L2 Marrakech1. Marrakech马拉喀什: It was a city in west central Morocco. The city renowned (有名的) for leather goods, is one of the principal commercial centers of Morocco. It was the capital of Morocco from 1062 until 1147 and again from 1550 to 1660. It was captured by the French in 1912. Yearly rainfall is 9 inches and limited to winter months. It has extremely hot summers but mild(温和的) winters.2.As the corpse went past…few minutes later: In this opening sentence the writer uses very simple words to describe objectively the scene before his eyes. Yet the choice of this scene and the words he uses implies much more than what appears on the surface. The people are very poor so the corpses are wrapped in a piece of rag and carried on a rough wooden bier. The cloud of flies flying to the corpses and then coming back to the restaurant table shows the unsanitary conditions of the city.* went past:more vivid than “was carried past”3. all men and boys, no women: According to Muslin law, Muslims must respect women, and for this reason women used to be kept in the house, where they would be safe. When they went out, they wore veils to cover their faces. But this law has become a kind of excuse to discriminate against women. They are very passive members of the society. They do not attend funerals.4. threaded their way: picked their way (through) 穿过；挤道而行5. the taxis and the camels: modern means of transportation alongside(旁靠) the old and backward means of transportation. This juxtaposition([,dʒʌkstəpə'ziʃən]并列) of the old and new meets the eye everywhere in colonial cities.6. when the friends…li ke broken brick:Notice Orwell’s choice of words here—hack, dump, fling. These words indicate the unceremonious way in which a funeral is conducted. In a poor country like Morocco, life is cheap.* burying-ground: not a graveyard, but just a piece of wasteland where the poor can bury their dead7. No gravestone, no name…any kind: (an elliptical sentence) There was no gravestone, name and identifying mark of any kind. This once again indicates the unceremonious way in which people are buried.8. The burying-ground…building-lot:The burying-ground is nothing more than a huge piece of wasteland full of mounds(土堆；小山) of earth looking likea deserted piece of land on which a building was going to be put up.9. After a month or two…are buried: With no gravestone, name or identifying mark, naturally after some time, people cannot find the graves even of their own relatives.10.the rags they stand up in: the rags which they were wearing as they stood there. (the rags they are wearing at the moment are the only clothes they own) 11. All colonial empires… this fact: All the imperialists build up their empires by treating the people in the colonies like animals (not as human beings)* this fact: the fact that people in the colonies are not treated as human beings [This sentence is a statement of the thesis of this essay.]12. Are they really…coral insects: They are not treated as human beings like you and me. Perhaps they don’t even have names. They are treated like bees or insects. (Instead of making these statements directly, Orwell asks a string of rhetorical questions. This gives added force to his denunciation [di,nʌnsi'eiʃən] 指责) * flesh: mankind, human beings, kin*undifferentiated brown staff:Sth brown in color with no individual or distinguishable characteristics (Bees and coral insects have no individual characteristics, unlike human beings. They all look alike.)13. They rise out of… of the graveyard: They are born. Then for a few years they work, toil (辛苦工作) and starve. Finally they die and are buried in graves without a name.14. And even the graves… into the soil:Nameless and with no identifying marks, graves soon become indistinguishable from an ordinary piece of ground.15. out for a walk as you…over skeletons: when out for a walk picking your way through the prickly pear, you might find that the ground is bumpy. You realize that you are walking over skeletons. You know they are graves only because the bumps appear in an even pattern.16. one can hardly look at…a mint sauce: As soon as you look at the hind legs of gazelles, you will think of the delicious mint sauce that you would want to dip it in when eating it. (Pork is delicious meat but the pig doesn’t look good to eat. To the author, the only living animal that looks good to eat is the gazelle.)17. seemed to know that this thought was in my mind: (The gazelle) seemed to know that the person who was feeding it was think of killing and eating it.18. if it could drive… in mid-air: The gazelle, while nibbling at the bread, tried to drive me away by butting me with its head. The animal wasn’t intelligent enough to know that if it succeeded in driving away the person who was feeding it the bread would also disappear.19. I could eat some of that bread: This is an indirect request and expresses a desire to eat some of that bread. The word “could” suggests politeness and uncertainty.20. he stowed it…under his rags:The word “stow” and “secret” show that the navy looks at the piece of bread as sth precious. He is afraid of losing it.* stow=stow away: to put or hide away in a safe place.21. This man is an employee of the municipality: Even an employed laborer goes starving, so you can imagine the plight of the poorer people. (Orwell is very good at using simple statement to convey a deeper meaning.)22. ghetto: a part of a city in which a group of people live who are poor or not accepted as full citizens. A ghetto also implies that the people in it are restricted only to that area and are not permitted to live elsewhere. This was actually that case in the medieval ghettoes referred to here. These ghettoes were just like ghettoes of the Middle Ages—very old, crowded and unsanitary.23. after centuries of this kind… about overcrowding: The people have been made to live in such crowded place for so long that they have become used to this kind of overcrowding; since they can expect nothing better, they no longer bother about it.24. Sore-eyed children…clouds of flies: a simile, comparing clusters of children to clouds of flies. Notice the repeated use of the word “flies” to show the unsanitary conditions and the prevalence(/'prevələns/流行) of diseases in colonial countries.* sore-eyed: eyes covered with sores from malnutrition (营养不良) and lack of medical care.25. Down the centre… of urine: It shows there is practical no public sanitary arrangement in the area. The whole street is a public toilet.26. dark fly-infested booths that look like caves: small cell-like(像密室似的) rooms that were dark like caves and full of flies. Notice repetition of “flies” 27. A carpenter…lightning speed:Sitting with his legs crossed and using a very old-fashioned lathe, a carpenter quickly gives a round shape to the chair-legs he is making. * turn: to give circular shape to sth 把某物转圆；旋制28. thanks to a lifetime…out of shape:Because of sitting in fixed position over the years and because of using his left foot to control the chisel, his left leg has become deformed.29. Instantly, from the dark…a frenzied rush of Jews:Immediately from their dark hole-like cells everywhere a great number of Jews rushed out wildly excited.* frenzied rush: [transferred epithet] The Jews were in a frenzy, not the “rush” was in a frenzy.30. heard a rumour…with his hand: The blind man’s booth was f ar back, so he couldn’t be sure of the fact (hence rumour) that someone was distributing free cigarettes. He crawled and g roped because he was blind. He couldn’t walk fast and couldn’t see who was distributing or were the cigarettes were being distributed.31. everyone of them…impossible luxury: Every one of these poor Jews looked on the cigarettes as a piece of luxury which they could not possibly afford.32. As the Jews…except for agriculture: As a community they were self-sufficient. Except for agriculture, they produced everything that was necessary. Hence they followed the same trades as the Arabs.33. A good job Hitler w asn’t here: It was lucky for the Jews that Hitler had not come to this place. (If he had, the Jews would have been exterminated as they were in Poland and other European countries.)* a good job: (colloquial) a fortunate state of affairs34. Perhaps he was…the poorer Europeans: From the dark rumours about the Jews one might think that Hitler was once on his way here. These rumours seemed to be preparing the ground for Hitler’s pogrom(大屠杀). During the Second World War, the German fascists, at one time, occupied Morocco, but they didn’t come to this city. Orwell implies that even in this city one could feel the influence of Hitler.35. Yes mon vieux: The use of French shows this area was a colony of France.36. The Jews! They’re…you know: This kind of construction helps to put extra emphasis on the real subject—the Jews.37. that’s only for show: The Jew only pretends to work as a poor laborer. He is in reality very rich for they control everything.* show: pretense; sth false or superficial38. In just the same way…to get themselves a square meal: Jews were now being condemned by prejudice and ignorance as some poor old women who could not even get themselves a decent meal were condemned and burned for witchcraft.* witchcraft: the use of magic or sorcery; communication with the devil* a square meal: a decent substantial meal39. Still, a white skin is always fairly conspicuous: However, a white-skinned European is always quite noticeable. (people always notice any one with a white skin)40. In northern Europe…a second glance:laborers, farmers in northern Europe are white complexioned (/kəm'plekʃ(ə)n/ 肤色) so people take notice of them.* take a second glance: to look back and examine; look twice to satisfy one’s curiosity.41. south of Gibraltar: all countries or area in North Africa.42. east of Suez: The Middle east and Asian countries.43. the chances…see him: you quite probably don’t see the laborer ploughing the field (for his complexion is not white but brown, the color of the soil) 44. In a tropical landscape…at his patch: If you take a look at the scenery in a tropical region, you see everything but the human beings. You see the soil, the pear, the palm tree and the distant mountains, but you always fail to see the peasant hoeing his small plot of ground.45. It is only because of this: “This” here stands for the fact that people always miss the peasants because they have the color of the earth and are much less interesting to look at.46. No one would think…Distressed Areas: No one would think of organizing cheap trips for the tourists to visit the poor (local) areas (because these trips would not be interesting).47. An orange grove or a job in Government service: (elliptical answer to the rhetorical question) In the Frenchman’s mind, Morocco is a place where he might find a government job or buy an orange grove with his money.48. Or to an Englishman…and bandits: (question and answer both elliptical) Morocco being a French colony, a Frenchman can get a government job or invest his money in Morocco. To an Englishman, Morocco is a romantic, mysterious country which he has read in novels.* Foreign Legion:French volunteer armed force composed chiefly of foreigners. Its international character and the tradition of not revealing enlistees back ground have helped to surround the Foreign Legion with an aura (气氛) of mystery and romance.49. for nine-tenths…of an eroded soil: Life is very hard for 90 per cent of the people. They can produce a little food on the poor soil only with hard backbreaking toil(辛劳).50. can live on it: can live on the land in Morocco.51. Long lines of women…capital Ls: a simile, showing the backbreaking job of the women. The upper part of the body formed an angle of 90°with the legs.52. tearing up the prickly…on each stalk: Both actions show the poverty of the people. They can’t afford a tool so they have to tear up the prickly weeds painfully with their bare hands. They pull up each stalk laboriously to save an inch in stalk so that they may increase their fodder harvest somewhat.53. The plough is a wretched wooden thing: Even their most important farm tool was of poor quality. (* wretched: poor in quality)54. This is as much as…is equal to: The animals had just enough strength to plough the soil to a depth of about four inches.55. Along the edges…the subsoil: Marrakech is very dry. Even at a depth of 30 or 40 feet there is only a trickle of water.* to get at: to reach 搜集，得到[Para 18 describes the primitive way of farming in Marrakech. Here is another picture of poverty and backwardness of the place.]56. All of them are mummified…to the size of children: Years of hard life and heat of the tropical sun have dried up the old women here, so that they look like mummies (干尸；木乃伊). They shrink to the size of children.* mummified: adj. thin and withered (/'wiðəd /枯萎的), looking like a mummy.(A mummy is a dead body preserved by embalming.以香料或药物防止腐烂)57. She answered with a…but mainly surprise: Her response was a thin loud piercing cry. (The cry expressed a bit of gratitude but mainly showed her surprise.)58. I seemed almost…of nature: The old woman was completely accustomed to her miserable existence and to not being taken notice by anyone, so she almost considered the author to be doing sth unnatural by giving her the money.59. She accepted her status…a beast of burden: She took it for granted that as an old woman she was the lowest in the community, that she was only fit for doing heavy work like an animal.60. But what is strange…their invisibility: Orwell returns to the theme of “invisibility”. The brown people, the native people in the colonial countries were not really invisible. They were just completely ignored by the white masters. These white people notice the suffering and cruel treatment of the donkeys but not of the people.61. though they had registered…seen them:Every day a file of old women went past his house. His eyes must have recorded the scene but he didn’t consciously observe what was happening (the women).62. Firewood was passing…saw it: The author only saw the firewood being carried past and not the poor old women who were carrying the heavy loads. [Notice the sentence construction here. “That” stands for the clause “firewood was passing” and the whole sentence is an inversion.]63. I noticed the poor…crushing weight: Orwell is describing objectively the physical appearance of the old women yet his anger comes through. [Notice his choice of words: poor, old, reduced to bones, bent double, crushing weight] 64. I had not been five minutes…infuriated by it: As soon as I landed in Morocco I noticed the donkeys were being overloaded. This made me very angry. (but for several weeks I did not notice the poor old woman)[Orwell is really describing the insensitivity of the white colonialists]65. There is no question…before it is cold: The author deliberately expatiates (ik'speiʃieit详述) on the miserable fate of the donkeys to arouse the sympathy and anger of the readers for the readers would soon realize the people are treated as cruelly but no one notices the suffering of the human beings. [Notice the following comparisons: the donkeys are small so are the poor old women; the donkeys are overloaded so are the women carrying firewood; the donkey is a willing creature so do colonial people; when the donkey dies it is thrown to the dogs; when a Moroccan dies he is thrown in a nameless grave.] *St. Bernard dog: a large reddish-brown and white dog in Switzland, trained to rescue travelers in the snow* a fifteen-hands mule: a mule about 60 inches or 5feet high*fifteen-hands:unit of measurement, especially for the height of horses; a hand, the breadth of the human palm, is about 4inches.66. This kind of thing…does not: The cruel treatment of the donkey makes one very angry but the sufferings of the human beings do not.67. I am not commenting…to a fact: [understatement低调陈述] It is true that Orwell is pointing out facts. These facts and their presentation, however, help to denounce (揭发) the inhuman system of colonialism.68. As the storks…or iron wheels: [contrast] The blacks are contrasted with the glittering (闪闪发光的) white birds (their white masters). While the former (blacks) are weighed down by heavy packs, are sweating and uncomfortable hot, the latter are free to fly unfettered (无拘无束的) in the cool sky above.* screw-gun: a kind of small cannon (/'kænən /火炮)* winding up: moving slowly following the twisting road* clumping, clatter:two onomatopoetic (/,ɔnə,mætəpəu'etik/ 拟声的) words describing the sound of boots and iron wheels.69. Their splendid bodies…uniform s: The soldiers were wearing ready-made Khaki uniforms which hid their beautiful well-built bodies.70. their feet squashed…sizes too small: Their feet were squeezed in boots which were flat and square like blocks of wood and their heads were also squeezed into tin hats which seemed to be a couple of sizes small for them. 71. But the look he gave me…even inquisitive: The look the young Negro soldier gave the writer was not what he was expecting. One would expect the black oppressed people in the colonies to look at the white colonialist in a hostile, contemptuous manner, but the Negro soldier gave a look of profound respect instead. This surprised Orwell very much. [In the early part of the essay, Orwell described the mentality(心态) of the colonialist. Now he is showing the mentality of the colonized.]72. It was the shy, wide-eyed Negro look: The Negro looks at the white masters with his eyes opened widely showing bashfulness(害羞), fear, uneasiness, etc. It is a docile(/'dəusail/温顺的), subservient(/səb:sə:viənt/奉承的) look.73. This wretched boy…a white skin: The miserable black boy is a French citizen (as a result of the colonization of his country). Therefore he has been forced to leave his home in the forest to come to a garrison town where he has to do hard work such as scrubbing floors and where he caught syphilis. However, this black boy, instead of hating the white colonialist who makes him suffer, has deep respect for them.74. every white man…marching past: Every white man, even those who call themselves socialists can’t help but think this though when he sees a black army marching past.* in this/that connection: with reference to this/that 关于这（那）点* it doesn’t matter twopence: it doesn’t matter a bit.75. How long before…other direction: How much longer before they turn their guns around and attack us?76. Every white man there…in the ranks: Every white man, the onlookers, the offices on their horses and the white N.C.Os marching with the black soldiers, had this though hidden somewhere or other in his mind.* N.C.O: noncommissioned (非委任的) officer; an enlisted person of any various grades in the armed forced, from corporal (下士) to sergeant (中士、军士) inclusive.77. And really it was like…up the road: Watching the one-or-two miles long column of soldiers marching peacefully up the road was just like watching a flock of cattle. (Cattle don’t think, don’t ask questions, but follow their masters blindly. These black soldiers were just like cattle.)1) Para.1-3: the burial of the poor inhabitants2) Para. 4-7: an Arab Navvy begging for bread3) Para. 8-15: the miserable lives of the Jews4) Para. 16-18: cultivation of the poor soil5) Para 19-21: the old women carrying firewood6) Para 22-26: degradation (退化, 堕落) / humbleness of the native people (native people’s respect for the colonizers)Main IdeaIn this essay Orwell denounces (谴责) the evils of colonialism or imperialism. He mercilessly exposes the poverty, misery and degradation of the native people in the colonies.This central thought or thesis is stated by Orwell in the middle of paragraph 3---"all colonial empires are in reality founded upon this fact“----the fact that the people in the colonies are not considered or treated as human beings.Writing Skillsa. through the clever choice of the scenes he describes;b. through the tone in which he describes these scenes;c. through the appropriate use of words;d. by contrasting the indignation (愤慨) at the cruel handling of the donkey with the unconcern towards the fate of the human beingse. The thesis is supported by various independent examples or illustrations of the people’s poverty and suffering. (specific---general---specific---comments)Things can be explained by: Illustration，Division and Classification，Comparison and Contrast，Cause and Effect，Definition.1. IllustrationIllustration is the use of example to illustrate a point.2. Division and ClassificationDivision and Classification are two different ways of sorting things out. Division is used to deal with one thing. Its purpose is to separate that thing into parts. Classification, on the other hand, is used to organize things which share certain qualities. Its purpose is to group these things systematically.3. Comparison and ContrastA comparison explain how things are similar, and a contrast, how they are different.A comparison/contrast essay usually follows one of these two patterns: the subject-by-subject pattern or the point-by-point pattern.In the subject-by-subject pattern, the writer discusses the various aspects of one item before going to the other. Eg.X is a better school than YI. X SchoolA. Student bodyB. Teaching staffC. Library and other facilitiesD. CampusII. Y SchoolA. Student bodyB. Teaching staffC. Library and other facilitiesD. CampusIn the point-by point pattern, the writer discusses both items under each of the various aspects compared/contrasted. Eg.X is a better school than YI. Student bodyA. XB. YII. Teaching staffA. XB. YIII. Library and other facilitiesA. XB. YIV. CampusA. XB. Y4. Cause and EffectA cause-effect essay is a piece of expository writing showing or explain the cause and \ or effect of something. When we write a cause-effect paper, we are actually making a causal analysis.5. DefinitionDefinition is necessary when one uses a term that may have various connotative (['kɔnəuteitiv]隐含的) meanings or shades of meaning. Misunderstandings often arise when it is abstract, ambiguous, or controversial. It is therefore necessary to make the meaning of the term clear by defining it.There are two main types of definition----logical or formal, and extended or informal.Logical or formal definition is the dictionary definition which is rigid in form.Extended or informal definition is not rigid in form and is extended. Definition papers consist mostly of extended or informal definitions.。
