English Intensive Reading 吉林大学远程教育学院
Introduction Text Language Points Grammar
				Lesson 8   Text  ( Page 3)
			(23)An English hostess with a quick wit was giving a formal dinner for eight distinguished guests whom she hoped to enlist in a major charity drive.         (24) Austerity was de rigueur in England at the time, and she had (25)drafted her children to serve the meal. She knew that anything could happen --- and it did, just as her son, (26)with the studies concentration of a tightrope walker, brought in a large roast turkey. He successfully elbowed the swinging dining-room door, but the backswing (27)deplattered the bird onto the dining-room floor.         (28)The boy stood rooted; guests stared at their plates. Moving only her head, the hostess smiled at her son, “No harm, Daniel,” she said, “just pick it up and take him back to the kitchen” --- (29)she enunciated clearly so he would think about what she was saying --- “and bring in the other one.”         (30)A wink and a one-liner instantly changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a conspiracy of fun.         The power of humor to dissolve a hostile confrontation often lies in its unspoken promise: (31)“You let me off the hook, my friend, and I’ll let you off.” (32)The trick is to assign friendly motives to your opponent, to smile just a little --- but not too much. Canada’s Governor-General Roland Michener, master of the technique, was about to inspect a public school when he (33)was faced with a truculent picket line of striking (34)maintenance personnel.(35) If he backed away from the line , he would seriously diminish his office’s image; (36)if he crossed it, he might put the government smack into a hot labor issue.