Words & Expressions

He received SunShun cordially, and through him Su senior was invited to privy councilor Han Chi's home and ...     

privy  (private)

adj  1.be privy to sth sharing in the knowledge of facts that are secret 了解某事的内情，私下知晓某事eg. Colby was privy to the committee’s decisions. 

 2.old use secret and private 【旧】 秘密的，私下的

privy councilor 枢密

The young brothers spent their time looking at the gay streets.

gay

adj  1.if someone, especially a man, is gay, they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex 〔尤指男性〕同性恋的

 2.old-fashioned bright or attractive 【过时】 鲜艳的；有吸引力的

eg. He is in gay colours.

 3.old-fashioned cheerful and excited 【过时】 快乐的，兴奋的

eg. She felt excited and quite gay. 她感到兴奋而快活。 

4.with gay abandon in a careless way, without careful thought 任意地，纵情地，放纵地

【Eric 对此有详细的解释和分析】

mp.weixin.qq.com/s/He9vvdv9jKiMQwA3bsBO6w

The streets swarmed with pedestrians, officials' horse carriages bull carts, and sedan chairs, ... were pulled by men- prototypes of the modern ricksshaw.

swarm

n.  [C]

1.a large group of insects, especially BEEs ,moving together 成群移动的昆虫；〔尤指〕蜂群

2.a crowd of people who are moving quickly 〔迅速移动的〕人群(of)

eg. Swarms of tourists jostled through the square. 一群群游客推推搡搡地穿过广场。

v. if people swarm somewhere, they go there as a large uncontrolled crowd 成群结队地移动，蜂拥，涌往

eg. Photographers were swarming around the princess. 

swarm with sb/sth   to be full of a moving crowd of people or animals 挤满〔移动的人群或动物〕eg. The museum was swarming with tourists. 博物馆里挤满了观光客。

prototype

n  [C]1.the first form that a new design of a car, machine etc has, or a model of it used to test the design before it is produced 〔新型汽车﹑机器等的〕原型，雏形(of / for)

eg. The scientists have developed a working prototype of the new car.

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Gist

本章节主要根据时间线，来叙述苏家的入仕途经过。在孩子到了参加科举考试的年龄，三苏决定一起进京谋求仕途上的官运。学而优则仕，最终他们也是过关斩将，顺利博取功名，但此时，苏家母亲遭变故去世，苏家兄弟需守孝，而其父也对于考试一直耿耿于怀。在守孝期满之后，苏家兄弟如愿入朝为官，进入仕途。

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Excerpts

All marriages, however arranged, are a gamble and an adventure upon an uncharted sea.

此句话感觉道出了婚姻生活的本质。

The young brothers spent their time looking at the gay streets, eating at the famous restaurants, and standing in the cold watching with great admiration the renowned ministers passing by in their carriages.

此句话非常形象地描写了苏家两兄弟进京后的所见，看到他们就想起自己第一次进城采购年货的情景。印象非常深刻，在那时我的眼里，眼前的高楼目不暇接，看得脖子都酸疼。