Unit 8 Mother s Hands 課文架構 Beginning The

Unit 8 Mother’s Hands

課文架構 Beginning The narrator recalls her mother’s daily routine of kissing her good night. ～ Rising Action ‧The narrator lashed out at her mother and complained that her mother’s hands were too rough for her young skin. ‧The memory of what happened that night still lingered. ‧The narrator’s mother is still taking care of the narrator and her family through the years.

Climax Years later, on one Thanksgiving Eve, the narrator’s mother came to the narrator’s bed and kissed the narrator good night. Falling Action The narrator caught her mother’s hand apologized to her mother. The narrator’s mother had already forgiven the narrator and forgotten the incident. Resolution The narrator’s guilt over the years disappeared. She fell asleep with a new appreciation for her mother.

1/7 What messages does the narrator try to carry in the story? Night after night, Mom came to my bed and said good night, even long after my childhood years. As part of her nightly routine, she would lean down, push my long hair out of the way, and then kiss my forehead.

night after night 每晚，日復一日相似用法尚有 time after time、 after day、 day week after week、 year after year，意為「一次又一次」、「持續著每一 /週 /年」。天 long after 在 …許久之後 The country declared independence long after the war was ended. 除 after之外，long其他常見搭配用法尚有： I knew Sam long before we went to high school. The department store was closed long ago. Flora had long since changed her phone number.

As part of. . . out of the way, . . . as part of sth 是 (某事 )的一部份 I keep a diary as part of my daily routine. out of the way 移開 We moved the desks and chairs out of the way to do the classroom activity.

2/7 I can’t remember when it first started annoying me—her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me anyway, for they felt rough against my young skin. Finally, one night, I lashed out at her, “Stop doing that—your hands are too rough!” She didn’t say anything in reply, and never did she end my day with that special expression of love again. That night, I found myself lying awake long after she left my room. Regrettably, I never told her I was sorry.

. . . when it first started annoying me – her hands pushing my hair that way. it為虛主詞，指的是破折號後面 “her hands pushing my hair that way”這個動作。 But it did annoy me anyway, for they felt rough against my young skin. did為強調語氣，因是助動詞，後面需接原形動詞；原處亦可改寫為. . . it really annoyed me. . . 。 for conj. 因為，由於 …的緣故 for後面的子句可補充說明前面的敘述，如： You must be ill, for you look so pale. feel為連綴動詞，以非人稱的名詞作為主詞時，表示「給人 …的感覺」。在這種狀況下，feel不能使用進行式。如：

against為介系詞，表「擦、碰（某物的表面）」。 Rubin stood against the wall and pondered about the matter. for和 because的比較皆表「因為」時， for子句是邏輯上或推斷出的理由。 because 子句表示道德上或是自然的原因；當該句強調原因時， because通常出現於句尾。如： My parents must be at home for the light is on. (→「電燈亮著」屬邏輯上的理由； for子句出現於句尾。 ) We have to stay at home because it’s raining outside. (→「外頭下著雨」屬自然原因；將because子句放在句尾以強調「必須待在家」的原因。)

. . . never did she end my day with. . . 此為否定副詞置於句首的倒裝句 she never ended my day with. . . 。 . . . , I found myself lying awake. . . V + OC (V ing/V en)句型 (find/leave/keep) lie awake 無法成眠

lie vi. (lay | lain | lying) 躺臥；位於 Lying on the bed, Andrew was reading a comic book. The train station lies in the center of the city. lie vi. (lied | lying) 說謊 Matt’s mother forgave Matt for lying to her. lay vt. (laid | laying) 下蛋；鋪設 The hen laid eggs in the nest. The workers are laying the bricks.

regrettably相當於 to one’s regret 。如： Regrettably/To my regret, I lost touch with Sarah after that fight.

3/7 Time after time, with the passing years, my thoughts would often return to that night. I missed my mother’s hands and her goodnight kiss upon my forehead. Sometimes, the memory of that unspeakable night seemed very close and sometimes far away. It was always there — in the back of my mind.

. . . , with the passing years, . . . with表示「隨著」，指「因某緣故，事物隨之改變、發生或發展」。其引導的介系詞片語當做副詞，用以修飾主要子句。如： Technology advances with time

. . . that unspeakable night seemed very close and sometimes far away. unspeakable adj. 難以形容的此字由字首 un 、字尾 able所組成，用於強調某事或某人的惡劣。 The place where the old man lived was unspeakable. seem為連綴動詞，故需接形容詞 (close、 far) 作為主詞 (that unspeakable night)的補語。 close、 away於此處是指時間的遠近。 far in the back of one’s mind 在某人的內心深處 (= at the back of one’s mind) In/At the back of my mind, I know Eric didn’t mean to upset me.

4/7 Years have passed. I am no longer a young girl, and Mom is in her mid-seventies. Those hands I once thought to be rough are still taking care of me and my family. Over the years, those hands have reached into a medicine cabinet for the remedy that would calm a young girl’s upset stomach or soothe a boy’s painful knee. The very same hands have also cooked the best fried chicken in the world, gotten stains out of my jeans, and dished out ice cream on a hot summer day.

in her mid-seventies 的 “mid ” 表示 in the middle of，指in the middle of her seventies，也就是「75、 76歲」，若是 one’s seventies in 則為「 70～ 79歲之間」。表示各個階段年齡的用法如下： in one’s teens 青少年時期 in one’s twenties/thirties/forties 20～ 29歲/30～ 39歲/40～ 49歲 in one’s early/mid/late twenties 20幾歲出頭 /25、 26歲/近 30歲

over the years 這些年來句中如出現 over/through the years、 to now、 up so far、 until now等時間副詞片語，句中的動詞時態需為現在完成式。如： Through the years, more colleges and universities have been set up in Taiwan. the very same hands → exactly the same hands the very same + N意為「正是…，同一…」，用以強調後面的名詞。

5/7 Now, my own children are all grown and gone, and Mom no longer has Dad. On special days, I find myself drawn to her house to spend the night with her. On the eve of one Thanksgiving, as I was about to fall asleep in my old bedroom, a rough but loving hand hesitantly stole across my face and brushed the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss, ever so gently, touched my eyebrow.

. . . I find myself drawn to her house. . . + V (find/leave/keep) + OC (V ing/V en )句型 draw vt. (drew | drawn | drawing) 吸引 The carnival always draws people from all over the world. draw one’s attention 吸引 (某人的 )注意 A loud crash drew everyone’s attention. draw a conclusion 下結論 We spent hours discussing the matter, but we still couldn’t draw any conclusions. draw a comparison 比較 This paper aims to draw a comparison between the cultures of the East and the West.

fall asleep 睡著 Listening to the soothing music in the rocking chair, the old man soon fell asleep與 sleepy皆為形容詞，前者為「睡著的」，後者則是「想睡的」。相關用法如下： fast/sound asleep 沉睡的 In the fairy tale, the princess has been fast asleep for a long time. half asleep 半夢半醒的 Staying up late last night, Ben was half asleep in class. feel sleepy 想睡的 Lauren didn’t have coffee. That’s why she felt sleepy.

steal across 悄悄地前進，偷偷移動介系詞可依句義不同而跟著改變，如： When his father was watching TV, Alex stole out of the house and went out with his friends. Then a kiss, ever so gently, touched my eyebrow. 句中的 “, ever so gently, ”為插入語，用以補充說明 touched my eyebrow此一動作。 ever so/such常出現於非正式的英式用法，表示「非常」。如： Helen is ever so beautiful/such a beautiful girl.

6/7 For the thousandth time, I recalled the night when my young voice ungratefully complained, “Stop doing that your hands are too rough!” Then I caught Mom’s hand in mine involuntarily. With the deepest regret, I told her how sorry I had felt about that night all those years. To my surprise, Mom didn’t know what I was talking about. She had forgiven—and forgotten—long ago.

等同於 for the hundredth time，表示敘述者對母親所說的那段話，這些年來已在腦海中重演無數次了。序數是用以表示順序的數詞，序數前要加定冠詞 the。其表示方式如下： 1～ 3： first、 second、 third the the 4～ 9：數字後加上“th”，如the fourth, the fifth, the eighth 20、 30… 90：將數字字尾的 “ty”改為 “tieth”，如the twentieth、 the fortieth 21、 55…： 44、 21之後的數字，要將個位數字改為序數，如 the twenty first the forty fourth the fifty fifth 、、 100、 200…：第一百之後，於字尾加上 “th”如 the/one hundredth

Stop doing that. . . stop + V-ing 停止目前的動作 stop + to-V 為了做某事而停止目前的動作 Travis stopped playing video games. (→停止打電動；不再打了 ) Travis stopped to play video games. (→停止做別的事情；開始打電動 ) . . . I caught Mom’s hand in mine. . . mine為所有代名詞，等於 my + N，於此句則為 my hand。使用所有代名詞可簡潔文句，如： Could you lend me your pen? I can’t find mine. (→以 mine取代 my pen，讓句子更簡潔 )

With the deepest regret. . . with + 抽象名詞的介系詞片語，做為副詞修飾整個子句，表示「帶著 …的情緒」。「 with + 抽象名詞」可用來表示人們的情緒或情感，有些則可直接以副詞取代。如： The man shouted with anger/angrily. The little girl ate ice cream with joy/joyfully. Kenny jumped up and down with excitement/ excitedly.

. . . , I told her how sorry I had felt about that night all those years. 此為 how + adj. /adv. + S + be/V 的感嘆句句型；因為發生早於主要子句的時間，當主要子句使用過去式 (I told her. . . ) 時，該子句便使用過去完成式。 how sorry I had felt about that night. . . → I had felt very sorry about that night. . .

sorry about sth 對 (發生過的 )某事感到抱歉、遺憾 I’m sorry about what happened last night. sorry about/for sth 對 (自己所做的 )某事感到抱歉 I’m sorry about/for making such a mistake. I won’t happen again. sorry for sb 同情某人 Gary felt really sorry for the orphan girl and decided to help her with all his heart.

7/7 That night, I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands. The guilt that I had felt for so long suddenly disappeared, and nowhere was it to be found.

. . . nowhere was it to be found. it 為代名詞，指該句句首的 the guilt。否定副詞置於句首的倒裝句 it was nowhere to be found. 。