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

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.

4, 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.

give rise to引起，惹起

相当于：result in, lead to, cause新概念英语第二册mp3下载

e.g. Such conduct might give rise to misunderstandings. 这种行为会引起误解。

e.g. The bad conditions have given rise to a lot of crimes. 不良的环境会引起犯罪。

in the case of: 至于，就......而言

e.g. Stealing is no shame in the case of him.

区别：in case of: (连) 万一，以防

e.g. You should ensure your house in case of fire.

5，When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job.

too embarrassed to say:太尴尬而没有说明

be ashamed of感到羞愧

e.g. Alf was ashamed of his job as a dustman.

get married 结婚

总结：marry v. 娶，嫁

如果强调动作：He married the girl.

如果表示状态：get married, be married

如果表明和某人已经结婚多长时间了：be married to sb.

e.g. The old man has been married to his wife 50 years.

too...to..., 太...而不能...

6, Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit.

dressed in a smart black suit-----分词作状语，表示一种伴随状态

e.g.

He got to work dressed in a beautiful coat.

He left home wearing a smart black suit.

7, He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman.

Changed into: 换上

区别：change back into 换回

8, Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit.

Before returning home...介词before和动名词搭配而成的时间状语，相当于before 引导的时间状语从句。 翻译做：在...之前，...

在表示动作先后发生，且动作是由同一个主体做出时，可以用状语代替状语从句，从而使句子结构很紧凑，意思联系更密切。

e.g. After getting home, he had a good rest. 回家之后，他好好休息了一下。

e.g. Before having dinner, he finished all his homework. 饭前，他完成了作业。

9, AlF's wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job.

She never will = she will never discover the secret

在省略句式中， never要放在助动词之前。

e.g.

‘Will you go to see her?'

‘ I will never go to see her.' ‘No, I never will.'

10, 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.

half as much as (he used to): 是 ... 的一半

half (a quarter, twice, three times ) as ...as...表示倍数

e.g. I won't marry a man who is twice as old as me.我不像嫁给比我大一倍的人。

e.g. We got three times as many people as we expected. 人数是我们预计的三倍。

e.g. This room is about three times as large as that one. 这屋子是那屋的三倍。

...as (形容词或副词原形)as... 是 ...几倍

比 ...多几倍：...times (形容词或副词比较级)than...

e.g. This road is four times longer than that one. =This road is five times as long as that one.

is well worth the loss of money

e.g. What he obtained is well worth the loss of time. 他所获得的很值得，损失点时间也没关系。

Well 是副词用来加强语气，修饰形容词worth

worth adj. 后面只能跟名词或动名词

e.g.His suggestion is worth considering. 他的建议值得考虑。

Special difficulties

英语中的许多动词不能以人作为宾语，只能代某物或某事。如果需要说明是某人就要用介词to.

e.g.

He explained the difficulty to me.

He told a story to me.= He told me a story.

两类词汇：

tell可以和双宾语搭配（指物的直接宾语，指人的间接宾语)

explain, say只能带一个（直接）宾语，在间接宾语前要介词to

e.g. She speaks English to her husband and Swedish to her children.

e.g. He admitted his guilt to the police.

e.g. Did you suggest this idea to him?

当直接宾语比较长或者是个从句时，通常放在间接宾语之后，但say除外

e.g. I explained to him the impossibility of granting his request.

e.g. He confessed to me that he had fallen asleep during the meeting.

Exercises

1, Choice questions

(1) What does the case of Alfred Bloggs illustrate?

a. That people often care more about the status of a job than the salary.

b. That ‘white-collar workers' usually wear a suit to go to work.

c. That manual workers prefer to keep their job a secret.

d. That office workers usually earn less than manual workers.

(2) He told his wife that he worked for the Corporation .

a. simply b. in a simple way c. and no more d. only

（3）His earnings were only half the amount。

a. as they used to b. they used to c. they used to be d. they were used to

2, Translation

(4) 我们总是想得到很多免费的东西，这是人之常情。

(5) 那些女性之所以常常被称为"家庭主妇"，是因为她们为了家庭放弃了职业。

(6) 最近的事故引起全国的关注。

(7) 当他参军的时候，山姆并不知道苏珊爱上了他的哥哥，而且他永远不会知道，因为后来他在战争中死亡了。

(8) 他将来赚的钱只是现在的一半，但是他觉得地位升高了，损失点钱也值得。

(9) 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.

3,Writing

(10) Why did Alf change his job?