Books change lives during World War II
偷書賊 文字的力量， 能在戰時撫慰人心
The Book Thief begins with a twist. The story is narrated not by a person, but by Death. Death tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a 9-year-old German girl. It begins in 1939, shortly before the start of World War II. Liesel's mother is taking her and her brother, Werner, to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small twon of Molching. On the way Werner dies; this horrifies Liesel so much that she has nightmares for months. Hans tries to comfort and console Liesel and teaches her to read.
They begin with a book that Liesel stole from the men who buried her brother. Times are very tense in Germany. As the war gets worse, so do the food and work shortages. At a book burning to celebrate Hitler's birthday, Liesel pilfers another book.
Rosa, Liesel's foster mother, does laundry for others. One of her customers is IIsa Hermann, the wife of the town's mayor. When delivering laundry to her, Liesel stares in astonishment at all the books in her study. IIsa invites her to read there.
Info Cloud
to death
Hello, friends. Welcome to Info Cloud. Rex, I heard you were sick and stayed home for a few days. Are you OK?
I'm OK now. But I stayed home by myself for three days, and it was bored to death.
Well, I know how you feel. And that's a very interesting expression you used, to death.
When Rex said he was bored to death, he didn't mean that he actually died because he was bored.
No. I'm still here. I meant I was extremely bored. We use the expression "to death" to emphasize an extreme level or state.
We usually use this expression with worried, scared or what you just said, bored. After John's accident, Sara was worried to death.
Although this expression is often used in a negative way, there's a way to use it positively: to love someone to death.
For me personally, I could say I love my baby to death or I love my family to death, which basically means I love them very much.
很多人常用中文說: 「我擔心死了」，或是「嚇死我了」，英文有幾乎一模一樣的表達方式-- to death，字面上的意思就是到死亡的程度，用來形容一些比較極端的狀況，像是After John's accident, Sara was worried to death. John 出車禍之後，Sara擔心死了。當然，Sara沒有擔心到死，她只是非常非常地擔心。to death通常會跟 bored, scared 或是 worried 一起使用，不過也有一種正面用法，那就是: I love my family to death. 我愛死我的家人，或是我非常愛我的家庭。
Language Lab
narrate v. 敘述、講故事
to tell (a story)
- The play begins with an introduction that is narrated by a male actor.
這齣戲一開始由一位男演員敘述背景故事。
narrator n. 敘述故事的人
- The student will each play a part in the play and their teacher will be the narrator.
每位學生在戲劇裡都會擔任一個角色，而旁白者會由他們的老師擔任。
narration n. 敘述的那一段話
the act or process of telling a story or describing what happens
- Instead of playing the lead role, the famous actor will be doing the narration.
那位名演員這次不會擔任男主角，而是負責旁白敘述。
console v. 安慰 (重音第二音節)
/kənˈsoʊl/
to try to make (someone) feel less sadness or disappointment
- We all went to console Wanda but she just wanted to be by herself.
我們大家都去找Wanda 安慰她，但是她卻想要單獨一個人。
- William tried to console Laura by taking her to an ice-cream shop.
William 為了安慰Laura，而帶她去一下冰淇淋店。
console n. 電子設備的控制台或是遊戲主機 (重音第一音節)
/ˈkɑːnˌsoʊl/
a flat surface that contains the controls for a machine, for a piece of electrical equipment, etc.
- I think there is something wrong with the console, and we need to ask a technician to come and fix it.
我認為控制台有問題，而且需要請技術人員來修理。
- Shamus’ father promised him that if he did well in school, he will get a new video console.
Shamus 的父親答應他如果在學校表現優異，就可以拿到新的遊戲主機。
pilfer v. 竊取、偷 (很少量的)
/ˈpɪlfɚ/
to steal things that are not very valuable or to steal a small amount of something
- The grocery store’s owner saw a small child pilfering pieces of candy from the candy barrel.
雜貨店老闆看到一位小孩，從糖果桶子內偷拿了幾塊糖果。
- These apps on your phone might look harmless, but they are actually pilfering your personal information.
你手機上的這些App 也許看起來無害，但是他們實際上在偷取你的個資。
pilferage n. 竊取的行為
/ˈpilf(ə)rij/
the action of stealing things of little value
- The grocery store owner has decided to keep the candy barrel behind the counter to prevent pilferage.
雜貨店老闆決定把糖果桶子放在櫃台後面，以防止小偷偷拿。
- Although security cameras have been set up around the store, the pilferage continues.
店裡雖然有安裝監視器，但是還是持續發生竊案。
astonishment n. 驚訝
/əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/
a feeling of being very surprised : amazement
- To everyone’s astonishment, Gary suddenly announced his getting married.
Gary 突然宣佈要結婚，讓大家感到驚訝。
- People didn’t know Irene could dance, and when they saw her performance, they were in absolute astonishment.
很多人不知道Irene會跳舞，所以當他們看到她的表演時，都感到非常驚訝。
astonishing adj. 非常驚人的
so surprising that it is difficult to believe
- The ending of the movie was very astonishing.
電影的結尾非常驚人。
astonish v. 讓人驚訝
to surprise someone very much
- Everyone thought the intern was a quiet guy until he astonished them all with a lively presentation.
實習生的生動報告，讓大家感到驚訝，因為大家都以為他是一位很安靜的人。
👀watch video
