5 May, 2016 (Week 11)
1. find fault with 找碴: to seek and point out faults (of); complain (about); criticize
→ We were unable to find fault with his arguments.
2. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" (text)
"The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a short story by D. H. Lawrence.
① D. H. Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930)
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works, among other things, represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation.
② Plot summary
Hester is an unhappy woman who feels her family does not have enough money. Paul believes that when he rides his rocking-horse, he obtains knowledge of the winning horse in the race. He makes a winning bet on a horse that earns his family a handsome sum of money, but he falls off his rocking horse and descends into a semiconscious state. He eventually dies.
③ Characters
⑴ Paul: A young boy who notices that his mother doesn't love him and his sisters, even though she "adores" them. When he receives a rocking horse for Christmas, he rides it often and comes to find that he can predict what horse is going to win the next big horse race.
⑵ Hester: Paul's mother. She becomes "dissatisfied with her marriage" when she finds that her husband is not lucky and doesn't make enough money.
⑶ Bassett: The family gardener and friend. Is the one who gets Paul into horse racing, and later becomes "betting partners".
⑷ Oscar Creswell: Paul's uncle and his mother's brother. Provided the money that Paul used to make his first win at the horse race. Signed the lawyer papers in order for Paul's mother to receive "one thousand pounds at a time, on the mother's birthday, for the next five years". Oscar becomes partners with Paul and Bassett.
3. 張愛玲 【花凋】(文本)
鄭川嫦—一名沒落大家的么女，在大家庭中成長，從小乖巧順從，即使被姊姊們欺壓也從不吭一聲。鄭家表面上闊氣，實質上卻過得拮据，家中四姊妹從小就被灌輸長大後須嫁得好人家的思想，宛如身處「新娘學校」般被訓練著。在姊姊們都出嫁後，川嫦經人介紹和一名留學醫生章雲藩訂親，一開始兩人的交往頗為順利，川嫦卻在不久後生了一場大病，病情時好時壞，最終到了難以醫治的地步。這場大病粉碎了川嫦的婚姻美夢，章雲藩在她並了兩年後另結新歡，川嫦大受打擊，不久之後抑鬱而終。
*tedious (adj.) something that is tedious continues for a long time and is not interesting 枯燥乏味的、冗長的
*wordy (adj.) using too many words 話太多的、冗長的
*fable (n.) a traditional short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals (一則)寓言
*allegory (n.) a story, painting etc in which the events and characters represent ideas or teach a moral lesson 寓言，諷諭