PART 1 Expressions
1. The Cheese story has found its way into homes, companies, schools, churches, the military, and sports teams.
sth find its way somewhere: informal, arrives or gets somewhere after some time
Her invention has found its way into the shops.
2. Believe me, this brief parable takes little time to read, but its impact can be profound.
parable: [ˈpærəbl] 寓言
3. The Maze was a labyrinth of corridors and chambers.
labyrinth: 迷宫 [ˈlæbərɪnθ] SYN maze
a labyrinth of underground tunnels
labyrinthine : [ˌlæbə'rɪnθaɪn] (a.)
labyrinthine corridors
4. Their powerful human beliefs and emotions took over and clouded the way they looked at things.
cloud sth: to make sth less pleasant or more difficult than it should have been
Her happiness was clouded by having to leave her son behind.
cloud the issue/ picture etc: to make a subject or problem more difficult to understand or deal with, especially by introducing unnecessary ideas
Uninformed(无知的) judgments only could the issues.
5. "Who moved my Cheese?" he hollered.
holler :[ˈhɒlə(r)] informal, to shout loudly, SYN yell
I heard someone hollering at me.
6. I'm going to get to the bottom of this.
get to the bottom of sth: to find out the cause of a problem or situation
I never got to the bottom of this!
7. Haw even drew a picture of cheese around it, hoping it would help Hem to smile, lighten up and go after the New Cheese.
lighten up: spoken, used to tell sb not to be so serious about sth
You need to lighten up a bit.
8. Ten he raced through the Maze with greater strength and agility.
agility: the ability to move quickly and easily
With surprising agility, Karl darted across the road.
agile: (a.) [ˈædʒaɪl]
eg. Dogs are surprisingly agile.
sb who has an agile mind is able to think very quickly and intelligently
He was physically strong and mentally agile.
9. Hem appreciated his friend's gesture but said, "..."
gesture 在这里的意思是 sth that you say or do, often sth small, to show how you feel about sb or sth
The decided it would be a nice gesture to send her a card.
As a gesture of goodwill, we have decided to waive the charges on this occasion.
10. Haw knew he would be in better shape now if he had dealt with the change much sooner.
in good/ bad/ poor shape: in good, bad etc condition/ health
For an old car, it's in pretty good shape.
The economy is in worse shape now than it was last year.
Kaplan seemed to be in better shape than either of us.
11. We believed then that the backbone of our business was our large sales force, who called on people door-to-door.
backbone: 本意是“脊柱” SYN spine
the backbone of sth: the most important part of an organization or group of people
Farmers are the backbone of this community.
backbone 的另一层意思是courage and determination
Stuart doesn't have the backbone to be a good manager.
PART 2 Sentences
1. Believe it or not, this little story has been credited with improving careers, marriages and lives.
2. He wondered why he had always thought that a change would lead to something worse. Now he realized that change could lead to something better.
3. What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.
4. He knew that when you change what you believe, you change what you do.
You can believe that a change will harm you and resist it. Or you can believe that finding New Cheese will help you and embrace the change.
It all depends on what you choose to believe.
5. He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on.
6. Perhaps most importantly, he realized that there is always New Cheese out there whether you recognize it at the time, or not. And that you are rewarded with it when you go past your fear and enjoy the adventure.
