Unit 5: Dealing with AIDS

Language Focus

1. dealing with AIDS: taking action against AIDS

2. strengthen: vt. make stronger/ vi. gain strength/adj. strong/ n. strength

---The central government is working to strengthen the national military forces.

---The wind strengthened during the night.---Steel prices strengthen as demand continue

s moving up.

3. bond: n. a uniting force or tie; written agreement or promise with legal force

---The baby’s birth seemed to strengthen her bond with her husband.

---Our company entered into a solemn bond with theirs.

Dealing with AIDS strengthens the bond of friendship, encourages emotional and mature growth.

---Taking actions against AIDS promotes our friendship, makes us become more attached to each other and helps me grow up mentally.

4. I was just living life up.

---I was enjoying life to my heart’s content.

5. carefree/ care-laden (heavy-hearted)---On a fine autumn day like this, one feels

relaxed and carefree.---He is carefree with his money. 6. invincible: adj. unconquerable; incapable

of being defeated/ adv. invincibly/ n. invincibility; invincibleness

--- There is no one in the world that is invincible.

7. I never thought that anything could happen to me or my friends. We were invincible. That is, until the word AIDS came into my life.

--- “That is, until the word AIDS came into my life.” is a sentence fragment. It is actually part of the preceding sentence. By separating them from each other, the writer precisely achieved the purpose of emphasis.

Language Focus

1. We didn’t hang out as much.

---W did not spend a lot of time together as we had done before we got to high school.

hang out: (infml) spend a lot of time in a particular place.

---Coffee bars offer people a place to hang out.

---Some youngsters often hang out with their cyber-friends online.

2. So I called him and he hung up on me.

---So I rang him up, but he refused to talk to me on the phone by replacing/(putting back) the receiver.

hang up (on sb.): (infml) end a telephone conversation by replacing the receiver

---A salesperson called while I was cooking, so I said sth. rude and hung up on him.

3. So once again I blew it off.

---So I once again gave up my efforts to talk to him.

blow sth. off: ignore or make light of sth.

---His rivals got the upper hand in the second set, but he blew it off.

4. I confronted him as to why we were not friends any more.

---I faced him bravely, challenging /(questioning) him why were not friends any more.

confront: vt. stand or meet (sb.) face to face with defiant or hostile intent./ vt. face up to and deal with (a problem or difficult situation)

---I want to confront my accuser in a court of law.

---We knew we couldn’t ignore the race issue and decided to confront it head on.

---Be confronted with…

---n. confrontation

as to: with regard to; on the subject of; concerning

---He is very uncertain as to whether his choice is a wise one.

5. He pulled me aside and broke down

in tears.

---He pulled me to the side and lost control of his feelings, crying/ (bursting into tears).

break down:

---Negotiations between the two sides have broken down/ (failed to have any results).

---The computer system has broken down.

6. homosexual disease: a disease caused by persons sexually attracted to members of the same sex.

affect: infect sb. with disease

---Inflation affects/ (influences) the buying power of the U.S. dollar.

---Her thought-provoking speech affected him.

Adj. affected; unaffected

sick joke: cruel, offensive or disgusting joke

7. When I got home things started to make sense.

---When I returned home, I began to understand things and realized the situation.

make sense:---With contradictory ideas jumbled up, the

writing doesn’t make (any) sense. ---It doesn’t make sense to buy a new but very

expensive bicycle when a much cheaper one is available in the flee market.

8. Then I felt so bad that we had grown so far apart.

---Then I felt extremely sorry that, as a result of a lack of exchange of feelings, thoughts, etc., we had quite different understanding about and attitude towards AIDS so that we failed to understand each other.

9. David had had unprotected sex once and now had to pay with his life.

---David had had sex with a girl once without taking any protective measures. He contracted AIDS and now his life is being threatened. He had to pay for his irresponsible behavior with his life.

Note: The 3rd para is a good example of the colloquial and simple style because of the use of many simple words (got, ran, cried, bad, called, asking, come over talk, etc.), colloquial expressions and concise sentences.

10. There was no use in hiding it; sooner or later people would find out.

---There/ It + be +no use/ point +(in) doing sth.

---It is no use (in) crying over split milk.

---There is no point arguing with customers about alleged defective products.

11. People looked at him as if he had a plague, and our friends from school wanted nothing to do with him.

---People looked at David as if he were a carrier of plague. Our friends stayed away from him and avoided getting in touch with him.

Plague: n. attack of disease causing death and spreading quickly.

---die of plague; a plague of rats 泛滥成灾的老鼠

---avoid sth. /sb. like the plague 避之唯恐不及

(in sing.) Person or thing continually causing trouble or irritation. (infml. )

---The heavy traffic is a plague to city-dwellers.

12. My whole life was changing so fast that I couldn’t keep up.

---Everything in my life was changing so quickly that I couldn’t adjust myself to them in time.

keep up (with) : move or progress at the same rate as sb. or sth. else

---The athlete felt exhausted and found it hard to keep up in the race.

13. Once again I was growing up and realized that our friendship meant everything to me.

---Once more I grew up mentally and fully understood that our friendship was of the greatest importance to me.

14. Also, I couldn’t turn my back on him when he needed me most . So I stuck it out and lost most of my friends.

---What’s more, I couldn’t leave him alone at a time he needed me the most. I continued to maintain close contact with David , and gave him help whenever necessary, despite the likelihood of catching the disease and losing most of my friends.

turn one’s back on: (often derog.) avoid; go away from (esp. when one should stay)

---I won’t turn my back on those who once helped me in a time of emergency.

---turn a blind eye to; turn a deaf ear to Stick out: continue to the end (of sth. difficu

lt)---Despite all the difficulties in front of us, we

decided to stick it out.

15. for fear of: in case of; because of anxiety about…

for fear (that): lest; because of anxiety that…

---Shut the window for fear of rain.

in fear of: in the state of being afraid of…

---I’m in daily fear of dismissal.

blame: vt. (+for/ on) assign responsibility for a fault or wrong to (sb. or sth.)

---People blame youth crime on unemployment.---They blamed his carelessness for the accident.---A bad workman always blames his tools. 人应勇

于认错---be to blame for：应负责任；应受谴责---The safety guard was to blame for the shop theft.---n. put/ lay the blame for sth. on sb.---n. take/ bear the blame for ---adj. blameless; blameworthy

16. Note: In the last 4 lines of the 4th para., the first part is a question; the second part is the answer to this question. “The question-answer structure” is arranged for the purpose of emphasis of the reason why the writer was treated that way.

Language Focus:

1. go through: come successfully to the end of; / pass through or be accepted by

---My sister has gone through the interview.

/The new law has gone through the Parliament.

2. Keep a positive attitude (toward)

---The girl student keeps a positive attitude toward her prospect of being enrolled by HK University.

I must keep a positive attitude for his sake, because attitude means everything.

---In order to help him, I must maintain an active and cheerful attitude, showing a firm belief that he would be able to conquer his disease. My attitude gave him an impetus to overcoming his disease .

3. For one’s sake: in order to help or please

---for the sake of; for one’s benefit

---It was entirely for his girl friend’s sake that he chose to study in the city far away from his hometown.

4. In times of stress I was the one that had to keep things together. I pushed all my emotions aside and was strong for him.

---When I was in a state of extreme pressure, I had to handle everything well. I managed to conceal my emotions and tried to appear strong to make him feel better.

---keep things together: pull together---Stop acting like a baby! Pull yourself together! (to

control the feelings of oneself)

5. That was when I saw AIDS for the first time. I didn’t even recognize him.

---These 2 sentences imply that David suffered so terribly from AIDS that I could hardly recognize him.

6. I still had to be the strong one and keep everything in.

---I still had to be the one with a strong will and restrain myself from revealing my emotions.

keep sth. in: restrain sth.; not express (an emotion)

---Hearing the news, she could scarcely keep in her excitement.

7. At night I would wonder if he could make it through.

---At night I would doubt if he would be able to live through / (survive) the night.

Language Focus:

1. mark: vt. be a sign of ; indicate or denote sth.

---Pu Yi’s death marked the end of an era.

//vt. honor, or celebrate (an important event or occasion) with a particular action

---The charity held a fashion show to mark its 15th birthday.

2. He went peacefully.

---a case of euphemism, implying he died in peace.

3. All the emotions that I had held in came rushing out.

---All the strong feelings/ (or: sorrows) that I had contained/ (or: suppressed) came bursting out/ (or: surging up).

hold in: restrain, control or check---He is incapable of holding himself in when

he gets extremely excited.---He held himself in for fear of saying sth. he

would regret.

4. I now educate people about AIDS, which to me is keeping David’s memory alive.

---I now impart knowledge about AIDS to people, which is a way of my remembering him in my mind/ (or: keeping my thoughts of David alive).

---Some abstract nouns can be used either as countable or uncountable nouns, but with different meaning.

e.g. The teachers met once a year to exchange experience.

My life in China was an unforgettable experience.

---Some nouns can either denote an idea, quality, or state or denote a concrete object. When they are used as abstract nouns, they are uncountable; when they are used as concrete nouns, they are countable.

e.g. I’m clear about the relation between price and quality. (connection)

Please invite all your relations to dinner. (a member of one’s family)