with
me as soon as he saw me.
7 “You have beautiful eyes,” he said as he gazed at my face. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: The author was obviously attractive to Butch since he tried to please her by praising her eyes.
8 He kept staring at me all night long. (Para. 2)
Note: Both gaze at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly for a long time
because of being attracted, surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually has the additional
meaning of “with eyes widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great attention”; gaze
at usually implies “in a dreamy and unaware state of mind”.
9 I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons. First, he looked like he was a really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was very cute, he seemed a little weird. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: She wasn’t interested in him because she got the impression that he was wild and strange, which il ustrates that she didn’t know much about him at the
beginning. Therefore, it’s not true that their romance was heading for marriage from the start.
10 Riding on his bicycle, he’d ride past my dorm as if “by accident” and pretend to be surprised to see me. I liked the attention but was cautious about his wild, dynamic personality. (Para. 3)
Meaning beyond words: She understood his little trick: trying to see her by
manufacturing excuses. Though she was happy to be the focus of his attention, she was also very alert to his wild and dynamic personality.
11 He had a charming way with words which would charm any girl. (Para. 3) Meaning: He knew how to please and attract girls because what he said was always pleasant to their ears.
12 Fear came over me when I started to fall in love. His exciting “bad boy image” was just too tempting to resist. What was it that attracted me?(Para. 3)
Meaning: I was in an awkward position: I started to fal in love with him, but I was also afraid of that. His bad boy image was too attractive to resist, but at the same time it was somewhat fearful. So, what exactly was it in him that attracted me?
Note: Tempting is a present participle of the verb tempt, used as an adjective to describe the effect that something has on someone’s feelings. For example, if you find something tempting/charming/disgusting/frightening, it means it tempts/charms/disgusts/frightens you. In English there are a group of words describing an effect that something has on your
feelings and ideas. For example:
*a tempting job offer 一个诱人的工作机会
an alarming increase in racial hostility 种族仇视的惊人增长
*a welcoming smile 热情的微笑 *a surprising number of 数量惊人的
13 I always had an excellent reputation. My concentration was solely on my studies to get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)
Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only concentrated on studies in order to get excellent grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student also have fun?
14 College is supposed to be a time of great learning and also some fun. I had
nearly achieved a great education, and graduation was just one semester away. But I hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no component of fun! I needed a boyfriend. (Para. 3)
Meaning: College is definitely a nice place for education but should have some fun as well. Throughout my years at col ege, I had devoted all my time to study but hadn’t had any fun yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a boyfriend to enrich my col ege life.
15 Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal that semester became: Be ambitious and grab the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)
Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome, pleasant and attractive. My ambition for that semester, therefore, was to find the cutest boyfriend at col ege.
16 I worried what he’d think of me. (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: Her concern about how Butch would look at her shows that she
was becoming more interested in him and cared about his real thinking.
17 True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in sexual attitudes was taking place, but I was a traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways that seemed common on campus. (Para. 4)
Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era when sexual attitudes were changing dramatical y, but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready for the new sexual practice seemingly common on campus.
18 Butch looked superb! I was not immune to his personality, but I was scared. (Para. 4)
Meaning: Butch looked extremely wonderful. I was surely influenced by his personality, but I felt scared.
19 The night when he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend, I went along with him. (Para. 4)
Meaning: That night when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his girlfriend, I did not
have any objection.
Meaning beyond words: She has apparently changed her perception of Butch, from being merely curious about him at first to becoming cautious about his wild, dynamic personality later; from being fearful of failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving of
being his girlfriend.
20 And then I suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his girlfriend? How did that happen?” (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: Al of a sudden, she realized that she had made a mistake because she was not real y ready to have a boyfriend yet.
Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used to express surprise. For example: *Gosh, I didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！ *Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！ *Gosh, there’s a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。
21 Then he whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m going to marry you one
day and I will be a lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)
Meaning: Then he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said that he would marry me and I could eventual y see him become a lawyer.
22 I was laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never marry this guy. He’s a rebel without a good future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring student life. I just want to have fun.” (Para. 5)
Meaning: Though I agreed to be his girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a rebellious boy
without a bright future. Therefore, I was not very serious about our relationship. To me, the
only purpose to date him was to get away from my boring student life.
23 Sure enough, the following month, I found out he had failed all his courses. (Para. 6)
Meaning: Just as I had expected, he didn’t pass any of his courses.