第二十讲

   Para.3
   In contrast, you are likely to get more cards than gifts in the United States. A card may come with a small gift or no gift at all. In general, American people don’t care very much whether the gift is expensive or not. As a matter of fact, your gift to them would be appreciated all the more if you make it yourself instead of buying it from a store. And the words on the card seem to be the most important thing. When someone does not have a card on hand, he or she would write a thank-you note on a piece of paper, give it to you in person or put it into your pigeon hole.
   Language Points:
   2.Explanation of Difficult Sentences
   1) In contrast, you are likely to get more cards than gifts in the United States.
   Analysis: in contrast is used to make a statement different from the previous one; likely means “可能” in Chinese; more cards than gifts makes comparison between the two objects of get.
   Translation: 与此不同的是，你在美国得到的卡片可能会远多于礼物。
   Example: His white hair is in sharp contrast to his dark skin.
   他的白头发与他的黑皮肤构成鲜明的对比。
   2) As a matter of fact, your gift to them would be appreciated all the more if you make it yourself instead of buying it from a store.
   Analysis: all the more is used to stress the comparative degree. This sentence could be paraphrased like this: In fact, people will like your gift much better if it is made by yourself rather than bought from a store
   Translation: 事实上，如果你送给他们的东西是自己动手做的而不是从商店买的，他们会对这份礼物更加珍爱。
   Example: e.g. As a matter of fact, your opinion would be understood all the more if you use simple words instead of selecting complicated terms.
   事实上，如果你选用简单的表述而非复杂的说法，那么你的观点更易于被大家理解。
   3) American people don’t care very much whether the gift is expensive or not.
   Analysis: care here is the same as “Care about”, meaning “feel interested, sorry or anxious”. whether introduces an object clause. It can be replaced with “if ”, but the or not will not be used in that case.
   Translation: 一般说来美国人不特别关心礼物是否贵重。
   Example: In general, I don’t care very much whether my grades are high or not.
   总的来说，对于等级高低我并不是很在意。
   2. Important Words
   appreciate v. understand and enjoy, put a high value on 珍惜,懂得,喜欢
   e.g. You can appreciate the novel all the more if you read it in Chinese.
   如果你读了中文版，你一定会更加喜欢那本小说。
   Exercises： See the textbook.