二、课文精解

Text I

1．They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to—on a screen, you know. （para.3） 本句意为: It was very funny to read words that were motionless instead of moving the way they ought to—on a screen. 读静止的文字，而不是按照它们应该移动的方式—在屏幕上，是十分有趣的事情；be supposed to do sth:应该做…例如：You are supposed to be on the lookout for things like that.对待这类事情，你应该小心才是。stand still:静止的，不动的, 例如：I stand still, my whole attention fixed on the movement of her finger.我静静地站着不动，所有的注意力都集中在她指头的运动上。

2．The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector. （para. 11） 本句中mechanical teacher意为“由机械驱动的老师，指电脑本身”；County Inspector:指“县审查员”；辨析：注意区分send for/ send into/ send up, 其中send for指“派人去叫，派人去取”，例如：He was so ill that we had to send for a doctor.他病的很严重，我们不得不请医生来。sent into指“使处于某种状态，使变得”，例如：The accident sent him into a state of shock.那场事故使他处于休克状态。sent up指“发射，射出”，例如：Many country have sent up man-made satellite to circle the earth.许多国家已发射人造卫星绕地球运转。

3．After an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. （para.12） 本句中there it was again使用了倒装，当there, here, now, then等句子位于句首时，句子应该倒装，但如果句子主语是人称代词，则只把副词提前位于句首，主语和谓语的位置不倒装，例如：Here they come.

4．She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time. （para.12） 句中a punch code意为“电脑编码”；in no time意为“立即，马上，很快地”，例如：He learned to use a single-handed saw in no time.很快他就学会了使用单手锯。此句中的always一词带有一种“厌烦，不满”的感情色彩，生动地表述了Margie是多么的讨厌这种学习方式。

5．She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. （para.13） 本句意为：She had been hoping they would move or carry the mechanical teacher （refers to the computer） to another place once for all. 她一直在期盼他们会把“老师”带走。其中，take sth or sb away意为“移走某人或某物，使消失”，例如：The doctor has given her some tablets to take away the pain.医生给了他一些止痛药。altogether意为“全部地，完全地”，例如：Altogether there were 18 people on the bus.公共汽车上总共有18个人。

Text II

1．I envy barbers, bookkeepers and writers the simplicity of their avowal, for all these professions speak for themselves and need no lengthy explanation. （para.1） 本句意为：I am jealous of barbers, bookkeepers and writers who can openly tell people what they are. 我羡慕理发师，薄记员以及作家，他们可以很简单地公开说明自己的职业，因为这些职业都不言而喻，无需冗长的解释。其中，avowal意为“公开宣告，承认”，例如：She made an avowal of her ambition to be a movie star.她公开表明她有当影星的野心。speak for oneself意为“很清楚地，很明显地”：I know all I had to do was to let the material speak for itself.我知道我所要做的就是使这些材料清晰易懂。

2．…I am as much at home in the laughter of the seventeenth century as in that of the nineteenth, （para. 1） 句中be at home in意为“觉得安适，无拘束”，例如：I’ve never felt particularly at home with computers.我对着电脑的时候，从来不觉得自在舒服。

3．I am a good laughter, experienced, no one else laughs as well as I do, no one else has such command of the fine points of my art. （para.1） 句中the fine points of my art指“精准地掌握笑这门艺术的分寸”；该句使用了叠言的修辞手法：no one else…no one else…这种修辞手法是指在特定的语境中，将相同的结构，相同意义的词组成句子重叠使用，以增强语气和力量，例如：It must be created by the blood and the work of all of us who believe in the future, who believe in man and his glorious man-made destiny.必须用我们这些对于未来，对于人类以及人类自身所创造的伟大命运共有信心的人的鲜血和汗水去创造。

4．In my breast I harbor the laughter of American, the laughter of Africa, white, red, yellow laughter—and for the right fee I let it peel out in accordance with the director’s requirement. （para.1） 本句意为：I have acquired the skill of imitating the laughter of people of different nationalities and I laugh loudly according to the director’s requirement. 我掌握了模仿各国人笑的技巧，我可以按照导演的要求大声地笑出来。其中，peal out在这里指“大声地笑”。

5．Indeed, even other people’s laughter gets on my nerves, since it reminds me too much of my profession. （para.6） 句中get on one’s nerves意为“使某人心烦，使某人心神不定”，例如：Her constant moaning really gets on my nerves.他不停地抱怨确实令我心烦。remind sb of sth意为“使某人想起，提醒某人…”，例如：It reminds me of the mistakes I have made before.这让我想起了自己以前犯过的错误。