一、课文详解

My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.

offer是提供的意思，是一个可以带双宾语语的及物动词：offer sth to sb
legal形容词意思是法律的，合法的，其反义词为illegal
Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice
 此句为定语从句go to sb for advice去向某人寻求意见，关系代词 whom做介词宾主
 He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.
此句为非限定性定语从句，be grateful for因什么事而感激，关系代词which做介词for的宾语

I needed his help because I had very little education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadly I did not have it because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.

 to pay the school fees and the bus fare
英语中表示费用的词比较多，fare (n.) 指旅客乘公共汽车、出租车、火车、轮船、飞机等所支付的费用；fee (n.) 医生、律师或其它专门职业的佣金及会费、手续费、停车费等；freight (n.) 运费，指海运、空运、陆运的费用；postage (n . ) 指邮费。
whether I would become out of work.
out of work失业， whether 引导的是宾语从句

The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest. He told me how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg. I became more hopeful about my future. I never forgot how kind Mandela was. When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could. He said:

“The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.”

The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress
see在句子中的意思为见证的意思，其主语可以是时间，地点等其它表示非生命词；stopping our rights and progress为现在分词做定语修饰laws

It was the truth. Black people could not vote or choose their leaders. They could not get the jobs they wanted. The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people. The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa. No one could grow food there. In fact as Nelson Mandela said:

“…we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government. We chose to attack the laws. We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed…only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.

It was the truth
truth为true的名词，th是名词后缀，例如：grow--growth; long--length; deep--depth; strong--strenth
we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government.
此句为定语从句，先行词 position 是地步，境遇的意思；either.... or....为关联词，或者.... 或者....的意思，其否定式为：neither.... nor....
only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.
此句为倒装句，英语句子主语与谓语通常有两种语序，一种是主语位于谓语之前即自然语序，另一种是谓语位于主语之前即倒装语序。把整个谓语置于主语前叫全部倒装，把复合谓语的一部分（助动词或情态动词）置于主语之前叫部分倒装。 only加状语位于句首需用部分倒装，例如：Only by increasing the number of doctors by 50 percent can the patient be treated properly in this hospital.

As a matter of fact, I do not like violence…but in 1963 I helped him blow up some government buildings. It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison. But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.

 it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.
 achieve our dream 为不带“to”的不定式做宾语补语，help的宾语补语可用不带“to”的不定式，也可以用不“to”的不定式。
形容词equal是平等的意思，也在句子中做making的宾语补语，equal的名词为equalty.

二、课文鉴赏

本文表面是在写Elias的故事，实际上是在写已故南非前总统曼德拉反对种族隔离，为黑人争取平等权利的故事。曼德拉积极反对种族隔离，同时也是非洲国民大会的武装组织民族之矛的领袖人物，曼德拉在40年来获得了超过一百项奖项，其中1993年获得诺贝尔和平奖，2004年，其被选为最伟大的南非人，3013年去世，享年95岁。中国香港摇滚乐队Beyond演唱的一首歌曲“海阔天空”就是歌颂曼德拉的。

三、单元词汇详解

Unit 5

△Nelson Mandela 纳尔逊·曼德拉（前南非共和国总统）

quality n. 质量；品质；性质

△warm-hearted adj. 热心肠的

形容词+分词为构词法，例如：cold-blooded冷血的，good-looking好看的; easy-going随便的; fine-sounding动听的

mean adj. 吝啬的；自私的；卑鄙的

注意区别：mean作为动词是，意思是; 表示…的意思; 打算; 产生…结果；作为形容词是，吝啬的; 刻薄的; 破旧的; 残忍的；而means是手段; 方法的意思

active adj. 积极的；活跃的

构词法，由act构来的词有：action行动 ; actor演员 ; actress女演员 ; interact互动; active 活跃的；react反应

generous adj. 慷慨的；大方的

△easy-going adj. 随和的温和宽容的

self n. 自我；自身

selfish adj. 自私的

selfless adj. 无私的；忘我的

selflessly adv. 无私地；忘我地

devote vt. （与to连用）献身；专心于

用法：devote oneself to

devoted adj. 忠实的；深爱的

△William Tyndale 威廉·廷代尔（英国早期新教改革者）

△Bible n. 《圣经》

△Norman Bethune 诺曼·白求恩（加拿大胸外科医师）

△invader n. 侵略者

found vt. 建立；建设

found的过去式与过去分词为founded，found一词刚好与find的过去式与过去分词凑巧相同

republic n. 共和国；共和政体

principle n. 法则；原则；原理

△nationalism n. 民族主义；国家主义

-ism为后缀：criticism, heroism, tourism, communism

△livelihood n. 生计；谋生

－hood为后缀：childhood, brotherhood, boyhood, manhood

△Mohandas Gandhi 莫罕达斯·甘地（印度国民大会党领袖）

peaceful adj. 和平的；平静的；安宁的

△giant adj. 巨大的；庞大的

△leap n. 飞跃；跳跃

mankind n. 人类

△Elias n. 伊莱亚斯（男名）

lawyer n. 律师

guidance n. 指导；领导

－ance为名词后缀：importance, avoidance, appearance, performance

legal adj. 法律的；依照法律的

fee n. 费（会费、学费等）；酬金

△passbook n. 南非共和国有色人种的身份证

△Johannesburg n. 约翰内斯堡（南非城市）

out of work 失业

hopeful adj. 怀有希望的；有希望的

△ANC 非国大；非洲人国民大会；非洲民族会议（African National Congress）

youth n. 青年；青年时期

－th为名词词缀：strength, length, width, depth growth

league 同盟；联盟；联合会

Youth League 青年团

stage n. 舞台；阶段；时期

vote vt. & vi. 投票；选举n. 投票；选票；表决

attack vt. 进攻；攻击；抨击

violence n. 暴力；暴行

-ence也为名词后缀：

as a matter of fact 事实上

blow up 使充气；爆炸

equal adj. 相等的；平等的

用法：be equal to

in trouble 在危险、受罚、痛苦、忧虑等的处境中

willing adj. 乐意的；自愿的

unfair adj. 不公正的；不公平的

turn to 求助于；致力于

△ quote n. 引用语；语录

△ release vt. 释放；发行

lose heart 丧失勇气或信心

△Robben Island 罗本岛

escape vi. 逃脱；逃走；泄露

用法：escape为不及物动词，后面可接介词from,构成escape from

blanket n. 毛毯；毯子

educate vt. 教育；训练

educated adj. 受过教育的；有教养的

come to power 当权；上台

beg vi. 请求；乞求

relative n. 亲戚；亲属

terror n. 恐怖；可怕的人；恐怖时期；恐怖活动

cruelty n. 残忍；残酷

reward n. 报酬；奖金vt. 酬劳；奖赏

△Transkei n. 特兰斯凯（南非东南部一地区）

set up 设立;建立

sentence vt. 判决；宣判

be sentenced to 被判处……（徒刑）

anti-[前缀] 反；抗；阻

例如：anti-war, anti-pollution

anti-black adj. 反黑人的

△Cape Town 开普敦（南非立法首都）

president n. 总统；会长；校长；行长

△Nobel Peace Prize 诺贝尔和平奖

opinion n. 意见；看法；主张

用法：in one's opinion在某人看来