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• Reading Selection

• Vocabulary for Production

• Vocabulary for Recognition

• Idiomatic Expressions

Lesson 7The Woman Behind Harry Potter

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Vocabulary for Production

1. naughty英解　 of the bad behavior of a child 中解　 adj. 頑皮的Is it true that little boys are naughtier than

little girls?

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Vocabulary for Production

2. athletic英解　 good at sports and outdoor games 中解　 adj. 運動的Athletic people often play sports in high

school and college.athlete

中解　 n. 運動員Charles is a good athlete and is the captain of

his school’s basketball team.

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3. adapt英解　 to change something to suit different conditions or uses 中解　 vt. 改編The Harry Potter movies have all been

adapted

from the books by J. K. Rowling.

4. raise英解　 to take care of children until they grow

up 中解　 vt. 養育Alice was raised by her grandparents after her parents died in a car crash.

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5. relative英解　 a person who is a member of the same family 中解　 n. [C] 親戚Chinese New Year is a time for relatives to

get together and enjoy good food and each other’s company.

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6. move英解　 to change location 中解　 vi. vt. 遷移；搬動The children were unhappy when their

family moved to a new neighborhood.The company moved its offices into the new building across the street.

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7. childhood英解　 the time when one is a child 中解　 n. [U,C] 幼年時期Tom has many good memories from his

childhood.

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8. character英解　 a person or animal in a book, play,

movie, etc. 中解　 n. [C] （小說、戲劇等的）人物、角色The characters created by Walt Disney have become famous all over the world.

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9. imagination英解　 the quality of using one’s mind in

creative ways 中解　 n. [C,U] 想像力imaginative adj. 富於想像的Children have a lot of imagination and love to create new games to play.

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10. sympathize英解　 to feel kindness and understanding for someone with a problem 中解　 vi. 同情；體諒sympathy n. 同情（心）sympathetic adj. 有同情心的sympathetically adv. 富有同情心地Polly sympathizes easily with people in

trouble, so many people go to her with their problems.

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11. volume英解　 one book (usually in a series) 中解　 n. [C] 冊A new volume of the World Yearbook

appears every year.

12. wizard英解　 a man in stories who has magic powers 中解　 n. [C] 男巫Wizards can do things that ordinary people cannot, such as flying through the air.

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13. experience英解　 to have something specific happen to

one 中解　 vt. 經歷；體驗Jane’s grandmother is in her nineties now

and has experienced great changes during her long life. experience

中解　 n. 經驗 It is often said that experience is the best

teacher.

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14. difficulty英解　 something that is hard to do 中解　 n. [U] 困難Tony was able to lift the heavy box only with great difficulty.

difficult中解　 adj. 困難的Pat is very unsure about how well she did on

the difficult test.

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15. divorce英解　 to end a marriage 中解　 vt. 與……離婚Patsy divorced her husband and is now living alone.

divorce中解　 n. 離婚Divorce is becoming increasingly common in modern society.Many divorces might be prevented by

marriage counseling.

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16. reject英解　 to refuse something offered 中解　 vt. 拒絕Mark felt very sad when Sandra rejected his proposal of marriage.

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17. publisher英解　 a company that prints a book and makes

it available for sale 中解　 n. [C] 出版者（商）publish v. 出版；發行published adj. 出版的publication n. 出版物；刊物The publisher of the Harry Potter books has made a lot of money.

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18. subsequent英解　 of something happening after

something else 中解　 adj. 隨後的；接著發生的Timmy’s first year in college was the

hardest; the subsequent years were very easy.

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Vocabulary for Recognition

1. Portugal英解　 a country in southwestern

Europe; Lisbon is the capital of it 中解　 n. 葡萄牙

2. Edinburgh英解　 the capital of Scotland 中解　 n. 愛丁堡（蘇格蘭首都）

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3. Scotland英解　 the country north of England;

part of the United Kingdom 中解　 n. 蘇格蘭

4. philosopher’s stone英解　 a legendary substance that

supposedly could turn metals such as lead into gold and/or that would make humans younger

中解　 n. 魔法石；點金石

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Idiomatic Expressions

1. sympathize with英解　 to understand and care about the

unhappiness of someone else 中解　同情……Patty sympathizes with all the old people

who must live together in that nursing home.

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2. give birth英解　 to have a baby 中解　生（孩子）The children were very excited when their mother gave birth to a new baby.

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3. come (or happen) overnight英解　 to happen quickly 中解　突然發生Success comes overnight for some people,

but other people have to work hard and long to succeed.

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You probably already know

something about Harry Potter.

你可能已經知道有關哈利‧波特的事。

The books about him are very popular

around the world.

哈利‧波特的書在全世界都很受歡迎。

Reading Selection

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So are the movies adapted from

those books. 由那些書所改編的電影，也很受歡迎。 But have you ever wondered

about the writer who created Harry Potter? 但是，你曾經對於創造哈利‧波特的這位

作家感到好奇嗎？

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Her name is J. K. Rowling and

there are some ways in which her life has been like that of

Harry Potter.

她的名字是 J.K. 羅琳。她的生活在某些地方很像哈利‧波特的生活。

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J. K. Rowling

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Harry’s parents were killed when he

was young.

哈利的父母在他小的時候就被殺了。

He was raised4 by relatives5 who did

not love him.

他被不愛他的親戚撫養。

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So Harry Potter was a very lonely little boy.

所以哈利波特是個很孤獨的小男孩。 It seems that Rowling was also unhappy as a child. 羅琳小時候似乎也很不快樂。

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She has said in an interview that

she felt worried and insecure

when she was young. 她年幼時感覺很煩惱 ，很沒有安全感。

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This may have been because her

family moved very often during

her childhood. 這個很可能是因為她家在她小時候常搬家的原因。

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One way Rowling tried to forget

her unhappiness was by writing

stories. She wrote her first story

when she was five or six years old.

羅琳想要忘記不愉快的一個方法，就是寫故事。她在五、六歲時，寫了她的第一個故事。

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She called the story “Rabbit.”

她把這個故事叫做「兔子」。 The story was full of interesting

characters, including a large bee

called Miss Bee.

這個故事充滿了有趣的角色，包括一隻叫做蜜蜂小姐的大蜜蜂。

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In writing “Rabbit,” Rowling

first showed the imagination that

would lead her later to write the

Harry Potter books.

羅琳在寫兔子的時候，首次展現了日後促使她寫哈利波特的想像力。

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When she was 26, Rowling left

England to teach English in

Portugal*.

當羅琳 26 歲時，她離開英國，在葡萄牙教英文

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Her life as a foreigner there may

have caused her to feel

“different” from others.

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She was also a foreigner when

she went to West Africa to work.

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It is easy to see how Rowling

could sympathize with Harry’s

“difference” from ordinary

people.

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Rowling had already begun her

first book about Harry Potter

before she left England.

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She knew from the beginning

that she wanted to tell the story

in seven volumes.

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That is because it takes seven

years for Harry to learn to

become a wizard.

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Rowling continued writing about

Harry Potter even when she

experienced personal difficulty

in her own life.

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She divorced15 her husband after

giving birth to a daughter, Jessica.

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She then moved with Jessica to

Edinburgh*, Scotland* to work as

an English teacher.

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The job of an English teacher kept

her busy in the afternoons and

evenings, but left her mornings free

to write.

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So she continued working on her

first story about Harry Potter.

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Success did not come overnight.

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The first volume, Harry Potter and

the Philosopher’s Stone*, was

rejected16 by several publishers17

before it was finally published in

1997.

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It was then followed in

subsequent18 years by more stories

about Harry Potter.

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Like her young hero, Harry Potter,

Rowling has had to overcome

unhappiness in her life.

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But in the process, she has written

some of the most popular books of

our time.