PART 1 Summary
At the age of 22, Trevor's mother struck out on her own and worked as a typist, a job which used to be exclusively occupied by white Caucasian. Estranged from her family, she moved to a large expatriate community where she met a 46-year-old Swiss/German man named Robert, the future biological father of Trevor. At the age of 25, She gave birth to Trevor, a mixed baby, which was a crime under apartheid. Suffice it to say that back then this audacious black woman bore huge risks and finger-pointing for having and raising a mixed child. Anyhow, she made it through those hard times and never considered fleeing her country.
As far as Trevor is concerned, he was frustrated by the fact that he could not be with his father outdoors and be grounded in his grandmother's house, stripped of the opportunities to play with other children in the vicinity. Nonetheless, unwitting to those hardships and terrors his family went through, Trevor did not have many harsh childhood memories.
PART 2 Expressions
1.Based on those classifications, millions of people were uprooted and relocated.
uproot: (v.) 本意是连根拔起，引申为 to make sb leave their home for a new place, especially when this is difficult or upsetting
He rejected the idea of uprooting himself and moving to America.
2. Indian areas were segregated from colored areas, which were segregated from black areas—all of them segregated from white areas and separated from one another by buffer zones of empty land.
buffer zone: an area between two armies that is intended to separate them so that they do not fight
buffer: (n.) sth or sb that protects one thing or person from being harmed by another
She often had to act as a buffer between father and son.
(v.) to reduce bad effects of sth
Consumer spending is buffering the effects of the recession.
3. A million things had to go right for us to slip through the cracks the way we did for as long as we did.
slip through the cracks/ slip through the net: if sb or sth slips through the net/ cracks, they are not caught or dealt with by the system that is supposed to catch them or deal with them
In a class of 30 children, it is easy for one to slip through the net and learn nothing.
4. Among those reforms was the token hiring of black workers in low-level white-collar jobs. Like typists.
token: (n.) 象征 ; (a.)
1. done as a first sign that an agreement, promise etc will be kept and that more will be done later
A small token payment will keep the bank happy.
2. a token action, change etc is small and not very important, and is usually only done so that sb can pretend that they are dealing with a problem
The government thinks it can get away with token gestures on environmental issues
3. a token woman/ black: sb who is included in a group to make everyone think that the group has all types of people in it, when this is not really true
5. There was also a curfew: After a certain hour, blacks had to be back home in the township or risk arrest.
1. a law that forces people to stay indoors after a particular time at night, or the time people must be indoors
The government imposed a night-time curfew throughout the country.
The whole town was placed under curfew.
2. the time decided by a parent, by which a child must be home or asleep in the evening
6. she learned the rules of navigating the city from the other black women who had contrived to live there: prostitutes.
contrive to do sth: formal, to succeed in doing sth in spite of difficulties
Schindler contrived to save more than 1,000 Polish Jews from the Nazis.
7. Something clicked.
1. informal, to happen in a good or successful way, especially because people are working together well
If everything clicks, we should have a good season.
2. informal, if two people click, they like, understand, and agree with each other
They clicked straight away.
8.Estranged from her family, pregnant by a man she could not be seen with in public, she was alone.
When I was born, my mother hadn’t seen her family in three years, but she wanted me to know them and wanted them to know me, so the prodigal daughter returned.
estranged from: no longer seeing or talking to a relative or good friend, because of an argument
Mill became estranged from his family after the marriage.
sb's estranged husband/ wife: sb's husband or wife whom they are no longer living with (separate with a legal divorce)
prodigal son/ daughter: sb who leaves their family and home without the approval of their family, but who is sorry later and returns, 有点“浪子回头”的意思
prodigal: 另一个常见意思是“挥霍的，浪费的” a prodigal lifestyle
9. And my mother, true to her word, was prepared for him not to be involved.
true: loyal. faithful
Throughout the whole ordeal, she remained true to her husband.
true to one's word, principle etc: behaving in the way you said you would or according to principles which you believe in
He was true to his word and said nothing about it to Lisa.
PART 3 Thoughts
I didn't have any friends. I didn't know any kids besides my cousins. I wasn't a lonely kid -- I was good at being alone. I'd read books, play with the toy that I had, make up imaginary worlds. I lived inside my head. I still live inside my head. To this day you can leave me alone for hours and I'm perfectly happy entertaining myself. I have to remember to be with people.
这段话让我想起了Elon Musk的传记里也写到过Musk小时候几乎不和同龄人玩耍，总是沉浸在自己的世界里读书和思考。当然这种经历对于Musk而言是他天性使然，而对于Trevor而言则是被动的选择。个人认为，Trevor与Musk如今的成就与他们这种自小培养起来的这种自我对话、自我学习甚至自娱自乐的能力不无关系。维基上说Trevor会说包括英文、德语、南非荷兰语在内的六种语言，学习能力之强大令人倾佩。环顾自身，如果有个三四天的假期一定会至少参加一次聚会，即使宅在家里的那几天也时常与微博微信相伴，每天关注着这别人的动态，却少了静下心来好好学习的时间，更很少真正和自己相处。有人说，孤独是现代社会里的奢侈品。我认为其实不然，无论在哪个社会哪个时代里都有太多可以让人分心的东西。除了那些天性内向的人，对于大多数人来说，要学会享受孤独、利用好独处的时间去做有益的事是一种需要慢慢去培养和修炼的能力。
