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Lesson 14
• Argentia Bay
• By Herman Wouk
Background about the author
• Herman Wouk (1915- ) is an American novelist. He
is better known for his epic war novels.
• After graduation from Columbia University, he
became a radio scriptwriter. Though he achieved
considerable social and financial success in the radio
show business world, he found both the work and
environment unsatisfying. He enlisted in the navy
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and spent
three years as an officer on a destroyer-minesweeper
in the pacific.
Background about the author
• Much of Aurora Dawn (1947极光), the first novel of
the New York advertising world, was written while
Wouk was in service.
• With the publication of his first novel in 1947,
Herman Wouk began a career in letters which has
brought him renown, the Pulitzer Prize and a long
international audience for his books and plays.
• His latest book is War and Remembrance (1978)
which is the sequel to The Winds of War (1971), a
work of equal size and scope, picturing the global
conflict from Pearl Harbor to the fall of Nazi
Germany and the Japanese surrender.
Background about the author
• He has published nine additional works of
fiction, nonfiction and drama, including The
City Bay (1948), The Caine Mutiny (1951,
Pulitzer Prize), Marjorie Morningstar (1955),
This is My God (1959), Youngblood Hawke
(1962), and Don’t Stop the Carnival (1965).
Pulitzer Prize:
• Joseph Pulitzer was an American newspaper
publisher and the founder of the Pulitzer Prize.
Today there are Pulitzer Prizes for distinguished
works in American fiction, drama, history, biography
and autobiography, nonfiction, poetry and music.
Joseph Pulitzer founded the Pulitzer Prize in 1903
because he believed in encouraging excellence in the
arts and journalism. He gave Columbia University $2,
000,000. Part of it was for the Prizes and part for the
creation of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Joseph Pulitzer died on Oct. 29, 1911.
About the book:
• The Winds of War is fiction, and all the
characters and adventures involving the Henry
family are imaginary. But the history of the
war in this romance is offered as accurate; the
statistics, as reliable; the words and acts of the
great personages, as either historical or
derived from accounts of their words and
deeds in similar situations. (from Herman
Wouk‘s Foreword to The Winds of War).
A note on the story:
• The story describes the Roosevelt-Churchill
conference in August 1941.
• Understandably, it was held in the utmost
secrecy, and it was not given to anybody but
the top few what was going on inside the
conference room—nor to Victor Pug Henry, a
navy captain and presidential aide, but not
ranking high enough to be a participant.
A note on the story:
• However, Victor Henry is in a way the narrator of
this story, which develops only as he, a mid-ranking
officer, sees it develop.
• If the story had been told through the eyes of
Roosevelt or Churchill or Harry Hopkins for that
matter, it could have achieved a lot more grasp and
made a more factual narrative; but it would not have
been imaginative literature, but a workaday
journalism.
• The Winds of War, this story has been shown on the
television. It follows an American naval family that is
caught up in the events preceding the attack on Pearl
Harbor which got the U.S. involved in the Second
World War. It is a great miniseries because it blends
fact and fiction so well.
Questions:
• What was the book about?
• Where and when did the story take place?
• Who were the main characters?
• What was the author showing through the
story?
• Who told the story?
• What do you think of the book?
Detailed study
• 1. Argentia Bay
• What do you get to know from the section?
• Background / introduction.
• The story took place at Argentia Bay in
Newfoundland, Canada. The time was at nine
o‘clock. The story involved Winston Churchill
and American President Roosevelt.
• 2. Gray peace…Argentia Bay
• Gray peace, Haze and mist, and in primeval hush:
The three expressions in this para. gives us an idea a
quite, significant place.
– pervade: to spread through, saturate or permeate every part
of it; spread all over the place; fill in air
A heavy, musty odor pervades the railroad waiting room.
It is pleasant to live in the environment where this positive
spirit pervades.
The odor of jasmine pervades the room.
An unpleasant smell pervades the house.
He worked so hard that weariness pervaded his whole body.
A strong sense of patriotism pervades his writings.
• -wildness: desolate expanse, waste,
uninhabited land
• -ring: Here it means to make a ring round or
surround
• Ring the spelling mistakes with red ink.
• Police ringed the building.
• An old house ringed with trees
• Argentia Bay was surrounded by a vast
expanse of wild uninhabited land where there
was no human activity. The whole place
looked gray and it was very quiet there.
• 3. to await the arrival of Winston Churchill
• ―Wait,‖ the commoner word, can be followed
by an infinitive but not a gerund while ―await‖
can be followed by a gerund but not an
infinitive.
• I shall await hearing from you.
• I shall wait to hear from you.
• 4. Haze… a tint of green.
• -haze: light thin mist or smoke
• Haze… mist… fog:
• Fog is the thickest in degree
• -blend: go well together; cause to mix together
• How well their voices blend!
• Those two colors blend well.
• A blends with B.
• These houses seem to bend well with the trees
and the countryside.
• Their voices blend well with each other.
• How well the new curtains blend with the rug!
• Thin smoke and mist mixed making everything look
gray.
• -tint of green: shade or slight degree of green color
(esp. pale or delicate).
• Sailors and officers… loudspeaker squawks.
• -go about their chores: be in the habit of doing their
routine work.
• go about: move from place to place; to do; to
perform
• He often goes about in public.
• Working for an international company he goes about
quite a lot.
• Be careful not to catch the flu! There is a lot of it
going about this winter.
• -piping: the sound of a boatswain‘s whistle
• a chief seaman‘s
• -squawk: (esp. of some birds) to make a loud
rough sounding cry; loud harsh sound
• Sailors and officers were carrying on their
routine duties with whistling and loudspeaker
noises in the background. (It gives a vivid
description of the orderly peaceful life of the
American sailors, which stands sharply in
contrast to the life on the war-battered British
warships).
• 6. But a primeval hush… normal ships noises:
• -primeval: ancient; primitive
• -a primeval hush: like the silence in very
ancient times when the world was first created
• -lie heavy:
• Money lying idle in the bank
• The snow lay thick on the ground.
• The escaped prisoners had to lie low for
months.
• The book lay open on the table.
• With the routine chores going on, some noise
could be heard on the ships in the Bay, but
beyond that (but outside the range of the noise)
it was all tranquility.
• Note the author‘s description of Argentia Bay:
Peace pervaded/ tinged by wilderness/ a
primeval hush outside the range of the ships‘
noises.
• The author took great pains to describe the
peace and hush of the Bay to prepare the
readers for the coming of a big event, just like
the momentary silence before a thunderstorm.
• 7. At nine o‘clock…like snakeskin:
• -battleship: the largest kind of warship, with the
biggest guns and heaviest armour
• -camouflage: disguised, concealed
• The military vehicles were camouflaged.
• The hunters were camouflaged with branches.
• -swirls: twists and curls
• At nine o‘clock, three destroyers came rapidly in
sight, immediately followed by a camouflaged
battleship painted in snakeskin-colored twists and
curls.
• 8. This was HMS Prince of Wales, bigger…
Bismarck.
• -HMS: His (Her) Majesty‘s Service, Ship, or
Steamer
• Prince of Wales: The ship was sunk by the Japanese
in the South China Sea in December 1941.
• Bismarck: German battleship of 45,000 tons,
completed early in 1940, for operations against
British convoys in the North Atlantic. In an
encounter with British fleet on 24 May, 1940, it sank
the British cruiser Hood and damaged the Prince of
Wales; the Bismarck was also hit by the guns of the
Prince of Wales. The Bismarck was finally sunk on
27 May, 1940.
• By mentioning ―hit the Bismarck‖ the author
indicates the battleship was not only majestic-
looking, but also battle-proven.
• 9. As it steamed past… ―God Save the King.‖:
• - the Augusta: the American cruiser
• -a brass band: a body of musicians, performs
on wind and striking instruments
• -symphony orchestra: a body of musicians
chiefly on string instruments
• - The Star-Spangled Banner: This is the
official national anthem of the United States,
by a Bill which passed the Senate on 3 March,
1931.
• -quarter-deck: part of the highest level of a
ship, used only by officers
• -strike up: to begin to play; to start to make a
friendship with
• We struck up an acquaintance with each other on the
ship.
• Note: Salutes at sea originally took two forms, the
firing of guns and the striking of topsails, the latter
when within the territorial waters of the warship
being saluted. Navies have a variety of salutes for
officers of rank and ships of foreign nations, varying
between gun salutes, guards and bands, guards
without bands, bugle calls, and piping the side,
according to rank and circumstances. Here the
playing of the national anthem was not a welcoming
ceremony. It was a mutual salute since the two heads
of states were on board the ships.
• -God Save the King: the British national
anthem. It is usual in Britain to play the tune
whenever the monarch appears in public.
• 10. Pug Henry…Summer Wells:
• -Pug Henry: Victor Pug Henry, a navy captain
and presidential aide
• He is in a way the narrator of this story, and
the hero of the book The Winds of War.
• -awning: movable covering, esp. one made of
canvas used to protect shop windows,
shipdecks, etc. from sun or rain
• -rig(ged): to supply (esp. a person or ship) with
necessary things (ropes, sails, etc.). Here, to set up
hastily or as a makeshift
• -turret: a low heavy-armoured steel dome, that spins
round to allow its guns to aim in any direction
• -august: causing feelings of great respect; noble and
grand; venerable for reasons of age or high rank
• -admiral: a man who commands a large number of
warships and who holds a very high rank or the
highest rank in the navy
• -general: an officer of very high rank in the army or
American air force
• 11. Churchill was plain to see…gesturing with
a big cigar.
• Churchill could be seen clearly since he was
only five hundred yards away….
• -odd blue costume: Actually Churchill was
wearing a Navy uniform but here the author
used ―odd/ strange or rather, to mean fanny‖
and ―costume‖ to achieve a kind of comical
effect.
• -gesturing with a big cigar: movement of the
hand holding a cigar to convey friendly
feeling
• 12. The president towered over everybody,…
resembled him.
• -stiff on braced legs: Roosevelt was stiff on braced
legs. That is, he had to wear steel braces on his legs,
because an attack of polio in 1921 had paralysed him
from the waist.
• -brace: to make stronger (something used fro
supporting, stiffening or fastening)
• His weak back was heavily braced.
• A brace is a metal device that is sometimes fastened
to a child‘s teeth in order to help them grow straight.
• A brace is a device attached to a part of a person‘s
body, for example to a weak leg, in order to
strengthen or support it.
• 13. Roosevelt‘s large pink face was self-consciously
grave:
• Roosevelt put on a grave expression because the
band was playing the national anthem and he knew
he was wearing a grave expression.
• 14. ―Well! I‘ve never heard… and Roosevelt laughed
too.
• ―My country ‗Tis of thee‘‖ is the first line of
―America‖ which is sung to the music of the British
national anthem, ―God Save the King (Queen). (The
tune of ―America‖ is the same with the tune of ―God
Save the King.‖ When the band played the British
anthem, Roosevelt humorously took it for ―America.‖
• This is where the joke lies. Actually, some American
patriots claim the tune was American in origin, and
was appropriated by the British.
• 15. The squeal of boatswain‘s pipes…deck.
• -squeal: to make a long very high sound or cry
• The children squealed with delight.
• -compare:
• squeal: long and sharp sound
• squawk: loud and rough sound
• scream: thin and sharp sound
• shriek: sudden loud sound
• screech: unpleasant high-pitched sound
• -boatswains‘ pipes: boatswains‘ whistle; silver
whistle used in giving orders to the crew of a ship
• -dress parade: requiring or permitting formal
dress, a dress affair, a dress dinner
• -broke up the dress parade: ended the formal
inspection
2. Harry Hopkins
• Why was Pug sent over to the Prince of Wales?
• 16. Harry Hopkins: (1890-1946)
• American social worker and public administrator,
intimate associate and adviser of President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce
(1938-40). As the personal representative of
President Roosevelt, he went on missions to London
and Moscow, conferring with Churchill and Stalin.
He also attended the major war conferences at
Washington, Casablanca, Quebec, Cairo, Tehran, and
Yalta ( in Russia).
• 17. Admiral King beckoned to Pug.
• -Admiral King: Ernest Joseph King (1878-
1956), American naval officer. He was
appointed commander in chief of the U.S.
Atlantic fleet (1949) and of the entire U.S.
fleet (Dec. 1941). He served (March, 1942-
Dec., 1945) as chief of naval operations
during World War II. He was appointed (Dec.
1944) admiral of the fleet (five-star rank).
18. Take my barge… put yourself at Mr. Harry Hopkins‘s
service.
• - A barge is a boat with a flat bottom. Barges
are used for carrying heavy loads, esp. on
canals.
• - a motorboat carried by naval ships for the
use of officers
• - put sb. at sb‘s service: to get ready to obey
orders or be used by sb. ; to get ready to serve
or cooperate with one; to put sb./sth. at sb‘s
disposal
• Do whatever Mr. Harry Hopkins might ask
you to do.
• -at one‘s service:
• I‘ll be entirely at your service in three minutes.
• ―Now I am at your service,‖ the dentist told
the next patient.
• My car is at your service.
• He put a car and driver at the visitor‘s service.
19. expedite: fml. to make (a plan or
arrangement) go faster; to do or perform sth.
quickly and efficiently
Notice Admiral King‘s words: ―beckoned,‖
―Put you at Mr Harry Hopkins service. The
president desires to…so expedite.‖ His words
are serious, formal and show his position.
Here we have the first of the personalities whom
the author took great pains to describe.
These indicate the gesture, the language, of a
superior officer, very mindful of his rank and
very aloof/reserved/not friendly.
20. Aye aye, sir.
Aye is a nautical term, meaning yes.
21. Why did Henry think he went from peace to war when
he passed from the Augusta to the Prince of Wales?
The author has employed a few metaphors here
to bring out the complete change of atmosphere.
The Augusta is an American cruiser and at that
time the United States nominally was not at war
with Hitler while the Prince of Wales was a
British battleship and Britain had been fighting
against Hitler‘s Germany for over a year. Hence
the statement ―from America to England and
from peace to war.‖
22. It was a shocking jump: pun
• This refers to the crossing from the Augusta to
the Prince of Wales, from Peace to War.
• 23. King‘s spick-and-span flagship belonged
to a different world than the storm-whipped
British vessel.
• - spick-and-span: (only in the phrase) bright,
clean, and tidy; neat and clean; very neat or
smart and new
• He moved in a spick-and-span flat.
• The house should always be kept spick-and-
span.
• Why did King‘s spick-and-span flagship
belong to a different world?
• - flagship: the ship that carries the commander
of a fleet and displays his flag.
• Paraphrase: Compared with the British vessel
which had gone through many a battle and
weathered the storm, the Augusta which was
new and clean and which carried King seemed
to be from another world.
• Henry wanted to show that the contrast
between the two ships was such that they
seemed to be from entirely different worlds.
• 24. the accommodation ladder was salt-
crusted: a ladder or stairway hung over a ships‘
side, usu. at the gangway (opening in a ship‘s
side movable bridge from this to the land跳板
通道)
• salt-crusted /covered
• There was a hard layer of salt on the surface
of the accommodation ladder, showing that is
had been through a long sea-voyage.
25. Even the main battery guns looked pitted
and rusty:
• -battery guns: a number of big guns fixed in a
warship or fort.
• -pit: mark with small scars
• The deeply pitted surface of the metal.
• Why is the word ―even‖ used here? The main
battery guns are the main weapons on a
battleship so it was most surprising that there
was rust on these guns. This probably shows
that they have no time to clean the battery.
They were busy.
26. Pug was aghast to see cigarette butts… scuppers.
• -aghast: adj. suddenly filled with great
surprise, fear, and shock
• She was aghast when she was told of her
husband‘s huge gambling debts.
• -scupper: n. opening in a ship‘s side to allow
water to run off the deck.
• 27. droves of bluejackets were doing an animated scrub-down:
• -drove: 1) a moving crowd of people cf. throng
• Droves of people are very large numbers of them.
• They came in droves to see Australian‘s natural wonder.
Droves of sightseers
• The tourists came in droves.
• 2) a group of esp. farm animals driven in a body: a drove of
cattle
• -bluejacket: an enlisted man in the U.S. or British army;
metonymy
• A group of British navy men were cleaning the deck in a
spirited way.
• animated scrub-down: transferred epthet
28. On the superstructure… Bismark‘s salvos
• - superstructure: that part of a ship, esp. of a warship,
above the main deck
• -raw: imperfectly prepared; lacking normal or usual
finish
• -welded: jointed
• -sticking plaster: adhesive material for covering a
slight wound, usu. a thin cloth gummed on one side
• Cf. Band-aid; bandage
• -salvos: simultaneous discharge of artillery or other
firearms, esp. as salute, or in sea-fight.
• At places on the part above the main deck there were
new welds. These were damages caused by the
gunfire of the German battleship Bismarck. The
welds looked like sticking plaster put to new wounds.
• The author is comparing the steel patches to sticking
plasters and the damages on the ship to wounds of
the human body. Metaphor.
29. ―Ah, yes Captain Henry‖: Ah, so you are
Captain Henry.
• 30. quartermaster: a nautical /sailing term,
meaning a petty officer or mate who attends to
the ship‘s compass, navigation, signals etc.
• 31. fittings: the fixtures, furnishings or
decorations of a house, office, automobile, etc.;
pl. sth. necessary that is fixed into a building
but able to be moved
• 32: ―Hello there, Pug.‖ there, an interjection,
calling the attention of someone
33. …in a blaze of worldwide newspaper
attention
• Hopkins flew to London in late July and
arranged with Churchill the date and
rendezvous of the conference between
Roosevelt and Churchill. Then he took a
British flying boat to Moscow to hold talks
with Stalin. His visits to London and Moscow
were widely covered by newspapers all over
the world.
• -in a / the blaze of: metaphor; in the blaze of
publicity/fury /anger/effort
34. Am I riding over with you? Am I to take the
barge and go over to the Augusta with you?
• 35. on his bunk in a small cabin off the
wardroom
• -bunk: a narrow bed that is usu. fixed to the
wall (as on a ship or train)
• -wardroom: room on a warship for an officer
to live in
• -off the wardroom: next to the wardroom; not
attached to the wardroom
• off the main street, not on the main street
35. in one he carefully placed…; in the other he
threw… as they came to hand:
• Note the contrast between ―he carefully placed
papers..‖ and ―he threw clothes…as they came
to hand‖: He was very careful, very
meticulous about official papers but very
careless about his own things. This throws
light on the character of Hopkins.
• -come to hand: to be found without one‘s
having to make a special search.
36. A bent figure with a gray double-breasted suit
flapping loosely on him:
• -double-breasted suit: a suit with a double row of
buttons
• -flapping: moving slowly up and down or backwards
and forwards
• This shows that Hopkins was very thin and the suit
was loose on him.
• 37. He‘s having the time of his life.
• He‘s having a rare experience of pleasure in his life;
he‘s having the best time of his life.
• The time of one‘s life: (colloq.) an experience of
great pleasure for one
38. Churchill‘s like a boy going on his 1st date:
• Churchill was very anxious to meet Roosevelt.
The anxiety was similar to that one had when
one was going to meet a girl friend for the 1st
time. Churchill‘s mood (state of mind) was
that of a boy going on his first date with a girl.
• 39. Well, it‘s quite a historic moment at that.
• -at that (give the reason)
• (colloq.) all things considered
• This is adverbial phrase having different meanings:
• Our footballers were off form, but we won the game
at that (anyway).
• I like the style but I don‘t care much for the color.
Well, let it go at that (as it is).
• This color TV is poor in quality, and very expensive
at that (in addition).
• 40. scrounge more in London: had to get more
shirts from friends in London
• to get (sth.) without work or payment or by
persuading others
• he is always scrounging off his friends.
• Can I scrounge a cigarette off you?
• 41. Will they hold?
• Will they be able to fight on? Will they be
able to fight against German?
• 42. a stack of papers in his hand, and pursed
his mouth
• -a stack of papers/ dishes/ coins: a pile of
• -purse: to bring (esp. the lips) together in little
folds
• She pursed (up) her lips with disgust.
• Then Hopkins gives his opinion.
• 43. The Russians will hold. But it‘ll be a near thing.
• -a near thing: a narrow escape; sth. achieved only by a narrow
margin
• The Russians will be able to fight on but there‘s a very small
margin between success and failure. They will barely mange
to carry on the fight.
• Suppose you‘ve a friend who has travelled here to visit you.
When you meet him and ask about his journey, whether he
got his train on time. Your friend say ―It‘s a near thing.‖ It
means he almost missed the train..
• If a man was almost run over by a car, he said ―Terrible, it‘s a
near thing.‖
• We can use ―It‘s a near thing‖ to describe a race, match, etc.
• We have at least four phrases expressing the
same meaning: a narrow escape, a narrow
squeak, a close shave, a narrow margin.
• He had a narrow escape from being run over
by a bus this morning.
• We won the game, but it was a narrow squeak.
• What a near thing that was! The enemies
nearly got me.
• The machine missed me, but it was a close
shave.
• 44. Archangel: city in USSR
• Here ―you‖ refers to any one.
• 45. swamp: (an area of ) land which always full of or
covered with water, marsh
• 46. from horizon to horizon:
• -horizon: the limit of one‘s view across the surface of
the earth, where the sky seems to meet the earth or
sea
• 47. Hitler‘s bitten off a big bite this time:
• This time Hitler has attacked a country too big for
him to conquer or to put it idiomatically, he has
bitten off more than he can chew. He has taken more
than he can manage. (a comparison). Russian is
difficult for Germans to control in comparison with
other countries such as Poland.
• 48. He was struggling with the clasps on his
suitcase and Pug gave him a hand.
• He was trying hard to lock his suitcase and
Pug helped him.
• 49. the stern rose high on a swell, then
dropped away from under him:
• -stern: the back end of a ship /c.f. brow
• -swell: slow rise and fall of the sea‘s surface
with large but unbroken waves
• A wave raised the tail of the barge high and
when the wave subsided, the tail of the barge
dropped down suddenly.
• Was Hopkins a good sailor?
• How do you know?
• 50. coxswain: a petty officer or other person in
charge of a ship‘s boat and acting as a
steersman
• 51. Oops-a-daisy: It‘s a consolatory phrase
used by an adult when he pick up a child who
has fallen over. Here it means ―Oh, my dear
sir, stand up, please.‖
• 52. Hopkins staggered inside, settling with a
sigh on the cushions: Hopkins walked
unsteadily inside and was greatly relieved
when he sat down on the seat.
• 53. flop: to move or fall heavily or awkwardly
• cf. flap
• 54. that nearly ended my mission right there:
• When he boarded the plane, he fell. If he were
seriously hurt, he could not have gone on to Moscow
and that would have been the end of his mission.
• 55. at the flawlessly appointed barge
• -appointed; furnished and arranged barge
• The perfectly arranged barge
• 56. Well, well, America! Peace-time!
• Make a comparison. Hopkins had been with
Churchill in the war, he almost forgot peace.
• 57. in War Plans: work in that area
• 58. you might bear in mind what our friends
will be after:
• You‘d better make a mental note of what the
British will be trying to get.
• 59. Hopkins held out one wasted hand and
ticked off points on skeletal fingers.
• Hopkins held out one of his weak and feeble
hands and used his thin bony (stretched out)
fingers to count the things the British want to
have .
• 60. press for: to urge or request earnestly or
persistently
• They‘ll persistently urge us to declare war on
Germany.
• 61. it softens the ground for the second demand.
• It will make it difficult for the Americans to reject
their second demand.
• -soften: to weaken, to become soft, less severe
• We have found a way to soften the water here.
• They bombarded the town for hours to soften the
enemy‘s position.
• Only you can soften his attitude.
• Adverse developments have softened the price of
products.
• The market softened because of oversupply.
• 62. the real reason Winston Churchill has crossed the
ocean (the Atlantic ocean)
• The real reason Churchill has come to meet
Roosevelt here.
• What‘s the purpose for the meeting?
• Churchill wants America to give a warning to Japan
that any move against the British in Asia means war
with America.
• 63. Their empire is mighty rickety at this point.
• Their empire is very weak in that area (in Asia). The
British do not have the naval strength or the
necessary manpower to defend its colonies in Asia.
• 64. to shore up: to add support to (sth.) where
weakness is shown; make (sth.) stronger
where support is needed.
• Go and find sth. To shore up the wall.
• They shored up the damaged fence this
morning.
• They‘ve taken some measures to shore up the
flagging/weakening economies.
• The peasants hope the government polices
will shore up farm prices.
• 65. What‘s the 3rd thing Britain wants?
• They want big war supplies.
• 66. If Hitler pokes down there…strangles:
• If Hitler strikes there
• -poke: prod
• (sl.) making trouble down there in the Middle East
• -strangle: suffocate, choke, stifle, smother, squeeze,
constrict
• strangle: to kill by pressing on the throat with hands ,
a rope etc. to stop breathing
• He strangled his victim with a nylon stocking.
• The government policies are slowly strangling the
economy.
• 67. They‘ll also try, subtly but hard… they
come ahead of Russia.
• The last point, the most important is try for an
understanding that in getting American aid
they come ahead of Russia.
• The British will try for an understanding / to
reach an agreement.
• They‘ll also try hard, though not obviously, to
reach an agreement that having American aid
they become stronger than Russia.
• 68. to bomb the hell out of Germany
• -to bomb Germany heavily, bomb a lot so that Hitler
has finished
• 69. build up for the final assault: strengthen the
military forces
• to build up has several meanings:
• He dissipated all the money his father had built up
for life (accumulate gradually).
• He has built up a flourishing business (establish and
develop).
• Promote physical culture and build up the people‘s
health (strengthen or to increase).
• She has built up a good reputation in her small
factory( set up or establish).
• The singer has been built up into a great success.
(praise)
• 70. On the problem of aid to Russia, did Churchill
and Roosevelt see eye to eye? In what way did their
opinions differ?
• 71. The President isn‘t thinking that way.
• The implication is the President got a different idea.
• 72. The fight over there is of inconceivable
magnitude.
• The fight in Russia is unbelievably big.
• 73. The Russians have taken a shellacking so far.
• -shellacking: a severe defeat
• to shellack: to defeat decisively; to thrash soundly
• The Russians have suffered decisive defeat so far.
• 74. That‘s the war now.
• That‘s my analysis of the war.
• 75. Then this conference is almost pointless.
• Then there isn‘t much sense in holding this
conference.
• 76. That‘s achievement enough for now.
• The holding of the conference itself is a great
achievement at present.
• 77. Hopkins gave Victor Henry a sad smile:
Why?
• Hopkins meant that this was all the United
States could do at present, that the United
States could only go thus far at present and he
was sorry about that.
• 78. He pulled himself to his feet in the rocking
boat.
• He managed to stand up in the rocking boat.
• 79. this is the changing of the guard.
• The phrase, the changing of the guard comes
from the changing of the guard outside
Buckingham Palace. The Queen‘s guard is
changed every morning at 11:30 and the
ceremony lasts for about half an hour. The
new guard enters the palace courtyard at
exactly 11:30. The band then starts to play the
tune of the regiment‘s slow march, and the
new guard advances slowly towards the old
guard.
• The captain of the old guard hands the key of
Buckingham Palace, and also St. Jame‘s
Palace, to the captain of the new guard. The
new sentries are then marched off to relieve
the old sentries. The old sentries get down
from their horses, and the new ones take up
their posts. While this is happening, the band
plays regimental music, and perhaps also
some tunes from the latest show. After the
guard has been changed, the old guard leaves
the courtyard and marches away.
• Here Hopkins was hinting that a transfer of
power from London to Washington was taking
place. Britain was no longer the Number One
power of the ―free democracies.‖ The United
States was taking over this position.
• Note the characterization of Hopkins, infml
and familiar: ―Hello there, Pug,‖ couldn‘t be
bothered about personal things, thin, bent, his
suit flapping loosely on him, view on aid to
Russia, etc.
3. Churchill calls
• 80. which saw the dramatic handshake…gangway:
• - saw: witnessed, personification
• 81. Why is the dramatic handshake?
• It was dramatic because this was the first time the
two leaders met each other. Roosevelt very tall,
physically strong, but paralysed while Churchill was
fat and short. The two great leaders diminished each
other. The conference itself, under the circumstances,
was dramatic enough. The critical time: the war will
go the way or that way.
• 82. They prolonged…smiling words:
• The two leaders made their handshake last
longer than usual to give photographers time
to take pictures. At the same time they smiled
and greeted each other.
• - smiling words: transferred epithet
• 83. In an odd way… each other.
• When they met face to face, the two leaders
made each other less imposing in stature or in
importance.
• -diminish: making or becoming perceptibly
smaller by removal. The word stresses the
idea of removing part of sth. so that there is a
manifest and sometimes progressive lessening,
but not to the point of total disappearance. The
word may suggest each other the loss of sth.
valuable or a lessening of that which is
undesirable.
• His illness diminished his strength.
• As people approach old age their energy may
diminish.
• As his confidence in his work increased, his
anxieties about it diminished.
• 84. Roosevelt stood a full head taller.
• Pay attention to this short sentence in which there are
two grammatical points. 1) This is an excellent
example of the so-called ―double-predicate‖ structure.
The function played by the verb ―stood‖; the
sentence corresponds to ―Roosevelt stood and was a
full head taller than Churchill.‖ So ―stood‖ here also
has a function of a linking verb, hence called
―double predicate.‖
• The sun rose red from the east.
• She left the village a girl and returned a mother of
three children.
• -a full head: here is used as a noun adverbial
which is gaining ground in modern English
• He is world famous.
• The miracle chip is easy to mass produce.
• The whole process of experiment is computer
controlled.
• In the above 3 sentences ―world, mass,
computer‖ are regarded as noun adverbial.
• 85. he was pathetically braced on lifeless leg
frames:
• -pathetically: sadly, pitifully, causing a feeling
of sorrow
• cf. sympathetic: showing sympathy
• She was sympathetic when my father died.
• If you describe sb. or sth. as pathetic, you
mean that they are sad and weak or helpless,
and that they make you feel pity and sadness.
• The kitten was so tiny and pathetic.
• He looked pathetically defenseless.
• -brace: to equip or support with devices for
supporting a weak or deformed part of the
body
• -frame: basic or skeletal structure around
which a thing is built and that gives the thing
its shape
• He managed to stand only with the help of the
leg frames. This was a pitiful sight.
• 86. his full trousers drooped and flapping
• -full: wide
• His wide trousers hung downward and were
too big for his thin legs.
• 87. a bent Pickwick in blue uniform: Pickwick is the
central character in the novel the Pickwick papers by
the world famous writer Charles Dickens. In this
novel Pickwick is described as a bent, stout, short
benevolent old gentleman. Pickwick is used here as
antonomasia, the use of a proper name to designate a
member of a class. It means like Pickwick in navy
uniform.
• Antonomasia[代称]: the term for some common
figurative uses of names.
• the use of a proper name to designate a member of a
class (as a Solomon for a wise ruler, Judas for a
traitor). He is our Gorky (for a famous writer).
• 88. looked up at him with majestic good
humor, much old, more dignified, more
assured /confident.
• 89. a trace of deference
• -deference: fml. regard for the wishes,
opinions, etc. of another person, because of
respect or love, or because of the other
person‘s higher position or greater power [顺
从,听从,遵从,敬意]
• giving way to the wishes, accepting the
opinions or judgments of another or others;
yielding in opinion, judgment, wishes;
courteous regard or respect.
• We treated her advice with due deference.
• They were married in church out of/ in deference to
their parents‘ wishes.
• -Yet there was… Prime Minister.
• You could sense a trace of deference about the Prime
Minister. i.e. the Prime Minister was either ready to
yield to the wishes and opinions of the President, or
was somehow respectful of him. The latter sense is
the more likely one.
• 90. by a shade of a shade: very slight difference or
variation
• cf. There‘s a shade of difference between the two; a
new shade of meaning, etc.
• Churchill and Roosevelt were both Number One men,
but somehow Roosevelt looked just a little more of a
Number One man.
• 91. The erect… to Pug: Frontpage refers to the
pictures that appeared on the front-pages of
newspapers; the usual image of the President people
had. On the frontpage of magazine or newspapers
President Roosevelt might be seen standing upright,
but in real life he was a cripple. Pug was more
familiar with the crippled President than the one on
the front-pages standing upright.
• 92. hobbling a step or two…chair.
• - hobble: to walk or move awkwardly or with
difficulty; to limp
• Roosevelt was glad that the strain and discomfort of
standing came to an end and he could sit down.
Hence ―sinking with relief.‖
• 93. got right to business: got down right away
to business
• 94. conferred: talked together
• 95. Victor Henry… their advisers: There were
meetings going on at three different levels:
• 1) the Summit 2) Chiefs of staff 3) planners
• Victor Henry was with the third.
• -Burne-Wilke: representative of the British
Chief of staff, Pug Henry‘s counterpart
• 96. Familiar problems…fouled communications
• -the British services: the British service department
of public work
• -unreal plans: plans put forward not on a realistic
basis
• -unfilled contracts: contacts that failed to be carried
out
• -jumbled priorities: many different items all listed as
top priority
• -jumble: mixed in a confused, disorderly heap
• -fouled communications: coded messages wrongly
deciphered (decoded or translated); message mislaid
or not clearly stated
• 97. One cardinal point the planners hammered out
first.
• -cardinal: chief, principal, of main importance
• -hammer out: to develop or work out by careful
thought or repeated effort or serious discussion
• 98. to replace U-boat sinkings:
• Sinkings refer to the ships which had been sunk by
the Axils.
• -U-boat: the German undersea boat, or submarine.
• During the Second World War the term was used to
describe all submarines Italian, Japanese and German
operating against the allied forces, while those of the
allies were always called submarines.
• Here it is also a grammatical point, i.e. the use of
noun attribute, which is one of the trends of the
development of the modern English language. Noun
attribute may be used instead of all the other forms of
attribute.
• adj. a luxurious hotel—a luxury hotel
a prestigious university—a prestige university
• a participle: a launching pad—a launch pad
• apostrophe s‘ readers‘ interest—reader interest
• a post-position attribute: trade with China—China
trade
• Sinkings by U-boat—U-boat sinkings
• an attributive clause: my brother who is a doctor –my
doctor brother
• 99. No war… the ocean
• War material had to be shipped to England if they
were to be used in the fight against Hitler. This could
be done only if they had enough ships and the
Atlantic Ocean was made safe for the Allies. The
sentence indicates the importance of building new
ships to replace those being sunk in great numbers,
because at that time the Allies still could not
successfully defend their ships against U-boats. Later,
new technology broke the blockade.
• -material: weapons, equipment, supplies of armed
forces (distinguished from personnel)
• cf. material: of matter; of substance,
• e.g. raw materials, dress materials (distinguished
from spiritual)
• 100. This plain truth…every projection.
• As soon as the two parties agreed that priority
should be given to the building of ships, all
other requests and programs would have to be
crossed out.
• -once: not an adverb be a conjunction here,
meaning as soon as; if ever, wherever
• -projection: project put forward/ on the basis
of physical science
• 101. valves: (sorts of ) mechanical device for
controlling the flow of air, liquid, or gas into
or through a tube, pipe etc. by opening or
closing a passage
• 102. This simple yardstick… and tools.
• This simple yardstick rapidly revealed what were
lacking in the US war industry at the time and
showed the urgent need for building new steel mills
and plants.
• -arsenal of democracy: referring to the United States,
first used by F D. Roosevelt in this Fireside Chat
broadcast on 29 December, 1940.
• Steel, aluminum, rubber… all the thousand things of
war were urgently needed, but the US was found to
be poor and weak in steel-making capacity and plants
to make steel into machines and tools of war.
• -dictate: lay down authoritatively (things to be down)
• 103. Through all… thousand rifles.
• -hypothetical plans: suppositional plans,
tentatively put forward
• hypothetical, hypothesis, hypocrisy, hypocrite,
hypocritical
• -pathetic: causing a feeling of pity or sorrow
• Through all the talk of suppositional plans,
one modest and almost pitiable request kept
cropping up, that is an immediate need for a
hundred fifty thousand rifles.
• 104. If Russia collapsed… from the air.
• Crete-like invasion: Crete, Greek island in
East Mediterranean Sea, captured by German
airborne forces May 20-30, 1941, first
successful use of airborne forces in a major
campaigns in W. W. II.
• A large-scale airborne attack was successfully
launched by the Germans on this eastern
Mediterranean Island, May 1941, the 1st of its
kind in history.
• -wrap up: to bring to a successful end; to
complete or finish; to conclude successfully.
• Pay attention the following meanings of this
multi-word verb:
• It‘s getting cold, and the mother wrapped her
child up well.
• She wrapped up her meaning in obscure
language.
• Now that the agreement is wrapped up, all we
have to do is to wait for the 1st order.
• The technician is deeply wrapped up in
reforming.
• Wrap up! Don‘t say anything.
• 105. The stupendous material… rifles now.
• - stupendous adj. tremendous, amazing (in
size, degree)
• Compared with the huge figures for future
joint British-U.S. invasion of North Africa or
the French coast, the present request of a
hundred fifty thousand rifles immediately was
sadly small.
• -joint: concerted, coordinated, cooperated
4. Roosevelt hobbles across
• 106. boats from … Prince of Wales.
• -boats… came grouping around the Prince of
Wales.
• -cluster around:
• Roses clustering round the window
• The children clustered around their teacher.
• The village clusters round the church.
• 108. in sunlight that seemed almost blinding
• The sun shone so brightly that one could
hardly see. The sunlight was most dazzling.
• 109. in sunlight… the forests of larch and fir
glowed a rich green
• -glow: to show brilliant, conspicuous colors
• -rich: deep, intense, vivid colors
• The forest showed a brilliant, deep green in
the sunshine.
• 110. an American destroyer slowly nosed
its… thrown across.
• -nose: to make or push (a way, etc.) with the
front forward
• It‘s interesting to see the ship nosing her way
through the river.
• Nose also is used to form multi-word verbs.
• You seem to be fond of nosing about for
grapevine news.
• (nose about=search for. Am. E.)
• Don‘t nose into our affairs.
• (nose into=pry into)
• He has nosed out the actual situation.
• (nose out=discover)
• In text ―nose‖ is used symbolically, meaning
to stretch out.
• -bridge: a platform above the main deck of a
ship, from which it is controlled, as by the
commanding officer
• An American destroyer slowly moved parallel
with the battleship so that its bridge was side
by side with the main deck of the battleship.
• 111. lurched out on the gangplank… then the
other.
• Staggered out onto the movable platform
bridging the two ships and with difficulty
moved one leg forward jerkingly, then the
other.
• -gangplank: a narrow, movable platform or ramp
forming a bridge by which to board or leave a ship.
• -hitch: to move, pull or shift with jerks; pull suddenly
• Roosevelt‘s legs could not function so he had to rely
on the movement of the hip to hitch his leg forward.
• 112. both boats were moving on long swells.
• Both boats were tossed slightly up and down by
waves that moved steadily without breaking.
• 113. tottered and swayed
• To move in an unsteady way from side to side as if
about to fall
• 114. crowding the destroyer bridge
• coming together to; clustering to
• 115. Pug observed… this crippled walk.
• -shoot: to take a picture with a camera
• 116. Churchill… offered his hand: Churchill
held out his hand to help.
• 117. burst forth with: struck up; played
• 118. His face stiff with strain: It was with
great effort that he stood at attention, hence a
stiff face.
• 119. chaplain: a. priest or clergyman, esp. in the navy,
army or air force
• 120. crimson vestments: red garment esp. one worn
by a priest in church; red ceremonial robe
• 121. preserve us from the dangers of the sea.
• Protect us so that we would not get drowned,/sunk
• 122. that we may be a security for… occasions:
• This is biblical English, meaning so that we may give
protection to those who sail upon the sea on lawful
business.
• 123. the blessings of the land: the special favors of
the land (referring to favourable climate, fertile soil,
rich products etc. )
• 124. ranks: lines, rows
• 125. sneaked cameras from their blouses.
• -blouses: the coat or jacket of a service uniform or
dress uniform of the sailors; with square collar
• We sneak into the classroom.
• -sneak sth. out of some place
• took out secretly cameras from their jackets (jumpers)
• 126. cameras appeared by the dozens:
• -by: expressing measure or extent
• Books coming in by the hundreds
• What was the atmosphere? Good feeling of it.
• 127. swarmed into a laughing, cheering ring round
the two men.
• More and more sailors came and they surrounded the
two men, laughing, cheering.
• - ―a laughing, cheering ring‖ is a transferred epithet
• 128. Pug Henry,… felt a touch on his elbow
• -unwonted disorder: unusual confusion
• -with mixed feelings of amusement and outrage:
amusement because the two leaders themselves
smiled and took it in good humour, and the sailors
were cheering and laughing; outrage because such a
rush and disorder, in his view, should not be
permitted on a warship
• -a touch on his elbow
• -a tap on the shoulder
• -a slap in the face
• -a blow on the head
• 129. A word with you? May I have a word
with you?
• May I speak to you?
5. A request from the British
• 130. a library den: (colloq.) a small secluded room
for study or relaxation
• Father‘s in his den now. (his quiet, private and
undisturbed room)
• ―Den‖ first and foremost refers to an animal‘s cave,
or hidden lying place. (a den of wolves). Then it is
used to mean a secret resort for some bad people . A
den of thieves
• In colloq. English, it is also used to mean a small
easy, comfortable room for study. Here it refers to
Burne Wilke‘s cabin looking very much like a small
secluded room for study in the library.
131. ―I say, Henry‖
• Note, Burne-Wilke did not say ―Pug‖ nor Victor.
Why not Mr. Henry?
By Henry, it indicates that they are not strangers.
They‘re not so intimate that Pug is called nor too fml
called as Mr. Henry.
• Study the following forms of address for a man
called Robert Wilson:
• Fml. Mr. Robert Wilson
• Less fml but still quite fml. Mr. Wilson
• Acceptable (between. Equals) Wilson
• His friends: Robert
• His wife: Robert dear.
• (When a child) Bob, Bertie, Bobby, etc.
• I say: 1) to attract the attention of the person
addressed
• I say, Jack, bring me a book of stamps if you
are going to the post office, will you, please?
• 2) to express surprise
• I say! It‘s nearly six o‘clock.
• 3) to combine surprise and warning
• I say! There‘s someone coming.
• 132. position: view/ attitude towards drinking
on board?
• 133. I have a fair bottle of sherry here: I have
nearly a full bottle of sherry here.
• -sherry: yellow or brown wine of southern
Spain, south Africa, Cyprus, England
• 134. I‘m for it: I‘m in favor of drinking on
board
• -be for:
• Members of the committee split on the
resolution: five for, four against, and five
abstention.
• 135. You‘re dry as a bone in your service,
aren‘t you?
• Wines and spirits are forbidden in your Navy
or You are not allowed to drink on board, are
you?
• You can put on your socks now; they are as
dry as a bone (perfectly dry).
• He is as dry as stick. (rather thirsty)
• His lecture is as dry as dust (rather boring)
• 136. …served us an excellent wine: Wine is
an uncountable noun, but here an indefinite
article is used to indicate a particular kind of
wine.
• 137. The President… his desires: The
President is the man who lays down all Navy
regulations (as Commander-in-chief of all U.S.
armed forces) and he can adapt them as he
wishes. That is, if the President wishes to
serve wine on board ship, then it‘s all right for
him to do so, rules and regulations against it
not withstanding.
• -tailor: to alter, adapt for a particular end
• 137. jolly: old-fashioned British upper-class word
meaning ―very‖
• 138. they both sipped wine
• -sip: to drink, taking a very small quantity at a time
• cf. gulp: swallow quickly
• 139.air commodore: a rank in the Royal Air Force
equivalent to that of Brigadier in the American Army
• -commodore: a naval rank [海军准将]
• Air commodore: a rank in the Royal Air Force
equivalent to that of Brigadier in the American Army.
• 140. We ran into a whole gale.
• We entered an area where there was a strong
wind.
• wind: breeze, gale, storm, whirlwind, tornado
/waterspout, hurricane Typhoon, cyclone
• 141. our destroyers couldn‘t maintain speed.
• The destroyers could not keep up their original
speed because of the gale.
• 142. zigzagged on alone: make wide diversion
from side to side so as to avoid German
submarines.
• 143. I was appalled to hear about it:
• Appall suggests terror or (now more
commonly) dismay at a shocking but
apparently unalterable situation.
• hear sth.
• hear about
• hear of
• hear from
• 144. Rather sporting of the British Prime
Minister… on the open sea:
• -sporting: offering the kind of fair risk that is
usual in a game
• willing to take a risk of losing
• I take off my hat to your sporting conduct.
• It‘s very sporting of you to laugh at the trick
we played on you.
• It‘s rather risky or daring of Churchill to give
the German soldiers a good chance to attack
him on the high seas.
• It was most dangerous for Churchill to run such a
risk yet Burne-Wilke tried to show that the Prime
Minister took the whole ting in good cheer.
• Here Burne-Wilke employed a rhetorical device—
periphrasis: (runabout way of speaking) the use of
long words or phrases, or of unclear expressions,
when short simple ones, are all that is needed. [正式]
迂说法,迂回曲折的话
• What do you think of NATO‘s bombing?
• Periphrasis: I don‘t think it‘s right.
• To the point: It‘s wrong to bomb the Embassy.
• -fair: without any hadicap
• 145. Three thousand… submarine fleet.
• The ship went three thousand miles without air cover
or surface escort and went straight through the entire
submarine fleet (referring to U-boats).
• It was rather sporting of Churchill to have come three
thousand miles.
• -air cover: force of aircraft protecting a land or sea
operation
• 146. You had your good angels… I can say:
• The only reason I can offer is that some sort of
supernatural force was helping you.
• You‘re lucky not to be hit.
• 147. But it might be prudent…what?
• -what? At the end, means Don‘t you think so?
• What do you think of it?
• We would have to be careful not to make
excessive use of those good angels, otherwise
they would refuse to protect us.
• It might be better for us not to make those
good angels feel too tired, otherwise they
might get angry and desert us.
• Please try to master the following 4 colloquial
expressions with ―what‖ as the key word:
• -what? Come tomorrow, what?
• -or what: Shall we go or what?
• I‘ve not seen her recently—I don‘t know whether
she‘s moved away, whether I‘ve upset her, or what.
• -so what:
• He can have his suspicions if he wants—so what?
We don‘t care.
• -you what:
• A: A Mr. Wang is waiting for you.
• B: You what?
• 148. on battle alert: on the lookout and ready to
attack
• 149. We shall have to run the gamut.
• -gamut: (whole series of notes in modern music);
whole range of musical notes ; complete extent or
scope of anything
• Seeing this, he ran the gamut of emotion.
• He‘s run the gamut of human experience.
• A writer wants to experience the whole gamut of
feeling from greatest joy to deepest misery.
• We shall have to face all the U-boat risks that will be
there on our way back.
• We shall have to be prepared to fight all the way
back home.
• 150. We‘re stretched thin for escorts:
• We lack destroyers for escorts on our return
journey.
• We have a very weak, insufficient escort force;
• We are in dire need of escorts as a result of
wide deployment.
• There are too many claims on the limited
naval force so we are badly in need of
destroyers for escorts.
• E.g. The U.S. navy is stretched thin.
• Budgetary restrictions means we are stretched
mighty thin.
• 151. We have rounded up four destroyers.
• We have collected four destroyers.
• 152. Admiral Pound would be happier with
six.
• What‘s he saying here? What is the implied
meaning?
• We could do with two more destroyers on the
escort force on our return journey. (This
surely is a very tactful form of putting forward
a request. Note the use of would be happier,
meaning if you would kindly oblige)
• 153. You understand… downright annoyed:
• ―Us‖ refers to the British side. Lord Burne-Wilke
was asking for two more destroyers here, with or
without the knowledge and the approval of Churchill
but most likely without. It was a request from the
British to the Americans through Pug, but Lord
Burne-Wilke did not want to make it a formal and
official one, just to leave some leeway [留有余地] in
case it be rejected, for dignity and face-saving of the
Empire, and its representative Winston Churchill.
Also, since the U.S. was not yet at war, there were
too many things involved if U.S. ships actually took
part in a military action.
• -downright: thoroughly, positively
• 154. He is hoping we‘ll meet the Tirpite and
get into a running gun fight.
• -Tirpite: a 42,500-ton German battleship,
sister ship of the Bismarck. From Jan. 1942 to
Nov. 1944 she served in Norwegian waters,
where she constituted a permanent threat to
the British convoys to North Russia. It was
finally sunk on 12 Nov. 1944.
• -get into a running gun fight
• -running: continuous
• A running battle
• A running commentary
• 155. let me start on this now, sir.
• Let me go and talk to Admiral King now.
• -start to do; start sth.
• start doing
• start on sth.=start dealing with it
• She put the forks in a neat pile and started on the
knives.
• 156. Thanks awfully: British upper class English
• 157. afterdeck
• in the back part; on the after deck
• in the back part of the deck
• 158. glum chiefs of staff
• -glum adj. sad; in low spirits, esp. because of disappointment
• You look very glum. –I‘ve just lost my money.
• 159. Hopkins, squinting out at the sunny water,
wore a pained expression
• -squint: look with half closed eyes
• -pained: distressed; showing hurt feelings or resentment
• cf. painful
• The pained expression is a distressed expression.
• The painful expression is an expression caused by pain or
suffering.
• -Hopkins considered the shouldering aside of the sailors a
breach/ break of etiquette. Hence a pained expression.
• 160. Admiral King, who stood woodenly apart.
And look at King‘s reactions. Why didn‘t he speak to Pug?
To show his character that he‘s not very friendly to people.
He perhaps wanted to show his higher position.
Pug Henry, knowing the man well enough, reported to
him in the fewest words possible. The Admiral nodded
twice and then strolled away without a word. He
strolled away just to show Pug had been summarily
dismissed. These details indicate the gesture, the
language, the presence of mind of a senior officer, very
mindful of his rank and very aloof, and treating a matter
of great delicacy with the utmost calmness.
The lines along King‘s lean jaws deepened. This shows
King realized how critical the situation was.
-a convincing one: gesture that Pug was dismissed.
• 161. ―much wining and dining‖ means good
entertainment
• to entertain lavishly with food, drink, etc.
• 162. take the floor: to speak either in a debate
or on some occasion, make the speech or
deliver a lecture
• 163. a rolling rich word picture of
• ―word‖ modifies ―picture,‖ meaning a picture
described in words, a vivid description of …
uttered in vibratory organlike tones. This is a
good description of Churchill‘s public-
speaking style.
• 164. subversion… on Europe
• destroy, overthrow
• The author here compares Nazi Germany to a ferocious
animal, gripping Europe in its claws. A metaphor
• 165. close a ring: surround, form an encirclement
• 166. inexorably: relentlessly; unyieldingly; without pity
• 167. full-fledged
• -fledged, adj. (of birds) with fully grown wing feathers, able
to fly
• in the full sense of the word ―ally,‖ fully mobilized and armed,
with the whole nation put on a war footing
/condition,/position/ the state of the army,
• Committed and contributing to the war effort as an ally should
• 168. No big… in the west:
• -invasion may be used in good and bad sense. In bad
sense it means aggression. In good sense it means
advance, attack. In text it means attack in a large
scale. Invasion here means entering a country with
armed forces in order to attack.
• No introduction of big armed forces or no long war
on land would be needed.
• Churchill put it this way to console his American
counter-part. He knew that in the United States
people feared that if the U.S. joined the war large
numbers of soldiers would have to be sent to fight in
Europe. Hence his promise that there would be no
big land campaign.
• 169. Landing of … mass uprisings
• -armoured column装甲纵队
• The landing of a few tank or motorized units
in the European countries occupied by Nazi
Germany would result in large scale uprisings
of the people in these countries.
• 170. Hitler‘s black empire would … flame.
• Hitler is completely destroyed.
• Hitler‘s evil empire would be completely
destroyed.
• Rubble, blood and flame are used
metaphorically.
• 170. Franklin Roosevelt… smiling attention
• -bright-eyed, so excited, so inspired that his
eyes were shining
• -bright-eyed smiling attention : transferred
epithet
• 171. heartily and happily
• -heartily is enthusiastically or warmly happily;
while happily is in manner of feeling pleasure
and contentment
• Applauding heartily
• Impressed very much
• 172. saying nothing: why saying nothing?
• America didn‘t want to take part in the war.
• 173. ―Task Unit… has been formed‖: The U.S. side
has agreed to send two destroyers to escort the Prince
of Wales to Iceland, designated in code as Task Unit
26.3.1. Task Unit 26 point 3 point 1, the name for a
group of ships.
• Iceland island between North Atlantic and Arctic
Oceans, became an independent republic in June,
1944; placed under British and American military
occupation in W. W. II. British forces landed on May
10, 1940, American marines on July 7, 1941.
• 173. You‘ll have no written orders: Why?
• This is because a written order authorizing
two American destroyers as escorts for a
British battleship would, if discovered by the
Germans, be regarded as an act of
belligerency. American public opinion,
prevailingly isolationist, must also be
considered. In fact, of course the United States
had already decided to convoy all ships to
Iceland, and Iceland itself would soon be
occupied by U.S. marines.
• 174. In confidence: privately; secretly
• 175. ensign: a naval rank in the US and some
other navies equivalent to that of midshipman
or sub-lieutenant 海军少尉
• 176. How are you at languages?
• How did you do in language study?
• Are you good at language?
• How is your command of foreign language?
• ―at‖ as a preposition may be used to denote a variety
of things. Structure ―to be at sth.‖ is used here in the
sense ―to be engaged in sth.‖
• In the classroom there are 3 students at work on
chemistry.
• He is an expert at chess.
• This kind of use has given rise to colloquial
expressions. It is used in the sense of ―doing.‖
• You must go and see what those long-haired fellows
are at?
• She is at it again.
• 177. It‘s a long time since I tried a new one.
• 我曾学习过一种语言，不过， 那已经是很就以前
的事情了.
• 我们不在西安一起工作已经3年了.
• It‘s 3 years since we worked together in Xi‘an.
• 178. a military supply mission (delegation)
• -mission: a group of people sent abroad for a special
reason esp. to act for their country.
• The British trade mission has just reached Moscow.
• 179. if Russian‘s still in the war by then, that is .
• This is said as an additional point, an after thought.
• 180. has brought up your name.
• mentioned your name
• I hope you won‘t mind my bringing up the
subject of money again.
• At the meeting we brought up many problems
and discussed them one by one.
• The child is very well brought up.
• They had been brought up to go to church.
• She keeps bringing up everything she ate.
• Do you bring up anything when you cough?
(spit)
181. by your expertise on landing craft and so forth.
• -expertise: expert knowledge and skill
• jobs which require a great deal of managerial
expertise
• cf. expert: a person who is very skilled at doing sth.
And knows a lot about it.
• She is an expert in beautiful costumes.
• Alice is an expert at fancy skating.
• He is an expert in economics. /mathematics
• on foreign affairs.
• in /at/ on teaching small children
• When we express expert in some respect, we always
use ―in‖ or ―at‖, when we refer to a conclusion or an
opinion of evaluation, we use ―on‖
• His business expertise will be of great help to us.
• She displayed considerable expertise in bringing the
horse under control.
• His expertise saved the business from failing.
• 182. you claim a ―poor- to fair‖ knowledge of
Russian.
• ―poor to fair‖ knowledge of Russian, ranging from
poor to fairly good; neither too bad nor too good,
average; passable 中下
• Excellent 5 优
• Good 4 良
• Fair 3 中
• Poor (failure) 2 差
• These are the five grades of registering a student‘s
marks.
• 183. chum: close friends (among boys), roommates.
• Pug had as his boyhood buddies a few boys from
Russian immigrant families, and learned some
Russian from them.
• 184. Sonoma: county in California
• 185. be detached from: be transferred from
• be dismissed; to fire, to sack, to take away from job
• That engineer is hoping to be detached to another
city.
• Mr. Smith, you are dismissed (fired)!
• In the text, you are (transferred,) taken away from
war plans (for some purposes).
• cf. detached duty
• separate duty
• 184. smattering: slight or superficial knowledge;
limited knowledge: a smattering of German
• 185. intelligence value: Here it means Pug‘s value in
the gathering of secret information for military
purposes
• 186. favoured him with a smile
• A smile from Admiral King was considered not only
a kind, friendly act, but a generous one.
• This sentence reveals that King is not an easy going
person.
• 187. extension of the draft 延长征兵法案
• 188. by one vote: with a majority of only one vote
• 189.Whew: whew or similar sounds roughly
breathed out are dismay, fatigue or surprise.
• Whew! That was a close shave!
• 190. No, nor the President…right now:
• Americans didn‘t want to go to war because life was
much too pleasant. The one-vote majority would
please neither Churchill nor Roosevelt.
• 191. it maybe,… it is.
• But that is the fact: The fact was passed in the House
of Representatives only by one vote, that is, among
Representative the numbers of pros and cons were
almost equal with the pros winning by only one vote.
But ―The Winds of War‖ were gathering over the
USA, so it looked as if America‘s delay in getting
mobilized might be suicidal/ pity was, this was how
things (popular sentiments) stood there.
6. U-boat sightings
• 196. U-boat sightings. Locations of the U-boats
• -sighting: n. a case of someone or sth. being sighted
• There have been several sightings of these rare birds/
of the escaped murderer in this area.
• 197. To brass… Argentia Bay:
• - ―To‖ here is used to mean ―to accompaniment of‖.
e.g. They danced to the music of the band.
• In our text, the sentence is inverted in order. It should
go like this: The Prince of Wales left Argentia Bay to
the accompaniment of brass band anthems and
booming gun salutes.
• -in a brisk breeze smelling of green hills and
gunpowder
• -brisk (breeze): 1) pleasantly cool and strong
• 2) quick and active: a brisk manner, a brisk walk,
brisk business
• In a cool, bracing breeze with the smell of green hills
and gunpowder.
• H. M.S. Prince of Wales left Argentia Bay to the
accompaniment of brass band anthems, booming gun
salutes and in a cool, bracing breeze with the smell of
green hills and gunpowder. The conference at which
serious war matters were discussed, was ended with
grand ceremonies and in a peaceful environment.
• 198. The great conference was over: The Roosevelt-
Churchill conference ended on August 12. At the
conclusion of their conference they issued the 8-point
Atlantic Charter committing both countries to certain
general principles in any peace settlement that might
come.
• 199. In the wardroom…bad sign.
• Mood of British officers on board the Prince of
Wales: There was a dismal atmosphere. They had
bad vague hopes, but no real confidence. The reason
nobody had disclose to them what aid and how much,
had been promised by the United States, and this was
taken by them as a bad omen. If generous help had
been promised, the news would have been made
known.
• -sense the subtle gloom hanging over the ship:
• be vaguely aware of a feeling of helplessness which
was difficult to perceive but which permeated the
place
• - in itself…as a bad sign: the fact itself made them
believe that it was a bad omen (gave them an
impression)
• -strike …(as)…
• His proposal strikes me as ridiculous.
• The thing that struck me most when I first came to
China was the numberless bikes in the street.
• The sentence means the undisclosure of the result of
the conference itself was a bad sign which caused a
deep worry to the battleship‘s officers.
200. Veterans of two combat years
• Britain had already been at war with the Germans for
two years.
• 201. …had a subdued dismal air despite the…
wardroom
• -dismal : gloomy
• A dismal song
• Dismal weather
• A dismal failure
• -grandeur: great beauty or power, often combined
with great size
• You can‘t help being impressed by the grandeur of
the scenery in the Alps.
• Although the battleship was big and
magnificent and the officers dining room was
richly and heavily furnished, there was a kind
of repressed miserable feeling (among the
officers).
• 201. the predicament… in their bones:
• -the predicament: refers to the difficult
situation
• -soaked (in their bones): to pass or penetrate
as a liquid does; permeate
• They were over conscious of their country‘s
plight.
• 202. they could not believe… only to return empty-
handed:
• - strained navy: the navy which is already hard
pressed; the navy which had suffered great losses.
• They could not believe that Churchill had risked the
best ship in their already inadequate, weak navy and
his own life for nothing.
• -only to do sth.: an adverbial phrase of result
meaning in the end.
• He went to the lake for a swim only to be drowned.
• She got up early this morning only to find her house
had been burgled.
• 203. That wasn‘t Winnie‘s style.
• That wasn‘t Churchill‘s way of doing things.
• Winnie: diminutive form of Churchill‘s 1st
name; pet name
• 204. the note (in their conversation):
• the quality (esp. of voice) indicating the nature
of sth.
• There was a note of self-satisfaction in his
speech.
• His voice held (carried) a menacing note.
• 205. Major-General Tillet: British officer
• 海军少将/陆战队少将
• 206. Red secrecy warnings blazed on the steel door
that Tillet opened.
• Take note of the difference between a secret warning
(wouldn‘t visible) and a secrecy warning (blazed).
Please compare the difference between a noun
attribute and an adjective in following pairs of
expressions:
• Riot police 防暴警察
• Riotous police 闹事的警察
• Economy measure 节约措施
• Economic measure 经济措施
• -secrecy and secret
• Secrecy is that can be seen clearly, telling people that
is a secret thing or place; secret is that can not be
seen, kept from the view of others.
• 207. Dressed in one- across one bulkhead:
• -portrait of Churchill: a short, stooped stout figure,
always puffing at his cigar, or gesturing with his
cigar, often in an old costume.
• -coverall (usu. pl.) a one piece, loose-fitting outer
garment with sleeves and legs, worn often over
regular clothing as to protect against dirt. Churchill
designed and wore his ―boiler-suit,‖ an extremely
outlandish (strange)-looking garment, during the war
and made it famous.
• -coverall: boiler-suit: overall
• 208. dispatches: a message sent by wire
• 209. There.
• It is stressed here and is an adverb with full
special meaning, not a meaningless symbol
like the ―there‖ in the ―there be‖ structure. It
refers to the development on the Russian front.
• 210. ―There is an awful unfolding picture.‖
• There in the Soviet Union things are going
badly for the Russians. (The developments on
the Russian front look quite gloomy.)
Churchill‘s view on the Russian front was
reflected in his June 21 speech.
• ―There‖ is stressed as the above.
• 211. two fresh bulge: indicate two new places
where Germans have attacked and pushed the
Russians back towards Moscow.
• -bulge: a swelling of a surface caused by
pressure from, within or below; a sudden
unusual increase in quantity, which does not
last
• 212. basing myself on very exact intelligence
• supporting myself, my view by very exact
intelligence/ information
• 213. Surely no government… surprised
• -surprise: to attack or capture suddenly and without
warning
• The Soviet Union was surprised by the Germans. She
could not find the least excuse not to have been ready
for the German surprise attack.
• The Soviet Union had little excuse to be surprised.
• Surely no government ever had less excuse to be
surprised than the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet Union could not find the least excuse not
to get well prepared against the likely coming of the
German surprise attack.
• Stalin had been forewarned by F.D Roosevelt and
Churchill and also by his own spies like Sorge. The
Russians should have been well-prepared against the
German blitz, still, they suffered a lot under the blitz,
so Churchill said that the Soviets had no excuse at all.
• Litotes (understatement) [缩小]
• -e.g. This is no small accomplishment. (It means this
is an accomplishment of considerable magnitude.)
• The German fleet was not an unworthy opponent. (It
means the German fleet was a formidable opponent).
• This is not at all unpleasant. (It means it is quite
pleasant).
• 214. ruddy, springy
• -ruddy: red; healthy looking
• -springy: elastic as if on springs, with plenty of
bounce in the legs.
• -e.g. to walk with a youthful springy step
• 215. Now his cheeks were ashy with red patches.
• -ashy: gray, covered with ashes
• Churchill was running a fever.
• 216. Don‘t we have a development here?
• So new U-boats have been detected here?
• There has been a new discovery of the concentration
of U-boats around this area?
• 217. Little black…blue pins:
• Black coffin-shaped markers, red pins, and
blue pins, are stuck here and there on the map
obviously to indicate the U-boats and the
conveys. A group of U-boats was scattered
along the planned route of the battleship the
Prince of Wales.
• -in a cluster close to the battleship‘s projected
course: A group of U-boats was scattered
along the planned route of the Prince of Wales.
• -the wide blue spaces: stand for the high seas.
• 218. sighted: caught sight of by the eye or by
some device; discovered.
• 219. So Admiral Pound advised me.
• I was told so by Admiral Pound
• -advise: inform, often used in business or
official communication
• We were advised of the dangers before we
began this work.
• We have advised her that we are coming.
• We write to advise you of the dispatch of the
goods on your order of yesterday‘s date.
• 220.-evading: avoiding
• The lion evaded the hunters.
• 221. Convoy H-67 is almost home, I see.
• A group of ships is reaching Britain, I see.
• 222. We will be pulling those pins tonight.
• Convoy H-67 will be home tonight. By then we will
take those red and blue pins off the chart since they
are no longer on the high sea.
• 223. We may have some sport for you yet.
• -sport: adventure. It refers to the encountering of U-
boats.
• You may be able to experience some adventure
during the voyage. The German submarines might
attack at any time and then there will be a fierce
battle to repulse/drive back their attack.
• 224. It won‘t … Captain?
• -lively: spirited; exciting
• Victor Henry had met Churchill in London as a U.S.
war-planning officer; he had been on a British
bomber raid over Berlin, and had been through heavy
German antiaircraft fire, Churchill, remembering this,
asked him how he enjoyed the ride.
• 225. It was a rare privilege: It was not easy to have
such a chance. I‘m most grateful. I appreciated your
kindness for letting me have such an experience.
• 226. Any time at all.
• Since you enjoy the ride, I‘ll be glad to provide you
with another chance at any time.
• You may have another ride of this kind at any time.
• -at all: for emphasis
• There was nothing to worry about at all. (完全不，
一点也不）
• If you do it at all, do it well.（如果…真的；确实）
• I‘m sure it‘s most kind of you to receive me at all.
（到底；真的；竟然）
• It‘s a miracle that you returned at all.
• I‘m surprised you came at all.
• 227. Too much honour sir. Once was plenty.
• Another chance would be too much honor, once was
quite enough.
• A diplomatic refusal to risk his life a second time on
such a venture.
• 228. hoarse– harsh
• 229. I daresay once was enough for you.
• I suppose (that) I think probably/ perhaps so.
• We have run out of sugar, but I daresay there is some
in the cupboard.
• I daresay there is a filling station at the corner.
• 230. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy: an American
film team (1926-1952) whose comedies were among
the most popular in the world.
• -Saps at Sea is the name of a film.
• The name of a film should be italicised.
• Saps: A stupid person likely to be tricked or treated
unfairly.
• Laurel was extremely thin whereas Hardy was fat.
Laurel often tried to take advantage of Hardy, but
Hardy was often saved by his good luck.
• 231. Surgeon-General: the title of the chief of the
Army Medical Service and of the United States
Public Health Service.
• 232. Not inappropriate.
Litotes: It will be quite suitable for us to see such a
film while we are on the high seas.
• 233. Pug Henry‘s enjoyment…. A U-boat
pack/group
• The knowledge that they might at any time be
engaged in a running battle with U-boats made it
impossible for Henry to enjoy the film.
• -be shadowed by/ darkened by
• The later part of his life was shadowed by his son‘s
tragic death.
• Henry could not possibly sit back at ease, enjoying
the film since he knew very well that a running battle
with U-boats might take place at any time.
• -U-boat pack: a group (collection) of U-boats
hunting together like a pack of wolves
• 234. German skippers… screens
• -skipper: a captain of a ship or a sports team
• -screen: a formation of destroyers intended as a cover
around (a convoy or) a fleet of heavier warships
• Sth. that protects, shelters or hides
• -adept at: thoroughly proficient; expert
• 235. Where was Pug Henry now?
• He was on the Prince of Wales.
• 236. The film spun… uninterrupted.
• The film was shown to the end without
anything happening.
• 237. A gay… entertainment.
• The film was great fun, but lacking in
substance. The film was interesting but
without any important meaning.
• 238. rheumy voice: the voice with cold
7. We‘ll have to pay the price
• 239. Clement Attlee‘s broadcast… the wardroom:
• -clement Attlee (1883-1967): English politican,
Labour Party leader, and prime minister (1945-51).
In W. W II he served in Churchill‘s cabinet as Lord
privy seal (1940-42), deputy prime mister (1942-45),
dominions secretary (1942-43), and Lord president
of the council (1943-45)
• Obviously the broadcast cannot pack the wardroom:
It means people crowded into the wardroom to listen
to Attlee over the radio.
• Attlee broadcast the news of the conference and the
Charter while Churchill was still at sea.
• 240. on watch: on duty. Officers and men on board a
ship are divided into groups (called ―watches‖) and
take turns to be on duty about the ship.
• 241. plowing through a wild storm: cutting a way
through the stormy ocean
• 242. rolled and pitched with slow long groans
• The ship turned from side to side and tossed in the
sea with slow long groans (noise like that of
groaning). If fitted in with the moon of the officers.
To roll is to rotate around the longitudinal axis, and
to pitch is to rotate around a crosswise axis. Here
―roll‖ means ―move from side to side‖ ―Pitch means
―move up and down (toss)
• 243. Why it was a bad half hour?
• Because the situation on the ship was gloomy for the
British, Pug alone was American in addition to the
weather.
• 244. He saw… ―Atlantic Charter‖
• -perplexed looks: puzzled looks
• -lengthening forces: expressions showing
disapproval disappointment
• -read off: read out loud (paragraph by paragraph)
• All negative expressions showing that the British
were greatly disappointed in their expectations and
they were all in low spirits.
• Note: The Atlantic Charter, jointly signed by Roosevelt and
Churchill (August 12, 1941), lists 8 points of which the sixth
point says ―After the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny they
hope to see established a peace… which will afford assurance
that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in
freedom from fear and want.‖ There was no mention of the
―four freedom‖ MENTIONED BY THE AUTHOR. ALSO
THERE WAS NO DIRECT MENTION OF German apart
from Nazi tyranny, since the United States was technically
still a neutral country.
• 245. The high-flown… American commitment
• bespeak: to show; to be indicative of
• The efficiency of the organization bespoke careful planning.
• -high-flown adj. refers to the language which is grand
sounding though lacking in meaning
• -not a shred of: not a trace/sign /not a small
piece; not a bit
• There is not a shred of truth in his statement.
• Her tears hadn‘t a shred of evidence of great
sorrow for what she had done.
• This sentence means that the charter was in
high-sounding words but contained absolutely
nothing of aid to Britain by the U.S.
• The declaration is in high-sounding words, but
contains nothing substantial in terms of aid to
Britain by the U.S.
• 246. Abuse of …flat zero.
• There was clear-cut (clear/ definite) condemnation of the Nazi
regime… but no promise of more U.S. aid.
• The Declaration mentioned everything but more U.S. aid for
the British.
• Abuse of Nazi regime…, Yes; more aid, no .
• The Four Freedoms: These were defined by President
Roosevelt in his messages to Congress, 6 January, 1941, as
the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of worship,
and the freedom from fear and want. they were to be the aims
of the U.S.A. and ultimately of the world. The occasion was
his proposal to extend Lend-Lease to Britain.
• (Note: This was far from the truth. Churchill wrote to Attlee
on August 12: ―They are sending us immediately 150,000
more rifles.‖ But of course Victor Henry and the British
officers would have no way of knowing this at that time.)
• 247. Some, sentences… anything.
• By free trade the Americans meant the tearing down
of tariff barrier, including the breaking up of the
sterling area. Without the sterling area, which was a
measure taken by Britain to protect her interest and
avoid foreign competition, the wide market of the
British Empire would be penetrated by the United
States and this would mean the end of the British
Empire. And naturally the independence of the
British colonies would mean the end of the British
Empire.
• -tariff: a tariff is a tax that a government collects on
goods coming into a country.
• -sterling: British money
• Some sentences, if they are meaningful, about free
trade and independence for all peoples meant that the
British Empire would be finished.
• 248. a tough customer: a firm, very hard to influence
customer, a hard-line bargainer, a customer hard to
deal with.
• 249. I‘d venture… than that:
• I‘d venture: I would think
• -venture: v. risk
• If you venture sth. such as an opinion, you say it in a
cautious, hesitant manner because you are afraid it
might be foolish or wrong.
• -e.g. ―Anyway,‖ Marsha ventured. ―If we want to
know what‘s going on, we‘ll have to do our own
research.‖
• No one has ventured to suggest why this should be.
• I boldly think the Roosevelt-Churchill
conference might have decided on more things
than that (broadcast).
• 250. How about it, Henry? What do you say to
this estimation, Henry? What‘s your opinion,
Henry?
• 251. Pug saw no virtue in equivocating.
• -no virtue: no advantage, no benefit, no good.
• -equivocate: to use ambiguous terms in order to
deceive, mislead, etc. to be deliberately ambiguous
about
• -in equivocating means to use ambiguous terms in
order to deceive, mislead; in obscure language.
• The sentence means ―Pug thought it is no good
answering ambiguously.‖
• Pug thought it better to give a clear, direct answer.
Ambiguity would not bring any good, only more
illusions and disappointments.
• 252. I‘d guess that was it.
• That‘s all there is to it, I think.
• I would think this was the only decision they had
come to.
• 253. pledge… to destroy:
• -to pledge to do sth.: to promise to do sth.
• 254. It means Lend-lease:
• Lend-lease: An agreement by which the
United States lent or leased arms and military
supplies, etc. to British and other powers
during W.W. II (in some cases in return for
the use of certain base, etc. ). The Lend-Lease
Act was passed by Congress on 11 March
1941, and terminated on 22 August 1945.
During this period the U.S.A. spent about 12,
000,000,000 and received back about $1,
836,000,000. Over 60% of the total went to
the British Commonwealth.
• 255. Questions…sides.
• People all over the wardroom started asking him
questions.
• 256. But isn‘t the Pacific your fight, pure and simple?
• -pure and simple: a cliché, as a way of saying sth. is
plain and obvious; that which it is and clearly
nothing else.
• This is robbing the state, pure and simple.
• 257. He can‘t, without Congress behind him.
• The President may not give a war warning to another
country without the support of the Congress. Only
Congress can declare war, the President may only
take action as Chief Executive.
• 258. it came within one vote… the United States
Army:
• Here Pug referring to the debate on the act of
extension of the draft in the Congress. Just the day
before, one vote fewer might have brought about a
disaster, the breaking up of the U.S. army. (Note:
This was incredible, but actually a fact, and Churchill
saw fit to comment on it several times in its Memoirs.
The Draft Act was a law authorizing compulsory
military conscription (recruitment) which was passed
by the majority of one vote. Nearly half of the
Congressmen voted against it, although the Pacific
War was only 4 months a way.)
• -dissolve: to cause (an association, group etc.) to end
or break up.
• The military government dissolved the country‘s
parliament and suspended all political activity.
• 259. They vote… political hides:
• They vote in such a manner as to save their skins,
basing their votes on their guess of what the
electorate want.
• -electorate: all the people in a country or an area who
have the right to vote.
• The politicians do things only for their political
interests, voting in Congress just for more votes in
election.
• They try to figure out what the electorate want and
then vote accordingly. In this way they hope the
electorate will be pleased and they will be able to be
re-elected.
• -hunch: (colloq.) a feeling about sth. not based on
known; an idea based on feeling rather than on
reason or facts.
• How did you know that horse was going to win?
• It was just a hunch.
• -hide: (colloq.) the skin of a person, to protect one‘s
hide= to save one‘s skin.
•
• 260. Our people… the Munich Pact:
• The state of our people is just like that of your
people at the time of the Munich Pact, when
they cheered Chamberlain when he came back
from Munich after having sold out
Czechoslovakia.
• Munich Pact: the pact of September 29, 1938,
a solemn agreement between two opposing
groups or nations signed by Nazi Germany,
Great Britain, France, and Italy, in which the
Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was ceded to
Germany.
• Munich: A potentially disastrous, humiliating, or
dishonourable act of appeasement(让步) or surrender.
So called from the unfortunate act of appeasement,
the Munich Pact or Agreement concluded between
Great Britain, France, and Italy (30, Sept. 1938)
whereby the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was
ceded to Germany, and Czechoslovakia was thus
betrayed!)
• Chamberlain: Arthur Neville Chamberlain (1869-
1940), Prime minister of Great Britain (1937-1940),
main advocate of the policy of appeasement toward
Nazi Germany that culminated in the Munich
Agreement of 1938.
• 261. We‘re paying the price: Chamberlain at the time
of the Munich Pact failed to see through Hitler. Now
we are suffering, paying the price (prolonged global
war, lives, defends, etc.) for that gross mistake.
• 262. We‘ll have to pay the price: Note the use of the
future tense. The same thing that happened to you
will now happen to us.
• 263. ―We had Chamberlain… You have Roosevelt.
• -fresh-faced: bright and pure in colour; youthful
• He means that Roosevelt was a much wiser leader
than Chamberlain and should have been able to avoid
what Chamberlain did.
• 264. Roosevelt can‘t help that.
• Roosevelt can‘t change the present feelings of the American
people. There is nothing Roosevelt can do about it.
• 265. You‘re the home team…language
• The Beijing football team is the home team in Beijing, and the
football fans here all support the team and against the teams
from other cities.
• The sentence means: You‘re our favorite. We feel kinship
with you. You‘re the players from our side, all right; we are
the spectators, we stand on your side. We have sympathy for
you. When you play, we cheer you.
• Pug here, gives a very appropriate metaphor. The Americans
were sympathetic towards the British, but they were not ready
to enter the war. So there was Lend-Lease and the Atlantic
Charter, but there were no war warnings to Japan until Pearl
Harbour.
• 266. Lend-Lease if no sweat.
• -no sweat: (sl.) no trouble or difficulty at all; easily done
• 267. more jobs and money: and the American people would
be happy about the war-boom it brought about.
• 268. steep roll: a sudden sharp roll of the ship
• 269. crockery (陶器): earthen-ware, pots, jars, dishes
• -cf. vessels, utensils
• 270. crossfire: situation in which questions are pour to sb.
from all directions; firing of guns from two or more points so
that the lines of fire cross.
• 271. he did not talk much, etc.
• He felt ashamed that the U.S. was not going to give these
brave people the kind of help they urgently needed, and he
was not up to answering their questions and reproaches.
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