Unit 1 Growing Up
The Right Way of Eating Spaghetti
1. Hold the fork in your hand as if to poke the spaghetti.
2. Scoop up a small amount of spaghetti on your fork and raise it about 30cm above your plate.
3. Make sure the spaghetti on your fork is completely disconnected from the remainder on your plate.
4. Put the prongs of the fork at an edge of the plate that is free of food.
5. Quickly point the prongs of the fork straight down toward the plate and place the points on the plate.
6. Twirl the fork to gather the spaghetti around the prongs.
7. With a quick scooping movement, gather up the roll around the prongs and place it in your mouth.
8. Gently gather up any stray spaghetti ends that don’t make it all the way into your mouth.
Useful phrases
断断续续 off and on
对…感到腻味 be bored by …
觉得…枯燥难懂 find … dull and difficult
以…而出名 have a reputation for …
据说某人… sb. be said to be …
拘谨刻板，落后于时代 formal, rigid and out-of-date
随笔小品文 informal essay
躺在沙发上 lie on a sofa
不得不面对… face up to …
围坐在晚餐桌旁 be seated around the supper table
…重现在我脑海中… reawake in my mind
自得其乐 for my own joy
违反规定 violate the rules
不及格分 a failing grade
别无选择，只好做… There is no choice/alternative，but to do …
更重要的是，而且 what’s more
专心地听 listen attentively
乐呵呵地开怀大笑 laugh with open-hearted enjoyment
心花怒放 pure delight
最后的时刻 at the eleventh hour
记住 keep… in mind
和…有关系 associate…with
生根，确立 take hold
编写；制造 turn out
过时的 out of date
如潮水般涌来 come flood back of
写下 put down
Proverbs
Who knows most, speaks least.
A teacher is better than two books.
As we live, so we learn.
Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he’ll eat forever.
To teach is to learn.
Synonyms
dull (Para. 1): [ lifeless (Para. 1), cheerless, tedious (Para. 2) ]
turn out (Para. 1): [write (Para. 1), put down (Para. 5), compose (Para. 6) ]
formal (Para. 2): [ rigid, prim, correct (Para. 2), proper (Para. 6) ]
topic (Para. 3): [ title (Para. 4) ]
vivid memories of sth. come flooding back to sb. (Para. 4): [ sth. reawakes in sb’s mind; sb. recalls sth. (Para. 4) ]
recapture (Para. 5): [ relive (Para. 5) ]
contempt (Para. 8): [ ridicule (Para. 8) ]
pleasure (Para. 9): [ delight, happiness (Para. 9) ]