There was a gulf of ten years between him and his youngest sister 17. You couldnt have gotten me out of books with a wedge.- You could never have forced me a wedge is a piece of metal, wood, rubber, etc. with a pointed edge at one end and a wide edge at the other, which is either pushed between two objects to keep them still or forced into something to break pieces off it. For either of purposes a wedge is driven with force 18. in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books - in a prison whose chief objective was to help him live a normal life again, a prisoner was encouraged and approved if he showed particularly keen interest in books smile on/upon sb /sth. -approve or encourage sb / sth e.g. The government began to smile on small businesses when it realized that they were the key to economic growth Fortune has smiled upon us(i.e. We are successful )today 19. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. -Many people said that A walking encyclopedia- a very informative person. Walking is used to describe a person in terms of an object, in order to emphasize a particular quality that the person has walking d 20. when the new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand when the new read and understand -read with comprehension the word understand here is italicized for emphasis'sake. The author was now able to read and understand, but, earlier, he was "going through only book-reading motions( para. 2) 21 could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books- could borrow more books than the average inmate was permitted at most check out (a book, etc. )-register(a book, etc. )as having been borrowed 22. serious reading -reading that requires concentration to understand or appreciate, as in contrast to reading for pleasure 23. It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing. -lights al ways seemed to be out just when I was reading something that completely held my interest If you are in the middle of doing something, you are busy doing it and do not want to be e.g. I was in the middle of washing up when the telephone rang He's in the middle of planning his departmental budget 24. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. -As soon as my eyes became accustomed to it, the light from the corridor lamp was enough for reading 25. feign sleep-pretend to be asleep Both feign and pretend mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance but feign is especially used e.g. Everyone feigned surprise when he told how old he was I don't want to go tonight-I shall feign(or pretend) illnessThere was a gulf of ten years between him and his youngest sister. 17. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. – You could never have forced me away from books. A wedge is a piece of metal, wood, rubber, etc. with a pointed edge at one end and a wide edge at the other, which is either pushed between two objects to keep them still or forced into something to break pieces off it. For either of purposes a wedge is driven with force. 18. in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books – in a prison whose chief objective was to help him live a normal life again, a prisoner was encouraged and approved if he showed particularly keen interest in books smile on/upon sb. /sth. – approve or encourage sb./sth. e.g. The government began to smile on small businesses when it realized that they were the key to economic growth. Fortune has smiled upon us (i.e. We are successful ) today. 19. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. – Many people said that some inmates were very informative. A walking encyclopedia – a very informative person. Walking is used to describe a person in terms of an object, in order to emphasize a particular quality that the person has. e.g. a walking dictionary She’s a walking history book. 20. when the new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand = when the new world of being able to read and understand opened to me read and understand –read with comprehension the word understand here is italicized for emphasis’ sake. The author was now able to read and understand, but, earlier, he was “going through only book-reading motions(para.2)” 21. could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books – could borrow more books than the average inmate was permitted at most check out (a book, etc.) – register (a book, etc.) as having been borrowed 22. serious reading – reading that requires concentration to understand or appreciate, as in contrast to reading for pleasure 23. It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing. – Lights always seemed to be out just when I was reading something that completely held my interest. If you are in the middle of doing something, you are busy doing it and do not want to be interrupted. e.g. I was in the middle of washing up when the telephone rang. He’s in the middle of planning his departmental budget. 24. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. –As soon as my eyes became accustomed to it, the light from the corridor lamp was enough for reading. 25. feign sleep – pretend to be asleep feign and pretend Both feign and pretend mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance, but feign is especially used of an emotion. e.g. Everyone feigned surprise when he told how old he was. I don’t want to go tonight – I shall feign (or pretend) illness