大学英语精读第四册UnitOne

There was a short, thoughtful silence. Then he said, "Dad, you have just worked a profound change in my personality."
"Do it!"
"Yes, sir!"
By the following evening, there was much for my wife to report. The bonus program had worked until someone demanded to see the color of cash. Then some activist on the work force claimed that the workers had no business settling for $5 and a few competitive bonuses while the bossed collected hundreds of dollars each. The organizer had declared that all the workers were entitled to $5 per hour! They would not work another minute until the bosses agreed.
The strike lasted less than two hours. In mediation, the parties agreed on $2 per hour. Gradually, the huge stacks began to shrink.
As it turned out, the job was completed three hours before Sunday's 7 a.m. deadline. By the time I arrived home, the boys had already settled their accounts: $150 in labor costs, $40 for gasoline, and a like amount
for gifts—boxes of candy for saintly neighbors who had volunteered station wagons and help in delivery and dozen roses for their mother. This left them with $185 each — about two-thirds the minimum wage for the 91 hours they worked. Still, it was "enough", as one of them put it, to enable them to "avoid indignity" for quite a while.
All went well for some weeks. Then one Saturday morning my attention was drawn to the odd goings-on of our two youngest sons. They kept carrying carton after carton from various corners of the house out the front door to curbside. I assumed their mother had enlisted them to remove junk for a trash pickup. Then I overheard them discussing finances.
"Geez, we're going to make a lot of money!"
"We're going to be rich!"
Investigation revealed that they were offering " for sale or rent" our entire library.
"No! No!" I cried. "You can't sell our books!"
"Geez, Dad, we thought you were done with them!"
"You're never 'done' with books," I tried to explain.
"Sure you are. You read them, and you're done with them. That's it. Then you might as well make a little money from them. We wanted to avoid the indignity of having to ask you for……"

New Words

buck
n. (sl.) U.S. dollar
plastic
a. 塑料的
n. (pl) 塑料

doorknob
n. 门把手

leisurely
a. unhurried 从容的，慢慢的

leisure
n. free time 空闲时间，闲暇

lucrative
a. profitable 有利的；赚钱的

pain
vt. cause pain to

panhandle
vi. (AmE) beg. esp. on the streets

delivery
n. delivering (of letters, goods, etc.)投递；送交

enthuse
vi. show enthusiasm

inquire
vt. ask

super
a. (colloq.) wonderful, splendid; excellent

snap
vt. say(sth.) sharply 厉声说

insert
n. 插页

normally
ad. in the usual conditions; ordinarily 通常

company
n. 公司

echo
vt. say or do what another person says or does; repeat 附和；重复

ad
n. (short for) advertisement

inform
vt. tell; give information 告知

porch
n. (AmE) veranda 门廊

armload
n. as much as one arm or both arms can hold; armful

walk
n. a path specially arranged or paved for walking 人行道

unnaturally
ad. in an unnatural way 不自然地

quaver
vi. (of the voice or sound) shake; tremble 颤抖

truckload
n. as much or as many as a truck can carry

department store
n. store selling many different kinds of goods in separate departments 百货公司

dime
n. coin of U.S. and Canada worth ten cents

dime store
n. (AmE) a store selling a large variety of low-priced articles; variety store 廉价商品店；小商口店

drugstore
n. (AmE) a store that sells not only medicine, but also beauty products, film, magazines, and food 药店，杂货店

grocery
n. a store that sells food and household supplies 食品杂货店

section
n. part of subdivision of a piece of writing, book, newspaper, etc.; portion （文章等的）段落；节；部分

cram
vt. fill too full; force or press into a small space 把……塞满；把……塞进

stack
n. an orderly; heap or group of things 一叠（堆、垛等）

band
n. flat, thin piece of material 带；带状物
vt. tie up with a band 捆扎

rubber band
n. 橡皮筋

takeout
a. （餐馆）出售外卖菜的

range
n. the distance at which one can see or hear （听觉、视觉等）的范围

marvel(l)ous
a. wonderful; astonishing

steak
n. 牛排；大块肉（或鱼）片

sour
a. 酸的

eel
n. 鳗鲡

diplomacy
n. 外交

encouraging
a. 鼓舞人心的

dent
n. a hollow in a hard surface made by a blow or pressure; initial progress凹痕，凹坑，初步进展

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