Waiting for a CallWaiting for a Call

Unit 4Unit 4Unit 4Unit 4

Please, God, let him telephone me now. Dear God, let him

call me now. I won’t ask anything else of You, truly I won’t. It isn’t very much to ask. It would be so little to You, God, such a little, little thing. Only let him telephone now. Please, God. Please, please, please.

If I didn’t think about it, maybe the telephone might ring. Sometimes it does that. If I could think of something else. If I could think of something else. Maybe if I counted five hundred by fives, it might ring by that time. I’ll count slowly. I won’t cheat. And if it rings when I get to three hundred, I won’t stop; I won’t answer it until I get to five hundred. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty… Oh, please ring. Please.

Waiting for a Call

This is the last time I’ll look at the clock. I will not look at it again. It’s ten minutes past seven. He said he would telephone at five o’clock. “I’ll call you at five, darling.” I think that’s where he said “darling”. I’m almost sure he said it there. I know he called me “darling” twice, and the other time was when he said good-by. “Good-by, darling.” He was busy, and he can’t say much in the office, but he called me “darling” twice. He couldn’t have minded my calling him up. I know you shouldn’t keep telephoning them---I know they don’t like that.

I must stop this. I mustn’t be this way. Look. Suppose a young man says he’ll call a girl up, and then something happens, and he doesn’t, that isn’t so terrible, is it? Couldn’t you ring? Ah, please, couldn’t you?

Waiting for a Call

Waiting for a Call

You damned, ugly, shy thing. It would hurt you to ring, wouldn’t

it? Oh, that would hurt you. Damn you, I’ll pull your filthy roots out of the wall, I’ll smash your smug black face into little bits. Damn you to hell.

No, no, no. I must stop. I must think about something else. This is what I’ll do. I’ll put the clock in the other room. Then I can’t look at it. If I do have to look at it, then I’ll have to walk into the bedroom, and that will be something to do. Maybe, before I look at it again, he will call me. I’ll be so sweet to him, if he calls me. If he says he can’t see me tonight, I’ll say, “Why, that’s all right, dear. Why, of course it’s all right.” I’ll be the way I was when I first met him. Then maybe he’ll like me again. I was always sweet, at first. Oh, it’s so easy to be sweet to people before you love them.

why, interjection , expressing surprise, impatience, etc. E.g. why, it’s easy--- you can manage it.

God, aren’t You really going to let him call me? Are You sure, God? Couldn’t You please relent? Couldn’t You? I don’t even ask You to let him telephone me this minute, God only let him do it in a little while. I’ll count five hundred by fives. I’ll do it so slowly and so fairly. If he hasn’t telephoned then, I’ll call him. I will. Oh, please, dear God, dear kind God, my blessed Father in Heaven, let him call before then. Please. God. Please.

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five…

Waiting for a Call

1. ask sth. of sb.:1. ask sth. of sb.: request that sb give sth or do sth

e.g. It’s asking rather a lot of you to have my whole family to stay.

我全家在此逗留打搅您，未免有些过分了。 Don’t ask too much of others.

ask (sb.) for sth.ask (sb.) for sth.

e.g. Did you ask your boss for a pay increase?

玛利是个被宠坏 的孩子，她竟敢向她的爸爸要月亮。Mary is a spoiled girl who dares to ask moon of her father.

Mary is a spoiled girl who dares to ask her father for the moon.

2. count :2. count : v. say or name (the numerals) in order e.g. Count from 1 to 100 If I count five hundreds by fives… The preposition “by” followed by numbers or

figures indicates measurement or quantity.Very strangely, local shops sell cloth by weight not by

length.(with the ) 与 the 连用， using (sth) as a standard or

unit. Eggs are sold here by the dozen. She got her payment by the hour.

3. can/could have done3. can/could have done indicates the possibility of a past event.

e.g. She couldn’t have gone to Europe; I met her on the street yesterday.

Cf. must have done, may / might have doneCf. must have done, may / might have done1. Yesterday Jane walked away for discussion, otherwise, she ___ 1. Yesterday Jane walked away for discussion, otherwise, she ___

something she would regret later.something she would regret later. A. had said B. said C. might say D. might have saidA. had said B. said C. might say D. might have said2. Sorry, I’m late. I ____ have turned off the alarm clock and gone 2. Sorry, I’m late. I ____ have turned off the alarm clock and gone

back to sleep again.back to sleep again. A. might B. should C. can D. willA. might B. should C. can D. will

DD

BB

4. Suppose + a sentence4. Suppose + a sentence

a) The structure forms an imperative, or is used to make a suggestion or proposal.

e.g. Suppose you meet me at the post office at half-past seven.

b) used to ask someone to imagine what would happen if a particular situation existed

e.g. Suppose they did not believe him, what would they do to him?

5. damn 5. damn v. (of God) condemn (sb) to v. (of God) condemn (sb) to suffer in hell.suffer in hell.

(God) Damn you/them/it etc ; 该死的 ~ ！ (esp. as an interjection ) used to express annoyance,

anger ， etc.

尤作感叹词，表示厌烦，愤怒等。 e.g. 该死，我把钢笔给丢了。 Damn ! I’ve lost my pen !

这个没用的打字机真该死。 Damn this useless typewriter.

I’ll be damned . She won after all .

（表惊奇！）好家伙，她赢了！

6. It won6. It won’’t/wouldnt/wouldn’’t hurt (sb./sth.) (to t hurt (sb./sth.) (to do sth):do sth): (esp ironic) it, etc will/would not cause harm or inconvenience

e.g.

It won't hurt to postpone the matter for a few

days.

把此事搁置几天并无妨碍。

It won't hurt you to miss breakfast for once.

7. smash7. smash v. ～ sth (up ), ～ sth open ， ruin, (cause sth to ) be broken violently into pieces.

e.g. 和他分手之后 , 她把他的信件撕得粉碎。She smashed all his letters into pieces after she said goodbye to him.

The car smashed into a tree.

8. smug (usu. derog):8. smug (usu. derog): adj. too pleased with or proud of oneself, one’s achievements, etc; self-satisfied 洋洋自得的 , 自以为是的

e.g. a smug smile

You've got nothing to be smug about.

the smug calculation 如意算盘

9. relent: vi. to change your attitude and become less strict, cruel ,determined or harsh towards someone

At last her father relented and came to visit her.

最后还是父亲让了步，去看她。

The police will not relent in their fight against

crime.

警方将继续严厉打击犯罪活动。

Assignments

Write a passage of 300 words about your feelings of waiting for a promised call from your friends.