unit2 A课文ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETTER

ALL THE CABBIE HAD WAS A LETTER Foster Furcolo He must have been completely lost in something he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention. “Is your cab available?” I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settled into the back seat, “I 'm sorry, but I was reading a letter. He sounded as if he had a cold or something. "I'm in no hurry,” I told him. “Go ahead and finish your letter.” He shook his head. “I 've read it several times already. I guess I almost know it by heart.” “Letters from home always mean a lot,” I said. “ At least they do with me because I 'm on the road so much. ” Then, estimating that he was 60 or 70 years old, I guessed: “From a child or maybe a grandchild?” “ This isn't family,” he replied. “Although,” he went on, “come to think of it, it might just as well have been family. Old Ed was my oldest friend. In fact, we used to call each other' Old Friend'—when we 'd meet, that is. I 'm not much of a hand at writing.” “I don't think any of us keep up our correspondence too well,” I said. “I know I don't. But I take it he's someone you 've known quite a while?” "All my life, practically. We were kids together, so we go way back.” “ Went to school together?” “All the way through high school. We were in the same class, in fact, through both grade and high school.” "There are not too many people who 've had such a long friend ship,” I said. “Actually,” the driver went on, “I hadn't seen him more than once or twice a year over the past 25 or 30 years because I moved away from the old neighborhood and you kind of lose touch even though you never forget. He was a great guy.” “You said 'was'. Does that mean—?" He nodded. “Died a couple of weeks ago.” “I 'm sorry,” I said. “It's no fun to lose any friend—and losing a real old one is even tougher. ” He didn't reply to that, and we rode on in silence for a few minutes. But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more to himself than to me: "I should have kept in touch. Yes,” he repeated, “I should have kept in touch. ” “Well,” I agreed, “we should all keep in touch with old friends more than we do. But things come up and we just don't seem to find the time. ” He shrugged. “We used to find the time,” he said. “That's even mentioned in the letter. ” He handed it over to me. 'Take a look.” “Thanks,” I said, “but I don't want to read your mail. That's pretty personal.” The driver shrugged. “Old Ed 's dead. There's nothing personal now. Go ahead,” he urged me. The letter was written in pencil. It began with the greeting "Old Friend,” and the first sentence reminded me of myself. I 've been meaning to write for some time, but I 've always postponed it. It then went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together when they both lived in the same neighborhood. It had references to things that probably meant something to the driver, such as the time Tim Shea broke the window, the Halloween that we tied Old Mr. Parker 's gate, and when Mrs. Culver used to keep us after school. “You must have spent a lot of time together,” I said to him. “Like it says there,” he answered, “about all we had to spend in those days was time.” He shook his head: "Time.” I thought the next paragraph of the letter was a little sad: I began the letter with "Old Friend" because that's what we 've become over the years—old friends. And there aren't many of us left. “You know,” I said to him, “when it says here that there aren't many of us left, that's absolutely right. Every time I go to a class reunion, for example, there are fewer and fewer still around. ” "Time goes by,” the driver said. “Did you two work at the same place?” I asked him. “No, but we hung out on the same corner when we were single. And then, when we were married, we used to go to each other 's house every now and then. But for the last 20 or 30 years it 's been mostly just Christmas cards. Of course there 'd be always a note we 'd each add to the cards—usually some news about our families, you know, what the kids were doing, who moved where, a new grandchild, things like that—but never a real letter or anything like that. ” “This is a good part here,” I said. “Where it says Your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say be cause I 'm not good at saying things like that. ” I found myself nodding in agreement. “That must have made you feel good, didn't it?” The driver said something that I couldn't understand because he seemed to be all choked up, so I continued: "I know I 'd like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend.” We were getting close to our destination so I skipped to the last paragraph. So I thought you 'd like to know that I was thinking of you. And it was signed, Your Old Friend, Tom. I handed back the letter as we stopped at my hotel. “Enjoyed talking with you,” I said as I took my suitcase out of the cab. Tom? The letter was signed Tom? “I thought your friend 's name was Ed,” I said. “Why did he sign it Tom?' “The letter was not from Ed to me,” he explained. “I 'm Tom. It's a letter I wrote to him before I knew he 'd died. So I never mailed it.” He looked sort of sorrowful, or as if he were trying to see something in the distance. “I guess I should have written it sooner.” When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away. First I had to write a letter—and mail it. language study be lost in/ lose oneself in: be absorbed in, be fully occupied with 专心致志于 He was lost in playing computer games so he was unaware of my entering the room. She was lost in her novel. I had lost myself in thought. available: able to be used, had, or reached 可用的 ; 可得到的 Since 1990, the amount of money available to buy books has fallen by 17%. If you don't want to buy a kite, you can make your own using directions available in the book. We have already used up all the available space. or something: used when you are not very sure about what you have just said 诸如此类的事 The air fare was a hundred and ninety-nine pounds or something. Here's some money. Get yourself a sandwich or something. Similar phrase: or something like that go ahead: continue, begin (sometimes followed by with +n.) The board of directors will vote today on whether to go ahead with the plan. Henry will be late but we will go ahead with the meeting anyway. know/ learn by heart: memorize, remember exactly 记住 , 能背出 You have to know all the music by heart if you want to be a concert pianist. The pupils are required to learn a classic poem by heart every day. estimate: form a judgement about (a quantity or value) 估计 I estimate that the total cost for the treatment of the disease will go from $5,000 to $8,000. Bill's personal riches were estimated at $368 million. might/ may (just) as well: 不妨 ,( 也 ) 无妨 If you say that you might/ may (just) as well do something, you mean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly reluctant about it. Anyway, you're here; you might as well stay. The post office is really busy — we'll have to queue for ages to get served. We might as well go home. not much of a : not a good 不太好的 Some people may think that doing housework for others is not much of a career. He is not much of a father, but he is an outstanding professor. keep up: continue without stopping 保持 They risk losing their homes because they can no longer keep up the repayments. I was so hungry all the time that I could not keep the diet up for longer than a month. correspondence: 1) the act of writing, receiving or sending letters ( 不可加 s, 但可加 a , often followed by with + n.) 通信 ( 联系 ) His interest in writing came from a long correspondence with a close college friend. 2) the letters that sb. receives or sends (used as an uncountable noun) 信件 Mary really never mentions her step-mother in her correspondence. Any further correspondence should be sent to my new address. practically: almost, but not completely or exactly He'd known the old man for practically ten years. I know people who find it practically impossible to give up smoking. neighborhood: one of the parts of a town where people live 街坊 ; 四邻 It seemed like an ideal neighborhood to raise my children in. Houses in a good neighborhood are likely to be sold at a high price. kind of/ sort of: (infml; "kind of" is esp. AmE, "sort of" esp. BrE) a little bit, in some way or degree (used before v. or after a link verb) 有几分 , 有点儿 She wasn't beautiful. But she was kind of cute. The boy's description kind of gives us an idea of what's happening. lose touch (with sb.): meet and contact sb. less and less often, gradually stop writing, tele- phoning, or visiting them 失去联系 I lost touch with my former classmates after graduation. In my job one tends to lose touch with friends. a couple of: (infml) a few, more than one but not many 几个 ; 一对 , 一双 Do you have a moment? There are a couple of things I'd like to talk to you about. They promised the students that they would find a substitute teacher in a couple of days. on one's mind: in one's thoughts; of concern to one (If something is on your mind, you are worried or concerned about it and think about it a lot.) 挂记在心头 Dealings on the stock market have been on his mind all the time.