Text 1 excuses,excuses

Text 1

导语：

从教数载，你一定收到过无数的请假条，请假的理由五花八门：自个儿生病；父母亲生病；爷爷奶奶生病；小狗生病；小猫生病；跌倒摔倒；闹钟未响；车船晚点……等等等等。当然，这些理由真真假假。要当面揭穿孩子们的谎话还真不是件容易的事。等等！干嘛一定要当面揭穿？这不，Ralph Mckee Vocational School的写作课老师Frank灵机一动：与其当面让孩子难堪，何不将计就计？一堂创意写作课由此而生。其实，教学也需要创意，你说呢？让我们都跟本文的作者Frank学学吧！

Text

Excuses, Excuses1

2Frank McCourt

My students forge the notes. I turned them into a lesson plan.

[1] I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at Ralph Mckee Vocational School in

Staten Island, New York, when one of my students, 16-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his

mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.

[2] “Dear Mr. McCourt, Mikey‟s grandmother who is eighty years of age fell down the

stairs from too much coffee3 and I kept Mikey at home to take care of her and his baby sister so I

could go to my job at the ferry terminal. Please excuse Mikey and he‟ll do his best in the future.

P.S. His grandmother is ok.” I had seen Mikey writing the note at his desk, using his left hand to

disguise his handwriting. I said nothing.

[3] Most parental-excuse notes I received back in those days were penned by my students.

disguise: [dis'ɡaiz] v. 伪装；假装

They‟d been forging excuse notes since they learned to write, and if I were to confront each

forger I‟d be busy 24 hours a day.

[4] I threw Mikey‟s note into a desk drawer along with dozens of other notes. While my

classes took a test, I decided to read all the notes I‟d only glanced at before. I made two piles, one

for the genuine ones written by mothers, the other for forgeries. The second was the larger pile,

with writing that ranged from imaginative to lunatic.

[5] I was having an epiphany.

[6] Isn‟t it remarkable, I thought, how the students whined and said it was hard putting 200

words together on any subject? But when they forged excuse notes, they were brilliant. The notes

I had could be turned into an anthology of Great American Excuses. They were samples of talent

never mentioned in song, story or study.

[7] Here was American high school writing at its best ---raw, real, urgent, lucid, brief, and

lying. I read:

[8] The stove caught fire and the wallpaper went up and the fire department kept us out of

forge: [fɔ:dʒ] v. 伪造

genuine: ['dʒenjuin] adj. 真实的

lunatic: ['lju:nətik] adj. 疯狂的；愚蠢的

epiphany: [i'pifəni] n. 顿悟

anthology: [æn'θɔlədʒi] n. 选集

the house all night.

[9] Arnold was getting off the train and the door closed on his school bag and the train took

it away, He yelled to the conductor who said very vulgar things as the train drove away.

[10] His sister‟s dog ate his homework and I hope it chokes him.

[11] We were evicted from our apartment and the mean sheriff said if my son kept yelling

for his notebook he‟d have us all arrested.

[12] The writers of these notes didn‟t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull:

“Peter was late because the alarm clock didn‟t go off.”

[13] One day I type out a dozen excuse notes and distributed them to my senior classes.

The students read them silently, intently. “Mr. Mccourt, who wrote these?” asked one boy.

[14] “You did,” I said. “I omitted names to protect the guilty. They‟re supposed to be

written by parents, but you and I know the real authors. Yes, Mikey?”

[15] “So what are we supposed to do?”

[16] “This is the first class to study the art of the excuse note---the first class, ever, to

practice writing them. You‟re so lucky to have your best writing and turned it into a subject

worthy of study.”

[17] Everyone smiled as I went on. “You didn‟t settle for the old alarm clock story. You used

vulgar: ['vʌlɡə] adj. 粗俗的；通俗的

choke: [tʃəuk] v. 呛；使窒息

sheriff: ['ʃerif] n. 州长；郡治安官

your imaginations. One day you might be writing excuses for your own children when they‟re late

or absent or up to some devilment. So try it now. Imagine you have a 15-year-old who needs an

devilment: ['devəlmənt] n. 恶作剧；坏事

excuse for falling behind in English. Let it rip4.”

[18] The students produced a variety of excuses, ranging from a 16-wheeler crashing into a

house to a severe case of food poisoning blamed on the school cafeteria. They said, “More, more.

Can we do more?”

[19] So I said, “I‟d like you to write---”And I finished, “„An Excuse Note from Adam 5 to

God‟ or „An Excuse Note from Eve 6 to God.‟” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper.

[20] Before long the bell rang. For the first time ever I saw students so immersed in their

writing they had to be urged to go lunch by their friends: “Yo, Lenny. Come on. Finish it later.”

[21] Next day everyone had excuse notes, not only from Adam and Eve but from God and

Lucifer. One girl defended the seduction of Adam on the grounds that Eve was tired of lying

around Paradise 7 doing nothing, day in and day out. She was also tired of God sticking his nose

into their business.

[22] Heated discussions followed about the relative guilt and sinfulness of Adam and Eve.

No one said anything negative about God, though there were hints. He could have been more

understanding of the plight of the first man and woman, said someone.

immerse: [i'mə:s] vt. 沉浸；使陷入

seduction: [si'dʌkʃən] n. 诱惑；魅力

plight: [plait] n. 困境

[23] I asked the class to think about anyone in history who could use a good excuse note. I

wrote suggestions on the board: Eva Braun, Hitler‟s girlfriend. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg8,

executed for treason. Judas. Attila the Hun, Lee Harvey Oswald. Al Capone.

[24] “Yo, Mr. McCourt, could you put teachers up there?” said a student.

[25] And then I heard, “Mr. McCourt, the principal is at the door.”

[26] My heart sank as the principal entered, along with the superintendent of schools.

Neither acknowledged me. They walked up and down, peering at papers. The superintendent

picked one up, showed it to the principal.

[27] The superintendent frowned. The principal pursed his lips 9. On their way out, the

principal said the superintendent would like to see me.

[28] Here it comes, I thought. The reckoning. The principal was sitting at his desk; the

superintendent was standing. “Come in,” said the superintendent. “I just want to tell you that that

lesson, that project, whatever the hell you were doing, was topnotch10. Those kids were writing on

the college level.”

[29] He turned to the principal and said, “That kid writing an excuse note for Judas.

Brilliant. I just want to shake your hand,” he said, turning back to me. “There might be a letter in

your file attesting to your energetic and imaginative teaching. Thank you.”

treason: ['tri:zən] n. [法] 叛国罪；不忠

superintendent: [,sju:pərin'tendənt] n. 监督人；负责人

reckoning: ['rekəniŋ] n. 计算；清算；算帐

attest: [ə'test] vt. 证明；证实

[30] God in heaven. High praise from an important person. Should I dance down the hallway,

or lift and fly? Next day in class, I just started singing.

[31] The kids laughed. They said, “Man, school should be like this every day, us writing

excuse notes and teachers singing all of a sudden.” Sooner or later, I figured, everyone needed an

excuse. Also, if we sang today we could sing tomorrow, and why not? You don‟t need an excuse

for singing.

Notes

1. This text is excerpted from Teacher Man, 2005 memoir written by Frank McCourt which describes and reflects on his teaching experiences

in New York high schools and colleges.

2. Frank McCourt, born in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, began a process of self-education and improvement that led, eventually, to a career as

a high-school teacher.

3. too much coffee: she drank too much coffee.

4. Let it rip: let us begin.

5. Adam: Adam was the first man in the world according to Bible.亚当

6. Eve： Eve was the first woman who lived with Adam in the garden of Eden. 夏娃

7. Paradise：Paradise is a place where good people will live in happiness. 天堂

8. Judas. 犹大，叛徒。Lucifer: 魔鬼，撒旦

9. …pursed his lips: 撮起嘴唇

10. topnotch: excellent

Phrases and Expressions

be evicted from to be forced to leave somewhere

glance at to give a quick short look

turn into to change into

be worthy of deserving respect, admiration or support:

Reading Comprehension

Choose the best for each of the following.

1. According to the passage, the teacher _______.

A. is angry with his students

B. does not like his students forging excuse notes

C. blames the parents

D. teaches a successful writing class

驱逐，赶走

一瞥

进入, (使)变成值得的

2. Mikey missed school______.

A. because his grandmother fell down from the stairs

B. because he did not like his teacher

C. because his parents wanted him to be home

D. because he did not want to go to school

3. When the students forged the excuse notes, they were _______.

A. very smart and imaginative

B. bored

C. indifferent

D. excited

4. The principal of the school ____________.

A. blamed the teacher for what he had done in class

B. praised the teacher for what he had done in class

C. was disappointed with the teacher

D. fired the teacher

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The students enjoyed the teacher‟s writing class very much.

B. The students were very creative in forging excuse notes.

C. The teacher enjoyed teaching writing.

D. The students did not enjoy the teacher‟s writing class.

Vocabulary

I Choose the answer that best completes each sentence.

1. A number of ______works of art have been sold as genuine.

A. false B. beautiful C. famous D. forged

2. To _______ one‟s power is to commit a crime and eventually end up in jail.

A. accuse B. abuse C. deduce D. excuse

3. Seeing the speeding car, the policeman ______the driver to pull up at the curb.

A. reckoned B. beckoned C. softened D. stiffened

4. Unfortunately, he hit a traffic jam and missed the train____ a few minutes.

A. with B. by C. before D. for

5. She gave a clear and ______ account of her plans for the company‟s future.

A. lucid B. dull C. unclear D. ambiguous

6. Isn‟t it rather _______ to talk about how much money you earn?

A. polite B. boring C. vulgar D. pleasant

7. The books will be _____ free to local schools.

A. contributed B. tribute C. attributed D. distributed

8. The editor required him to ______ some details of the article.

A. omit B. permit C. summit D. illuminate

9. Few of us can be unmoved by the _______ of the Romanian orphans.

A. light B. might C. plight D. moonlight

10. I have to ______ my reputation.

A. detect B. protect C. intact D. prevent

II Fill in the blanks with the words or phrases given below. Change the form where necessary.

evicted

imagination

1. I know why this happened. You don‟t have to find any ______.

2. He was _______ from the pub for drunken and violent behavior.

3. This emperor is said to have paid many personal visits to various counties _____ as an ordinary citizen.

4. Every year she makes a large donation to a _____ cause.

5. Children often have very vivid __________.

choke

lucid

disguise

omit

forge

worthy

gem

excuse

Translation

Put the following paragraphs into Chinese.

Reading is a pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good

reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along

with the author‟s or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas

develop as you understand his.