Unit Five Cruelty

I. Cultural Notes
II. Text Analysis
III. Text Organization

IV. Words and Phrases

V. Structure
VI. Usage
I. Cultural Notes

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English author,

whose novels and short stories are characterized by great
narrative facility, simplicity of style, and a disillusioned and
ironic point of view. Maugham is a productive writer. From
1897 till his death in 1965 he wrote twenty novels, filled
nine volumes with his short stories, wrote thirty-one plays,
and published seven volumes of prose. Among them his
partially autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage (1915)
is generally acknowledged as his masterpiece and is one of
the best realistic English novels of the early 20th century.
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 II. Text Analysis
The text A Friend in Need is derived from the English
proverb “A friend in need is a friend indeed”, which means a
friend who helps one when one needs help. However, here
Maugham, the very famous British short story writer tells us
an entirely different story: Those who appear to be friendly
may turn out to be so evil-minded as to be ready strike a
cruel blow at a friend in need.
In this story Maugham shows us how powerful contrast
is in delineating (刻画) a person’s character.
Almost the entire Part II is devoted to the description of
Edward Burton’s kindly appearance and pleasant manners.
Neither the “I” in the story nor readers could imagine him
hurting a fly. Yet in Part III Burton recounts cold-bloodedly
how he destroyed a human life.
So when contrasts abound, it is hard for readers to
easily predict what happen next. back
Some proverbs related to the text
You may know a person’s face but not
his mind.
“知人知心不知面”。
Judge not from appearance.
“人不可貌相”。
Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.
“患难识知交”。
Greatest genius often lies concealed.
“真人不露面”。
A hedge between keeps friendship green.
“一墙之隔，友谊长春”。（“亲兄弟，名
算帐”。）
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 Unit Five Cruelty
III. Text Organization
Part One Paras 4-16
What Edward knew about Lenny
Part Two Paras 17-31
How Edward responded to
Lenny’s request

Part Three Paras 32-51

How Edward, a “kind”
gentleman, handled a friend in
desperate need of help
 IV. Words and phrases in the text
1. sth. occur to sb.
It occurs to sb. that … /to do sth.

我有主意了。
An idea has occurred to me.
你是曾想到过写完信后再跟着亲自登门拜访一下。
Did it ever occur to you that you followed up a
letter with a visit?
It never occurred to her to inquire at the
information desk.
她当时从未想到到询问处去打听一下。
 IV. Words and phrases in the text
2. strike sb. (as … ) impress sb.
have an effect on sb.
The house strikes you as welcoming when you go in.
这所房子你一进去就感到舒服。
The plan strikes me as ridiculous.
我觉得这个计划荒谬可笑。
给我印象最深的是群众的干劲。
What struck me most was the drive of the masses.
他被她的美貌迷住了。
He was struck by he beauty.
游客被西湖的美景迷住了。
The visitors were struck by the beauty of the West
Lake.
 IV. Words and phrases in the text
3. think, highly, a lot, not much, poorly, little
(etc.) of sb./sth.
对某人/某事物评价高，不高等

他的作品深受评论家推崇。
His work is highly thought of by the critics.
我认为那个外籍教师不怎么样。
I don’t think much of the foreign teacher.
I think much better of him after I have found out
his true motive.
我发觉他的真实动机后，对他的评价高得多了。
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 V. Structure
1. happen to do; It happen that … /to do sth.
碰巧， 恰好
“happen to do” can be used to stress sth. happened
accidentally;
“chance” can also be used in this two patterns, but is
more formal than “happen” .
我打电话时， 她恰巧不在家。
She happened to be out / It happened that she was out
when I called.
She happened/chanced to speak fluent Russian.
她偏巧很会说俄语。
我偶然发现你弄错了。
I happen to know you’re wrong.
 V. Structure
2. “unless” and “if not”
When “if” introduces a negative sentence, we can
use “unless” to replace “if … not”.
e.g. He’ll accept the job if the salary is not too low/unless
the salary is too low.
But in the following sentences we cannot use
“unless” to replace “if … not”.
e.g. I’ll feel much happier if he doesn’t come with us. (他如
不跟我们来, 我将会感到非常高兴。)
She’d be pretty if she didn’t wear so much make-up.
(要是她不过分打扮, 本来挺漂亮的。)
Note: “unless” 有”除非”(only if … not)之义, 所以有时并
不能代替if … not, 如以上两句。
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 VI. Usage
Use “except”, “besides”, “except for”, “except to”,
“except when” and “except that” to fill in the blanks.
1. __ its high cost, this type of machine would be very
suitable.
2. I could do nothing __ just sit there and hope.
3. What other courses do you take __ English?
4. The old man was seen walking with a stick by the lake
every day __ he was ill in bed.
5. There was nothing left to the serfs __ fight back.
6. She remembered nothing about him __ his hair was
black.
7. The meal was excellent __ the last course.

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