现代大学英语精读第二册Unit14

Lesson fourteen

Pre-class Work

Read the text a third time. Learn the new words and expressions listed below.

Glossary¹

acre
n. a measure of land 英亩 (equal to 6 市亩 a in China)

afresh
adv. (fml) once more; from the beginning

Alabama
n. 亚拉巴马州（U.S.）

assault
n. an attempt to achieve sth. difficult

assignment
n. a piece of work given to sb.

balloon
v. to get larger in amount; to increase in number

blueprint²
n. a plan for achieving sth. 蓝图

capital
n. money to start a business

charity
n. an organization that gives help to the poor

commute³
v. to travel regularly a long distance to work

contractor⁴
n. a person or company that makes an agreement to do work 承包商

corporation
n. a company

dilapidated
adj. old and in very bad condition

distribute
v. to give to a group of people or organization, esp. in a planned way 分配；分发

donation
n. sth. esp. money given to an organization without asking for anything in return 捐款

dubious⁵
adj. not sure whether sth. is true or good

dwelling⁶
n. (fml) a house where people live

dynamic
adj. full of energy and new ideas, and determined⁷ to succeed

equity⁸
n. 产权 sweat ～: unpaid⁹ labor¹⁰ that is invested to start or expand a business

erect¹¹
v. to build

foundation
n. 基础

generous
adj. showing readiness to give money, help, kindness, etc.

Georgia
n. 佐治亚州（U.S.）

habitat
n. the natural home of a plant or animal. Here: the name given to the housing project

handle
v. to deal with a difficult situation

install
v. 安装

jolt¹²
v. to shock suddenly

knack¹³
n. (infml) a special skill or ability

livestock¹⁴
n. animals kept on a farm

luxurious¹⁵
adj. very expensive, beautiful and comfortable

Manhattan
曼哈顿 (U.S.)

millionaire
n. a person who has at least 1,000,000 pounds or dollars; a very wealthy person

minimal¹⁶
adj. very small in degree or amount

mission
n. sth. you feel you must do because it is your duty

Mississippi
n. 密西西比州（U.S.）

mortgage
n. an agreement to borrow money from a bank in order to buy a house, with the house belonging to the lender until the money is repaid 抵押贷款

needy¹⁷
adj. having very little food or money

passer-by
n. a person who happens to pass by a place

peek¹⁸
v. to look at sth. quickly, esp. sth. you are not supposed to see

plea
n. an eager or serious request

plumbing¹⁹
n. all the pipes that carry water through in a building

plus
prep. with the addition of; and also

profit
n. money gained by selling things or doing business

ranch²⁰
n. (AmE) a very large farm where sheep, cattle or horses are raised

recruit
v. to find new people to work in a company, join an organization or do a job, etc.

rent
v. to pay money regularly for the use of a house or room that belongs to sb. else

reservoir
n. an artificial lake where water is stored before it is supplied to people's houses. Here: a large amount of sth, that has not been used

scaled-down
adj. less than before

scorching²¹
adj. very hot

share
n. (BrE) ownership rights in companies 股份

speedboat
n. a small power-driven boat built to go fast

stopgap
n. sth. that fills a need for a short time until one can replace it with sth. better

summon
v. to call; to rouse
tap
v. to draw liquid from

teens
n. the period of one's life between 13 and 19

thriving
adj. Here: successful

trader
n. a person who buys and sells goods

veteran
adj. sb. who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity

vow²²
v. to make a serious promise

whiz
n. sb. who is very skilled or successful at sth.

wiring
n. the network of wires （电线） that form the electrical system in a building

yearn²³
v. to have a strong desire for sth.

Zaire
n. 扎伊尔（非洲国家名）

Proper Names

Auburn
奥伯恩

Bon
邦

Bownes
鲍恩斯

Charlotte
夏洛特

Clarence Jordan
克拉伦斯·乔丹

Emma Johnson
埃玛·约翰逊

Jonas
乔纳斯

Koinonia
科诺尼亚

Lillie Mae
利莉·玫

Lincoln
林肯

Linda Caldwell
琳达·考德威尔

Millard Fuller
米勒德·富勒

Text A

Blueprint for Success

Donald Dale Jackson

Read the text once for the main idea. Do not refer to the notes, dictionaries or the glossary yet.

He gave away his fortune for a hammer, a saw — and a dream.

As a boy, Millard Fuller was a whiz with money. He had a knack for turning a profit the way other kids had a knack for baseball. Starting with a pig his father gave him, Millard became a livestock trader during his teens, netting enough to pay his way through Auburn University.
Then he entered the University of Alabama law school in 1957. But he continued to make money. By age 29, Fuller was almost a millionaire, with a luxurious home, a vacation retreat, two speedboats, a Lincoln Continental²⁴ and shares in three cattle ranches²⁵.
Several years earlier. Fuller had married Linda Caldwell, and for Millard Fuller, life was full.
Then one day Linda stunned²⁶ Millard by announcing that she didn't think she loved him any longer. "I feel as if I don't have a husband," she told him. "You are always working," she said. "I'm going away for a while." The next day she left for New York to talk to a minister they knew.
How could I have miscalculated so badly? Millard wondered. Surely my family matters more than money.
For the next few days he tried to work, but couldn't concentrate. The business he had helped build was thriving — but what had it cost? His marriage? His health? Millard's neck bothered him lately, and he sometimes had trouble breathing, as if a weight were pressing on his chest.
When Linda called and agreed to his pleas to meet him in New York the following week, Millard asked his parents to stay with the children. The evening before he went to New York, he began idly watching a TV movie. A line in the film jolted²⁷ him: "A planned life can only be endured."
A planned life! That was exactly what he was living. The plan was to make a fortune, to turn a million into ten million. But he realized now that he had left out everything that counted; he could no longer endure it.
Then and there he vowed²⁸ to give his money away and find a more satisfying reason for living. Whatever he settled on, his new life would have to mean something, to have a positive effect on others.
When he reached New York, Linda told him she wanted to keep the marriage together. That evening, as they were drinking orange juice at Radio City Music Hall, Linda broke down and began sobbing²⁹.
They left the theater clutching each other and went for a walk. Finally, they began to talk, with a rush of feeling. Millard spoke³⁰ of his idea to go home, give everything away and start afresh. What did she think? Linda nodded yes and embraced him. Whatever comes next, she thought, we'll face it together.
The Fullers returned to Alabama and sold Millard's share of the company. They put their houses on the market, sold the boats and distributed the proceeds among churches, colleges and charities. Millard was feeling better — breathing came easier, his chest pain was gone — but now he needed a job. As a stopgap measure, he became a New York-based fund-raiser for a small college in Mississippi.
The Fullers moved into an apartment over a gas station in New Jersey³¹. Millard commuted³² to Manhattan by bus. Their tight budget was made even tighter by the birth of their third child. But they didn't mind their scaled-down life-style. Now they were a team.
Millard found his work satisfying, but he still yearned³³ for a mission that would summon all his energy and idealism. When the fund drive ended a year later, he wrote to his minister friend Clarence Jordan and asked if he had any ideas. Maybe, replied Jordan. He invited Millard to Georgia.
Jordan had been thinking about the dilapidated shacks³⁵ that lined the red-clay roads around Americus. They often lacked heat and plumbing, and the poor families who lived in them couldn't afford repairs. Banks wouldn't give them mortgages, so they had to keep on renting. They were trapped.
"These people don't need charity; they need a way to help themselves," Jordan told Millard. Together they decided³⁶ to set up a corporation funded by donations. The capital would go for land and building materials. The corporation would erect simple, decent houses and sell them at cost. The buyers would make a minimal down payment and monthly interest-free mortgage payments that would go back into the fund for more houses.
The buyers themselves would be encouraged to put hundreds of hours of sweat equity into their own houses and to invest time in the construction of a neighbor's house.
Excited by the idea, Millard and Linda gathered up the children and moved to Jordan's Koinonia Farm. Building would start at the farm, on land it already owned. Millard laid out 42 half acre lots and began touring to raise money and recruit volunteers. Letters to Koinonia Farm supporters around the country brought in thousands of dollars.
Millard hired contractors³⁷ to lay the foundations and install plumbing and wiring. The price of the first house, which included three bedrooms and a modern kitchen, was about $6,000. The buyers were Bon and Emma Johnson, who lived with their children in a nearby shack³⁴.
At last Millard was certain that he had found his calling. By 1972 his first 27 houses were up and occupied. Many of the families had never lived in a warm house with indoor plumbing.
Millard wondered if the idea blossoming in Georgia might flower elsewhere. So he accepted a three-year assignment from the Christian³⁸ Church to launch the building of 114 houses in Zaire, Africa. Linda and the children accompanied him.
When they returned to Americus in 1976, Millard had a mental blueprint for an international assault on poverty housing. He called it Habitat for Humanity.
Like the Koinonia project, Habitat would be financed by donations and buyers' monthly payments without a penny of government funds.
Habitat began building houses in Americus for needy people who could handle a small down payment plus about $65 monthly. An elderly couple named Lillie Mae and Jonas Bownes watched from their shack as their new house rose across the street. Mrs. Bownes frequently got up after midnight and peeked³⁹ to make sure the unfinished five-room dwelling was still there. "I never dreamed I'd have a place like this, " Mrs. Bownes says. "It makes us feel like people."
Habitat grew slowly at first. In 1981 there were 15 projects in the United States, 11 overseas. Last year the numbers ballooned to 241 in North America and 50 in 25 countries abroad. By 1996, if things go as planned, Habitat will be operating in 2,000 U.S. cities and 60 countries.
Volunteers apply for jobs at a rate of 40 a month. Habitat's generous philosophy seems to tap a reservoir of good will. "I was looking for a way to measure myself in terms other than money," says a staffer who gave up an engineering career to direct fund raising at Habitat.
It is ten o'clock on a scorching July morning in Charlotte, N.C. Millard Fuller is pounding nails into a roof on one of 14 houses rising simultaneously⁴⁰. Around him, 350 volunteer builders, many of them veteran Habitat workers bused in from out of town, are hammering, drilling, fitting windows — building a neighborhood.
"Who's paying for all this?" a passer-by asks.
"Nobody," Millard replies.
The man looks dubious. "Folks don't do this sort of thing for nothing."
"It's worse than that," Millard says cheerfully. "They paid to come."
"You get a sense of joy in this word," says Millard after a long day on the roof." The most dynamic people I know are concerned about something beyond themselves. We're doing something that makes a real difference. It won't fade away next week or next month. Every house is a permanent blessing⁴¹ — for builder and buyer both."

1 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

2 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

5 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

6 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

9 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

12 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

13 knack   

n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法

参考例句：

• He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
• Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

14 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

15 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

16 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

17 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

18 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

19 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

21 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

22 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

23 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

24 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

25 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

26 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

27 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

28 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

29 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

30 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

31 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

32 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

33 yearned   

渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
• She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。

34 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

35 shacks   

n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网

36 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

37 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

39 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

40 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

41 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。