Chapter Three Childhood And Youth

Words & Expressions

If we believe the records, he is supposed to have penned some extraodinary lines at the age of ten.

pen 

v. (literary)  to write something such as a letter, a book etc, especially using a pen 【文】 〔尤指用钢笔〕写

The boy is singing a song,You are beautiful,  which is  penned by James Blunt. 

be penned up / in   to be restricted or forced to remain in a small place 被约束，被束缚

Oliver felt restless and penned in. At last, he deccided to give it up.

Su Tongpo remenbered particularly a small bird with wonderful bright plumage that came and visited their garden for days. 

plumage

the feathers covering a bird’s body 〔鸟的〕全身羽毛，羽衣

类似一个单词：plunge

v.  1.(+off/into)to move, fall, or be thrown suddenly forwards or downwards （使）突然向前倒下[跌落]

 eg. Her car swerved and plunged off the cliff.

 2.if a price, rate etc plunges, it suddenly decreases by a large amount 〔价格﹑比率等〕暴跌，骤降eg. The unemployment rate plunged sharply. 

n. 

1.take the plunge 尤指经过长时间思考之后〕决定奋力一搏，决定冒险一试

eg. We took the plunge and set up our own business.  

2. 〔价格﹑价值等的〕骤降

3. 突然卷入(+into)

eg. His sudden plunge into marriage makes his mother angry. 

Anyway, she soon died and under circumtances that stirred up Su Shun's indignation.

indignation

n. (at / about / over) feelings of anger and surprise because you feel insulted or unfairly treated 〔因感觉受辱或受到不公平待遇而产生的〕愤慨，义愤，愤怒

eg. To his indignation, Charles found that his name was not on the list. 

 with / in indignation 

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Guiding task

In this chapter, the author is writing about the childhood and youth of Su Tongpo. His childhood, in a whole, is happy. What he loves to  do best is that he likes peeping at the birds' nest. That makes a deeply impression on his mind. On the other hand, his home atmosphere plays a significant role in his growth. His mother, a well-educated woman, often reads some stories from Sung History. The character,Fan Pang who is a upright scholar， influenced him in his personality. At the same time, it is lucky for him to grow up and study with his younger brother. 

They comforted each other in sorrow, helped each other in distress, and dreamed about each other and wrote poems to each other as a form of communication.