8 He kept staring at me all night long. (Para. 2)
Note: Both gaze at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly for a long time
because of being attracted, surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually has the additional meaning of “with eyes widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great attention”; gaze at usually implies “in a dreamy and unaware state of mind”.
9 I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons. First, he looked like he was a really wild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was very cute, he seemed a little weird. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: She wasn’t interested in him because she got the impression
that he was wild and strange, which illustrates that she didn’t know much about him at the beginning. Therefore, it’s not true that their romance was heading for marriage from the start.
10 Riding on his bicycle, he’d ride past my dorm as if “by accident” and pretend to be surprised to see me. I liked the attention but was cautious about his wild, dynamic personality. (Para. 3)
Meaning beyond words: She understood his little trick: trying to see her by
manufacturing excuses. Though she was happy to be the focus of his attention, she was also very alert to his wild and dynamic personality.
11 He had a charming way with words which would charm any girl. (Para. 3) Meaning: He knew how to please and attract girls because what he said was always pleasant to their ears.
12 Fear came over me when I started to fall in love. His exciting “bad boy image” was just too tempting to resist. What was it that attracted me?(Para. 3)
Meaning: I was in an awkward position: I started to fall in love with him, but I was also afraid of that. His bad boy image was too attractive to resist, but at the same time it was somewhat fearful. So, what exactly was it in him that attracted me?
Note: Tempting is a present participle of the verb tempt, used as an adjective to describe
the effect that something has on someone’s feelings. For example, if you find something tempting/charming/disgusting/frightening, it means it tempts/charms/disgusts/frightens you. In English there are a group of words describing an effect that something has on your feelings and ideas. For example:
a tempting job offer 一个诱人的工作机会
an alarming increase in racial hostility 种族仇视的惊人增长
a welcoming smile 热情的微笑 a surprising number of 数量惊人的
13 I always had an excellent reputation. My concentration was solely on my studies to get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)
Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only concentrated on studies in order to get excellent grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student also have fun?
14 College is supposed to be a time of great learning and also some fun. I had nearly achieved a great education, and graduation was just one semester away. But I hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no component of fun! I needed a boyfriend. (Para. 3)
Meaning: College is definitely a nice place for education but should have some fun as well. Throughout my years at college, I had devoted all my time to study but hadn’t had any fun yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a boyfriend to enrich my college life.
15 Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal that semester became: Be ambitious and grab the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)
Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome, pleasant and attractive. My ambition for that semester, therefore, was to find the cutest boyfriend at college.
16 I worried what he’d think of me. (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: Her concern about how Butch would look at her shows that she was becoming more interested in him and cared about his real thinking.
17 True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in sexual attitudes was taking place, but I was a traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways that seemed common on campus. (Para. 4)
Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era when sexual attitudes were changing dramatically, but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready for the new sexual practice seemingly common on campus.
18 Butch looked superb! I was not immune to his personality, but I was scared. (Para. 4)
Meaning: Butch looked extremely wonderful. I was surely influenced by his personality, but I felt scared.
19 The night when he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend, I went along with him. (Para. 4)
Meaning: That night when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his girlfriend, I did not have any objection.
Meaning beyond words: She has apparently changed her perception of Butch, from
being merely curious about him at first to becoming cautious about his wild, dynamic personality later; from being fearful of failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving of being his girlfriend.
20 And then I suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his girlfriend? How did that happen?” (Para. 4)
Meaning beyond words: All of a sudden, she realized that she had made a mistake because she was not really ready to have a boyfriend yet.
Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used to express surprise. For example: Gosh, I didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！ Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！
Gosh, there’s a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。
21 Then he whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m going to marry you one day and I will be a lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)
Meaning: Then he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said that he would marry me and I could eventually see him become a lawyer.
22 I was laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never marry this guy. He’s a rebel without a good future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring student life. I just want to have fun.” (Para. 5)
Meaning: Though I agreed to be his girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a rebellious boy without a bright future. Therefore, I was not very serious about our relationship. To me, the only purpose to date him was to get away from my boring student life.
23 Sure enough, the following month, I found out he had failed all his courses. (Para. 6)
Meaning: Just as I had expected, he didn’t pass any of his courses.
24 Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the university. (Para. 6) Meaning: As a consequence, the university was going to dismiss him from the school.
25 To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I knew there was hope, so I led him to the college secretary for reconsideration. (Para. 6)
Meaning: What upset me was that he seemed to accept his fate. As I knew there was still
a hope, I took him to the college secretary to see whether the decision could be changed.
26 “You are going to graduate with a BA in political science from UPenn and proceed to the College of Law,” I told him, lodging an appeal on his behalf, which was approved. (Para. 7)
Meaning beyond words: What she did for her boyfriend indicated their relationship had come to a new stage. Besides encouraging him to consult with the college secretary and submitting the appeal on his behalf, she also planned for his future career. She told him
he had to continue his studies at law school.
Note: Besides a noun, “proceed to” can also be followed by a verb phrase. For example: Having said how much she liked my idea, she then proceeded to make critical comments about it. 说完她是多么喜欢我的点子，她接着就提出了批评性的意见。
27 Butch was granted reconsideration. And, once we became steadies, he coordinated his studies and social life, passing all of his classes. He eventually studied law. (Para. 7)
Meaning beyond words: Here we see the turning point of the relationship between the two. Her suggestions did work well with Butch since he was granted reconsideration. As soon as they became steady lovers, Butch balanced his studies and social life and passed every course. Finally, he studied law as had been planned.
Note: Steady can also be used as a noun, as is in the text. It’s an old-fashioned American
way to describe a boyfriend or girlfriend that someone has been having a romantic relationship with.
28 Despite Butch’s somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always a perfect gentleman and deserves a lot of credit for that. (Para. 8)
Meaning: In spite of Butch’s a little wild character, he was always a perfect gentleman in essence, for which he should be given recognition.
29 True, he’d sometimes take the liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss on my lips right in front of my astonished friends who watched and disapproved. (Para. 8)
Meaning: Without my permission, sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to show his love in front of my friends, who were astonished and resented what he did.
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