I. The central question

From this chapter we know more about Su Tungpo's life. When he was young, he had a brilliant young mind. However, he was a great genius but not a freak, just like other children, he liked the nature, the birds and stones. His wonderful childhood made him fond of nature and write a great number of poems. Additionally, the civil service examination both affected Su Tungpo's father and brother, which build Su's article style. The most interesting thing is Su's romance and love life, maybe it was not ture, but at least we can found Su has emotional and rational character.

II. The sentence

1. Some days later, to all intents and purposes, he had breathed his last.

to all intents and purpose  实际上，任何一方面

2. There would then be a hullabaloo in the family and the maidservants would run about barefooted to pick vegetables from the garden and kill chickens to prepare a dinner.

hullabaloo  a lot of noise, especially made by people shouting

run about barefooted 形容整个家族的人们忙的不可开交，十分形象

3. There was peace in the county and peace with the barbarian hordes on the north and northwest, the Kins, the Liaos, and the Shishia Kingdom, which had been a constant source of trouble.

a constant source of trouble   此处表明宋朝与金、辽与西夏的边患是持续不断的麻烦来源    

4. Something in the boys' eyes and their voices, as their tongues rolled so smoothly over the syllables of the classics, told him that they would succeed, and his hope recovered and his wounded pride was healed.

这一句将苏轼、苏辙二兄弟对其父苏洵的影响形象地再现了，尤其是their tongues rolled so smoothly over the syllables以及his wounded pride was healed， 读起来音节十分流畅

III. Thoughts

苏轼在林语堂先生眼中无疑是天才般的偶像，不过，林语堂先生并没有将苏轼描绘成一个高高在上，不可亲近的人。在这一章中，林先生为我们展示了苏轼的童年与青年生活，与第二章相比，我们能够更进一步了解到苏轼在成为一代文豪苏东坡之前，度过的是怎样的人生。实际上，我们发现，这样的苏轼并不陌生，他可能就是那个小时候非常聪明的孩子，喜欢放了学后去看花鸟虫鱼的小孩。甚至是苏轼青年时代的逸闻趣事，也让我们对这一位天才有了更多的亲近之感，苏东坡的旷达并非勘破红尘，他也曾经历少年时代的钟情与伤情。苏东坡既能超逸通达而又不失真性情，源于他丰富的人生经历，这正是他的迷人之处。