新标准大学英语综合教程4教师用书(外研社)(16)

birthday and how she tells Tony her

troubles. He talks to some friends and gets her a £20,000 loan to set up a business.

In the fourth part, the writer is looking back some years later. She has her masters degree and has a job

in an investment bank and has used the loan to set up her own company. The focus is on the twist inthe story, where the situation is reversed: Tony is disabled after an accident and needs the repayment

of the loan to adapt his house for his disability.

The last two main sentences are also introduced by “If you ask me,” This is a coda (a finishing phrase

or two) about investing in people.

2 How does the time context change from one section to the next?

The first section gives the background before the writer finds a job, in the past before the time of the

story. The second section is in the past, showing how she ot a job. The third section, still in the past,

shows the particular event of how she got a lucky break through Tony’s help. In the fourth section, the

time is in the present, with the writer looking back after some years. She tells us what happened and her

success after she had received Tony’s loan.

3 How much time do you think has elapsed between the third and the final section?

At least two years have passed because she worked in the pub for one year, then studied for her master’s

for another year, and then repaid the loan. If you allow time for her investment to make enough money

to repay the loan with interest and for the writer to have enough money left to set up a firm, then it could

be several further years, say between five and ten years altogether, but as she says “it is still a thriving

business”, it is probably ten or fifteen years later or even more. 4 How is the relationship between the writer and Tony reversed at the end of the story?

When they first meet Tony is working successfully in banking, while the writer is in financial difficulty

and in need of money. At the end of the story this situation is reversed: He is disabled and in need of

money, while she has become financially successful. The successful one helps the other in both parts of

the story.

5 What is the message presented at the end of the story?

The message is that Tony and the writer both say that investing in people