:::Rain::::

＊ Charlotte’s web

Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published in 1952 by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.

Written in White's dry, low-key manner, Charlotte's Web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing. Publishers Weekly listed the book as the best-selling children's paperback of all time as of 2000.

★ Characters:

1. Wilbur

Sensitive and vulnerable, Wilbur is born a runt and saved from an untimely death by Fern who subsequently looks after him until he is five weeks old. He is pampered and babied by her and is completely content when he is surrounded by Fern's love: he is wheeled around in her pram and he joins her and Avery when they go swimming and wallows in the nearby mud. When he is then taken from her, he is very lonely until he finds love when he meets Charlotte.

2. Charlotte

Charlotte is cool and collected. She is practical, beautiful, skilled and unsentimental. She can't bear Wilbur crying, saying that she can't stand 'hysterics'. She is clever and loyal to her friends - she is the first to comfort Wilbur by assuring him she will save him when he finds out that he is to be killed at Christmastime.

3. Fern

Fern is completely loving and, at the beginning of the novel, totally innocent. She is a moralist who saves Wilbur's life by arguing with her father that a small piglet has just as much right to live a large piglet. She subsequently looks after him as a mother would and when he is sent to live with her uncle, she still visits him. She has a big heart and a motherly nature.

4. Templeton

Templeton is the rat that lives under Wilbur's trough. Before Wilbur meets Charlotte, he passes his time talking to Templeton and although it is 'not the most interesting occupation in the world it [is] better than nothing.'

       Templeton describes himself as 'a glutton but not a merrymaker'. Crafty and selfish, he collects and stores bizarre odds and ends and is happy to dig a tunnel to Wilbur's trough and eat his food but never offers to give anything in return.

5. Avery

Avery is Fern's elder brother: he is ten years old and he is boisterous and aggressive. When Fern is given the piglet, Avery - late out of bed - demands that he is given one too. His mother describes him to Dr Dorian as a typical out of doors boy - adventurous and carefree.

6. Mrs Edith Zuckerman

Until they journey to the fair, Mrs Zuckerman is mostly depicted as being in the kitchen. She is in the kitchen when she notices Wilbur escape and when Fern and Avery come over to play and she offers them blueberry pie. She is also unusual in thinking that the writing in the web points to a special spider and not a special pig. However, she is quietened by her husband who dismisses her comment outright. Overall, her domestic life encapsulates what life was like for women in the 50s.

7. Henry Fussy

We only ever hear about Henry through other people. Fern's friend to start with, the novel suggests that he may be her first boyfriend by the end of the novel -- a conventional and boring boy who perhaps represents what Fern has in store for her. Specifically, this would be a typical married life, shut off from the joys of imaginative creativity, just like Mrs Zuckerman's life, characterized by the moment when she suggests that it is Charlotte who is the miracle animal and not Wilbur.

8. Uncle

Uncle is the large spring pig that lives next to Wilbur at the Fair. He is described by Charlotte as 'too familiar, too noisy' and she tells Wilbur that 'he cracks weak jokes.'Uncle receives the medal that he deserves because and should win the prize on account of his size; and yet according to Charlotte there is nothing interesting about him. Thus it is no surprise that Wilbur is eventually recognized above him when he is awarded the special prize on the bandstand.

＊ Four major words in Charlotte’s web

The first word is “SOME PIG.” àp.77

The second word is “TERRIFIC.” àp.91,94

The third word is “RADIANT.” àp.99

The last word is “HUMBLE.” àp.139-140

＊ merrry-maker  à 搞笑嬉戲的人

＊ 向國旗敬禮 !

＊ salutation 打招呼

A salutation is a greeting used in a letter or other written or non-written communication. Salutations can be formal or informal. The most common form of salutation in a letter is Dear followed by the recipient's given name or title. For each style of salutation there is an accompanying style of complementary close, known as valediction. Examples of non-written salutations are bowing (common in Japan) or even addressing somebody by their name.

＊ rotten to the cord  à 爛到骨子裡

＊ scheming

Definition:

Scheming is an adjective that describes someone who is always doing sneaky things to make things happen, like your schemingfriend who invites you to a family party because she secretly wants you to meet her adorable cousin. 

Examples:

1.Netflix may not be so different from Frank Underwood, the schemingsenator played by Kevin Spacey in “House of Cards”.

＊ brutal

Definition:

1. Extremely ruthless or cruel.

2. Crude or unfeeling in manner or speech.

3. Harsh; unrelenting: a brutal winter in the Arctic.

4. Disagreeably precise or penetrating: spoke with brutal honesty.

Examples:

1.They felt that it was high-handed and brutal , andthat it fixed an indelible   blot on the nationalconscience.

2. The first couple of months were brutal , and alsoan insanely busy time at work.

＊ bloodthirsty

Definition:

eager to shed blood.

Examples:

1.Promoters of this often present this with abloodthirsty  glee.

2.Be the leaders never so bloodthirsty, the common people have had enough of fighting.