摘要：《相约星期二》(Tuesday with Morrie) 是美国作家米奇·阿尔博姆记录其与罹患渐冻症的恩师莫里·施瓦茨教授十四次人生对谈的纪实作品。这部被翻译成45种语言的全球畅销书，用最平实的英语探讨了死亡、爱、工作、家庭等永恒命题。对英语学习者而言，书中对
《相约星期二》(Tuesday with Morrie) 是美国作家米奇·阿尔博姆记录其与罹患渐冻症的恩师莫里·施瓦茨教授十四次人生对谈的纪实作品。这部被翻译成45种语言的全球畅销书，用最平实的英语探讨了死亡、爱、工作、家庭等永恒命题。对英语学习者而言，书中对话体叙述和富有哲理的生活箴言，是学习地道口语表达和人文英语的绝佳素材。
It is the late spring of 1979, a hot, sticky Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of us sit together, side by side, in rows of wooden folding chairs on the main campus lawn. We wear blue nylon robes. We listen impatiently to long speeches. When the ceremony is over, we throw our caps in the air, and we are officially graduated from college, the senior class of Brandeis University in the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. For many of us, the curtain has just come down on childhood.
Afterward, I find Morrie Schwartz, my favorite professor, and introduce him to my parents. He is a small man who takes small steps, as if a strong wind could, at any time, whisk him up into the clouds. In his graduation day robe, he looks like a cross between a biblical prophet and a Christmas elf He has sparkling blue green eyes, thinning silver hair that spills onto his forehead, big ears, a triangular nose, and tufts of graying eyebrows. Although his teeth are crooked and his lower ones are slanted back-as if someone had once punched them in-when he smiles it's as if you'd just told him the first joke on earth.
He tells my parents how I took every class he taught. He tells them, "You have a special boy here. " Embarrassed, I look at my feet. Before we leave, I hand my professor a present, a tan briefcase with his initials on the front. I bought this the day before at a shopping mall. I didn't want to forget him. Maybe I didn't want him to forget me.
这是1979年春末，一个闷热的星期六下午。我们几百人穿着蓝色尼龙毕业袍，并肩坐在主校区草坪的木制折叠椅上，不耐烦地听着冗长的演讲。当仪式结束时，我们将帽子抛向空中，正式从马萨诸塞州沃尔瑟姆市的布兰代斯大学毕业。对我们许多人而言，这标志着童年时光的落幕。
仪式后，我找到最敬爱的教授莫里·施瓦茨，将他介绍给我的父母。这位身材瘦小的老人步履轻缓，仿佛一阵强风就能把他卷上云端。穿着毕业礼袍的他，看起来既像圣经里的先知，又像圣诞精灵——那双蓝绿色眼睛炯炯有神，银白的稀疏头发垂落前额，招风耳配上三角鼻，灰白的眉毛丛生。虽然他的牙齿参差不齐，下排牙齿向后倾斜得像被人揍过一拳，但当他笑起来时，那种灿烂仿佛是你刚讲了世上第一个笑话。
他向我的父母细数我修过他所有课程的经历。"你们的孩子很特别，"他这样评价道。我窘迫地盯着自己的鞋尖。临别前，我将一个正面烫金着他姓名缩写的棕褐色公文包送给他——这是前一天在购物中心精心挑选的礼物。我不愿忘记这位恩师，或许，更不愿让他忘记我。
以下是按照要求整理的学习内容：
1. 重点单词
(1) sticky 粘的
例句：The classroom was hot and sticky in summer.
（夏天教室里又热又闷。）
(2) impatiently 不耐烦地
例句：He tapped his foot impatiently during the speech.
（听演讲时他不耐烦地轻叩脚尖。）
(3) whisk 快速带走
例句：The bodyguard whisked the celebrity into a car.
（保镖迅速将名人护送进车。）
(4) crooked 弯曲的
例句：The old house had crooked floorboards.
（老房子的地板歪歪斜斜。）
(5) initials 姓名首字母
例句：She embroidered her initials on the handkerchief.
（她把手帕绣上姓名首字母。）
(6) briefcase
例句：The lawyer carried important documents in his briefcase.
（律师把重要文件放在公文包里。）
2. 学习常用句表达
(1) the curtain comes down on...（...的落幕）
例句：The curtain came down on his acting career.
（他的演艺生涯就此落幕。）
(2) look like a cross between...and...（看起来像是...和...的结合体）
例句：Her dress looked like a cross between a kimono and a ballgown.
（她的裙子像是和服与舞会礼服的结合。）
这部用生命写就的教材告诉我们：最好的英语学习，是让语言承载真实的思想与情感。正如莫里所说："Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we learn this, we'll have a better world." (保持同理心，为彼此负责。学会这些，我们将拥有更美好的世界。)
来源：李子园外语