新视野三版 读写 B2 U4 Text A

College sweethearts

1 I smile at my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more mature than we, their parents, when we were college sweethearts. Linda, who's 21, had a boyfriend in her freshman year she thought she would marry, but they're not together anymore. Melissa, who's 19, hasn't had a steady boyfriend yet. My daughters wonder when they will meet "The One", their great love. They think their father and I had a classic fairy-tale romance heading for marriage from the outset. Perhaps, they're right but it didn't seem so at the time. In a way, love just happens when you least expect it. Who would have thought that Butch and I would end up getting married to each other? He became my boyfriend because of my shallow agenda: I wanted a cute boyfriend!

2 We met through my college roommate at the university cafeteria. That fateful

night, I was merely curious, but for him I think it was love at first sight. "You have beautiful eyes", he said as he gazed at my face. He kept staring at me all night long. I really wasn't that interested for two reasons. First, he looked like he was a really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was very cute, he seemed a little weird.

3 Riding on his bicycle, he'd ride past my dorm as if "by accident" and pretend

to be surprised to see me. I liked the attention but was cautious about his wild, dynamic personality. He had a charming way with words which would charm any girl. Fear came over me when I started to fall in love. His exciting "bad boy image" was just too tempting to resist. What was it that attracted me? I always had an excellent reputation. My concentration was solely on my studies to get superior grades. But for what? College is supposed

to be a time of great learning and also some fun. I had nearly achieved a great

education, and graduation was just one semester away. But I hadn't had any fun; my life was stale with no component of fun! I needed a boyfriend.Not just any boyfriend.He had to be cute. My goal that semester became: Be ambitious and grab the cutest boyfriend I can find.

4 I worried what he'd think of me. True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift

in sexual attitudes was taking place, but I was a traditional girl who wasn't ready for the new ways that seemed common on campus. Butch looked superb! I was not immune to his personality, but I was scared. The night when he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend, I went along

with him. And then I suddenly thought: "Oh my gosh! Am I his girlfriend? How did that happen?" Then he whispered sweet words in my ear and said, "I'm going to marry you one day and I will be a lawyer. You will see."

5 I was laughing inside and said to myself, "I'd never marry this guy. He's a rebel without a good future. He's my boyfriend because I hate my boring student life. I just want to have fun."

6 Sure enough, the following month, I found out he had failed all his

courses. Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the university. To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I knew there was hope, so I led him to the college secretary for reconsideration.

7 "You are going to graduate with a BA in political science

from UPenn and proceed to the College of Law," I told him, lodging an appeal on his behalf, which was approved. Butch was granted reconsideration. And, once we became steadies, he coordinated his studies and social life, passing

all of his classes. He eventually studied law.

8 Despite Butch's somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always a perfect gentleman and deserves a lot of credit for that.True, he'd sometimes take the liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss on my lips right in front of my astonished friends who watched and disapproved. But the truth is we had a pure and responsible relationship for seven full years. Sitting by the palm trees, hand in hand, we would listen to romantic songs, watch the sunset, and weave dreams of being together with children of our own, forever.

9 Two years passed in a blur. One day, Butch took me by surprise as

he knelt down and proposed marriage holding a dozen red roses! Filled with deep emotion, I confessed my love for him, "How roooomaaaantic!!" Then my brain woke up from fantasy land. I cried out, "Good heavens. No! We're too young to tie the knot. We haven't even graduated from college yet!" I really loved him but was pessimistic about our chances for success.

10 We married five years later.

11 Our faithful journey of love and learning took us down rocky roads of hardship and on smooth easy-going highways. It is a long, romantic, sometimes crazy, love story that sums up a 29-year long honeymoon together

as a couple who are still madly in love with each other. Our love commenced with a casual attraction but bloomed into a mature love and rich life.

Language Points:

1 I smile at my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more mature than we, their parents, when we were college sweethearts. (Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Married to her college sweetheart, the author now is happy with her family and two grown daughters.

Note: College sweethearts refer to someone with whom one is in love and by whom one

is loved at college; sweetheart is equivalent to lover,darling, beloved, or dear. For example:

Well done, sweetheart, we are all so proud of you. 做得好，宝贝，我们以你为荣。

My husband is the greatest guy in the world; he was my college sweetheart. 我丈夫是世 界上最棒の，大学时他就是我の恋人。

He tries to locate his former sweetheart Melina from whom he has heard nothing for a very long time. 他在努力寻找他以前の恋人梅利娜，他已经很久没有她の消息了。

2 Linda, who’s 21, had a boyfriend in her freshman year she thought she would marry, but they’re not together anymore. Melissa, who’s 19, hasn’t had a steady boyfriend yet. My daughters wonder when they will meet “The One”, their great love.(Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Her two daughters are at the age of just dating, but they seem

to be very mature wondering when they will meet their true love.

3 They think their father and I had a classic fairy tale romance heading for marriage from the outset. (Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Her daughters consider their parents’ marriage a typical conventional romance because they think it aimed at marriage from the very beginning.

Usage note: classic, classical

1 classic 用作形容词表示“经典の；精彩の；一流の”。例如：

Death on the Nile is one of the classic works of Agatha Christie. 《尼罗河上の惨案》是阿 加莎·克里斯蒂の经典作品之一。

口语中也会用到 classic 这个词。当你看到一场精彩の演出时，就可以说“That’s classic!”来 表达赞美。

classic 用作形容词也表示“典型の；标准の”。例如：

London is the classic example of the scattered city. 伦敦是标准分散型の城市。

This statement was a classic illustration of British politeness. 这项陈述是对英国礼貌の一 个典型说明。

classic 也可用作名词，表示“文学名著；经典作品；杰作”。例如：

We have all the standard classics of Hayao Miyazaki at home. 我们家有宫崎骏の所有の

经典作品。

2 classical 不能用作名词，只能用作形容词，表示“古典の；经典の”。例如：

I spend a lot of time reading and listening to classical music. 我花了很多时间阅读和聆听 古典音乐。

Classical music is music written by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. 像莫扎特 和贝多芬所创作の音乐称为古典音乐。

莫扎特和贝多芬所创作の音乐属于古典音乐(classical music), 但这些古典音乐经久不衰， 有永久の意义和价值，所以这些音乐也可称为经典の音乐（classic music）。反之，在前面 有一例中说可口可乐瓶子の设计是精彩の，一流の，所以是经典（classic）之作，但很明显

可口可乐瓶子の设计不是古典の （classical）设计。所以，经典の（classic）作品不一定 就是古典の（classical）作品。

Note: Classic fairy-tale romance is used to describe a romance blessed with unusual happiness. Colloquially, a fairy tale can also refer to any story extremely unlikely to be true.

4 Perhaps, they’re right but it didn’t seem so at the time. (Para. 1)

Meaning: My daughters’ perception may be right, yet our romance back then was actually not like what they have assumed.

5 In a way, love just happens when you least expect it. Who would have thought that Butch and I would end up getting married to each other? He became my boyfriend because of my shallow agenda: I wanted a cute boyfriend! (Para. 1) Meaning: Love comes your way when you don’t really expect it. No one thought that

Butch and I would finally get married. He became my boyfriend simply because I would like to fulfill my shallow wish: to have an attractive boyfriend in college.

Meaning beyond words: Here is the suspense of the story – the author gives a broad

hint that she will tell us how she and her husband got married at last.

6 We met through my college roommate at the university cafeteria. That fateful night, I was merely curious, but for him I think it was love at first sight. (Para. 2)

Meaning: At the school dining hall that important night, we were introduced to each other through my roommate. I met Butch just out of curiosity, but he seemed to fall in love with

me as soon as he saw me.

7 “You have beautiful eyes,” he said as he gazed at my face. (Para. 2)

Meaning beyond words: The author was obviously attractive to Butch since he tried to please her by praising her eyes.

8 He kept staring at me all night long. (Para. 2)

Note: Both gaze at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly for a long time

because of being attracted, surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually has the additional meaning of “with eyes widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great attention”; gaze

at usually implies “in a dreamy and unaware state of mind”.

9 I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons. First, he looked like he was a really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was very cute, he seemed a little weird. (Para. 2)