Lesson 21 DanielMendoza

 

How many unsuccessful attempts did Mendoza make beforebecoming Champion of all England?

Boxing matches were very popular in England two hundredyears ago.

In those days, boxers fought withbare fists for prize money.

Because of this, they were known as 'prizefighters'.

However, boxing was very crude, for there were no rules anda prizefighter could be seriously injured or even killed during a match.

One of the most colorfulfigures in boxing history was Daniel Mendoza, who was born in 1764.

The use of gloveswas not introduced until 1860, when the Marquis of Queensberry drew up thefirst set of rules.

Though he was technically a prizefighter, Mendoza did muchto change crude prizefighting into a sport, for he brought science to the game.

In his day, Mendoza enjoyed tremendous popularity.He wasadored by rich and pooralike.

Mendoza rose to fameswiftly after a boxing match when he was only fourteen years old.

This attracted the attention of Richard Humphries who wasthen the mosteminent boxer inEngland.

He offered to train Mendoza and his young pupilwas quickto learn.

In fact, Mendoza soon became so successful that Humphriesturned against him.

The two men quarreled bitterly and it was clear that theargument could only be settled by a fight.

A match was held at Stilton, where both men fought for anhour.

The public bet a great deal of money on Mendoza, but he wasdefeated.

Mendoza met Humphries in the ring on a lateroccasion and he lost for a second time.

It was not until his third match in 1790 that he finallybeat Humphries and becameChampion ofEngland.

Meanwhile, he founded a highly successful Academyand even Lord Byron became one of his pupils.

He earned enormous sumsof money and was paid as much as $100 for a single appearance.

Despite this, he was so extravagantthat he was always in debt.

After he was defeated by a boxer called Gentleman Jackson,he was quickly forgotten.

He was sent to prison for failing to pay his debts and diedin poverty in 1836.

 

 

1        England为古英语的说法，亦为非正式说法。现在国际上的说法为the UnitedKingdom,如果我们称英国为England,会引起歧义，因此，提醒大家特别注意

2        a colorful figure/ character/life

3        introduce

When we introduced this system, no one believeit would work.

4        Introduction初级   Introduction to + 学科名

Intermediate 中级   Advanced高级

5        technically严格意义上

6        in his/her day—在某个人的鼎盛时期

7        He was adored by rich and poor alike. 1)句中的rich和poor都不是简单的形容词，其完整的写法应该是therich and the poor,即“有钱人和穷人”

2) alike =>adv. Equally,  in the same way   I learned a lot from teachers and studentsalike.

8        raise to fame 出名,raise to power掌权

9        bet money on sb.  在某人身上下注

10    in debt   in poverty    in horror          in +表示状态或情感的单词

11    pupil 1)小学生 2)私人学生

12    一组时间状语:

a)     in those days

b)     in the past过去

c)      nowadays如今

d)     at present当前

e)     these days目前

f)      currently时下

g)     then –当时，在那时 at that time

13    表示“（被）称为”的短语:

a)     be known as                be called

b)     refer to A as B把A看作B

c)      regard A as B把A看作B

14    tremendous

1)     very great in size, amount , or degree.

There is a tremendous difference between them.

at tremendous speed

The response to this completion is tremendous.-<Lesson 26 Wanted: alarge biscuit tin>

Note that this approach could have tremendous performance improvementsfor frequently read, but mostly static, data. --<New Generation ABAPDevelopment.pdf> page 95

 

15      draw up 1)起草2)使靠近

1)     The use of gloves was not introduced until 1860,when the Marquis of Queensberry drew up the first set of rules. - Lesson 21Daniel Mendoza

2)     Seeing a cake flying through the air, the lorrydriver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. –Lesson 33 A day to remember