Unit 3 When Lightening Struck

1 Reading 1) Read the text, and answer the following questions: (1) What happened to the plane? (2) Why did the author feel almost tearful to be parting from her fellow passengers on board? (3) What is the significant point of the author’s experience from the accident?

2) The structure of the text Part Ⅰ (Para. 1-4) the setting and the unexpected happening Part Ⅱ (Para. 5-9) the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the writer, the acts of kindness of the glamorous young lady and the behavior of other fellow passengers on the plane Part Ⅲ (Para ) what the passengers saw and did after they landed safely Part Ⅳ (Para ) the author’s gratitude and the significance of the story

2.2 Language points and difficult sentences Para ) Language points (1) swerve: a) n. the act of turning aside or being turned aside from a straight course. e.g.: The car made a sudden swerve to avoid the dog. b) vi. suddenly turn to one side while moving along e.g.: The minibus swerved to the right, bumped a tree, and feel into a ditch.

(2) unbolt ： unlock; release the bolts of (a door, for example) e.g.: The chimpanzee has learnt how to unbolt the door and go out of the cage. (3) scramble a) climb, especially over s rough or steep surface quickly, or crawl over, usually rough ground with difficulty. e.g.: They boys scrambled over the wall. b) struggle or compete with others, especially to get something or a share of something. e.g.: It was raining cats and dogs, and many people were scrambling madly for shelter.

(4) vaguely aa) indistinctly; in shape or form which is not clearly see ee.g.: On the misty hillside, we could see vaguely some sheep coming through the mist. bb) described or expressed in a way or manner which is not clear. ee.g.: These clauses in the contract are rather vaguely worded.

2) Difficult sentences (1) Oh lord, this is it! (Para. 1) This sentence is italicized in the text, showing what the writer was thinking about at the moment. Lord: an expression of surprise, fear, worry, etc. in such collocations as “Oh Lord!” or “Good Lord”. This is it: (slang) this is the critical juncture! / This is the most important moment at which I have to make up my mind!/ This is the most decisive moment that I must take prompt action! (2) Somehow I managed to unbolt the door and scramble out. (Para. 2) [Paraphrase]: By some means, I succeeded in releasing the bolt of the door and getting out of the bathroom

(3) …she was supposed to make a connecting flight… (Para. 3)  [Paraphrase]: …she had to transfer to another flight that would take her back home when he landed in Newark. (4) …the emergency procedures she had reviewed before takeoff. (Para. 3)  [Paraphrase]: Before the plane took off, the flight attendant had carefully instructed the whole set of actions or steps that the passengers must take in the face of an emergency, an unexpected and dangerous happening which must be dealt with at once

Paragraphs 5-9 1) Language points (1) her soulful squeezes TThe glamorous young woman squeezed the writer’s other hand in a profoundly emotional manner. Obviously, the young woman was making much effort to comfort the writer  soulful: full of or expressing deep feelings; profoundly emotional ee.g.: He comforted me by giving me a soulful hug.

squeeze: a) an affectionate hug or clasp. e.g.: He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. b) difficulty or hardship caused by shortage of money or time, etc. e.g.: He is just lost his job, so the family is really feeling the squeeze. c) an act of pressing on (sth.) from opposite sides or all sides. e.g.: She gave the tube of tooth paste a squeeze. 。

2) Difficult sentences (1) Now we began a roller-coaster ride through the thundercloud. (Para. 5) [Paraphrase]: Now we started a pretty rough flight through the thunderclouds as our plane began to roll steeply and swerve sharply. Here a roller-coaster ride is used metaphorically. The author’s pretty rough ride through the thunderclouds in the plane which was rolling and swerving dramatically is compared vividly to a roller-coaster ride.

(2) I reached for her hand and reassured her that we were going to make it. (Para. 3) [Paraphrase]: I held out my hand to take hers, comforted her and restored her confidence by saying that we would manage to have a safe and sound journey home. (3) the female equivalent of the confident businessman (Para, 6) [Paraphrase]: a confident businesswoman [Notes]: equivalent means equal or something equivalent

(4) I was sure even if I survived the plane crash, I’d have a couple of broken fingers from all the TLC. (Para. 7) [Paraphrase]: I was certain/ I firmly believed that even though I lived through the air crash, I would have a couple of broken fingers from all the tender loving care/ as a result of her soulful squeezes. [Notes]: The author implies that the glamorous young woman squeezed her other hand so tightly that her fingers ached/ hurt sharply and seemed to break.

 (5) during those excruciating 20 minutes (Para.8)  [Paraphrase]: during those 20 minutes which causes intense pain or agony to the passengers  [Notes]: excruciating means very intense or extreme; intensely painful

Para Difficult sentences (1) …to transfer us to alternative flights. (Para. 10) [Paraphrase]: To get us moved to other flights which would take us to our respective destinations. [Notes]: Transfer: a) (cause to) move or exchange from one vehicle to another in the course of journey e.g.: At London we transferred form the train to a bus. b) move from one place, job, position, etc. to another e.g.: The head office has been transferred from London to Cardiff

 (2) We chattered about the lives we now felt blessed to be living, as difficult or rocky as they might be (Para. 10)  [Paraphrase]: In our talk now, we expressed our gratitude to God for the good luck in our lives, which might be very hard and uncertain  (3) My husband was anticipating my arrival late that night (Para. 11)  [Paraphrase]: My husband was expecting that I would be getting home late that night.

Para Difficult sentences (1) …for the many acts of kindness I witnessed and received. (Para. 13) [Paraphrase]: …for the many good deeds/kind favors they had done to me and to others. (2) I feel struck by lightning all over again. (Para. 14) [Paraphrase]: I feel as if I were shocked by lightning all over again

2.3 Highlights The story is the writer’s objective and vivid narration of her extraordinary, unforgettable travel experience on a plane for the purpose of praising good people and their fine deeds and bringing out superb touching human relations witnessed at critical moments. The style is characterized by a mixture of both formal and colloquial words and phrases, of flexible use of simple, compound, and complex sentences, and of plain narration and vivid description. The tone is objective, descriptive and emotional, with concrete detailed accounts of actual situations and touching scenes.