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Unit 11
Heroes
After-Class Reading
PASSAGE I Mr Lee's Side of the Street
When Hattie Robinson moved from a lonely farm outside Tallahassee to West Perrine, Fla., this suburb of Miami was a friendly neighborhood of small frame houses. Neighbors visited one another in the evenings, and the children played tag in the shadows of the street lights. People went to sleep with their screen doors[1] unlatched. It was a good place to raise her grandson, Lee Arthur Lawrence, whose mother and father had split up.
Lee loved West Perrine, but Hattie's income as a domestic was small and her frail health often kept her from working at all. When it looked as if they'd have to return to the farm, Lee quit school for a dollar-an-hour job at a sewing-machine company. Though Hattie remained sickly, Lee's paycheck got them by through the years.
When he was 24, Lee met Sarah Hagins at a church choir concert. Two years later they were married and in time had two children, Nita and Junior.
Lee and Sarah saved enough for a down payment[2] on a house. Two years later a building became available for rent on 104th Avenue. Lee told Sarah he wanted his own store. They withdrew all their remaining savings, two thousand dollars, and opened "Lee's Grocery."
Lee's business prospered, but his beloved West Perrine was changing. Men and women were hanging out on street corners. There were craps games[3], fights. Drugs were being sold. People no longer felt safe visiting their neighbors after dark.
Yet in Lee's mind, the neighborhood of his youth was still here; it just needed a little tidying up. "This is our home," he told Sarah. "If I had a million dollars, I wouldn't live anywhere else."
Lee joined civic groups: Optimists, parent-teacher associations and the Community Crime Prevention Advisory Board. And he got involved with the kids[4] who came to his store.
"Getting in trouble in school, eh?[5]" Lee looked across the counter at a 12-year-old named Derrick, who waited to pay for his potato chips. Derrick's father had been lost in a mission over Hanoi in 1972, and the boy had only his mother to raise him. "Can't get along with the teacher?[5]"
"Hate her![5]"
"Well, what are you going to do for a job if you get kicked out of school?"
"When I get old enough, I'll go with the pros," Derrick answered confidently.
"I quit school." Lee gave him a solemn look. "That was the end of my football career. If I had stayed in school, gone on to college, I'd be playing for the Dolphins today — quarterback!"
Derrick's mouth dropped open. He looked at Lee with wide eyes, believing every word. "Ooooh, Mr Lee!" he said pityingly. Then he walked slowly to the door. From the corner of his eye, Lee watched Derrick head toward school with the other kids.
During the 1980s, a new drug called crack began to flood the streets. It seemed to take possession of those who smoked it, with a nasty, hungry addiction.[6]
Lee's store became a drug-free island in a sea of crack and cocaine, a haven for the neighborhood kids who came to the store to get their before- and after-school snacks.
"Look here, y'all[7]," Lee would tell them, "I don't care how big you are getting. Y'all stay on this side of the street." "Yes, sir, Mr Lee," they would chorus, and when they left they walked on Mr Lee's side of the street — because they knew he was watching.
When a family opened a restaurant next door to Lee's store, the drug trade moved in. Lee kept an eye on the dealers frequenting the place. He called the cops whenever there was a disturbance. The dealers knew that they had an enemy. But Lee never gave that a thought.[8] He was working for a better community.
West Perrine continued to deteriorate. More and more businesses closed, their owners tired of working behind metal wire, intimidated by holdups and shootings.[9] But Lee refused to give up. He continued to work with kids. He continued calling the cops and fingering pushers.[10]
A few days before Christmas in 1986, Lee pulled into his driveway and got out of the car. Suddenly, a popping sound drew his attention to the lot across the street. A man stood there, arm extended, firing a pistol at him.[11] By the time Lee understood what was going on, the gunman had fled. Another night, just as he entered the house, there was the sharp blasting noise of a burglar alarm from around the corner. The store!
The family found the front window shattered. Lying on the counter, they saw a container of gasoline stuffed with a rag. Gasoline was dripping onto the floor.
These attacks only made Lee more determined. He went into the schools and told the kids about the dangers lurking on the streets. He told them how easy it was to get into trouble and how hard it was to get out.
Soon, the press began to hear about this tireless community worker who couldn't be intimidated. I don't claim to be important or anything like that, Lee told one interviewer. "If more people would stand up to the dealers, we wouldn't have these problems."
One March evening last year, Lee went out to pick up trash in the parking lot. Suddenly, four young men with masks stepped around the corner. They pulled out hand guns and began shooting Lee. When the firing was over, the man everyone called "Mr Lee" lay motionless in the parking lot. He was dead, 12 days from his 52nd birthday[12].
More than a thousand people tried to crowd into the funeral services at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, a building that was meant to hold hundreds. Expressions of sympathy came from all over the nation, from servicemen abroad, from kids who had grown up in West Perrine. Miami developer Jeb Bush read a letter from his father, the President. "It takes a special man to stand up for what he believes," Bush read. "He will be remembered with great respect."
Derrick Thomas, voted the nation's outstanding college linebacker, drove 12 straight[13] hours from the University of Alabama through a rain of tears. "I know Mr Lee is up there with my dad, looking down," he said. "If I could say one thing to him now, I'd say, 'Look, Mr Lee, I'm walking on your side of the street.'"
Police charged the four men with murder. Sweeps of the neighborhood led to hundreds of drug arrests. Newspaper and television reporters flocked to West Perrine. They called Lee a martyr in the war against drugs. But the question remains: why did Lee do it? He did it because West Perrine was his home, his neighborhood. "As the saying goes, it's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness[14]," says Sarah. "He wanted to light a candle."
Church bells decorated the air of West Perrine the Sunday after Lee's funeral. Sarah, Nita and Junior gathered at the park near Lee's store and began to walk through the neighborhood. They linked arms and marched up Homestead Avenue, their voices ringing out in every corner of the neighborhood, "We shall overcome; drugs and crime must go!"
From behind torn curtains and broken doors, drug dealers and drug addicts looked out in amazement at Lee's family... and the 3,000 men, women and children behind them — who had come to clap and sing and make Lee's dream come true. (1278 words)
Proper Names
Community Crime Prevention Board
社区防止犯罪咨询委员会
Derrick Thomas
(男子名)德里克·托马斯
Fla. = Florida
佛罗里达州(美国州名)
Hattie Robinson
(女子名)海蒂·鲁宾逊
Homestead Avenue
家园大道
Hanoi
(地名)河内(越南首都)
Jeb Bush
(男子名)杰布·布什(美国总统乔治·布什的儿子)
Junior
(男子名)朱尼尔
Lee Arthur Lawrence
(男子名)李·阿瑟·劳伦斯
Miami
(地名)迈阿密(佛罗里达州一城市)
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church
西奈山浸礼会教堂
Nita
(女子名)尼特
Sarah Hagins
(女子名)萨拉·黑金斯
Tallahassee
(地名)塔拉哈西(佛罗里达州一城市)
The Dolphins
海豚队(足球队名)
West Perrine
(地名)西毗兰(佛罗里达州一城市)
University of Alabama
阿拉巴马大学(美国)
New Words
advisory *
adj. giving suggestions and help, especially about a particular subject or area of activity 咨询的，劝告的，忠告的
avenue
n. a wide street in a town, sometimes having trees on each side (城市的)大街，林荫道
e.g. I ) On the way back, he left us as we moved into the Hillside Avenue.
II) The palm-lined avenue leading to Seppeltsfield has become a special landmark in South Australia.
Baptist
adj. belonging or relating to a Protestant Church that believes in baptism by immersion in water at an age when a person is old enough to understand what the ceremony means 浸礼会教派的，浸礼会教友的
burglar
n. a person who breaks into a building in order to steal 窃贼，破门盗窃者
choir
n. an organized group of singers, especially one that performs in church services 唱诗班，合唱队
chorus
v. sing or say something all together 合唱，异口同声地说，齐声背诵
e.g. The papers all chorused the praises of the president.
civic
adj. of or relating to citizens or citizenship 公民的，市民的
cop
n. (slang) a policeman or policewoman 警察
crack
1) n. an extremely pure form of the drug cocaine, which is illegally taken for pleasure 强效可卡因(毒品)
2) v. break or make something break 裂开，龟裂
e.g. Don't put that delicate china in the dishwasher-it may crack.
developer *
n. a person or company that buys land or buildings and hopes to make a profit by building new houses, roads, etc. (房地产)开发商，开发者
disturbance
n. an act that bothers people or interrupts other events 扰乱，骚动
e.g. Further disturbance has been reported in the capital.
domestic
1) n. a household servant 家仆，佣人
2) adj. of or relating to the household or family 家庭的，家里的
e.g. The only domestic task that husbands are any good at is sharpening knives.
3) adj. of or within a particular country; not foreign or international 国内的，本国的
e.g. Both speakers agreed with each other about an important aspect of domestic policy.
driveway *
n. a road leading from a street to a building or house (通往住宅的)车道
frame
n. the main supports of which something is built or over and around which something is stretched 构架
e.g. In some parts of the world small boats are made of skins stretched over a wooden frame.
frame house a house with a wooden frame covered with boards 木板房
gasoline
n. (AmE) petrol 汽油
e.g. My lawn mower is powered by gasoline.
gunman *
n. a man armed with a gun, especially a criminal 持枪歹徒
haven
n. a place of safety or rest; refuge 安全地，难避所
holdup *
n. a robbery carried out at gunpoint 持枪抢劫
homestead
n. a house and its surrounding land 家园，家宅
interviewer *
n. a person who asks questions in an interview 接见者，采访者
intimidate
v. frighten somebody (in order to make him do something) 恐吓，威胁
e.g. I ) There's very little in the game of golf that can intimidate you.
II) The voters were intimidated into staying away from the polls.
linebacker
n. a defensive player in American football (橄榄球的)中后位
martyr
n. a person who is killed or made to suffer greatly because of his beliefs 烈士
optimist *
n. a person who is always hopeful and expects the best in all things 乐观主义者
paycheck *
n. (AmE) a check in payment of wages or salary 支付工资的支票
pistol
n. a type of small gun, held and fired with one hand 手枪
e.g. John was fined for carrying a pistol without a permit.
pityingly *
adv. in a state of expressing pity or sympathy 同情地
pro
n. (informal) professional 专门职业者
e.g. That actor's a real pro, and always gives a good performance .
quarterback
n. a center player in American football (橄榄球比赛中的)四分卫
rent
n. regular payment made for the use of land, telephone, machinery, etc. 租金
e.g. You could get your rent paid for one whole term.
shooting *
n. a usual criminal act of wounding by firing a gun 开枪，射杀
sickly *
adj. often ill, weak and unhealthy 多病的，病弱的，不健康的
e.g. He was what his parents would have described as a sickly child.
solemn
adj. grave; serious 严肃的，不苟言笑的
e.g. I ) The solemn preacher never smiled.
II) His face was solemn and his eyes dark.
suburb
n. an outer area of a town or city, where people live 市郊，郊区
e.g. Urban problems often stretch beyond city limits into the suburbs.
tag
n.
1) a children's game in which one player chases the others in an effort to touch one of them, who then becomes the one to chase the others 捉人游戏
2) a label attached to someone or something for the purpose of identification or to give other information 标签，标牌
e.g. I ) Whose coat is this? Look at the name tag.
II) This shirt hasn't got a price tag. How much is it?
tireless *
adj. never becoming tired 不知疲倦的
e.g. The tireless doctor worked a 24-hour shift.
trash
n. things that are thrown away; rubbish 垃圾，废物
e.g. There was a pile of trash in the corner of the garage.
unlatched
adj. unlocked, unfastened 未锁的
Phrases and Expressions
draw one's attention to
(deliberately) make someone notice something 使人注意
e.g. Your remark has drawn my attention to that matter.
for rent
available to be rented 供租用的
e.g. The company suggested a range of villas and apartments available for rent.
get by
(cause to) manage to live on (勉强)过活，(使)过得去
e.g. I) We don't have very much money, but we'll get by.
II) Melville managed to get by on a small amount of money.
III) Four computers can get us by at the moment, but a couple more will be needed when the new staff arrive.
hang out (slang)
waste time idly 闲荡
e.g. I hope Bob isn't hanging out with wrong people.
keep an eye on
look after 照料
e.g. Please keep an eye on my flowers in my absence.
ring out
sound loudly and clearly 发出响亮的声音
e.g. The celebrations were suddenly interrupted when the voice of the chairman rang out, "Hear me!"
split up
end relationship or marriage 断绝关系，离婚
e.g. I ) My parents split up when I was six.
II) I hear she's split up with her boyfriend.
stand up for
defend, fight for 支持，维护，保卫
e.g. I ) Don't be afraid to stand up for your rights.
II) Don't be bullied, learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe in.
stand up to
face boldly 勇敢地面对
e.g. I ) Why don't you stand up to your boss if you know you are right?
II) Women are now aware of their rights and are prepared to stand up to their employers.
PASSAGE II Rescue at Dotson Creek
"Where's that turn-off?" Sandy Swank thought as she crept along on the pitch-black roads of rural Hillsboro, Ohio, in torrential rain. She'd had a lovely time at the party she'd attended at a friend's house.
But now I'm lost, she sighed. Her eyes were searching along the road — until headlights glared in her rear-view mirror and the 49-year-old grandmother couldn't help but glance up.
It was only for an instant — but it was long enough that she didn't see the stop sign until she was upon it! "No," she screamed, slam-ming on the brakes as her car skidded and spun, then plunged down an embankment into a rain-swollen creek.
"I've got to get out!" Sandy realized in horror as cold water came up above her ankles. She unsnapped her seatbelt and reached the door. But the electronic locks and window switches were not functioning. And her sudden realization was even colder than the dirty creek water that now reached to her waist: I'm trapped — and I'm going to die! She panicked.
"Please, God, send someone to help," she screamed.
Help would come — help from someone hoping to erase the memories of another horrifying car crash. And in the next few minutes, Sandy and the stranger would fight a terrifying battle against nature for the life of one, and the soul of the other.
Behind Sandy, two men in a truck had already called 911 from their cell phone[1]. Now the radio in police officer Jonda Hampton's patrol car squealed, "Car trapped in Dotson Creek!"
When Jonda and her partner, volunteer officer Matt Holmes, arrived two minutes later, she shone the police car's spotlight on the car. It was pinned against a fallen tree[2] in the rough water eight feet from the shore. Two men were shouting, "Someone's trapped!"
"Dear Lord!" Jonda gulped as she ran. "Not again!" This is too much, too familiar, Jonda thought, seeing the outline of a woman trapped in the car, hearing the muffled screams as she waded into the torrent.
As memories of another incident years in the past flashed through her mind, the current pushed Jonda off her feet. She grabbed at the tree.
"It's too dangerous!" her partner yelled as the three men dragged her from the water. But Jonda only saw the rising water, minutes away from swallowing the car[3]. Her heart pounded out a prayer: God, don't let it happen again!
Three years before, Jonda, divorced and the sole support of her babies — Joshua, two, and Morgan, one[4] — had been working with a road construction crew when she waved a Ford to a stop. The pretty teenage driver smiled.
Suddenly, a speeding truck crashed into the Ford from behind, and it burst into a ball of fire. Jonda raced to the Ford thinking, I've got to get that girl out of there! But the flames made it impossible for Jonda and the others to reach the trapped driver — 17-year-old Mandy Dotson — who died as Jonda screamed in horror.
Afterwards, her friends consoled her, "There was nothing you could do." But doubts gnawed at Jonda, and she had nightmares of her own children burning up in her car while she stood paralyzed.
Recoiling from these images, Jonda channeled her regrets into protecting people like Mandy and enrolled in the police academy. When she took her job as the first female officer in her county, Jonda pledged, You'll help people through me, Mandy Dotson. Now her chance had come...here incredibly — in Dotson Creek.
But can I do it? Jonda agonized, eyeing the wild creek. I have to, she decided.
"Take off your belt," she ordered a passerby as she slipped off her own belt and tied the two together to make a crude lifeline.
"It's not strong enough!" he warned as she waded back into the water, holding the belt while three men linked arms to anchor her. Holding on to the belts with one hand, she made her way to the car, raised her heavy metal flashlight in the other hand and brought it crashing down[5].
"Hurry!" Sandy screamed as she heard the crashing sounds on the back window. When Jonda's spotlight had lit up the sinking car, Sandy had felt tremendous relief. Someone's here! She had breathed. "Hurry!" she'd screamed as the water rose to her armpits. Now she pressed her face toward the dwindling air pocket[6] just inches from the roof. She thought of her husband, Gene, her three grown sons and her eight grandchildren. The oldest was eight, the youngest, just 10 months. I'll never see them again! She wept.
"Don't give up," Jonda yelled. I'm running out of time! She panicked to herself.
"Give me a tire iron[7]!" she called to her partner, who ran to the car, then returned with the heavy tool. But by now, the water had closed over Sandy.
That's it. I'm dead, she thought hopelessly. Goodbye, everyone. I love you!
But Jonda wasn't ready to let Sandy say goodbye. Locking her grip on the belt that held her above the fierce water, she clenched the tire iron and then swung it against the glass window. The window cracked. Jonda punched out a hole with the tire iron and reached inside. She felt a swirl of wet hair and caught hold of it. With all her strength, she pulled — and Sandy shot through the hole onto Jonda's shoulder!
Sputtering water, Sandy sobbed, "Thank you!" The others pulled them to shore and wrapped them in blankets. Paramedics arrived, and as they checked Sandy for injury, Jonda rubbed Sandy's chilled arms.
"Why did you do this?" Sandy stuttered through chattering teeth, noticing her rescuer's exhausted face and soaked uniform. Jonda just smiled, "Because this time, I could do it."
After a night in the hospital Sandy was warmed up, and she recovered completely and called Jonda to thank her again for her life. Since then, the two women have become close friends.
"She's a fantastic woman," Sandy says now. "She just refused to let me die. I'm forever grateful to her." But Jonda feels she has much to be grateful for too. Because finally, she is free of her nightmares. Finally she has made peace with the past and a haunting memory. And she knows she didn't do it alone.
"I had help," Jonda says softly. "God and Mandy gave me a gift that night. It set both of us free." (1070 words)
Proper Names
Barbara Mackey
(女子名)巴巴拉·麦基
Dotson
多森小溪
Gene
(男子名)吉恩(Eugene的昵称)
Hillsboro
(地名)希尔斯伯勒(美国俄亥俄州)
Jonda Hampton
(女子名)娇达·汉普顿
Joshua
(男子名)乔舒亚
Mandy Dotson
(女子名)曼蒂·多森
Morgan
(男子名)摩根
Sandy Swank
(女子名)桑迪·斯旺克
New Words
academy
n.
1) a school or college for special instruction or training (中等以上的)专门学校
e.g. The doors of their military academies are open to young officers from overseas.
2) an association for the advancement of art, literature, or science 研究院，学会
e.g. In 1988 he submitted two works to the Royal Scottish Academy of Art; both were accepted and quickly sold.
anchor
v.
1) keep from moving, fix firmly in position 使稳固，固定
e.g. The panel was firmly anchored by two large bolts.
2) stop sailing and lower the anchor 抛锚停船
e.g. A plan to anchor boats on the reef was abandoned because they would damage coral.
ankle
n. joint connecting the foot with the leg 踝，踝关节
e.g. John stepped in a hole and twisted his ankle.
armpit
n. the hollow place under your arm where it joins your body 腋窝
chatter
v. (of the teeth) strike together with a clicking sound because of cold or fear (指牙齿)打颤
clench
v. grasp or hold firmly 紧抓
console
v. give comfort or sympathy to 安慰，慰问
e.g. The physician consoled the parents of the accident victim.
county
n. a subdivision of a state 县，郡
e.g. I work in a county adjacent to the one I live in.
creek
n. a small river; a stream 小溪
crude
adj.
1) not skillfully made or properly finished 简陋的，粗糙的
e.g. The archeologist unearthed some crude tools.
2) in a raw or natural state, untreated 天然的，未加工的
e.g. Product prices have risen faster than crude oil prices, encouraging refiners to process more oil.
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发表于 2016-7-10 09:23:22