Lesson 4 The double life of Alfred Bloggs

Learning tips

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Lesson 4 The double life of Alfred Bloggs 阿尔弗雷德.布洛格斯的双重生活

These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices. People who work in offices are frequently referred to as ‘white-collar workers' for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work. Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers. This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.

When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret. AlF's wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office. He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him 'Mr. Bloggs', not 'Alf'.

Language points

（Attention：The following points are not covered by the video. It is better for you to watch the video or listen to the MP3 first and try to take notes on your own. Then you may check here to get more details. ）

1，These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices.

people who do manual work 指的是 blue-collar workers新概念英语电子书

people who work in offices指的是white-collar workers，people who do mental work

far more money than... 钱远多于

far--副词，用来强调语气，我们也可以用much来替换far

2，People who work in offices are frequently referred to as ‘white-collar workers' for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work.

refer to ...as 把...看作为

相当于：regard ...as...

e.g. I always refer to him as bookworm. 我总是把他当作书呆子。

for the simple reason that 因为

相当于:for 引导的原因状语从句

e.g. He was sent to the prison for he could not pay his debts. 他进了监狱因为他没法还债。

区别：for the reason that 比because正式，因此多用于正式文体

3, Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers.

human nature 人之常情

such...that...

that 引导同位语从句，进一步补充说明such的基本内涵

e.g. His kindness was such that we will never forget him.

相当于：

He was so kind that we will never forget him.

Such was his kindness, that we will never forget him.

Tip: Such用在句首时，要倒装。

for the privilege of sth. 为了某种特权

介词for表示一种目的

be willing to do sth.心甘情愿做...

相当于：be ready to do sth.