高中渐进读本IIB Lesson 02

Lesson 2
Paul’s Case (I)
By Willa Cather 
Words and Expressions
Pittsburgh n.匹兹堡（美国城市, 是美国的钢铁工业中心）
buttonhole n.钮扣孔
complaint n.诉苦, 抱怨, 牢骚
mercy n.仁慈, 宽恕, 怜悯
　without mercy adv.残忍地, 不留情地
gracefully 温文地
vein n.血管, 静脉
usher n.引座员, 招待员
soprano n.女高音
ordinary adj.平常的, 普通的, 平凡的
admirer n.景慕者, 赞赏者, 敬慕者
sparkling adj.闪烁的, 闪闪发光的
marble n.大理石, (玩具)弹球
bucket n.桶, 一桶的量, 铲斗
arithmetic n.算术, 算法 
long (for) v.渴望, 热望
schoolbook n.教科书 
actor n.男演员, 行动者
imagination n.想象, 空想, 想象力
musician n.音乐家
artist n.艺术家, 画家
elegant adj.文雅的, 端庄的, 雅致的
California n.加利福尼亚州
Egypt n.埃及


Paul did not like school. The teachers thought he was a problem student. What did he like? What did he do? Read the text and find out.
Paul hated school and he did not do his homework. He did not like his teachers. Paul’s father did not know what to do with him,1 and neither did his teachers.
One afternoon, all his teachers at Pittsburgh High School met together with him to discuss his case. Paul was late. When he entered the room, his teachers sat waiting for him. He was tall for his age and very thin. His clothes were too small for him but they were clean, with a bright red flower in the buttonhole of his black jacket.
When one of the teachers asked Paul why he had come to the meeting, Paul said politely that he wanted to do better in school. This was a lie, which Paul often told. His teachers began to speak. They had many complaints. One said Paul talked to the other students instead of paying attention to the lessons. Another said Paul always sat in class with his hands covering his eyes.2 A third teacher said Paul looked out the window instead of looking at her. His teachers attacked him without mercy.
Paul’s eyebrows moved up and down as his teachers spoke.3 His smile never left his face, but his finger shook as he touched the flower on his coat.
At last the meeting was over, and Paul’s smile got even wider. He bowed gracefully and left the room.
His teachers were angry and confused. The art teachers spoke for all of them when he said there was something about Paul that he didn’t understand.
“I don’t think that he really means to be bad,4” he said. “There’s just something wrong with that boy.” Then the art teacher remembered one warm afternoon when Paul had fallen asleep in his class. Paul’s face was white with thin blue veins under the skin. The boy’s face looked tired and lined, like an old man’s.5 His eyebrows moved up and down even in his sleep.
After he left the meeting, Paul ran down the hill from the school, whistling. He was late for his job at the concert hall where Paul was an usher. He showed people to their seats and carried messages for them. He brought them their programs with a polite bow. Everyone thought he was a charming boy and the best usher at the hall. When Paul reached the concert hall that evening, he went immediately to the dressing room. About six boys were already there. Paul began changing his clothes with excited hands. He loved his gray uniform with the gold pockets and design. 
Paul rushed into the concert hall as soon as he’d changed clothes. He ran up and down the hall helping people. He became more and more excited. His face became pink and his eyes seemed larger and almost bright. He looked almost handsome. At last everyone was seated. The orchestra began to play and Paul sat down with a sigh of relief. The music seemed to free something in Paul’s spirit.6 Then a woman came out and began to sing. She had a rich strong soprano voice. Paul felt truly happy for the first time that day. 
At the end of the concert, Paul went back to the dressing room. After he had changed his clothes again, he went outside the concert hall. He decided to wait for the singer to come out. 
While he waited, he looked across the street to the large hotel called the Schenley. All the important people stayed at the Schenley when they visited Pittsburgh. Paul had never been inside it, but he used to stand near the hotel’s wide glass doors. He liked to watch the people enter and leave. He believed if he could only enter this kind of a hotel, he would be able to leave school, his teachers and his ordinary gray life behind him forever7. 
At last the singer came out of the concert hall and Paul followed her as she walked to the hotel. He was part of a large crowd of admirers who had waited to see her. When they all reached the hotel, she turned and waved, then the doors opened and she disappeared inside.
Paul stared into the hotel as the doors slowly closed. He could feel the warm sweet air inside and for a moment he felt part of the golden world of sparkling lights and marble floors. He thought about the mysterious dishes of food being served in the hotel’s dining room.8 He thought about green bottles of wine, growing cold in silver buckets of ice. 
He turned away from the hotel and walked home. He thought of his room, with its horrible yellow wall paper, the old bed with its ugly red cover. He shook his head. 
Soon he was walking down the street where he lived. All the houses on Cordelia Street were exactly alike. Middle class businessmen had bought them for their families.9 All their children went to school and to church. They loved arithmetic. 
As Paul walked toward his house he felt as if he were drowning in ugliness.10 He longed for cool colors and soft lights and fresh flowers. He didn’t want to see his ugly bedroom, or the cold bathroom with its cracked mirror and gray floor. Paul went round to the back of his father’s house. He found an open window and climbed into the kitchen. Then he went downstairs to the basement. He was afraid of rats but he did not want to face his bedroom. Paul couldn’t sleep. He sat on the floor and stared into the darkness until morning came.
The following Sunday, Paul had to go to church with the family. Afterwards, everyone came home and ate a big dinner. Then all the people who lived on Cordelia Street came outside to visit each other. After supper, Paul asked his father if he could visit a friend to get some help with his arithmetic.
Paul left the house with his schoolbooks under his arm, but he didn’t go to his friend’s house. Instead he went to see Charley Edwards. Charley was a young actor. Paul liked to spend as much time as he could at the theatre where Charley Edwards and his group acted in their plays. It was only at the theater and the concert hall that Paul felt really alive.11 The moment he smelled the air of the places, he felt like a prisoner suddenly set free. As soon as he heard the concert hall orchestra play, he forgot all the ugly unpleasant events in his life. Paul had discovered that every kind of music awakened his imagination. Paul didn’t want to become a musician, however. He didn’t want to become an actor, either. He only wanted to be near people who were actors and musicians. He wanted to see the kind of life these artists led.12 
Paul found the schoolroom even worse after a night at the theatre or the concert hall. He hated the school’s bare floors and cracked walls. He turned away from his dull teachers in their plain clothes. He tried to show them how little he thought of them and the studies they taught.13 He would bring photographs of all the actors he knew to school. He would tell the other students that he spent his evenings with these people at elegant restaurants. Then he would announce that he was going away to Europe or to California or to Egypt for a while. The next day he would come to school smiling nervously. His sister was ill, he would say, but he was still planning to make his trip next spring.
Paul’s problems at school became worse. Even after the meeting with his teachers, things did not get better.14 He told them he had no time to study grammar and arithmetic. He told them that he had to help the actors in the theatre. They were old friends of his.
Finally his teachers went to Paul’s father. He took Paul out of school and made him get a job. He told the manager at the concert hall that Paul could not work there any more. His father warned the doormen at the theatre not to let Paul into the place and Charley Edwards promised Paul’s father not to see Paul again15. All the actors at the theatre laughed when they heard about the stories Paul had been telling. The women thought it was funny that Paul had told people he took them out to nice restaurants and sent them flowers. They had agreed with the teachers and with his father that Paul’s was a bad case. 
(To be continued)
 
Words:　1436　
Time:　______ M
Speed: ______WPM


Comprehension
Choose the best answer for each question:
1. When the teachers spoke to him, Paul ______.
　A. looked out of the window
　B. covered his ears with his hands
　C. shook his fingers
　D. kept smiling
2. After Paul left school, he went ______.
　A. to the concert hall
　B. uphill
　C. to a hotel
　D. home
3. His job at the concert hall was ______.
　A. to show people their seats
　B. to sell tickets 
　C. to take the actors to the hotels
　D. to collect tickets
4. Paul told his classmates that ______.
　A. he wanted to see the famous actors and musicians
　B. he served the actors and musicians at the hotel
　C. he had been to Egypt
　D. the famous people were his friends
5. After supper the following Sunday, Paul ______.
　A. went to ask his classmates to help him with his arithmetic 
　B. went to study at school 
　C. went to see the actors and musicians
　D. went to visit his neighbors
6. After his father learned how Paul did at school, ______.
　A. he made him work harder
　B. he took him out of school
　C. he sent him to work in the concert hall
　D. he taught him at home
【Key】
Vocabulary Builder
A. Fill in the blanks with the proper forms of the words given in the brackets:
1. Although he had to work hard day and night, yet, he had no ________. (complain)
2. A large crowd of ________ waited to see the famous actress. (admire)
3. As Paul walked toward his house he felt as if he were drowning in ________. (ugly)
4. He sat on the floor and stared into the ________ until morning came. (dark)
5. Paul had discovered that every kind of music awakened his ________. (imagine)
6. He is practicing playing music and he wants to become a ________ when he grows up. (music)
【Key】
B. Fill in the blanks with the proper forms of the verbs given in the brackets:
1. When he entered the room, his teachers sat ________ (wait) for him.
2. “I don’t think that he really means ________ (be) bad,” he said.
3. The boy’s face looked ________ (tire) and ________ (line), like an old man’s.
4. He stood outside and thought about the mysterious dishes of food ________ (serve) in the hotel’s dining room.
5. He didn’t want to see his ugly bedroom, or the cold bathroom with its ________ (crack) mirror and gray floor.
6. The moment he smelled the air of the places, he felt like a prisoner suddenly ________ (set) free.
7. His father warned the doormen at the theatre not ________ (let) Paul into the place and Charley Edwards promised Paul’s father not ________ (see) Paul again.
8. When Paul reached the concert hall that evening, he went immediately to the ________ room.
【Key】
C. Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions or adverbs:
1. Paul’s father did not know what to do ________ him, and neither did his teachers.
2. At the meeting, his teachers attacked him ________ mercy.
3. Paul’s eyebrows moved up and ________ as his teachers spoke.
4. He longed ________ cool colors and soft lights and fresh flowers.
5. He showed his teachers how little he thought ________ them and the studies they taught.
6. The artists agreed ________ the teachers and with his father that Paul’s was a bad case.
【Key】
Reproduction
A. Fill in each blank with one suitable word to make the passage complete:
Paul was a ________ with a lot of problems. He ________ school. He didn’t like living with his family on Cordelia Street in the industrial ________ of Pittsburgh. Paul wanted to be surrounded ________ beautiful things. He loved his part-time job as an usher at the ________ hall. He helped people find their ________ before the concert. Then he could listen to the ________ and dream of exciting places. Paul also spent a lot of time at the local theatre. He knew many of the ________ who worked there. He used to do little jobs for them and they would let them see plays for ________.
Paul had little ________ left for his studies, so he was always in ________ with his teachers. Finally Paul’s teachers ________ again to his father. His father took him out of ________ and made him take a job in a large ________. He would not let Paul ________ near the concert hall or the theatre. 
【Key】
B. Reproduce the text in your own words with the above passage as an example.


【Notes to the Text】
1. Paul的爸爸不知道拿他怎么办。[↑]
2. 另一个老师说Paul 经常坐在课堂上，用双手捂着耳朵。[↑]
3. 老师们说话的时候，Paul的眉毛一抬一抬的。[↑]
4. 我想Paul并不是真的想学坏。[↑]
5. 这个孩子的脸显得疲劳，有皱纹，象个老人的脸似的。[↑]
6. 音乐似乎释放了Paul灵魂中的某种东西。[↑]
7. 他就能够将学校、老师和普通灰暗的家庭永远抛开。[↑]
8. 他想到宾馆餐厅上的一盘盘神秘的食物。这里serve意思是“上（饭菜）”。[↑]
9. 中产阶级的商人都在那里买了房子。Middle class意思是“中产阶级”。[↑]
10. Paul朝家走的时候，感觉自己淹没在丑陋之中。[↑]
11. 只有在剧院和音乐厅，Paul才真正感觉有活力。这是一个强调句。[↑]
12. 他想看看这些艺术家过的生活。lead a … life过着 …… 的生活[↑]
13. 他想向他们表明他对他们以及他们教授的学问多么瞧不起。think little of 瞧不起[↑]
14. 即使老师们和他谈过之后，情况也没有改善。[↑]
15. Charley Edward答应Paul的爸爸再也不和Paul见面。[↑]
【Key to the Exercises】
Comprehension
1. D　2. A　3. A　4. D　5. C　6. B [↑]
Vocabulary
A: 1. complaint  2. admirers　3. ugliness　4. darkness　5. imagination　6. musician [↑]
B: 1. waiting　2. to be　3. tired, lined　4. being served　5. cracked　6. set　7. to let, to see　8. dressing [↑]
C: 1. with　2. without　3. down　4. for　5. of　6. with　[↑]
Reproduction
student, hated, city, by, concert, seats, music, actors, free, time, trouble, complained, school, company, go [↑]