Notes for Beauty and the Beast

Vocabulary:

1. the tightening of the throat 喉咙发紧

    the tingle up the spine脊柱发麻

E.g. I felt a slight tightening of the throat.

2. shuffle through 拽足而行

E.g. A man shuffled through a quiet street in the city.

3. get off the ground 顺利开始

E.g. His plans never get off the ground.

4. legions of 众多

E.g. Its legions of fans are always eager to see it launch a new offering that makes a splash.

5. a knot in the stomach 胃部一揪

    a lump in the throat 如鲠在喉

E.g. His anger gave me a knot in the stomach. It is a lump in her throat.

6. wield 挥舞；行使

E.g. ~ power / ~ sword

7. machismo 男子气概

E.g. He completely lacks machismo.

8. wrestle with 全力对付，努力克服

E.g. Should girls be allowed to wrestle with boys?

Sentence structure:

1. That feeling itself - the tightening in the throat, the tingle up the spine, the tear of pride is unique to the human animal.

That feeling itself  (...) + is + unique (...)

2. The peasants who gazed for the first time at the stained glass in the cathedral at Chartres undoubtedly experienced that same feeling - the most human of emotions - wonder.

The peasants (...) + experienced + wonder

3. Even today, the sight of this huge, arched space with those luminous windows suspended high in the darkness is almost enough to make a believer of even the most skeptical.

The sight (...) + is enough to  (...)

4. Both represent the perfect combination of individual achievement and group corporation in the pursuit of something beautiful and lasting.

Both + represent + combination (...)

5. Some of the workers may well have been veterans of the First Crusade, an expedition to save the Holy Land from the infidal Muslims that was part religious frenzy, part military adventure, and part social fad.

Some of the workers + have been + veterans (...)

6. We like to think that our erratic behavior is a thing of the past, that we've outgrown the excesses of the Crusades.

We + like to + think 1, 2

Background information:

1. Neil Armstrong :

United States astronaut; the first man to set foot on the moon (July 20, 1969) (1930-)

2. Chartres Cathedral：

Also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Gothic Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of Paris. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century.

Since at least the 12th century the cathedral has been an important destination for travellers – and remains so to the present, attracting large numbers of Christian pilgrims, many of whom come to venerate its famous relic, the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ's birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the cathedral's architecture and historical merit.

3. The First Crusade:

The First Crusade (1095–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called on by Pope Urban II in 1095. It started as a widespread pilgrimage of western Christendom and ended as a military expedition by Roman Catholic Europe to regain the Holy Land taken in the Muslim conquests of the Levant (632–661), ultimately resulting in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.

During the crusades, nobility, knights, peasants and serfs from many regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first to Constantinople and then on towards Jerusalem. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city, and captured it in July 1099, massacring many of the city's Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. They also established the crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa.

It was the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Due to the First Crusade being largely concerned with Jerusalem, a city which had not been under Christian dominion for 461 years, and that the crusader army, on seizure of lands, had refused to honor a brokered promise before the seizure to return gained lands to the control of the Byzantine Empire, the status of the First Crusade as defensive or aggressive in nature remains unanswered and controversial.

4. The Holy Land:

is an area roughly located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that also includes the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River. Traditionally, it is synonymous with both the biblical Land of Israel and historical Palestine. The term usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel, the Palestinian Territories, western Jordan, and parts of southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria. It is considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Part of the significance of the land stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem, the holiest city to Judaism, the historical region of Jesus' ministry, and the site of the Isra and Mi'raj event in Islam.

The holiness of the land to Christianity was part of the motivation for the Crusades, as European Christians sought to win back the Holy Land from the Muslims, who had conquered it from the Christian Byzantine Empire.

Many sites in the Holy Land have long been pilgrimage destinations for adherents of the Abrahamic religions, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Bahá'ís. Pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith, confirm their beliefs in the holy context with collective excitation, and connect personally to the Holy Land.

5. Muslim:

A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran (Koran), their holy book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet and messenger Muhammad. The majority of Muslims also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad (sunnah ) as recorded in traditional accounts (hadith). "Muslim" is an Arabic word meaning "one who submits (to God)".

The beliefs of Muslims include: that God (Arabic: الله‎‎ Allāh) is eternal, transcendent and absolutely one (tawhid or monotheism); that God is incomparable, self-sustaining and neither begets nor was begotten; that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that has been revealed before through many prophets including Abraham, Moses, Ishmael and Jesus;that these previous messages and revelations have been partially changed or corrupted over time (tahrif)and that the Qur'an is the final unaltered revelation from God (The Final Testament).