YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Kooper »

Dear ISG members,

I know it's rather difficult to write down all the words, phrases and expressions out of the so many pages. The truth is none of us, except Chiron, can do it. To make it less demanding and more doable, this time I'd like to allocate each person with no more than two chapters. Nevertheless, you're encouraged to cover more chapters as you please. :ssmile:

Angel: Chapter 15-16
Cindy: CH16-17
Kooper: CH17-18
Timothy: CH19-20
Chiron: CH21-22
Sherry: CH23-24
Gavin: CH24-25
Ivy: CH25-26
Janet: CH26-27

Assignment: Please post one to five words, phrases or expressions that you think worth learning. Provide their definitions and example sentences. Last, don't forget to point out at which pages the words are in the novel.
最後由 Kooper 於 週三 3月 17, 2010 3:44 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
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chiron
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Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 chiron »

Dears: Here is all the questions you need to do in advance. Remember to work together to solve on-line questions, and save our forum space by reading others answers. We shall discuss meeting questions on Friday night. Hope you all enjoy your reading and these questions as well.

[on-line questions]
1. What does this sentence on p.145 mean: Dewey could “zone out” in that pose for an hour like a fat little man at pose with the world?
2. What does this sentence on p.164 mean: As the “credits roll”, feign extreme boredom and leave the meeting before it concludes?
3. What does this sentence on p.166 mean: she’d say with Iowa practicality whenever Dewey “copped a little attitude” or refused to engage in a patron’s two-armed hug?
4. What does this sentence on p.168 mean: Dewey knew Mark wasn’t a cat lover, and he took fiendish delight in suddenly jumping on the table and “scaring the bejeebers” out of him?
5. What does this sentence on p.169 mean: I checked his nose to see if he “had a temperature”?
6. What does this sentence on p.169 mean: “Let’s make the rounds, Dew”?
7. What does this sentence on p.169 mean: “I braced myself for the mother of all hair balls”?
8. What does this sentence on p.169 mean: “The poor cat was in knots”?
9. What does this sentence on p.170 mean: He’d never “acted out”. This was completely “out of character”?
10. Why does this sentence on p.171 mention “proverbial canary”: He had taken it upon himself to use his powerful nose to protect us, to be our “proverbial canary” in the coal mine?
11. What does this sentence on p.172 mean: He didn’t “ham it up”, but he went about all his usual activities, and he performed them on command?
12. Why does it say, “Poor little thing, my foot” on page 174?
13. What does this sentence on p.176 mean: As far as digestive systems were concerned, that cat really “got a lemon”?
14. What does this sentence on p.177 mean: The pain had been “blinding”?
15. What does this sentence on p.178 mean: Sometimes Dewey “came tearing out of the back room” like someone had lit a firecracker under his rear end?
16. What does this sentence on p.181 mean: “You’re going to have to walk me through that, Dr.”?
17. What does this sentence on p.181 mean: I hated to “dish out” 30 dollars for sth I knew wasn’t going to work?
18. What does this sentence on p.182 mean: But when it came to an important principle like food, Dewey would never “roll over” and “play dog”?
19. What does this sentence on p.204 mean: “I don’t want to take anything away from the cat” who falls out of the Winnebago, then spends five months trudging home through snowdrifts and scorching heat?
20. What does this sentence on p.206 mean: But on the day Yvonne had to “put her own cat to sleep”,…?
21. What does this sentence on p.215 mean: Mr. Hoshi “was all over the visitors”? (p.215)
22. What does this sentence on p.225 mean: “If you’re straight, you can visit her. If you’re high, you can’t”?
23. What does this sentence on p.240 mean: Dewey never hesitated to “play up his condition”?
24. What does this sentence on p.247 mean: Are these people going to “throw me out on my ear”, too?
25. What does this sentence on p.247 mean: I’ve “put them down”?
26. What does this sentence on p.262 mean: The staff “files in”?

[meeting questions]
*I borrowed some questions from our previous meeting cause’ we didn’t have enough time to discuss them last time.
1. Have your pet ever go astray like Dewey? Did you prepare birthday party for your pet? Have you ever taken pictures for animals? What’s the situation? Did you talk with your dog or cat like Vicki? Have you ever watched an animal die like the end of Dewey? Do you like to write something to memorize your pet like Vicki? (skip this question if you have nothing to say)
2. In chapter 10, Vicki described the process her husband changed after their first kid was born. How could a person turn from a charming, well-read man to a irresponsible drunk? What is the reason behind it?
3. On page 150, it says, “Nobody has ever built a factory because of a cat, but nobody has ever built a factory in a town they’d never heard of, either”, which is also Dewey’s “fame effect”. Do you think our city also need this mascot to enhance our international image? What animal (or any other representative) can you think of?
4. On page 172, Gary asked Vicki the deeper meaning of Dewey. For you, what’s the deeper meaning of animal?
5. Why is this ordinary novel popular in this time? Does the contemporary social background take effect behind it?
6. Do you like this novel? Why or why not? What is the most impressive, funny, or touching part for you?

p.s. Also, each one of you can start to search for our next novel. I suugest everyone recommend one, and we can have a voting in the novel-reading meeting. My choice is:
[The Lovely Bones]. Since last time some suggest to read thrilled fiction, I think we can try this one.



聚會時間:7:00 pm ~ 9:00 pm
聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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最後由 chiron 於 週日 3月 28, 2010 5:44 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 2 次。
Please call me Na'vi!
Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Kooper »

Include Cindy in our vocabulary learning plan :ssmile:
Sherry Liao
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註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Sherry Liao »

This has nothing to do with picking new words from the novel, but when reading the sentence "I was her alter ego, her other half…. (line 28, page 229)", I recalled that I just learned a new phase "better half" from an article I read today.

A similar phrase I know is "significant other". Why "better" half? That is very interesting.
Michael-liu
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註冊時間: 週五 4月 24, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Michael-liu »

Hi, Sherry

I googled it, and found out that "better half" originally means "The larger amount or majority of something"

Ex: I won't be long; the better half of this job is complete.

but when you say "my better half", it means your spouse. Originally this expression meant "a close friend or lover," and by the 16th century it referred to either a wife or lover.

I also found below info :

the difference between better half and significant other.
better half == most likely to mean spouse, husband or wife.
significant other == can mean husband or wife or girl firend or boy friend with whom she/he is living together; --BUT it also means the other domestic partners if they are gay or lesbeian.


Michael
Sherry Liao
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Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Sherry Liao »

Thank you for your answer, Michael.

Why you got up so early? Don't tell me you were actually pulling an all-nighter. :o
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chiron
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 03, 2007 4:23 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 chiron »

Kooper 寫: Angel: Chapter 15-16
Cindy: CH16-17
Kooper: CH17-18
Timothy: CH19-20
Chiron: CH21-22
Sherry: CH23-24
Gavin: CH24-25
Ivy: CH25-26
Janet: CH26-27
Assignment: Please post one to five words, phrases or expressions that you think worth learning. Provide their definitions and example sentences. Last, don't forget to point out at which pages the words are in the novel.
This is my part:
[Vocabulary and Phrase]
1. moon over sb (ph.) 逗某人
Ex: Are you girls at the library still “mooning over that cat”? (p.200)
2. make a fuss (ph.) 大驚小怪
Ex: I got the feeling he was putting me in my place, that he was speaking for a large block of community leaders who couldn’t even conceive of “making a fuss” over things like books, libraries, and cats. (p.200)
3. stick it/sth out (ph.) 堅持到底;忍受下去
Ex: Kirby sat down at the kitchen table with his young family, and they decided to “stick it out”. (p.202)
4. out of the way (ph.) far from a town or city
Ex: His passion, his purpose, was to make that place, no matter how small and out of the way it may have seemed, a better place for everyone. (p.204)
5. legwork (n.) difficult or boring work that takes a lot of time and effort, but that is thought to be less important
Ex: Jodi planned the wedding from Omaha; I did the legwork. (p.219)

[Good Sentence]
1. Dewey wasn’t special because he did something extraordinary but because he was extraordinary. He was like one of those seemingly ordinary people who, once you get to know them, stand out from the crowd. They are the ones who never miss a day of work, who never complain, who never ask for more than their share. They are those rare librarians, car salesmen, and waitresses who provide excellent service on principle, who go beyond the job because they have a passion for the job. “They know what they are meant to do in life, and they do it exceptionally well”. (p.204)
2. The world tends to recognize the unique and the loud, the rich and the self-serving, not those who do ordinary things extraordinarily well. (p.204)
Please call me Na'vi!
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Angel Lin
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註冊時間: 週四 11月 11, 2004 10:18 pm
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Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Angel Lin »

Here is my exploration:

[Phrases or Expressions]
1. And yet if you see Dewey's official photograph, which Rick shot that day (it's on the cover of this book), you can tell immediately he's not just another cat. He's beautiful, yes, but more than that, he's relaxed. He has no fear of the camera, no confusion about what's going on. His eyes are wide and clear. His fur is perfectly groomed. He doesn't look like a kitten, but he doesn't look like a grown cat, either. He's a young man getting his college graduation photograph taken, or a sailor getting a memento for his girl back home before shipping off on his first tour. (p.142)

2. On a whim, I entered Dewey in the contest. (p.142)

3. The town voted, and Dewey won by a landslide. He got more than 80 percent of the votes, seven times as many as the runner-up. (p.143)

4. The stories, not just about his rescue but about his life and relationships, were seeping down into the cracks and sprouting new life. He wasn't just the library's cat, not anymore. He was Spencer's cat. He was our inspiration, our friend, our survivor. He was one of us. And at the same time, he was ours. (p.143)

5. We understood life wasn't about quantity but quality. (p.144)

[Words]
1. memento (n.) (p.142) 紀念物
Ex1:A memento is a keepsake or souvenir of remembrance. (Wiki)
Ex2:Seasonable mementos may be useful. (Bacon.)

2. whim (n.) (p.142) 一時的興致; 突然的念頭
Ex:It's only a passing whim, ie one that will soon be forgotten.

3. landslide (n.) (p.143) 山崩; 滑坡; (選舉中的)壓倒性大勝利
Ex:Opinion polls forecast a Conservative landslide.

4. sprout (v.) (p.143) 發芽; 長出來
Ex:We can't eat these potatoes; they've all sprouted.

5. mascot (n.) (p.144) 吉祥物
Ex:The football team's mascot is a goat.
I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life. Madeleine Albright
我學到要努力並非是因為有任何成功的保證, 而是因為努力的行為本身是保持人生信念的唯一途徑。 麥德琳‧歐布萊特
Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Kooper »

Chapter 17-18
1.
to steamroll sth through xxx: to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen or be successful
to steamroll an opponent: to defeat your opponent badly

Ex: Still, Montfort had steamrolled through dozens of towns, and they didn't even bother addressing our concerns or offering concessions. (p.157)
Ex: He steamrolled the plan through the committee.
Ex: Barack Obama: I'll steamroll health reforms through Congress
Ex: Celtics steamroll Pistons.

2. turn one's back on sb/sth: to refuse to help, support, or be involved with sb/sth

Ex: Maybe, as some suggested, we were turning our backs on economic progress to preserve the kind of town - a town based on local merchants, farmers, and small manufacturers - that can no longer survive in modern America. (p.158)
Ex: Never turn your back on a friend.
Ex: In his twenties he turned his back on his Catholic faith.
Ex: Turn Your Back on Bush
Ex: Golf Writers Turn Their Backs on Tiger Woods
Ex: Haiti: Has God Turned His Back on The Country?
最後由 Kooper 於 週四 4月 01, 2010 11:06 am 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
Michael-liu
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註冊時間: 週五 4月 24, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Michael-liu »

Kooper 寫:Chapter 17
1.
to steamroll sth through xxx: to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen or be successful
to steamroll an opponent: to defeat your opponent badly
Hi, Kooper

After reading your post, I looked up "steamroll" in the dictionary and found out a steamroller is a vehicle as the below photo shows

I guess that is why it means "to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen" or "to defeat your opponent badly" ..^.^

圖檔


Michael
Kooper
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Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Kooper »

Michael-liu 寫:
Kooper 寫:Chapter 17
1.
to steamroll sth through xxx: to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen or be successful
to steamroll an opponent: to defeat your opponent badly
Hi, Kooper

After reading your post, I looked up "steamroll" in the dictionary and found out a steamroller is a vehicle as the below photo shows

I guess that is why it means "to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen" or "to defeat your opponent badly" ..^.^

圖檔
I think so too. :sun:
Michael-liu
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註冊時間: 週五 4月 24, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Michael-liu »

Hi, Chrion

According to Longman dictionary,

moon over somebody/something phrasal verb
old-fashioned to spend your time thinking about someone that you are in love with: ]


So, I think it is supposed to mean "思念某人". What do you think?

Michael
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Cindy
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Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Cindy »

hey ISG fellows, here comes the vocab found out in Dewey Chapter 16 & 17:

(P.145)
In hindsight (phr)
就是事後再回頭來看的意思
I can see now, in hindsight,that Dewey’s escape was a turning point.

Feeble (a.)
1. 虛弱的,衰弱的;無力的
2. (智力,性格等)弱的,軟弱的
3. 拙劣無效的;站不住腳的
4. 微弱的;薄弱

A poor feeble kitten, almost frozen to death.......

Oozing (vi.)
1. 滲出;冒出;分泌出[Q]
2. (希望、勇氣等)逐漸消失[(+away)]
3. (祕密等)洩漏[(+out)]
4. 滲出水分

“Well, there he is, sleeping in a box with his tail hanging out and his stomach oozing over the side. “

(P.148)
Draped vt.
1. (用打褶的布等)覆蓋[(+with/in)];垂掛(布、窗簾等)[(+around/over)];裝飾
2. 使(布、衣服等)呈褶襉狀
vi.
1.呈褶狀垂下;成褶襉狀

The host whispered excitedly as Dewey draped over her shoulder.

(P. 150)
Perk up (phr.)
活躍起來;振作起來
Even the crowd at Sister’s Café perked up.

Looking forward to the ISG meeting on Friday night!!:-))
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Kooper »

Kooper 寫:Chapter 17-18
1.
to steamroll sth through xxx: to use all your power and influence on something to make it happen or be successful
to steamroll an opponent: to defeat your opponent badly

Ex: Still, Montfort had steamrolled through dozens of towns, and they didn't even bother addressing our concerns or offering concessions. (p.157)
Ex: He steamrolled the plan through the committee.
Ex: Barack Obama: I'll steamroll health reforms through Congress
Ex: Celtics steamroll Pistons.

2. turn one's back on sb/sth: to refuse to help, support, or be involved with sb/sth

Ex: Maybe, as some suggested, we were turning our backs on economic progress to preserve the kind of town - a town based on local merchants, farmers, and small manufacturers - that can no longer survive in modern America. (p.158)
Ex: Never turn your back on a friend.
Ex: In his twenties he turned his back on his Catholic faith.
Ex: Turn Your Back on Bush
Ex: Golf Writers Turn Their Backs on Tiger Woods
Ex: Haiti: Has God Turned His Back on The Country?
3. out of character: untypical of sb's character
Ex: He'd never acted out. This was completely out of character. (p.170)
Ex: He swore, which was out of character for him.
Ex: It would be very out of character of her to lie.

4. golden rule: a very important principle or rule that should be remembered, especially in a particular situation
Ex: And the library cat's golden rule for all time... Never forget, nor let humans forget, that you own the joint. (p.164)
Ex: The golden rule of cooking is to use fresh ingredients.
Ex: The golden rule for working in any factory is to observe its safety regulations.

5. laid-back: If you describe sb as laid-back, you mean that they behave in a calm relaxed way as if nothing will ever worry them.
Ex: Kay was laid-back and practical, a strong Iowa farm woman. (p. 165)
Ex: I don't know how you can be so laid-back about your exams.
Ex: He is famed for his laid-back attitude.
Ivy yw
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註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2008 9:46 pm

Re: YOYO-ISG 100402 Novel / Dewey p.138 - p.269

文章 Ivy yw »

1. cloud (v) : to overshadow; obscure; darken
Maybe you think my love clouds my judgment (p247)

2. back off : to abandon (an intention, objective, etc.)
As soon as she spoke the train jumped the tracks and the board backed off (p248)

3. account for : to give reasons for (an event, act, etc.)
That's why he had been peeing more, and it probably accounted for his peeing outside the litter box (p253)

4. flesh and blood : Human nature or physical existence, together with its weaknesses
Dewey had gone from being a flesh-and-blood animal with thoughts and feelings, to being a symbol,
a metaphore, and object that could be owned (p247)
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