Part B 2

The Lost Gold Piece

The Lost Gold Piece

After the first World War, a small group of veterans returned to their village in France. Most of them managed to get along fairly well, but one—Francois Lebeau, who had been gassed and never recovered his strength— was unable to work regularly. In time he became poverty-stricken. Yet he was too proud to accept charity from the people in the village.

poisoned by gas

eventually,in the end

Suffering from poverty; miserably

poor.

Once each year the veterans held a reunion dinner. On one of these occasions they met in the home of Jules Grandin, who had made a good deal of money and had grown fat and self-important. Grandin produced a curiosity— a large gold coin about whose age,rarity and value he talked at some length. Each man examined it with interest as it passed around the long table. All, however, had drunk wine freely and the room was filled with noisy talk, so that the gold piece was soon forgotten. Later, when Grandin remembered it and asked for it, the coin was missing.

Thinking that one is much more important than one really is

bring forth; exhibitTaking a long time,in great detail,fully

Instantly there arose a hubbub of questions and denials. Finally the village attorney suggested everyone be searched, to which all agreed except Lebeau. His companions looked at him with surprise.

"You refuse, then?" asked Grandin.

Lebeau flushed. "Yes," he said, "I cannot allow it.“

"Do you realize," asked the owner of the gold piece, "what your refusal implies?"

"I did not steal the gold piece, and I will not submit to a search," Lebeau answered.

(of a person’s face) become red

One by one, the rest of the group turned out their pockets. When the coin failed to appear, attention was focused once more on poor Lebeau.

"Surely you will not persist in your refusal?" the attorney demanded. Lebeau made no reply. Grandin stepped out of the room in anger. No one addressed another word to Lebeau and, under the pitying stares of his friends, he walked out with the hangdog air of a prisoner and returned to his home.

empty

to speak to

Ashamed,guiltymanner

From that day, Lebeau was a man with a bad reputation. People turned their eyes away when they met him. He grew poorer, and when his wife died not long afterward no one knew or cared whether it was from want or shame.

A few years later, when the incident had become almost legendary, Grandin made some alterations in his house. A workman found the gold coin, buried in dirt between planks of the floor in the room where the reunion dinner had been held.

act or result of changing

Self-important though he was, Grandin was a just man and now that he had proof that Lebeau was innocent he was quick to admit his mistake. Hurrying to Lebeau’ s humble home, he told him of the amazing discovery of the coin and apologized for having suspected him.

"But," he concluded, "you knew that the gold piece was not on your person—why did you not allow yourself to be searched?

Not guilty(of a thing)not large or elaborate, poor

Carried about with one, as in one’s pocket

Lebeau, shabby, old before his time, looked at Grandin blankly. "Because I was a thief," he said brokenly. "For weeks my family and I had not had enough to eat and my pockets were full of food that I had taken from the table to carry home to my wife and hungry children."

looked older than he really waswith a blank

expression

The end

Veteran n.

1) A person who has served in the armed forces:

老兵，退伍军人

Veterans' Day[ 美 ] 退伍军人节 (11 月 11 日 )

2 ） person with much or long experience.

经验丰富的人，老手 a veteran of political campaigns.

政治斗争的老手

Veteran car 老爷车

Charity n.1 ） Giving money, food, help, etc to the needy 施舍，布

施

raise money for the charity 为施舍助人而集资2 ） society or organization for helping the needy. 慈善团体

The Red Cross is an international charity.

红十字会是个国际性的慈善机构。3 ） loving kindness towards others 慈善，慈悲，仁爱

4 ）（谚） charity begins at home 慈善先惠及家人（一个人的首要责任是帮助和照顾自己的家庭）（常作不捐款的借口）

reunion n.

gathering of the members of a group who have been separated: 重聚，团圆分离成员的再聚会：

a high school reunion. 中学校友聚会

We have a family reunion every New Year's Day. 每年元旦 , 我们家都要团团圆圆地贺新年。

reunite v.

curiosity n.

1) desire to know or learn 　好奇心，求知欲

his curiosity made him open the forbidden door

（好奇心驱使他打开了那扇禁止打开的门）

2) A treasure, a rare object 珍品，宝贝

3) Curiosity killed the cat

（谚）谓某人不可过于好奇的用语

curious adj.

rarity n. 稀有，罕见

rare adj. 　稀有的，罕见的，不寻常的

［辨］ rare scarce

A thing or an event may be rare when it is found or occurs infrequently. It may once have been common

The panda is now a rare animal. 熊猫现在是稀有动物。

A top hat is a rare sight these days. 高顶礼帽现已不多见。

Sometimes,usually a thing in daily use, is scarce when it is in short supply

Water is scarce in the desert. 在沙漠里水是很难得到的。

［辨］ recall remember remind recollectRecall “ 想起”，强调有意识地去“回忆，回想”常与 can ， could 连用。 I can’t recall having met him before.

Remember 指事物自然地在记忆中出现，不强调努力或意志。 I remembered I had left the book in the library.

Remind “ 使 --- 想起”，指人受到一定媒介的启发或提醒 而想起。

The film reminded him of what he had seen and heard in China.

Recollect 把已经遗忘的事情重新想起，强调回忆过程。

He recollected the hardships he had suffered before liberation.

[ 辨 ] rise arise raise arouse

rise “ 站起来，起床，升起来”

arise “ 出现，发生”，后常跟介词 from ，表示“由 --- 引起”

raise 及物动词 “举起，抬起”

arouse “ 唤醒，激起”，除从睡眠中唤醒之外，还可指唤起他人的注意或引起某人的猜疑或不快等

1) Early to bed and early to _____ makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise.

2) The problem ______ from lack of experience.

3) She _______ her eyes to stare at him.

4) Their terrible sufferings ________ our pity.

rise

arose

raised

aroused

Companion n.A person who accompanies or associates with another 同伴；同事陪伴或伴随他人的人a traveling companion 旅伴

companions in arms 战友

a faithful companion 忠实伴侣

companion volume 姐妹篇

a Teacher's Companion to ... 教师用 ... 参考书

a traveler's Companion 旅行指南

Submit v.

1) vi. accept the control, yield to (submit to sb/sth)

屈服或归顺于 I refuse to submit to an unjust decision

拒绝服从不公正的决定

2) vt. Give sth ( to sb/sth) so that it may be considered. (submit sth to sb/sth ) 提出，提交I hope you can submit you term papers before the deadline

Persist v.

(persist in sth/ doing sth) insist on stick to

坚持；固执On the top of very high montains snow persists thronghout the year.

高山顶上 , 积雪终年不化。

He persisted in carrying on his work despite great fatigue.

He persisted in his opinion on the matter.

After this event, Lebeau was held in contempt and not long afterwards, his wife died from both poverty and shame.

Want n. state of being poor or in need; poverty

贫穷，匮乏，贫困

Their health had suffered from years of want.

他们长年贫困影响了他们的身体健康。

Self-important thought he was,----

这是一种由 as/thought 引导的让步状语从句，这时要将表语或状语——名词（不加冠词），形容词，动词或分词——提到主语之前，使句子部分倒装。

Old man as he is, he still works hard.

Patient though he was, he had no intention of waiting for three hours.

Try as he would, he could not get her out of his mind.

Now that: as a result of the fact that, since既然，由于Note the phrase “now that” is used only when something new has happened.

Now that the rain has stopped,let’s go at once

And it is wrong to say:

Now that no one has read the book, we can’t discuss it.

In this sentence we can only use “since”.