Summary & Reflection

This chapter is about Su Tongpo's experience of the? imperial examination.

From what the author narrates, we can actually feel how the brothers were faced with the fatal turning piont. And that is very familiar to us with imaginable occasions and frames. Therefore the reading is accompanied with much cultural and personal understanding. All in all, the great genius shows extraordinary courage and talent in the exam. Besides that,? I am also moved by the father's love to his wife who inspired him when she was alive but missed the last meeting with him.

Word and Expression

be spoken for

a) if someone is spoken for, they are married or already have a serious relationship with someone

b) if something is spoken for, you cannot buy it because it is being kept for someone else

依我之見，按照第一種意思，譯成“被……提親”好像不太匹配。雖然中文應(yīng)該是提親的意思，但第一種“結(jié)婚或已經(jīng)有對(duì)象”的意思與之有些出入。

con?ster?na?tion

n. [U] / ?k?nst?'ne?? ? n ; ?kɑnst?ˋne??n /

a feeling of worry, shock, or fear 驚愕；震驚；驚惶失措

SYN? alarm

The government’s plans have caused considerable consternation among many Americans.

政府的計(jì)劃在許多美國(guó)人中間引起了相當(dāng)大的恐慌。

re?cluse

n. [C] / r?'klu?s ; ˋr?klus /

someone who chooses to live alone, and does not like seeing or talking to other people 隱居者，隱士，遁世者

She became a recluse after her two sons were murdered.

兩個(gè)兒子被殺后，她就一直離群索居。

An air of mystery and romance and legends hung over the region.

The city was the metropolis of China, kept in imperial grandeur, where the wealth and talent and beauty of the nation gathered about court.

The genial-mannered Ouyang Shiu had usually white long ears and a short lip which revealed his gums when he laughed.