gobble up something new
Good Usage (Paras. 10-11)
(were) hungry for accepting substitutes
substitute material things for love a sense of comradeship
is not a substitute for tenderness
Good Usage (Para. 12)
the same today as it had been the first day I arrived held their same places on the shelves was terminally ill his purchasing power
Good Usage (Para. 13)
changed so drastically in a very real way bank account
Good Usage (Paras. 14-17)
be honest with
Good Usage (Paras.18-19)
a senior center
Good Usage (Paras. 20-21)
Devote yourself to
creating something that gives you purpose and meaning
Good Usage (Paras.22-23)
railing against
show off for people at the top look down on
people at the bottom
Status will get you nowhere.
Good Usage (Paras.24-27)
feel alive
it?s as close to healthy as I ever feel
Do the kinds of things that come from the heart.
On the contrary, you?ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.
Good Usage (Paras.28-30)
poke a few times at it
Key Words and Expressions for Text A
hold up support sth. and stop it from falling 举起；支撑 e.g. 1. He held up his hands and shouted “Don?t shoot!”
2. There are two large wooden supports that hold up the roof. 有两根大木柱支撑着房顶。
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lament vt. feel or express deep sorrow for 痛惜；哀悼
e.g. 1. Let bygones be bygones. It?s no use lamenting the loss of your glory and power.
2. People lament the passing of the good old days. 人们惋惜过去好时光的流逝。
snatch vt. take hold of sth. with a sudden quick often violent movement 强夺；攫取 e.g. 1. Before I knew it, the thief snatched my purse and quickly ran away.
2. She clutched her purse tightly, fearing that a thief might snatch it. 她紧紧抓着自己的钱包，生怕小偷把包抢去。
CF : grab, grasp, seize, snatch & catch
grab, grasp, seize, snatch 与catch都有“抓住”的意思。 grab表示突然地、粗鲁地抓住。例：
* He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the path of the car. grasp表示牢牢地抓住，重点强调牢牢。例：
* Susan never understood what had driven her to grasp the oar at the last moment. seize指突然用力抓住使不逃脱。例：
* Above all, we must seize every opportunity to improve our operational efficiency. snatch表示迅速地拉扯，出其不意地“抓取”。例：
* She made a dive for the rejected clothes and began to snatch them this way and that. catch是普通用语，含有“设法抓住、捉住”的意思。例： * He ran fast enough to catch the thief.
cross off remove (from) by drawing a line through 划掉；删除 e.g. 1. We can cross her name off the list, as she?s not coming.
2. He crossed off the unnecessary parts in his essay. 他把论文中不必要的部分都划掉了。
cry over weep because of; feel sad because of 因为……哭泣；对……感到悲伤 e.g. 1. Mary was so sentimental that she often cried over her misfortune.
2. He was no doubt a great hero so people couldn?t help but cry over his death. 他毫无疑问是个伟大的英雄，所以人们才为他的去世禁不住地感到悲伤。
relay vt. [(to)] pass (a message) from one person to another [常与to连用]传达；传递（信息） e.g. 1. He quickly relayed the good news to the other members of the staff.
2. Will you relay a message to him when you see him? 你见到他时，给他传个口信好吗？
drop by pay an informal visit to a person or a place 顺便访问
e.g. 1. Sometimes I would drop by to see how he was getting on and whether he needed any help.
2. Only very close friends will just drop by unannounced. 只有很熟的朋友才会未经通知就突然造访。
dip vi. drop down or sink out of sight suddenly 下降；忽然消失
e.g. 1. We often go to the beach and watch the sun dip below the horizon.
2. The night before setting off, the temperature dipped and snow fell. 出发前的那个夜晚，气温下降，雪花飘飘。
soar vi. rise rapidly or to a very high level 骤升；腾飞
e.g. 1. With unemployment rate soaring, some young people have decided to give up hunting for jobs and go
back to school for further education.
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2. Great trees soar above to cut out most of the light. 大树参天，挡住了大部分光线。
interpret vt. [(as)] understand the likely meaning of a (statement, action, etc.) [常与as连用]把（话语、行
动等）理解为；解释
e.g. 1. I interpret her silence as acceptance.
2. We interpret handshake as a sign of friendliness. 我们把握手理解为友好的表示。
substitute vt. put (sth.) in place of another 用（某物）代替（另一物）
e.g. 1. We substituted honey for sugar in making the cake and it tasted much better.
2. If you cannot go yourself, please find someone to substitute you. 你如果不能亲自去，请找人代替你。 Collocations:
substitute as 代替为……
substitute ... for ... 用……代替……
deplete vi. fml lessen greatly in amount, contents, etc. 〖正式〗大大减少；枯竭
e.g. 1. The Earth?s natural resources are depleting, so we must take effective measures to conserve them.
2. He had been spending without restraint and his bank account was rapidly depleting. 他一直挥霍无度，银行账户里的资金迅速减少。
trivial a. not important or serious不重要的；琐碎的
e.g. 1. I don?t know why he should get so upset about something that is utterly trivial.
2. Who could have thought a trivial matter would cause such a stir? 谁会想到一件琐碎小事竟会引起这样一场轩然大波。
show off derog behave so as to try to get attention and admiration for oneself, one?s abilities, etc. 〖贬〗炫
耀；卖弄
e.g. 1. Like those rich, vain ladies, Dianna likes to show off her jewelry and fine clothes.
2. Although he wants to make a hit, I think he hasn?t got much to show off. 虽然他想大出风头, 不过我认为他没有什么可炫耀的。
look down on infml regard sb. with contempt; consider sb. inferior to oneself 〖非正式〗轻视；看不起 e.g. 1. Even though he?s from a rich family, he never looks down on anyone who is less fortunate.
2. I wish you wouldn?t look down on this kind of job. 我希望你不要看不起这种工作。
envious a. [(of)] feeling or showing envy [常与of连用]嫉妒的；羡慕的 e.g. 1. Do not display your treasures, or people will become envious.
2. Tom was envious of his brother?s success in business. 汤姆羡慕（或嫉妒）他哥哥事业上的成功。
on the contrary the opposite is true; not at all与此相反；正相反 e.g. 1. — I hear you are enjoying doing your new job.
— On the contrary, I find it rather dull.
2. You didn?t bother me. On the contrary, I like your company. 你没有打扰我，相反地，我喜欢有你作伴。
poke at make repeated small pushing movements at sth. 反覆轻推某物
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e.g. 1. From the way he poked at the food, we could see the little boy wasn?t hungry.
2. Don?t poke at that poisonous spider with your finger! 不要用手指去戳那只有毒的蜘蛛！
Difficult Sentences for Text A
1. The night before, he had been entertained by a local a cappella group that had come to the house to perform, and he relayed the story excitedly, as if the Ink Spots themselves had dropped by for a visit. (Para.5) Q: What did Morrie really care about in the performance?
A: What Morrie really cared about was spiritual gratification. Even the performance of the local a cappella group, whose performance was by no means professional, could give him as much excitement and gratification as the famous Ink Spots would have.
2. He would listen to opera sometimes at night, closing his eyes, riding along with the magnificent voices as they dipped and soared. (Para. 5)
Q: What is the implied meaning of this sentence?
A: Sometimes at night he would indulge himself in listening to opera, feeling intoxicated and gratified. Though he was not rich in material things and was suffering from an incurable disease, he spent each day happily.
3. And then they wanted to tell you about it. ?Guess what I got? Guess what I got?? (Para. 9) Q: What does the repetition of “Guess what I got” show?
A: The repetition of “Guess what I got?” shows the speaker?s uncontrollable excitement and gratification at gobbling up something new.
4. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone. (Para. 23) Q: Paraphrase this sentence.
A: If you want to be accepted equally and respectably by people both at the top and at the bottom, you must be open-hearted instead of showing off your social status. In other words, you must be yourself, feel free in expressing your real thoughts, opinions, and feelings, be candid and ready to offer others what you have to give. Extended Questions
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 1-3)
Q1: Why did Morrie first laugh and then shake his head after he read what Turner said?
A1: Morrie was amused to know that a rich man like Turner should have explicitly expressed a longing for
owning a network. He shook his head because he didn?t approve of Turner?s ambition to snatch up the CBS network. For Morrie, happiness doesn?t come from owning more.
Q2: What do you think of Ted Turner according to the quote in the newspaper story?
A2: He was giving priority to greater success in the network market and higher status in his business circle. In
other words, owning more had become his ultimate goal in life.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 4-7)
Q: Why do people often hear the expression “You can?t take it with you” when somebody dies?
A: This expression tells us that material things alone do not mean happiness and that accumulating wealth should not be regarded as the only aim in one?s life. What is more important is to enjoy spiritual gratification when you are alive. We can understand the meaning of the expression more clearly when somebody dies.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 8-9)
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Q: Can you imagine how American people are brainwashed into believing “The more, the better”?
A: The idea that gobbling up more material things is good and can work wonders is communicated through all kinds of media, such as TV, radio, the Internet, newspapers, and billboards, so much so that one cannot avoid it anytime and anywhere. When the same information is repeated numerous times, people take it for granted and act accordingly.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 10-11)
Q: Do you agree with Morrie?s statement “You can?t substitute material things for love or for tenderness…”? A: Here are a few points for you to consider: 1) Material things symbolize success in life and they do give the owner a feeling of contentment as well as a sense of achievement. 2) Love and tenderness are more precious than material things as material things alone cannot make us happy in the long run.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 12-13)
Q1: Morrie lived a simple life. Was it because he could not afford to improve or upgrade his material
belongings?
A1: It was certainly not the case. Morrie intentionally stopped spending money on his household property
years before. He must have thought about his life seriously and come to the conclusion that material things were not that important. He put his values on love, care and tenderness.
Q2: What can you infer from Paragraphs 12 and 13 about Morrie?s philosophy of life?
A2: We can infer at least three points about Morrie?s philosophy of life: 1) To Morrie, spiritual richness is
much more precious than material wealth; 2) happiness comes from spiritual satisfaction; and 3) we can never substitute material things for love and happiness.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 18-21)
Q: Can you name some extra-curricular activities that college students are encouraged to do for the interests of others? And what can you derive from those activities?
A: Answers vary. By helping those who are in need of our love, companionship or money, we will surely get respect, gratitude, appreciation and friendship and make our lives meaningful and purposeful.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 22-23)
Q1: What does “an open heart” mean in the last sentence of Paragraph 23?
A1: It basically means devoting yourself to loving others, devoting yourself to your community around you,
and devoting yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. In other words, you must be yourself, feel free in expressing your real thoughts, opinions, and feelings, and be candid and ready to offer others what you have to give.
Q2: Many people work hard to climb up the social ladder by trying to secure a high-ranking job. Here Morrie
didn?t consider it a worthy pursuit. What?s your opinion?
A2: Answers may vary. Everyone longs for a decent job, because it will earn him or her universal recognition
and high respect, and hence high social status. However, each and every job should be duly respected as long as they are done with sincerity and honesty. So in my eyes, being a cleaner or a waiter is not different from being a CEO or a lawyer, for both may give one meaning and purpose in life.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 24-27)
Q: Can you understand why Morrie felt alive and “as close to healthy” as he ever felt when he gave his time and cheered up others?
A: Morrie was terminally ill. His health was failing and his daily life had to be aided by other people. But he could still act on his belief in the purpose and meaning of life. Knowing that he was still needed, he felt he was not just existing but living a meaningful and purposeful life just as a normal human being should.
▇ Extended questions (Paras. 28-30)
Q: After reading the text, can you gain any new insight into the question “What is happiness?”
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