaveamoment?

ThereareacoupleofthingsI'dliketotalktoyouabout.

Theypromisedthestudentsthattheywouldfindasubstituteteacherinacoupleofdays.

onone'smind:

inone'sthoughts;ofconcerntoone（Ifsomethingisonyourmind,youareworriedorconcernedaboutitandthinkaboutitalot.）挂记在心头

Dealingsonthestockmarkethavebeenonhismindallthetime.

Thistravelplanhasbeenonmymindallweek.

keepintouch（withsb.）

（与…）保持联系,保持接触Ifyoukeepintouchwithsomeone,youwrite,phone,orvisiteachotherregularly.

Theoldmankeptintouchwithhischildrenwhilelivinginanursinghome.

WhiledoingtheresearchworkintheAntarctic,theprofessorkeptintouchwithhisstudentsviaemail.

comeup:

1）hap