unitA课文ALLTHECABBIEHADWASALETTER

1、ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETTERFoster FurcoloHe must have been completelylost insomething he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get hisattention.“ Is your cab available?” I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settledinto the back seat,“

2、I 'mrry,sobut I was reading a letter.He sounded as if he had a coldor something."I'm in no hurry,” I told him.Go ahead“and finish your letter.”He shook his head.“ I 've read it several times already. I guess I almostknow it by heart. ”“ Letters from home always mean a lot,” I said“.

3、At least they do with me because I 'm on the road so much.”Then,estimatingthat he was 60 or 70 years old, I guessed:“ From a child or maybe a grandchild?”“This isn't family, ”he replied.“ Although,” he went on,“ come to think ofmightit,it just as wellhave beenfamily. Old Ed was my oldest fri

4、end. In fact, we used to call each other' Old Friend'when we 'd meet, that is.I'mnot much of ahand at writing.”“ I don't think any of uskeep upourcorrespondencetoo well,” I said.“ I know I don'tBut. I take it he'ssomeone you 've known quite a while?”"All my life,

5、 pr actically.We were kids together, so we go way back.”“ Went to school together?”“ All the way through high school. We were in the same class, in fact, through both grade and high school."There are not too many people who 've had such a long friend ship,” I said.“ Actually,” the driver we

6、nt on,“ I hadn't seen him more than once or twice a year over the past 25 or 30 yearsbecause I moved away from the oldneighborhoodand youkind oflose toucheven though you never forget. He wasa great guy.”“ You said 'was'. Does that mean?"He nodded.“ Died ac ouple ofweeks ago.”“ I 

7、9;m sorry,” I said.“ It's no fun toanylosefriend and losing a real old one is even tougher.”He didn't reply to that, and we rode on in silence for a few minutes.But I realized that Old Ed was stillon hismind when he spoke again, almost more to himself than to me:"I should have kept in t

8、ouch. Yes,” he repeated,“should havekept in touch.”“ Well,” I agreed,“ we should all keep in touch with old friends more than we do. But thingscome upand we justdon't seem to find the time.”1/11He shrugged.“ We used to find the time,” he said.“ That's even mentioned in the letter.” He handed

9、 it ovme. 'Take a look.”“ Thanks,” I said,“ but I don't want to read your mail. That's pretty personal.”The driver shrugged.“ Old Ed 's dead. There's nothing personal now. Go ahead,urged me”. heThe letter was written in pencil. It began with the greeting "Old Friend,the firs

10、t sentence”andreminded me ofmyself. I 've been meaning to write for some time, but I 've alwayspostponedit. It then went on to say that heoften thought about the good times they had had together when they both lived in the sameneighborhood.Ithadreferencesto things that probably meant somethi

11、ng to the driver, such as the time Tim Shea broke the window,the Halloween that we tied Old Mr. Parker 's gate, and when Mrs. Culver used to keep us after school.“ You must have spent a lot of time together,” I said to him.“ Like it says there,” he answered,“ about all we had to spend in those d

12、ays was time.He shook his head: ”"Time.”I thought the next paragraph of the letter was a little sad: I began the letter with "Old Friend" because that'swhat we 've become over the years old friends. And there aren't many of us left.“ You know, ” I said to him,I go to a cla

13、ssreunion, for example,“ when it says here that there aren't many of us left, that'sabsolutelyright. Every timethere are fewer and fewer still around.”"Time goes by,”the driver said.“ Did you two work at the same place?” I asked him.“ No, but wehung outon the same corner when we were si

14、ngle. And then, when we were married, we used to goto each other 's houseevery now and then.But for the last 20 or 30 years it 's beenmostlyjust Christmascards.Ofcourse there 'd be always a note we 'd each add to the cardsusually some news about our families, you know,what the kids w

15、ere doing, who moved where, a new grandchild, things like that but never a real letter or anythinglike that.”“ This is a good part here,” I said.“ WhereYouritsaysfriendship over the years has meant anawfullot to me,more than I can say be cause I 'm not good at saying things like that.” I found m

16、yself nodding in agreement.“ Thatmust have made you feel good, didn't it?”The driver said something that I couldn't understand because he seemed to be all choked up, so I continued: "Iknow I 'd like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend.”We were getting close to our de

17、stination so I skipped to the last paragraph. So I thought you 'd like to know thatI was thinking of you. And it was signed, Your Old Friend, Tom.I handed back the letter as we stopped at my hotel.“ Enjoyed talking with you,” I said as I tookasemyoutsuitcof the cab. Tom? The letter was signed To

18、m?“ I thought your friend 's name was Ed,” I said.“ Why did he sign it Tom?'2/11“ The letter was not from Ed to me,” he explained.“ I 'm Tom. It's a letter I wrote to him before I knew he 'd died.So I never mailed it.”He looked sort of sorrowful, or as if he were trying to see so

19、mething in the distance.“ I guess I should havewritten it sooner.”When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpackright away. First I had to write a letter and mail it.language studybe lost in/ lose oneself in:be absorbed in, be fully occupied with专心致志于He was lost in playing computer games so he was

20、unaware of my entering the room.She was lost in her novel.I had lost myself in thought.available:able to be used, had, or reached可用的 。 可得到的Since 1990, the amount of money available to buy books has fallen by 17%.If you don't want to buy a kite, you can make your own using directions available in

21、 the book.We have already used up all the available space.or something:used when you are not very sure about what you have just said诸如此类的事The air fare was a hundred and ninety-nine pounds or something.Here's some money. Get yourself a sandwich or something.Similar phrase: or something like thatg

22、o ahead:continue, begin (sometimes followed bywith +n.)The board of directors will vote today on whether to go ahead with the plan.Henry will be late but we will go ahead with the meeting anyway.know/ learn by heart:memorize, remember exactly记住 ,能背出You have to know all the music by heart if you want

23、 to be a concert pianist.The pupils are required to learn a classic poem by heart every day.estimate:form a judgement about (a quantity or value)估计I estimate that the total cost for the treatment of the disease will go from $5,000 to $8,000.Bill's personal riches were estimated at $368 million.3

24、/11might/ may (just) as well:不妨 ,(也 ) 无妨 If you say that you might/ may (just) as well do something, youmean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly reluctant about it.Anyway, you're here。 you might as well stay.The post office is really b

25、usyWe might as well go home. we'll have to queue for ages to get served.not much of a :not a good不太好的Some people may think that doing housework for others is not much of a career.He is not much of a father, but he is an outstanding professor.keep up:continue without stopping保持They risk losing th

26、eir homes because they can no longer keep up the repayments.I was so hungry all the time that I could not keep the diet up for longer than a month.correspondence:1) the act of writing, receiving or sending letters (不可加 s, 但可加 a , often followed bywith + n.)通信(联系)His interest in writing came from a l

27、ong correspondence with a close college friend.2) the letters that sb. receives or sends (used as an uncountable noun)信件Mary really never mentions her step-mother in her correspondence.Any further correspondence should be sent to my new address.practically:almost, but not completely or exactlyHe'

28、;d known the old man for practically ten years.I know people who find it practically impossible to give up smoking.neighborhood:one of the parts of a town where people live街坊。四邻It seemed like an ideal neighborhood to raise my children in.Houses in a good neighborhood are likely to be sold at a high

29、price.kind of/ sort of:(infml 。 "kind of"is esp. AmE, "sort of"esp. BrE) a little bit, in some way or degree (used beforev. or after a link verb)有几分 , 有点儿She wasn't beautiful. But she was kind of cute.The boy's description kind of gives us an idea of what's happening.

30、lose touch (with sb.):meet and contact sb. less and less often, gradually stop writing, tele- phoning, or visitingthem 失去联系I lost touch with my former classmates after graduation.4/11In my job one tends to lose touch with friends.a couple of:(infml)a few, more than one but not many几个 。 一对 , 一双Do you

31、 have a moment? There are a couple of things I'd like to talk to you about.They promised the students that they would find a substitute teacher in a couple of days.on one's mind:in one's thoughts。 of concern to one (If something is on your mind, you are worried or concernedabout it and t

32、hink about it a lot.)挂记在心头Dealings on the stock market have been on his mind all the time.This travel plan has been on my mind all week.keep in touch (with sb.)( 与) 保持联系 , 保持接触 If you keep in touch with someone, you write, phone, or visiteach other regularly.The old man kept in touch with his childr

33、en while living in a nursing home.While doing the research work in the Antarctic, the professor kept in touch with his students via e up:1) happen, occur, esp. unexpectedly(尤指意想不到地 )发生 ,出现"Sorry, I am late something came up at home."Other projects came up and the emphasis of my wo

34、rk changed.2) be mentioned or discussedThe issue of safety came up twice during the meeting.The term "Project Hope" has come up a lot recently in the newspapers.urge: try very hard to persuade (often used in the patternurge sb. to do sth.or followed by athai-clause.In the that-clause, &quo

35、t;should" or the base form of a verb is used.)力劝,催促They urged the local government to approve plans for their reform programme.I urged my cousin to take a year off to study drawing.Sir Fred urged that Britain (should) join the European Monetary System.postpone:delay (usu. followed byn. /gerund)

36、推迟 , 使延期The Russian experts postponed dumping Mir (和平号 Russia's space station) in the Pacific Ocean until March 23,2001.The couple had postponed having children to establish their careers.reference:1) the act of talking about sb. / sth., or mentioning them (usu. followed byto) 提及 ,谈到It was stran

37、ge that he made no reference to any work experience in his resume.His recent book makes references to the political events of those days.5/112) sth. that shows you where else to look for information, for example the page number of another place in a book参考Make a note of the reference number shown on

38、 the form.3) the act of looking at sth. for information查阅Use the dictionary for easy reference.Keep their price list for further reference.absolutely:totally and completely完全地 , 极其Funding is absolutely necessary if research is to continue.There is absolutely no difference between the two oil-paintin

39、gs.reunion:a party attended by members of the same family, school, or other group who have notseen each other for a long time(家人 、 朋友 、同事等久别后的) 重逢The soccer club holds an annual/yearly reunion.Before she went abroad for further study, the whole family had a big family reunion.go by:(of time) pass(时间

40、 ) 逝去Her daughter was becoming more and more beautiful as the years went by.As each month goes by, the economic situation gets better.hang out:1)(in/ml。 used mainly inAmE)stay in or near a place, for no particular reason, not doing very much闲逛。徘徊I often hung out in coffee bars while I was unemployed

41、.We can just hang out and have a good time.That's the corner where all the kids hang out.2) hang clothes on a piece of string outside in order to dry them .挂晾晒I was worried that I had no time to hang out my washing.What a pain! It's raining and I've just hung the washing out.every now an

42、d then:sometimes, at times有时 , 不时Every now and then I have a desire to quit my tedious job.I still see Jane for lunch every now and then, but not as often as I used to.mostly:almost all。 generally几乎全部。 多半 , 大体6/11They have invested their money mostly in expensive real estate.The guests at the weddin

43、g party are mostly friends of the bride.awful:(infinl。 used to add force) very great。 very bad or unpleasant非常的 , 极大的 。 可怕的I have got an awful lot of work to do.I can't bear the awful smell of cigarette smoke.choke up:become too upset to speak(使 ) 窒息 。 堵塞When he learned the news of his friend

44、9;s sudden death, he was so choked up he couldn't say a thing.Losing my job left me completely choked up。 I was so upset that I didn't know what to say.destination:the place to which sb. is going or being sent目的地Singapore is still our most popular holiday destination.Only half of the emergen

45、cy supplies have reached their destination because of the bad weather.skip:pass from (one point, etc.) to another, disregarding or failing to act on what comes between略过 , 跳过 。 跳跃The teacher skipped chapter five and said it wouldn't be on the test."As time is limited, we will have to skip s

46、ome of the exercises in Unit 10, "said the teacher.right away:(in/ml)at once立刻Tom has got a high fever。 he should go and see a doctor right away.I wrote him a letter and posted it right away.language point 1He sounded as if he had a cold or something. : This sentence implies the sad state of mi

47、nd the taxi driver was in.language point 2At least they do with me because I'm on the road so much. :At least letters from home mean a lot to mebecause I travel a lot in a car for long distances.language point 3This isn't family.:This isn't a letter from my family.language point 4I'm

48、 not much of a hand at writing. :I'm not good at writing.language point 57/11But I take it he's someone . :But I expect that he is someone . The sentence pattern "I take it (that)" is usedto say that you expect someone will do something, know something etc.Example: I take it (that)

49、 you've heard that all the students in my class have done a very good job in GET Band 4.language point 6Went to school together? : The complete sentence is like this: You went to school together? (In colloquial English a declarative sentence with a rising tone may serve as a question.)language p

50、oint 7But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more tohimself than to me.: But I realized that the taxi driver was still thinking of Old Ed when he spoke again. It seemed that he spoke more to himself than to me.language point 8It had references to things that . :

51、The letter made mention of things that .language point 9"Like it says there,". "about all we had to spend in those days was time.":"though we didn't have much money we had a lot of free time."language point 10. there are fewer and fewer still around.:.fewer and fewe

52、r of us are left alive.language point 11"As the letter says there,".But for the last 20 or 30 years it's been mostly just Christinas cards. :But generally speaking we have sentonly Christmas cards to keep in touch with each other for the last 20 or 30 years.language point 12Your friend

53、ship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because I'm not goodat saying things like that. : Your friendship over the years has been very important to me, more important than I can say because I'm not good at expressing my feelings.8/11友谊老朋友天各一方，你心有何感? 你是否努力保持联系? 有时候写信的事很容易会一拖再拖，总以为明天有的是时间。然而，正如这则故事所表明的，有时我们拖得太晚了。也许读一读这个故事会让你提起笔来。出租车司机拥有的就剩一封信福期特·纬克洛他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不得不敲挡风玻璃来引起他的注意。他总算抬头看我