Pre-reading

Question: What was Friday’s favorable tool?

Intensive Reading

I saw that Friday very often repeated aloud what I said. I think that it also helped him to learn so fast. I thought, “Learning a language is quite easy. You only need to copy what you hear and if you don’t understand something, you need a picture of it. Then you need a lot of practice. This is the best system.”

我看见星期五经常大声重复我说的话。我觉得这也帮助了他学习这么快。我想，“学习一门语言挺容易的。你只需要重复你听到的话，如果你不理解，只需要对应的一副画。然后你需要很多练习。这就是最好的方法。”

Friday’s progress was fast. He was able to talk more and more every day. In a couple of months we could have a basic simple conversation.

星期五进步很快。他每天都能说得越来越多。不出几个月，我们就能进行基本的简单会话了。

Friday liked my tools. They were very interesting for him. He especially liked the telescope. He borrowed the telescope very often. He went to one of the hills. And he watched everything around.

星期五喜欢我的工具。这些工具对他来说很有趣。他特别喜欢望远镜。他经常借望远镜。他去其中的一座山。然后他看周围的一切。

Once, I asked him about his people and how he became a prisoner. He told me that they ate human meat like their opponents. In fact, in the past he did a ritual on the other side of my island. He was probably one of the cannibals who I saw a long time ago.

有一次，我问他关于他的种族，以及他是如何成为一名俘虏的。他告诉我他们就像对手那样吃人肉。实际上，以前他在我岛上另一边进行过一个仪式。他很可能是我很久之前看到过的食人族中的一员。

He told me about the sea and the currents in the sea. Thanks to Friday, I learned about the history, culture and traditions of his people.

他告诉关于海和海上的洋流的事。幸好有星期五，我了解了他们种族的历史、文化和传统。

Notes:

1. system：系统，制度，体制，方法

2. progress：可以作名词，用make progress来表示进步，也可以作动词表示进步。

3. opponent：对手，oppose是动词“反对”。

4. ritual：仪式，尤指宗教仪式。

Exercise:

What did Friday tell Robinson?