Blueprint for SuccessBlueprint for Success

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Blueprint for SuccessBlueprint for Success

BackgroundBackground

Main idea Main idea

Words, Expressions & Difficult Words, Expressions & Difficult SentencesSentences

Figures & TechniquesFigures & Techniques

Discussion Discussion

Keys to the ExercisesKeys to the Exercises

Cultural BackgroundCultural Background This is a true story about an American philanthropist ( 慈善家） who devoted his life to building houses for the poor and needy. Such people can be found of course in any society and culture. But in the Unites States, they are often influenced by the religious tradition. Millard Fuller, the hero of the story, had a very good minister friend, and it was obviously from this minister that he first got the inspiration. Christians are told that the wealth they have is put in their hands by God in their trust, and they should give it back to God through donations and charities. Anyone who dies rich dies in shame. While it would be naive to believe that every Christian acts on this principle, it would also be wrong to dismiss it completely as religious hypocrisy.

Lincoln ContinentalLincoln Continental

the brand name of a luxurious car in the US

Radio City Music HallRadio City Music Hall

a building in lower Manhattan where music is performed

Manhattan Manhattan Located in Southeast of New York, it includes all of

Manhattan island and three smaller islands in the East River. It is the most important commercial, financial and cultural center in the United States, with many big banks, insurance companies and stock exchanges around Wall Street. Major buildings include United Nations headquarters, the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Arts, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Empire State Building and the twin World Trade Centers which were destroyed by terrorists on Sep. 11, 2001.

Zaire Zaire It refers to Democratic Republic of the Gongo

(1971- ), a central African country formerly known as Republic of Zaire (1960-1971). Population (1997): 46,674,000;

Capital: Kinshasa.

Main IdeaMain Idea

Millard went through a dramatic change in his life. He started off as a whiz with money and had every promise of becoming an unusually successful businessman. Then all of a sudden he decided to give away all the money he had earned and start a house-building project for the poor. We all know how difficult it is to resist the temptation of money. And to give away all money you already have is even more difficult. But Millard did it. He did it because he suddenly discovered that money actually stood between him and his wife. It had not brought happiness to his life. It had not brought any meaning.

WordsWords

sharesshares : (= stocks) 股份 ; 股票 cf. securities 证券 ; bonds 债券tradertrader : a person who buys and sells somethingcf. seller, buyer, salesman, vender (street vender, ne

ws-vender, ice-cream vender), hawker, merchant (a person who buys and sells things in large quantities), businessman (a person of fairly high place in a company).

Proceeds Proceeds : money gained from doing sth. Or selling sth.

cf. income, payment, earnings, revenue

Observe the subtle differences in these phrasal verbs of “agree”

1) Linda finally agreed to her husband’s plea. (It was not Linda’s idea. Indeed she might not have liked the idea.)

2) Finally they agreed on the terms. ( After discussion they reached a decision.)

3) I agree with you completely. (to agree with sb.)4) Do you agree with this kind of attitude?5) We may not agree about many things. But we al

ways respect each other’s opinion.

MortgageMortgage: a legal arrangement by which you borrow money from a bank in order to buy a house and pay back the money later in a period of time 抵押贷款

The word “mortgage” is usually used in the following patterns :

to give mortgage to sb. ; to apply for a mortgage ; to arrange for a mortgage ; to pay (off) one’s mortgage ; the house is mortgaged

AssaultAssault : an attempt to achieve sth. DifficultThis is the extended meaning of the word “as

sault” which originally means a military attack.

e.g. The roar of city traffic is a steady assault on one’s nerves.

JoltJolt : to shock suddenly to jolt sb. Into / out of sth. e.g. Her angry words jolted him out of the

belief that she loved him.

Blossom or flowerBlossom or flower

to thrive ; to produce good result ; to be successful

BalloonBalloon

to become bigger or larger in amount

Notice the use of nouns as verbs.

ExpressionsExpressions

Vacation retreatVacation retreatA place you can go for vacation where it is quite a

nd safe. Compare with the word “resort” which means a place where you often go for holidays.

Down paymentDown payment : a small part of money you pay when you buy a house.

Habitat for HumanityHabitat for Humanity : the name Millard give to his housing ( 人类之家 ). “Habitat” means the natural home.

Good willGood will : kind feelings toward people and a willingness to be helpful.

Millard believed that people are all kind-hearted and willing to help others. Therefore if he could make use of this he would be able to carry out his plan.

BudgetBudget : a sum of money set aside for a certain purpose ( here for buying the daily necessities )

tight budgettight budget : not enough money

to give sth. awayto give sth. away :

1) to give sth. free of charge

e.g. These watches are only a pound each; we are almost giving them away!

2) to distribute or present sth.

e.g. The mayor give away the prizes at the school sports day.

to break downto break down

1) to have a physical or mental collapse

e.g. He broke down and wept.

2) to fail to function; to cease to be useful, effective, or operable

e.g. The car broke down halfway to the destination.

to pay one’s wayto pay one’s way : to support oneself with money one has earned

e.g. He paid his way through college.

to leave out sthto leave out sth. : not to include or mention; to omit

e.g. He left out the funniest part of the story.

to settle on sth.to settle on sth. : to choose sth.; to decide to take sth.

e.g. Have you settle on the wallpaper you prefer?

then and therethen and there : at that time and place 当时当地

here and therehere and there : at this time and place 此时此地

e.g. I took one look at the car and offered to buy it then and there.

to make a down paymentto make a down payment : to pay only part of the full price when you buy sth. with the rest to be paid later

e.g. We have made a down payment on a washing machine.

to go for sthto go for sth. : 1) to apply to ; to serve as e.g. a couch that also goes for a bed 2) to attack e.g. She went for him with a carving knife. to invest in sthto invest in sth. : to give time to a particular task, esp. in a wa

y that involves commitment or self-sacrifice e.g. I have invested a lot of time and eff

ort in this plan.

to lay out sthto lay out sth. : 1) to arrange sth. in a planned way e.g. A well-laid out magazine2) To spend sth. Out ready for use or to be seen e

asily e.g. Please lay out all the clothes you want to t

ake on holiday. to lay a foundationto lay a foundation : to form the solid base of a building underground e.g. They are laying a foundation of a new hosp

ital.

to bring sth. in :to bring sth. in : 1) to produce as profit or income for sb. e.g. We have brought a good grain harve

st for three years on end.2) to pick and gather e.g. Bring in every single grain. 颗粒归仓 to apply forto apply for : to make a formal request e.g. I want to apply for the job.

to make a differenceto make a difference : 1) to have an effect on sb. or sth. e.g. The sea air has made a difference on her heal

th.2) to be important to sb. or sth. e.g. It won’t make much difference whether you go

today or tomorrow. to fade awayto fade away : to disappear gradually; to become indistinct e.g. The sound of cheering faded away in the dista

nce.

to be trappedto be trapped : to in a dangerous or very bad situation from which you can’t escape

e.g. 1) We believe that there are still survivors trapped underneath.

2) When she got there she realized that she was trapped she didn’t know anybody and didn’t have any single penny in her pocket.

The word “ trap” can also be used as a noun as in animal trap, lobster trap, etc.

Sentences Sentences But he realized now that he had left out But he realized now that he had left out

everything that counted ; he could no longer everything that counted ; he could no longer endure it.endure it.

But now he came to see that he had left out ( not included ) everything that mattered ( that were very important ) ; he could no longer bear it.

Whatever he settled on, his new life would have Whatever he settled on, his new life would have to mean something, have a positive effect on to mean something, have a positive effect on others.others.

No matter what he finally decided to do, his life must be meaningful, must benefit or have a good effect on others.

Whatever comes next, she thought, we will Whatever comes next, she thought, we will face it together.face it together.

It is a view shared by many people that the best time of the married life is the time when husband and wife can stand shoulder to shoulder, fight the difficulties, defy the same challenges,and struggle for the same goal, rather than live in comfort together.

but he still yearned for a mission that would but he still yearned for a mission that would summon all his energy and idealism.summon all his energy and idealism.

but he still longed to find sth. important to do which would require all his energy and would realize his noble dream ( his dream to help others ).

Millard wondered if his idea blossoming in GeMillard wondered if his idea blossoming in Georgia might flower elsewhereorgia might flower elsewhere.

Millard wondered whether his idea working wonderfully in Georgia might work elsewhere.

BanksBanks wouldn’twouldn’t give them mortgages, so give them mortgages, so they had to keep on renting. They were they had to keep on renting. They were trapped.trapped.

Banks refused to give them mortgages because they were afraid that these poor people would not be able to pay back the money. ( they did not have regular income or their income was small.)

The buyers would make a minimal down The buyers would make a minimal down payment and monthly interest-free payment and monthly interest-free mortgage payments that would go back mortgage payments that would go back into the fund for more housesinto the fund for more houses.

The buyers would pay a very small part of the cost when they bought their houses and pay the rest every month without interest. They money they would then be reinvested for more houses.

Millard laid out 42 half acre lots and began Millard laid out 42 half acre lots and began touring to raise money and recruit volunteers.touring to raise money and recruit volunteers.

Millard arranged or planned 42 pieces of land, each half acre in size, and then began touring to raise money and look for volunteers.

Millard hired contractors to lay the foundations Millard hired contractors to lay the foundations and install plumbing and wiring.and install plumbing and wiring.

Millard hired the professional people to do these things that required expertise and used volunteer labor to do the rest.

Millard had a mental blueprint for an Millard had a mental blueprint for an international assault on poverty housing.international assault on poverty housing.

Millard developed a plan in his mind. He wanted to carry out the difficult project of building houses for poor people in other countries.

“ “ I was looking for a way to measure myself in I was looking for a way to measure myself in terms other than money.”terms other than money.”

“ I was looking for a way to find out the meaning of my life or to judge my value from other angles, not from the monetary point of view.

Figures & TechniquesFigures & Techniques

How could I have miscalculated so badly ?How could I have miscalculated so badly ?

This is a rhetorical question. Millard did not understand how he could have been so preoccupied with money and failed to see that his wife was so unhappy. “could have done sth.” is used to say that there was a possibility of sth.happening in the past.

Whatever comes next, she thought, we will Whatever comes next, she thought, we will face it together.face it together.

when we describe what someone thought, we often use direct speech without using the quotation mark. More examples :

Maybe, replied Jordan.

I must go and see mother this week, Linda thought.

I shouldn’t tell her too much, he decided.

In the last part of the essay (paras. 27-32) the present tense are used to describe a past event.

This is a technique used to present a word picture of what happened or was happening to make the description vivid. Study this use in the paragraph below.

“ It is ten o’clock on a scorching July morning in Charlotte, N.C. Millard Fuller is pounding nails into a roof on one of 14 houses rising simultaneously. Around him, 350 volunteer builders, many of them veteran Habitat workers bused in form out of town, are hammering, fitting windows---building a neighborhood.”

Remember that normally uncountable nouns ( material nouns, abstract nouns, even proper nouns ) can be used as countable nouns in certain circumstances. More examples :

Everybody agreed that their defeat was a certainty.

About the future of the Middle East, I think there are two possibilities.

At that time, there are two Germanies—the East Germany and the West Germany.

Discussion Discussion

What constitutes true happiness and What constitutes true happiness and what would be a meaningful life?what would be a meaningful life?

Millard asked himself how he could Millard asked himself how he could have miscalculated so badly. Have have miscalculated so badly. Have we in some way also miscalculated?we in some way also miscalculated?

Memorable Quotes Memorable Quotes 名言警句名言警句

I found life an exciting business, and most I found life an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.exciting when it is lived for others.

我发现生活是一件令人兴奋之事。当众人共同我发现生活是一件令人兴奋之事。当众人共同享受生活之时，也就是最兴奋之事了。享受生活之时，也就是最兴奋之事了。Those who bring sunshine to the lives of otThose who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.hers cannot keep it from themselves.

让他人生活中充满阳光之人也回得到阳光。让他人生活中充满阳光之人也回得到阳光。

Keys to the ExercisesKeys to the Exercises

Form compound words by taking one word from each column.

skin-deep, ice-cold, waist-high, pitch-dark duty-free, homesick, oil-rich, bloodthirsty, snow-white, lifelong, power-hungry, color- blind, cocksure

Based on the Chinese given in the brackets, complete the sentences using the phrasal verbs of “leave” and “settle”.

1) Leave for Spain 2) leave out 3) leaving the enemy troops far behind 4) left off 5)leaves things about / is leaving things about 6) left out 7) settle down 8) settled on

Give the verb pattern of the underlined part in the sentences below and then put the Chinese into English.

Verb pattern : vt. + n./pron. + that-clause Other possible verbs : assure, convince, inform, persuade, promise,

remind1) The inn-keeper told Wu Song that there was a tiger up in the

mountain.2) We informed them that we would like to visit some irrigation sy

stems. 3) So far no fact had shown us that there is life in outer space.4) The doctor assured me that the medicine had no side-effect.5) Scientists warn us that global warming may seriously threaten

our living conditions.6) History had taught us that truth is always in the hands of a few

before it is accepted by the majority.

Observe the continuous forms of various tenses in these sentences and identity their use.

1) A habitual action; a future action2) An action that continued to happen before and after another

action in the past3) An action that continued to happen before and after another

action interrupted it4) A action that continued to happen for some time in the past5) An action that will happen because arrangements have

been made6) (using the present continuous tense to describe) actions that

continued to happen before and after a particular time in the past

7) An action which continues to happen before and after the moment of speaking

Put in the correct prepositions

1) for 2) like 3) for 4) As

5) by 6) for 7) like 8) with

9) by 10) for, plus 11)as

12)plus 13)Like, by 14) as

15) By, with, plus

The end