英语篇#11 The Pleasure of Books - William Lyon Phelps

Summary of the Speech:

- Talked about how you need to be careful with books, but with books that you own, you can feel free to mark them.

- The importance of a bookshelf that had easy access (no glass doors and locks).

- Good to start your own private library at youth.

- Explained why books are good friends.

Some Important Parts of the Speech:

Books are for use, not for show; you should own no book that you are afraid to mark up, or afraid to place on the table, wide open and face down. A good reason for marking favorite passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to refer to them quickly, and then in later years, it is like visiting a forest where you once blazed a trail.

- Blaze (n/v ) 熊熊燃烧/大火/闪耀; 发亮光

Firefighters took two hours to control the blaze. 消防队员花了两个小时才控制住大火

(Literary use) Isaac's eyes blazed with anger. 艾萨克的眼里冒出怒火

The best of mural 壁画 decorations is books; they are more varied in color and appearance than any wallpaper, they are more attractive in design, and they have the prime advantage主要优势 of being separate personalities, so that if you sit alone in the room in the firelight 火光下, you are surrounded with intimate friends密友.

- Prime 首要的/主要的; 基本的

He is the prime suspect in the murder investigation. 他是谋杀案调查中的主要嫌疑犯

The hotel is in a prime location in the city centre. 该旅馆位于市中心的黄金地段

Prime beef 上等牛肉

Prime time 全盛时期; 盛年/壮年时期; 黄金时间 (period with high viewership)