水木英语中高级第57单元 Back in the old country｜讲义原文、点读朗读与视频课

Step 1: Intensive reading.

Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:

Question: Did the narrator find his mother's grave?

Vocabulary:

alien adj. 异国的，外国的

territory n .领地；地区

emigrate v .移居（国外）

milometer n .计程表

absorb v .全神贯注于

spire n .（教堂的）塔尖

embedded adj .扎牢的

retrace v.返回，重走

mortally adv .致命地

stumble v .趔趄地走

comprehensive adj .广泛的；丰富的

horizon n.地平线

reservoir n .水库

milestone n .里程碑

Passage:

I stopped to let the car cool off and to study the map. I had expected to be near my

objective by now, but everything still seemed alien to me. I was only five when my

father had taken me abroad, and that was eighteen years ago. When my mother had

died after a tragic accident, he did not quickly recover from the shock and loneliness.

Everything around him was full of her presence, continually reopening the wound. So

he decided to emigrate. In the new country he became absorbed in making a new life

for the two of us, so that he gradually ceased to grieve. He did not marry again and I

was brought up without a woman's care; but I lacked for nothing, for he was both

father and mother to me. He always meant to go back one day, but not to stay. His

roots and mine had become too firmly embedded in the new land. But he wanted to

see the old folk again and to visit my mother's grave. He became mortally ill a few

months before we had planned to go and, when he knew that he was dying, he made

me promise to go on my own.

我停下车，让汽车发动机冷却一下，同时查看一下地图。我本想离目的地已经不

远，但周围一切对我仍很陌生。我 5 岁那年，父亲就带我出了国，那是 18 年前

的事了。当时我母亲在一次事故中惨死，父亲未能很快从悲痛与孤独中恢复过来。

他身边的一切都有母亲的影子不断地勾起他的伤感。于是他决定移居他国。在这

个新的国家里，父亲专心致志地为我们俩开创一种新的生活，慢慢地不伤心了。

父亲没有再娶，因此，我在没有母亲的环境里长大成人。但我却什么都不缺，他

既当父亲又当母亲。他总想将来回国看看，但却不愿长期住下去，因为他与我一

样已经把根深深地扎在了异国的土地上。但是，他想看一看家乡父老乡亲，为我

的母亲扫墓。就在他计划回国的前几个月，他突然身患绝症。他知道自己已奄奄

一息，于是他要我答应一定单独回故乡一趟。

Notes:

1 I had expected to be near my objective by now，我本以为这时已经接近目的地了。

“expect 的过去完成时+不定式的一般式”，表示过去想做而未做的事。

2 become（be）absorbed in…，作“专心致志于……” “全神贯注于……”讲。

3 lack for nothing ，什么也不缺。

4 he made me promise to go on my own ，他要我答应一定单独回故乡一趟。

promise 是不带 to 的动词不定式，作宾语补足语；on one's own 作“单独”、“靠自

己的力量”解。

I hired a car the day after landing and bought a comprehensive book of maps, which I

found most helpful on the cross-country journey, but which I did not think I should

need on the last stage. It was not that I actually remembered anything at all. But my

father had described over and over again what we should see at every milestone after

leaving the nearest town, so that I was positive I should recognize it as familiar

territory. Well, I had been wrong, for I was now lost.

我下飞机后租了一辆车，并买了一本详尽的地图册。在乡间行车途中，我觉得它

非常有用，但快到家了，我倒觉得它没什么用了。这倒并非是我背熟了地图，而

是父亲曾详细给我讲了，在过了离故乡最近的那个小镇后，在每一个路标处可见

到些什么。因此，我相信这段路对我来说会是很熟悉的。唉，实际我错了，我现

在迷路了。

Notes:

5 It was not that …at all. 和下文的 But…territory ，这里两个句子实际用的是一个

完整的句型：not that…but that（不是因为……而是因为……）。

I looked at the map and then at the milometer. I had come ten miles since leaving the

town, and at this point, according to my father, I should be looking at farms and

cottages in a valley, with the spire of the church of our village showing in the far

distance. I could see no valley, no farms, no cottages and no church spire — only a

lake. I decided that I must have taken a wrong turning somewhere. So I drove back to

the town and began to retrace the route, taking frequent glances at the map. I landed

up at the same corner. The curious thing was that the lake was not marked on the map.

I felt as if I had stumbled into a nightmare country, as you sometimes do in dreams.

And, as in a nightmare, there was nobody in sight to help me. Fortunately for me, as I

was wondering what to do next, there appeared on the horizon a man on horseback,

riding in my direction. I waited till he came near, then I asked him the way to our old

village. He said that there was now no village. I thought he must have misunderstood

me, so I repeated its name. This time he pointed to the lake. The village no longer

existed because it had been submerged, and all the valley too. The lake was not a

natural one, but a man-made reservoir.

我看了看地图，又查了一下里程表。从小镇出来，我走了 10 英里。照父亲的说

法，我面前应是一个山谷，有农场与村舍，还可远远望见老家村子里的教堂的尖

顶。可现在我却看不到山谷，看不见农舍，也看不见教堂尖顶，看见的只是一片

湖泊。我想一定是在什么地方拐错了弯儿。于是我驾车返回小镇，重新按路线行

驶。结果又来到刚才那个拐弯处。奇怪的是那个湖没有在地图上标出。我感到自

己就像平时作梦那样迷迷糊糊地闯进了噩梦境地。就像在噩梦里一样，见不到一

个人可以帮助我。不过，我是幸运的，正当我走投无路之时，从天边出现一个骑

马的人向我骑来。等他走近了，我问他去老家的路。他说那村子已经没有了。我

想他一定误解了我的意思，于是又说了一遍村庄的名字。这次他用手指了一下那

个湖。村庄已不复存在，因为已经为水所淹，山谷也被水淹没了。这不是一个天

然湖泊，是一座人工修建的水库。

57.2【阅读理解】Back in the old country

Step 2: Comprehension questions.

1 Did the writer stop just to let the car cool off? (No, he also wanted to study the

map.)

2 Had he expected to be near his objective? (Yes, he had.)

3 How old was he when his father had taken him abroad? (Five.)

4 How long ag was that? (Eighteen years ago.)

5 How did the writer's mother die? (After a tragic accident.)

6 Did his father recover from the shock and loneliness? (No, he didn't.)

7 What did he decide to do? (He decided to emigrate.)

8 Did his father ever marry again? (No, he didn't.)

9 Why did his father want to go back one day? (To see the old folk again and to visit

the writer's mother's grave.)

10 What happened to the writer's father a few months before they planned to go? (He

became ill.)

11 What did he make the writer promise? (To go on his own.)

12 What did the writer hire and what did he buy the day after he landed? (He hired a

car and bought a book of maps.)

13 Why did the writer think he was lost? (Because he didn't recognize any familiar

territory.) What could he see instead of valleys, farms and cottages? (Only a lake.)

14 What did he do in order to retrace his route? (He drove back to the town.)

15 When he retraced the route, did he land up at the same place? (Yes, he did.)

16 What was curious about the lake? (It was not marked on the map.)

17 Was there anyone in sight to help him? (No, there wasn't.)

18 Who appeared then on the horizon? (A man on horseback.)

19 What did the writer ask the rider? (He asked him the way to his old village.)

20 What did the rider do when the writer repeated the name of the village? (He

pointed to the lake.)

21 Why didn't the village exist any longer? (Because it had been submerged in the

reservoir.)

57.3【拓展写作】Back in the old country

Step 3: Composition

Write a composition on the following subject; the length should be between 250 and

350 words.

• The house you wish to own.

Key to composition

Title: My ideal house

Introduction:The house I would like to own —hometown—magnificent mansion

Development: Once visited it —owner held exhibition of sculptures and paintings in

house — visitors had chance to see house

Large heavy green front door — large entrance hall — marble floor — large open

staircase to first floor — large dining room and large sitting room—both look out onto

front lawn—peacocks—oak trees

Back of house — kitchen, a laundry room, games room — upstairs 6 bedrooms, 4

bathrooms

House—full of antique furniture—rooms decorated classical style

Conclusion: May sound like a dream—will be reality

Composition

There is a house in another part of my home town that I would love to own. It is

called the “White House”, like the President's house in Washington! I think you could

easily describe it as a “ mansion” and it is magnificent. I have no idea how much it is

worth, but that doesn't worry me. I admire the house and have always admired it.

I do not have to imagine what the house is like inside because I have, strange as it

may seem, actually been inside. About three years ago the owner held an exhibition of

sculptures and paintings in the house. The exhibits were distributed throughout the

house so that all the visitors had a chance to see the house.

When you go in through the large heavy green front door, you find yourself in a

large entrance hall with a shining black and white marble floor, rooms leading off

from it in all directions, and a large open staircase leading up to the first floor. There

is a large dining room on the right and a large sitting room on the left. Both rooms

have big windows that look out onto the front lawn. There are always peacocks on the

front lawn, and there are two large oak trees where you can sit in the shade on hot

summer days.

At the back of the house is a large kitchen, a laundry and work room and a games

room. Upstairs there are six bedrooms and four bathrooms. I think there are four

bathrooms, but I can't quite remember.

The house is full of beautiful antique furniture and all the rooms are decorated in

a classical style—lots of light blue and light green paint with white doors, and quite a

lot of gold decoration.

The whole thing may sound like a dream, but one day it will be reality. One day I

will own my ideal house.

(322 words)

课外练习：

1When the author thought he was near his objective, he stopped because .

(a) it was too hot for him to concentrate on where he was going

(b) he wanted to find his way back to the nearest town

(d) he did not recognize any familiar landmarks

2 Why did the author's father want his son to go back on his own?

(a) He feared that his wound would reopen if he were to return himself.

(b) He wanted to hear what had happened to his village before dying.

(d) He had always intended that his son should see the land of their birth.

3 What made the author feel he had stumbled into a nightmare country?

(a) According to his father, he should already have reached the village.

(b) Nothing he saw corresponded to what he had expected to see.

(d) He was curious to know more about the lake but there Was no one to ask.

4 I was only five when I , and that was eighteen years ago.

(a) had been taken abroad by my father

(b) took abroad with my father

(d) was taken by my father abroad

5 - and I was brought up .

(a) without a care of women

(b) without care by a woman

(d) careless of a woman

6 -leaving the town. It was here that my father had told me I farms and

cottages ...

(a) could see

(b) would see

(d) should have seen

7 I waited for his approach I asked him ..

(a) until

(b) when

(d) so that

8 I asked him to our old village.

(a) what way it was

(b) if he knows the way

(d) how to get

9 Everything around him , continually reopening ..

(a) reminded him of her

(b) presented her to him

(d) remembered her for him

10 But my father had described what we should see..

(a) incessantly

(b) overmuch

(d) extensively

11-the lake was not on the map.

(a) signed

(b) written

(d) spotted

12 The lake was not a natural one. It was one.

(a) an unnatural

(b) a man-made

(d) a manufactured

答案：1d 2d 3b 4a 5c 6b 7c 8d 9a 10c 11c 12b