[课程学习] [分享]研究生英语（unit6）

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Love In L. A.
洛城邂逅
L. A — abbreviation for Los Angeles
Introduction to the Topic
Dagoberto Gilb(吉尔伯) was born in 1950 and is a Chicano of Anglo（英国奇卡诺人)，（Chicano指墨西哥裔美国人或在美国的讲西班牙语的拉丁美洲人后裔) and Mexican heritage. He grew up in the Southwest and now lives in Texas （德克萨斯州）and Los Angeles（洛杉矶）. Gilb is a skillful carpenter（木匠）, a teacher, and a writer who has translated his wide variety of experience into realistic stories about life in the United States in the late twentieth century.
Although Gilb’s writing style is simple, clear and realistic, the tone（语气） is a complex mixture of irony（讽刺）, humor, and sadness. Gild does not use much figurative language（比喻的语言）or abstract words. Instead，he uses authentic(可信的) dialogue and carefully-chosen words to portray(描绘) his characters’ personalities and reveal their inner thoughts, motivations(动机), and emotions.
“Love In L. A.”, written in 1993, is a story about a chance encounter between two young people on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles.
Chicano 奇卡诺人(指墨西哥裔美国人或在美国的讲西班牙语的拉丁美洲人后裔)
Anglo(盎格洛，here指英国人)
Chicano of Anglo 英国奇卡诺人
Mexican heritage墨西哥的后裔
The Gist of the Article
To understand the meaning of a short story, it is essential to understand its basic elements such as the setting, point of view, the plot（情节）, and the theme（主题）. “Love in L. A.” is set in the gray（阴沉的）morning on the street of Los Angeles. It is told from the point of view of the third-person narrator（讲述者）. The plot of the story is simple. Jake（此处用“乡下佬”给主人翁取名）, in the traffic jam, was imagining lots of possibilities and good things such as a frequency modulation(调频) radio in a better car, dark nightclubs, neck-laced ladies when he glimpsed the green light, drove ahead, and hit the Toyota(丰田汽车) before him. Realizing the damage he did to the Toyota, Jake tried to get out of trouble by talking to Mariana（玛丽安娜－mary的异体）, the driver of the Toyota, in a flirtatious(轻浮的)way and behaving as if he had fallen in love with her. Jake also tried to impress Mariana by lying（说谎） that he was a musician and an actor too. Mariana reacted to Jake’s flirtation（挑逗） good-naturedly（善意地）, though suspicious of what he said. Finally, they exchanged telephone numbers, shook hands, and got in their inspective（各自的）cars. Jake, free from trouble now, went on with his imagination.
The personalities of Jake and Mariana are subtly portrayed in the story（巧妙地描绘）. When Jake first talked to Mariana, the reader can see him as an irresponsible， giddy（不可靠和轻率的） type of young man. By and by the reader finds a skillful and mature liar (说谎者). His dominant motivation(明显的动机) of telling lies, however, was to evade (逃避) his responsibility for the traffic accident. At the same time, he was impressed by Mariana’s smile, her beauty, and perhaps her good manners as well. The way he talked to Mariana changed from casual（不经意的） flirtation to sincere compliment(真诚的恭维), and the way he behaved （行为表现）to her was that of a love.
Mariana, on the other hand, was a quiet（宁静的）, amiable（和蔼可亲的）, good-mannered（典雅的） girl. Although her car was badly damaged, she did not lost temple or get upset（心烦意乱）. She reacted to Jake’s talk with a smile and kept a distance from him. She kindly refused Jake’s invitation to breakfast or coffee, and politely（客气地） asked Jake for his driver’s license and the name of his insurance company. She was cautious（谨慎的）, reserved（有所保留的）, and suspicious of what Jake said, so much that she wrote down the license plate （牌照）numbers on Jake’s car. The irony（讽刺的事） is that the number did not really belong to his car. It was no use writing down them.
At the end of the story, Jake felt both proud and sad(得意又忧伤). He was proud, because by telling a series of lies, he got out of trouble; he felt sad because Mariana would soon discover that he was a liar, and he would lose the chance of making friends with such a nice girl.
Different readers may interpret the meaning of the story in different ways, but its basic theme is that love cannot be based on lies. No matter how maturely（here意指巧妙地） lies are told, they will be discovered sooner or late. The title of the story is itself an irony. The two young people talked and behaved as if they had fallen in love, but the reader can infer that they would probably never see each other again. The dominant motivation for Jake’s behavior was to evade his responsibility for the accident. As soon as he got into the moving traffic, he felt so free that he went on with his imagination as if nothing had happened to him just now.
At the different level, the story can be understood as an examination of the human mind. It is a sad thing, for the practice reasons(推断), to be unable to tell the truth to somebody you love.

The detailed explanation of the text
1. Slouch v.—to sit, stand, or walk with an awkward, drooping, excessively relaxed posture. 极其放松的姿式坐、立或行; 懒散
   n. 懒惰或无能的人
He is good at chess and no slouch at bridge, either.
他擅长棋类，桥牌也非弱项。
2. clot—A thick, viscous, or coagulated mass or lump, as of blood.
A）凝块、凝结的团或块
A clump, mass, or lump, as of clay. 一堆或一团，如土块
B）密集的一群
a clot of automobiles blocking the tunnels entrance.
密集的车辆堵塞了隧道的入口
C）傻瓜；笨蛋；呆子
"Youve broken that dish, you clot!"
"你这个笨蛋,把盘子都打碎了!"
D）使凝结成块；使结团
Its clotted nonsense.
这完全是一派胡言。
Perspiration clotted his hair.
汗水使他的头发粘在一起。
3. onramp斜坡弯道 (高速路入口)
4. deny A）否认；否定
He said that she had stolen his bicycle, but she denied it.
他说她偷了他的自行车，可是她否认了。
B）背弃；摒弃
He denied his country.
他背弃了自己的国家。
C）拒绝；不给
He denies his wife nothing.
他对他的妻子有求必应。
5. FM—调频 (frequency modulation)
6. Buick 别克牌汽车(美)
7. velvet 天鹅绒, 丝绒
   A) be [stand] on velvet
过富裕的舒适生活; 处于稳赚钱的地位
B) fret like gummed velvet
气坏了, 十分恼火
C) to play on velvet
[俚]以赢来的钱赌博
D) to the velvet
有利; 赢钱;【商】给贷方
8. defroster防结冰(或霜)装置; ,车窗玻璃除霜器,除雾器
9. mellow甜蜜的醇香的、(颜色)柔美的, (声音)圆润的, 老练
He is a mellow friend.
他是个易相处的朋友。
We have a mellow conversation.
我们悠闲自在地谈话。
The mellow air brought in the feel of imminent autumn
甜美芳香的空气给人以秋天将至的感觉。
The years have mellowed the two brothers.
岁月使这兄弟俩老成持重了。
10. snuff — to extinguish熄灭：
He snuffed out the candles.
他熄灭了蜡烛。
lives that were snuffed out by car accidents.
被车祸所扼杀的生命
11. misty 有雾的；薄雾笼罩的
a misty weather
有雾的天气
misty recollections of the past
对过去的模糊记忆
a love story that left us feeling misty and sad.
一个令我们流泪和悲伤的爱情故事
12. when he let himself …
*只要让他的想像驰聘，他会想出许多可能的东西。
13. face 朝，向，面向；面对
face to face（常与with连用）面对面地
I rushed out of the office and found myself face-to-face with the boss.
我冲出办公室,面对面地碰上了老板。
in the face of
不顾；面对，在…前面
He succeeded in the face of great difficulties.
尽管有巨大的困难，但他成功了。
make a face at
向…做鬼脸 (= pull a face at)
He made faces at the baby to make it laugh.
他向婴儿做鬼脸来逗他发笑。
put a good face on it 装作若无其事
He hadnt passed the exam but he tried to put a good face on it.
他考试没及格，但他尽量装作若无其事。
save (ones) face
挽回面子
Though shed lost her job, she saved face by saying shed left it willingly.
虽然她已失业，但她说是自愿离职，以保全面子。
face up to
正视
She faced up to her difficulties.
她敢于正视困难。
14. pounce
（常与on, upon连用）（猛禽等）突然扑过去抓住
The bird pounced on the worm.
鸟突然飞过去把虫子扑住。
（常与on, upon连用）突然袭击
Policemen pounced on the thieves.
警察突然袭击窃贼。
（常与on, upon连用）抓住
The teacher pounced on the pupils mistake.
教师抓住了学生的错误。
15. steer 驾驶, 掌舵
He steered the ship carefully between the rocks.
他小心地在礁石间驾驶着船。
16. smack adv. 急剧地；用力地
He hit me smack in the face. 他用力打我的脸。
   n.拍击声，掴掌声
Dont do that or youll get a smack.
不要那么做，否则你要吃巴掌的。
v.（用掌）打，拍，掴
He smacked the naughty child.
他用手掌打这个顽皮的孩子。
17. crawl 爬行, 蠕动, 徐徐行进
We crawled along until we reached the open road.
我们缓慢爬行，直到一条开阔大道
He will crawl anywhere if he can gain something by it.
他到处钻营, 只要能有所得。
18. occur vi. 发生, 出现
The idea never occurred to me.
这个想法从未闪现在我脑海
It occurred to me that ... 我刚刚想到...
19. as far as尽；就；至于
As far as I know, he has gone to town.
就我所知，他到镇子上去了。
20. straighten（使）变直；（使）变平；（使）变整齐
She straightened the picture on the wall.
她把墙上的画搞平整了。
straighten out/ up
使成直线, 处理, 解决
The bent strip can straighten up by itself.
这弯曲的金属片自己可以变直。
straighten up your room
把你的房间整理一下
21. dimple酒窝；凹陷
   She is beautiful with the dimples on her face.
   她面部的酒窝使她更美
22. fondle 抚弄
Mrs Williams fondled her cat as it sat beside her.
威廉夫人抚摸着蹲在身边的小猫。
23. expire 终止；截止
My season ticket will expire this week.
我的月票到这周为止。
Our trade agreement with Holland will expire at the end of this year.
我国同荷兰的贸易协定今年年底期满。
24. swell vi（常与up连用）膨胀；肿大
A bee has stung my hand and it is swelling up.
一只蜜蜂叮了我的手，手肿了起来。
**使自负；得意洋洋
He swells like a turkey cock
他趾高气扬
adj. 非常好的；衣着入时的；漂亮的
   I feel perfectly swell.
我觉得很棒。