Document

Text A All the Cabbie Had Was a
Letter
Teaching Plan
Objectives
• Grasp the main idea (never delay expressing your true
feeling to a friend) and structure of the text (developing a
story around a letter) ;
• Appreciate that spoken English is much more informal
than written English ;
• Master key language points and grammatical structures
in the text ;
• Conduct a series of reading ,listening ,speaking and
writing activities related to the theme of the unit .
Reading Guidance
Clues for reading the text and the main
contents
• Main idea of the Text :
This text suggests that we never delay expressing our
true feeling to a friend by telling us a story about a cab
driver’s correspondence with his friend Ed .
• It’s structure and main contents :
The story is to a large extent ,built around the letter Tom
wrote to Ed . The letter ,which wasn’t mailed ,plays a
very important role in the development of the story :
The contents or the process of the story :
1). The cab driver read the letter and they talked about sth.
Related to the letter and Ed .
The story begins with the cab driver’s reading a letter.
The letter is a conversation-opener . It helps start a
conversation between the lab driver and the passenger .
From the conversation ,the passenger or author learned
how much he regretted failing to keep up
correspondence with his old friend Ed .
That’s the main idea of Part I (Paras 1-20)
Next is the main idea of Part II (Paras 21-35)
2). Part 2. begins with the passenger’s reading the letter .
The passenger read the letter by himself ,learned the
content of the letter and more about the life long
friendship between the driver and Old Ed .
3). The passenger wanted to write a letter .
The driver’s experience urged the author to reach for his
pen . That’s what we also learn from .
That’s the main idea of Part 3. (Para 36.)
In
a word ,the driver’s reading a letter ,the passenger’s
reading the letter ,the passenger’s wanting to write a
letter form the three stages in development of the story
and form the three parts of the text .
• For Further Study :
1). What did the author /passenger do in the story ?
1>.He hired a cab---during this time ,he found the cab
driver was reading a letter ;
2>.He took the cab---in this period ,he talked about
correspondence with Tom and read the letter by himself ;
3>.He got out of the cab---he felt he had to write a letter.
2). How do you learn from the text that the cab driver very
much regretted failing to keep up correspondence with his
old friend Ed ?
Possible answers :
1>.He sounded as if he had a cold or something .
It
means he was sad or sick at heart ?
2>.”I’ve read it several times already …”
3>.”I’m not much of a hand at writing”
4>.”I should have kept in touch . Yes …”
5>. …he seemed to be all chocked up
6>.He looked sort of sorrowful ,or as if he were trying to
see sth. in the distance ,”I guess I should have written it
sooner .”
7>. …
3). The association or contact between the cab driver and
his friend Ed .
1>.They were kids together .
2>.They went to school together ,through both grade and
high school .
3>.They hung out on the same corner why they were
single .
4>.They used to go to each other’s house after they
were married .
5>.For the last 20 or 30 years they had just Christmas
cards contact ;in this Period they met only one or two
times a year.
6>.They were oldest friends ,lifelong friends .
4). Appreciate that spoken English is much more
informal than written English .
Since this story is developed mainly through
the conversation between the cabbie and his
passenger ,its language tends to be simpler and
more colloquial ,sentences tend to be shorter or
even incomplete
5). In the conversation given in the text ,words
or sentences that take on different meanings for
the speaker and listener .
For example :
---I’m sorry ,but I was reading a letter .
The cabbie actually meant he was reading a letter
he had written to an old friend .
But the storyteller thought he was reading a letter
he had received from an old Friend .
Please pay attention to other misleading sentences
while you are reading .
Analyze the difficult sentences
• 1. 复习情态动词+不定式的用法：
情
态动词+不定式表示说话人对一个已经完成了的动作或已
发生的事情的看法。能够这样用的情态动词有：may
(might), can (could), must, should ,ought to ,would ,
needn’t 等。
1). must +have +过去分词表示说话人对过去行为的推测
1>. He must have been completely lost in
something … (line 1.)
2>. You must have been spent a lot of time together
(line 52.)
这两个句子都暗含着对过去行为的肯定性推测，表示
“肯定 …”“准是…”等意。多用于肯定句。
2). might +have+过去分词表示说话人对已经发生了的事情
提出委婉的意见。多用于肯定句，表示“其实可以”“本
来应该”等意。
…, it might just as well have been family .(line 13.)
…, 也可以算是一家人。
may /might (just) as well 还是… 好；不妨
3). Should +have +过去分词表示“本应该”用于主语为
第一,第二人称时，表责备或自我责备之意，或“应该已
经”用于主语为第二，三人称的句子里，表推测。
‘I should have kept in touch .’ (line 35.)
‘I guess I should have written it sooner .’ (line 87.)
这两句暗含自我责备。
又如：
I wrote to her last week . She should have got the letter .
表推测。
• 2. It’s +adj. (no fun /unfortunate /tough) to do sth .
it 为形式主语，动词不定式为真正主语。
Text Analysis
• Most of this text is actually a re-creation of the
conversation between a taxi driver and the narrator .
Therefore it provides ample examples of how English is
spoken in daily life by native speakers .
• In spoken English sentences tend to be short and
simple . Some sentences are incomplete ,for example :
• “(Is the letter) From a child or maybe a grandchild ?”
• “(You) went to school together ?”
• “Time”
• “(I have) Enjoyed talking with you .”
• Besides ,some words or phrases or phrases do not
usually find their way into written English ,for
example ,sort of ,kind of ,you know ,I think ,I guess ,I
take it ,well ,go ahead ,hang out ,it’s no fun to do sth. ,not
much of a hand at doing sth. ,a couple of ,every now and
then ,an awful lot .
• From the text one can conclude that the narrator is very
good at keeping the conversation going . For one thing ,
he expresses his agreement to show the cabbie what a
sympathetic listener he is ,e.g. ,
• ----”Letters from always mean a lot . At least they do with
me because I’m on the road so much . ”
• ---”I don’t think any of us keep up our correspondence
too well . I know I don’t .”
• ---”Well ,we should all keep in touch with old friends
more than we do . But things come up and we just don’t
seem to find the time .”
• ---”You know ,when it says here that there aren’t many of
us left ,that’s absolutely right .”
• ---”I know I’d like to receive a letter like that from my
oldest friend .”
• For another ,he asks questions directly to get more
information out of the cabbie :
• ---”You said ‘was’ . Does that mean--- ?”
• ---”Did you two work at the same place ?”
• ---”I thought your friend’s name was Ed. Why did he sign
it Tom ?”
• Sometimes ,he asks an indirect question by making
guesses :
• ---”From a child or maybe a grand child ?”
• ---”Went to school together ?”
• ---”I take it he’s someone you’ve known quite a while ?”
• ---”You must have spent a lot of time together .”
• ---”That must have made you feel good ,didn’t it ?”
• 第二课： Language Study
• 1. be lost in/lose oneself in: be absorbed in, be fully occupied with 专
心致志于
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Examples: He was lost in playing computer games so he was
unaware of my entering the room.
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She was lost in her novel.
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I had lost myself in thought.
• 2. available: able to be used, had, or reached a.可用的；可得到的
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Examples: Since 1990, the amount of money available to buy
books has fallen by 17%.
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If you don't want to buy a kite, you can make your own using
directions available in the book.
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We have already used up all the available space.
• 3. He sounded as if he had a cold or something.. : ---This sentence
implies the sad state of mind the taxi driver was in.。听上去他像是得
了感冒什么的
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or something诸如此类的事: used when you are not very sure
about what you have just said
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Examples: The air fare was a hundred and ninety-nine pounds or
something.
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Here's some money. Get yourself a sandwich or something.
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Similar phrase: or something like that
• 4. go ahead: continue, begin (sometimes followed by with +n.) 继续；
着手；不要犹豫
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Examples: The board of directors will vote today on whether to go
ahead with the plan.
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Henry will be late but we will go ahead with the meeting anyway.
• 5. know/learn by heart: memorize, remember exactly 记住，能背出
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Examples: You have to know all the music by heart if you want to
be a concert pianist.
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The pupils are required to learn a classic poem by heart every
day.
• 6. At least they do with me because I'm on the road so much. : At
least letters from home mean a lot to me because I travel a lot in a
car for long distances.至少对我来说是这样，因为我老是奔波在外。
• 7. estimate: form a judgement about (a quantity or value) vt.估计
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Examples: I estimate that the total cost for the treatment of the
disease will go from $5,000 to $8,000.
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Bill's personal riches were estimated at $368 million.
• 8. This isn't family. : This isn't a letter from my family.那不是家信
• 9. might/may(just) as well:也可以，也；不妨，（也）无妨
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If you say that you might/may (just) as well do something, you
mean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to
do it and may even feel slightly reluctant about it.
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Examples: Anyway, you're here; you might as well stay.
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The post office is really busy ,we'll have to queue for ages to
get served. We might as well go home.
• 10. I'm not much of a hand at writing. : I'm not good at writing. 我不
太会写东西
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not much of a: not a good 不太好的
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Examples: Some people may think that doing housework for
others is not much of a career.
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He is not much of a father, but he is an outstanding professor.
• 11. keep up: continue without stopping 保持
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Examples: They risk losing their homes because they can no
longer keep up the re payments.
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I was so hungry all the time that I could not keep the diet up
for longer than a month.
• 12. correspondence: 1) the act of writing, receiving or sending letters
(不可加 s,但可加 a, often followed by with + n.) n.通信（联系）；
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Example: His interest in writing came from a long
correspondence with a close college friend.
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2) the letters that sb. receives or sends (used as an
uncountable noun) 信件
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Examples: Mary really never mentions her step-mother in her
correspondence.
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Any further correspondence should be sent to my new address.
• 13. But I take it he's someone ... : But I expect that he is someone ...
我看，你认识他挺久了吧？
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The sentence pattern "I take it (that)" is used to say that you
expect someone will do something, know something etc..
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Example: I take it (that) you've heard that all the students in my
class have done a very good job in CET Band 4.
• 14. practically: almost, but not completely or exactly ad.几乎
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Examples: .He'd known the old man for practically ten years.
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I know people who find it practically impossible to give up
smoking.
• 15. Went to school together? : The complete sentence is like this:
You went to school together? 一起上的学？可我知道他还在想着老埃
德。他又开口时，像是跟我说，更像是自言自语。
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(In colloquial English a declarative sentence with a rising tone
may serve as a question. )
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16. neighborhood: one of the parts of a town where people live n.街坊；四
邻
Examples: It seemed like an ideal neighborhood to raise my children in.
Houses in a good neighborhood are likely to be sold at a high price.
17. kind of/ sort of: (infml; "kind of" is esp. AmE, "sort of" esp. BrE) a little bit,
in some way or degree (used before v. or after a link verb) 有几分，有点儿
Examples: She wasn't beautiful. But she was kind of cute.
The boy's description kind of gives us an idea of what's happening.
18. lose touch (with sb.): meet and contact sb. less and less often gradually
stop writing, telephoning, or visiting them 失去联系
Examples: I lost touch with my former classmates after graduation.
In my job one tends to lose touch with friends.
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19. a couple of: (infml) a few, more than one but not many 几个；一对，一双
Examples: Do you have a moment? There are a couple of things I'd like to talk to
you about.
They promised the students that they would find a substitute teacher in a couple of
days.
20. But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more
to himself than to me.: ---But I realized that the taxi driver was still thinking of Old Ed
when he spoke again. It seemed that he spoke more to himself than to me.
on one's mind: in one's thoughts; of concern to one (If something is on your mind,
you are worried or concerned about it and think about it a lot.)挂记在心头
Examples: Dealings on the stock market have been on his mind all the time.
This travel plan has been on my mind all week.
21. keep in touch (with sb.):
If you keep in touch with someone, you write, phone, or visit each other regularly.
（与…）保持联系，保持接触
Examples: The old man kept in touch with his children while living in a nursing
home.
While doing the research work in the Antarctic, the professor kept in touch
with his students via email.
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22. come up: 1) happen, occur, esp. unexpectedly （尤指意想不到地）发生，出现
Examples: "Sorry, I am late something came up at home."
Other projects came up and the emphasis of my work changed.
2) be mentioned or discussed
Examples: The issue of safety came up twice during the meeting.
The term "Project Hope" has come up a lot recently in the newspapers.
23.urge: try very hard to persuade (often used in the pattern urge sb. to do sth. or
followed by a that-clause. In the that-clause, "should" or the base form of a verb is
used.) v.力劝，催促
Examples: They urged the local government to approve plans for their reform
programme.
I urged my cousin to take a year off to study drawing.
Sir Fred urged that Britain (should) join the European Monetary System.
24. postpone: delay (usu. followed by n. /gerund) vt.推迟，使延期
Examples: The Russian experts postponed dumping Mir ( 和平号 Russia's space
station) in the Pacific Ocean until March 23, 2001.
The couple had postponed having children to establish their careers.
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25. It had references to things that ... : The letter made mention of things that ... 信里
提到些事…
reference: n.提及，谈到；参考，查阅
1) the act of talking about sb. / sth., or mentioning them (usu. followed by to)
Examples: It was strange that he made no reference to any work experience in
his resume.
His recent book makes references to the political events of those days.
2) sth. that shows you where else to look for information, for example the page
number of another place in a book
Example: Make a note of the reference number shown on the form.
3) the act of looking at sth. for information
Example: Use the dictionary for easy reference.
Keep their price list for further reference.
26. "Like it says there,"... "about all we had to spend in those days was time.": "As
the letter says there,"... "though we didn't have much money we had a lot of free
time."“就跟信里写的那样”， …我们那时能花的只有时间。
– 27. absolutely: totally and completely ad.完全地，极其
–
Examples: Funding is absolutely necessary if research is to
continue.
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There is absolutely no difference between the two oilpaintings.
– 28. reunion: a party attended by members of the same family,
school, or other group who have not seen each other for along
time n.（家人、朋友、同事等久别后的）重聚
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Examples: The soccer club holds an annual/yearly reunion.
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Before she went abroad for further study, the whole
family had a big family reunion.
– 29． there are fewer and fewer still around.: ... fewer and fewer
of us are left alive. …身边的人总是越来越少。
• 30. go by: (of time) pass （时间）逝去
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Examples: Her daughter was becoming more and more beautiful
as the years went by.
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As each month goes by, the economic situation gets better.
• 31. hang out: (infml; used mainly in AmE) stay in or near a place, for
no particular reason, not doing very much 闲荡；徘徊
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Examples: I often hung out in coffee bars while I was
unemployed.
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We can just hang out and have a good time.
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That's the corner where all the kids hang out.
• 32. every now and then: sometimes, at times 有时；经常；重复地
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Examples: Every now and then I have a desire to quit my
tedious job.
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I still see Jane for lunch every now and then, but not as often as
I used to.
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33. But for the last 20 or 30 years it's been mostly just Christmas cards. : But
generally speaking we have sent only Christmas cards to keep in touch with each
other for the last 20 or 30 years.可最后这二三十年来，主要就是寄寄圣诞卡了。
mostly: almost all; generally ad.几乎全部；多半，大体
Examples: They have invested their money mostly in expensive real estate.
The guests at the wedding party are mostly friends of the bride.
34. Your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say
because I'm not good at saying things like that. :--- Your friendship over the years has
been very important to me, more important than I can say because I'm not good at
expressing my feelings.你多年的友谊对我很重要，远比我能说出来的重要得多，因为
我不擅长说这样的话。
awful: (infml; used to add force) very great; very bad or unpleasant非常的，极大的；
可怕的，糟糕的
Examples: I have got an awful lot of work to do.
I can't bear the awful smell of cigarette smoke.
35. choke up: become too upset to speak (因激动等)哽得说不出话；堵塞
Examples: When he learned the news of his friend's sudden death, he was so
choked up he couldn't say a thing.
Losing my job left me completely choked up; I was so upset that I didn't
know what to say.
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36. destination: the place to which sb. is going or being sent n.目的
地；目的，目标
Examples: Singapore is still our most popular holiday destination.
Only half of the emergency supplies have reached their
destination because of the bad weather.
37. skip: pass from (,one point, etc.) to another, disregarding or
failing to act on what comes between v.略过，跳过；跳跃
Examples: The teacher skipped chapter five and said it
wouldn't be on the test.
"As time is limited, we will have to skip some of the exercises in
Unit 10, "said the teacher.
38. right away: (infml) at once 立刻
Examples: Tom has got a high fever; he should go and see a
doctor right away.
I wrote him a letter and posted it right away.
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课文A
友谊
老朋友走各一方，你心有何感?你是否努力保持联系?有时候写信的事很客易
会一拖再拖，总以为明天有的是时间。然而，正如这则故事所表明的，有时我们拖
得太晚了。也许读一读这个故事会让你提起笔来。
出租车司机拥有的就剩一封信
福斯特.弗克洛
他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不得敲挡风玻璃来引起他的注意。
他总算抬头看我了。“你出车吗?”我问道。他点点头，当我坐进后座时，他抱歉地说
“对不起，我在读一封信。”听上去他像是得了感冒什么的。
“我不着急，”我对他说。“你接着把信读完吧。”
他摇了摇头。“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。”
“家书抵万金啊，”我说。“至少对我来说是这样。因为我老是在外旅行。我估量他有六七十岁
了，便猜测说；“是孩子还是孙子写来的?”
“不是家里人，”他回答说。“不过，”他接着说，“想起来，也可以算是一家人了。
埃德老伙计是我最老的朋友了。实际上，过去我俩总是以‘老朋友’相称的——就是说，
当我俩相见时。我这人就是不大会写东西。”
“我看大家写信都不那么勤快，”我说。“我自己笔头就很懒。我看，你认识他挺久了吧?”
“差不多认识了一辈子了。我俩小时候就一起玩，所以我俩的友谊确实很长了。”
“一起上的学?”
“都一起上到高中呢。事实上，我俩从小学到高中都在一个班里”。
“保持这么长久友谊的人可真不多见啊，”我说。
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“其实呢，”司机接着说，“近25到30年来，我跟他一年只见一两次面，因为我从原来
住的老街坊搬了出来，联系自然就少了，虽说你一直放在心上。他在的时候可真是个
大好人。”
“你刚才说他‘在的时候’。你是说——?”
他点了点头。“前两个星期过世啦。”
“真遗憾，”我说。“失去朋友真不是个滋味，失去个真正的老朋友更让人受不
了。”
他开着车，没有接话儿。我们沉默了几分钟。可我知道他还在想着老埃德。他又开
口时，
与其说是跟我说话，还不如说是自言自语：“我真该一直保持联系。真的，”他重复
道，“我真该一直保持联系。”
“是啊，”我表示赞同，“我们都该与老朋友保持更多的联系。不过总是有事情冒
出来，好像就是抽不出空来。”
他耸了耸肩。“我们过去总能抽出空来，”他说。“信里还提到呢。”他把信递给
我。“你看看吧。”
“谢谢你，”我说，“不过我不想读你的信。这纯属私事。”
司机耸一耸肩。“老埃德人都死了。没什么私事不私事了。念吧，”他催促说。
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信是用铅笔写的。称呼写着“老朋友”，而开头第一句话让我想到自己。
“早就想写信了，可就是一拖再拖。”信里接着写道，他常常回想从前两人
住在一个街坊时的快乐时光。信里提到些事，可能对司机很重要，比如“那
次蒂姆·谢打破窗子，那年万圣节前夕，我们把老帕克先生的大门拴了起
来．还有卡尔弗太太老是在放学后把咱俩留下训斥的那阵子”。
“你们俩准是在一起度过了不少时光，”我对他说。
“就跟信里写的那样，”他回答说，“我俩在那个时候能花的只有时间。”
他摇头叹道：“时间啊。”
信里接下来的那段我觉得有点凄凉：“信的开头我写着‘老朋友’，因为
这么多年来，我们这对老朋友渐渐都老了。我们这些人当中留下的也不多
了。”
“你要知道，”我对他说，“信里说我们这些人当中留下的不多了。说得
一点不错。比如说，每次我去参加老同学聚会，来的人总是越来越少。”
“时间不饶人啊，”司机说。
“你们俩以前在一起工作吗?”我问他。
“不，不过没成家时我俩总在一起闲荡。后来，两人都成了家，就不时相
互串门。可最近这二三十年来，主要就是寄寄圣诞卡了。当然，我俩都总在
卡上写几句——通常是关于各自家里的情况，不是吗，孩子们在干些什么，
谁搬到哪儿，添了个小孙子，都是这类事——可一直部没正儿八经地写过信
什么的。”
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“这一处写得好，”我说。“这里写道：‘你多年的友谊对我非常
重要，远比我能说出来的重要得多，因为我不擅长说这样的话。…我
颔首称是。“这话准让你听着开心，是吧?”
司机说了句什么，可我没听明白，因为他似乎哽噎得厉害。于是
我接着说：“我也真想收到这样一封老朋友的来信。”
我们快到目的地了，于是我跳到最后一段。“因此我想你一定想知
道我惦记着你。”信末署名： “老朋友汤姆”。
我们在我的旅店前停下，我把信递了回去。“很高兴能和你聊聊．”
我将衣箱从车上提下时说。汤姆?信的署名是汤姆?
“我记得你朋友叫埃德，”我说。“为什么他署名汤姆呢?”
“这封信不是汤姆写给我的，”他解释说。“我是汤姆。这是我在
得知他去世前写给他的信。所以我一直没寄出。”
他神情有点悲伤，似乎想看清远处什么东西。“我想我真该早些
写这封信。”
我进了旅馆房间之后，没有马上打开箱包。首先我得写封信——
而且要寄出去。

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