看点：
作为一个“white”男孩在黑人社区里得到的特别优待
会说多种语言如何帮助“colored”男孩在多种族冲突中变身“变色龙”
离开“无差别”的温室面对“差很大”的现实社会，“牛奶巧克力”最终自我定位be“黑巧克力”, 而不是constantly trying to be“白巧克力”
【熟词生义】
1.champion
支持；拥护；捍卫 If you champion a person, a cause, or a principle, you support or defend them.
I had a choice. I could champion racial justice in our home, or I could enjoy granny’s cookies. I went with the cookies.
He passionately championed the poor...
She is a lawyer who champions children's rights.
Our senator championed the idea of lowering taxes.
2.roll through
in this case, it means the police drive through the area.
law enforcement came in to deal with crimes and such and then left. "roll through" Is slang for just passing through.
Black kids in the township didn’t leave the township. Few people had televisions. They’d seen the white police roll through, but they’d never dealt with a white person face-to-face, ever.
3.mug
对…行凶抢劫 If someone mugs you, they attack you in order to steal your money.
One day as a young man I was walking down the street, and a group of Zulu guys was walking behind me, closing in on me, and I could hear them talking to one another about how they were going to mug me.
4.long for sth/to do sth
to feel a strong desire or wish for something or to do something
to want sth very much especially if it does not seem likely to
happen soon
It’s no coincidence that nearly every major black leader of the anti-apartheid movement, from Nelson Mandela to Steve Biko, was educated by the missionaries—a knowledgeable man is a free man, or at least a man who longs for freedom.
We all long for peace. = We all long to live in peace.
I'm longing for the time when I will see you again. = I'm longing to see you again. = How I long to see you again!
He began to feel that the longed-for day of her return would never come.
5.till
to prepare (soil, a piece of land, etc.) for growing crops
They taught metrics and agriculture: how to count potatoes, how to pave roads, chop wood, till the soil.
The farmers are tilling the soil.
This land is not tillable. [=not suitable for growing crops]
6.mission
(基督教徒的)传教，布道 A mission is the activities of a group of Christians who have been sent to a place to teach people about Christianity.
传教区;布道所 A mission is a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is carried out.
Mission schools were told to conform to the new curriculum or shut down.
【词组】
1.patch sb/sth up
to give quick and usually temporary medical treatment to sb/sth
My grandmother patched up Bulelwa’s ear and made sure to stop the bleeding.
The doctor patched him up, so he's going to be as good as new.
She patched up his wounded arm.
2.let sb off (with sth)
to allow (someone who has been caught doing something wrong or illegal) to go without being punished
Misbehavior that my cousins would have been punished for, I was given a warning and let off.
The police officer let her off with just a warning.
They let him off easy/easily/lightly, if you ask me. [=I do not think he was punished as severely as he could/should have been]
3.mix up
混淆;弄混;弄错 If you mix up two things or people, you confuse them, so that you think that one of them is the other one.
So when the other kids in Soweto called me “white,” even though I was light brown, I just thought they had their colors mixed up, like they hadn’t learned them properly.
4.confuse A and/with B
to think wrongly that sb/sth is sb/sth else
“Ah, yes, my friend. You’ve confused aqua with turquoise. I can see how you made that mistake. You’re not the first.”
People often confuse me and my twin sister.
Be careful not to confuse quantity with quality.
5.in the dock （被告席）
on trial for committing a crime
If you’re standing in the dock, English is the difference between getting off with a fine or going to prison.
He was arrested and is in the dock on charges of assault and battery.
6.get off （with sth） ↑
免受惩罚；逃脱（严厉的）惩罚 If someone who has broken a law or rule gets off, they are not punished, or are given only a very small punishment.
He is likely to get off with a small fine.
He's been arrested several times, but he always gets off.
7.give sb a ˈleg-up
to help sb to improve their situation
to help someone succeed in their job; if you give someone a leg-up, you help them to make progress, especially in their career
If you’re black in South Africa, speaking English is the one thing that can give you a leg up.
The loan from his father gave him a leg-up when he needed it.
※have / get a leg-up on
(US informal) have (or get) an advantage over
he'd certainly have a leg-up on the competition.
8.(well) versed in sth
having a lot of knowledge about sth, or skill at sth
As a naughty child, I was well versed in Xhosa threats.
He is well versed in French cooking. [=he knows a lot about French cooking]
a writer versed in military history
9.close in (on sb/sth)
to move nearer to sb/sth, especially in order to attack them
One day as a young man I was walking down the street, and a group of Zulu guys was walking behind me, closing in on me, and I could hear them talking to one another about how they were going to mug me.
The lions closed in on their prey.
The fire was closing in on their neighborhood.
The camera slowly closed in on the actor's face.
Police were closing in on the two men.
Researchers are closing in on [=they are close to finding] a cure for the disease.
She's closing in on 40. [=she is almost 40 years old]
10.the whole bit
everything related to an activity or idea:
My mother’s company offered bursaries,scholarships, for underprivileged families, and she managed to get me into Maryvale College, an expensive private Catholic school. Classes taught by nuns. Mass on Fridays. The whole bit.
He says he's tired of his job, tired of driving to work every day, the whole bit.
He’s got a fancy stove, gourmet cookware, the whole shebang.
I fell asleep and missed the whole thing.
11.have a crush on sb
(对…的)迷恋;(对…的)爱慕 If you have a crush on someone, you are in love with them but do not have a relationship with them.
I don’t remember anybody being teased about their race. I didn’t learn to put limits on what I was supposed to like or not like. I had a wide berth to explore myself. I had crushes on white girls. I had crushes on black girls. Nobody asked me what I was. I was Trevor.
She had a crush on you, you know...
※Yesterday I saw my old high school crush for the first time in five years.
12.hit it off
to become friends:to get along well
if two people hit it off when they meet for the first time, they like each other
“Hello, fellow anomaly! You’re in my class. Who are you? What’s your story?” We started talking and hit it off.
The two of them hit it off (with each other) immediately.
Though we work together, we've never really hit it off.
13.take sb under your wing
to help, teach, or take care of (someone who is younger or has less experience than you)
He took me under his wing, the Artful Dodger to my bewildered Oliver.
He took the rookie pitcher under his wing.
She took me under her wing and showed me how things were done.
14. come up
被提及;被讨论 If something comes up in a conversation or meeting, it is mentioned or discussed.
Through our conversation it came up that I spoke several African languages, and Theesan thought a colored kid speaking black languages was the most amazing trick.
The subject came up during a pre-dinner drink with our guests.
I was surprised when his name came up as a possible candidate for the job.
That issue never came up. [=arose]
15.hold sb/sth back
to prevent the progress or development of sb/sth
“Yeah, but that class is…those kids are gonna hold you back. You want to be in the smart class.”
I moved to the B classes with the black kids. I decided I’d rather be held back with people I liked than move ahead with people I didn’t know.
Do you think that mixed-ability classes hold back the better students?
We are determined that nothing should hold back the peace talks.
16.to sb's credit
值得赞扬If something is to someone's credit, they deserve praise for it.
“It does not serve the Bantu to learn history and science because he is primitive,” the government said. “This will only mislead him, showing him pastures in which he is not allowed to graze.” To their credit, they were simply being honest. Why educate a slave? Why teach someone Latin when his only purpose is to dig holes in the ground?
She had managed to pull herself together and, to her credit, continued to look upon life as a positive experience...
Although the offences were horrific it was to her credit that she had owned up.
To his credit, Jack never told anyone exactly what had happened.