Lesson 26 Virtue and a fast Gun 美德与快抢手

William S. Hart was, perhaps, the greatest of all Western stars, for unlike Gary Cooper and John Wayne he appeared in nothing but Westerns. From 1914 to 1924 he was supreme and unchallenged. It was Hart who created the basic formula of the Western film, and devised the protagonist he played in every film he made, the good-bad man, the accidental, noble outlaw, or the honest but framed cowboy, or the sheriff made suspect by vicious gossip; in short, the individual in conflict with himself and his frontier environment.

Unlike most of his contemporaries in Hollywood, Hart actually 'knew something of the old West. He had lived in it as a child when it was already disappearing, and his hero was firmly rooted in his memories and experiences, and in both the history and the mythology of the vanished frontier. And although no period or place in American history has been more absurdly romanticized, myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena, the conflict between the individual and encroaching civilization.

Men accustomed to struggling for survival against the elements and Indian were bewildered by politicians, bankers and Business-men, and unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. Hart's good-bad man was always an outsider, always one of the disinherited, and if he found it necessary to shoot a sheriff or rob a bank along the way, his early audiences found it easy to understand and forgive, especially when it was Hart who, in the end, overcame the attacking Indians. Audiences in the second decade of the twentieth century found it pleasant to escape to a time when life, though hard, was relatively simple. We still do; living in a world in which undec-lared aggression, war, hypocrisy, chicanery, anarchy and impending immolation are part of our daily lives, we all want a code to live by.

New words and expressions 生词短语

supreme

super

a. 首屈一指

超级

supreme court 最高法院

supreme people’s court 最高人民法院

intermediate 中级

supremacy

n.首屈一指 male supremacy 大男子主义 male supremacist 大男子主义者

grey mare 胜过丈夫的妻子 second to none 最高的

India is second to China in population.

second to 仅次于

protagonist n.主角

antagonist 反面角色

leading role 主角

supporting role 配角

extra 跑龙套 starring 领街

outlaw

n.亡命徒

outlaws in the green wood 绿林好汉

brigand 地匪，流窜犯

highway man 打劫的

fake 假的

framed

sheriff

vicious

fake 假的

venomous 恶毒的 heinous 恶毒的

malicious 邪恶的

gossipn. 流言蜚语

rumor 谣言，传闻

It is rumored that he robbed the bank.

gossip monger 传谣言的人

in short

总之

n 环境

in brief /in a word 总之

environment

surrounding 环境

under the environment 在……情况下

environment makes man.环境造就人

vanished

arena

a.消失了的

n.竞技场

absurdlyad 荒诞的

amphitheater 圆形剧场

political arena 政治舞台

anarchy

monarchy

lawless

impending

code n.准则

n.混乱

君主制

adj.非法的

chaos

n. 混乱

n.骚乱

deliver 给

a.遭到陷害的

n.司法长官

a.恶毒的

bullflighting 斗牛

encroaching

encroach 侵犯

American culture is encroaching globally.

penetratin 渗入

His speeh is penetrating.

India

n.印第安人

bewilder vt.使手足无措

wilder 迷茫 baffle/muddle 迷乱的

dizzy 昏的

alien

disorient 使……失去方向

a. 外来的

a.渐渐渗入的

alien product 洋货

alien word 外来词

eg.sofa,jeep,café,coolie,kotow;

alienate v.远离

taboo

n.戒律

forbidden words

disinherit vt.剥求……的继承权

damn it

inherit 继承

inheritance 继承权

undec-lareda.未经宣布的

hypocrisy n.伪善

hypocrite 伪君子

hypocritical 过于挑剔

chicanery n.诈骗

chicane

v.骗(以-ry 结尾的名词没有复数

如 machinery,pottery,jewelery

cheat,deceive,hoax

cheat 骗钱财

deceive one’s feelings

hoax:play trick(哄小孩)

chaotic adj.混乱

imminent 迫近的

sacrifice n. 祭祀品

turbulence

a.迫近的 approaching 靠近

immolate vt. 杀

immolation n.杀戮

Notes on the text 课文注释

William s.Hart

William:first/given/Christian name

s.:middle name

Hart :last name

Western stars 西部片影星

for 因为

unlike 与……不同

appear in nothing but 仅仅出现于

nothing but 仅仅

He is nothing but liar.他是骗子。

He is anything but liar 他不是骗子

he is nothing but angry.他很生气

he is anyghing but angry.他不生气新概念作文

Gary Cooper

Puritan 清教徒

comedy 喜剧

unchallenged=matchless

It was ……强调句式

1. vast west

2. Indians

3. hero.

devise=design

upright 正直

film maker 制片人

good-bad man 本质好，偶尔做坏事的人

tramp 流浪者

Chinese Amercian 美籍华人(根在前)

noble:1.rich

2.noble minded

out of impulse 一时冲动

cowherd/comman 牧童

suspect 嫌疑犯

He was made Chairman.他被选为主席

abuse power 滥用权力

rangy 落魄的人

minor figure 小人物

in short

in conflict with 与……有冲突

frontier 此处意思是广阔的西部

unwillingly

outsider 局外人

contemporary 同时代的人，当代的

modern 现代的

know sth. of 略有了解

关于“西部在消失”的背景常识

Jefferson

the declaration of Indepedence 独立宣言

Louisiana 路易斯安那

- 64 –

Mississippi 密西西比河

ambassador 大使

hire 租用

fight across 难以定夺

(将在外，君命有所不受)

gold rush 淘金热

hero 英雄

mythology 神话

although 让步状语从句

no……more……构成最高级

romanticized 此处指作成电影(浪漫化)

indelible effect 不可磨灭的印象

join hands=coexist 并存

solid basis 虚构

同位句

conflict 是 arena 的同位语

accustomed to 做后置定语

意思是 used to 习惯于

unhorsed 放弃戎马生涯

overcame 击退

comment 评论

relatively 相对的

do=find it pleasan