Text structure 课文结构
Hook: personal anecdote 钩子：个人小故事
“Whenever I feel lonely … rice, milk and sugar, cooked low and slow.”
用个人小故事开场，快速抓住读者。
Transition to concept 过渡到概念
“My experience … illustrates the unique power of ‘comfort food’.”
由故事转到概念，过渡自然。
Broad definition → narrow definition 先宽后窄下定义
“In its broadest sense … a particular type … whose power mainly lies in the associations…”
先宽后窄，聚焦”情感联想”。
Exemplification & cause-effect 举例+因果
Chicken-soup example: “we unlock memories of a time when we were loved … this cheers us up.”
例子证明”回忆→情绪提升”。
Cultural angle + contrast 文化角度+对比
“For people who move away … hardest to give up the food that you grow up with.”
中英食物对比，突出文化共性。
Conclusion-quotation 结论+引用
“It isn’t just … It’s food for the soul.”
比喻首尾呼应，升华主题。
Writing techniques & 写作技巧
Sensory imagery: “lovely creamy flavour”, “silky dessert rolling around my mouth”
多感官描写，让读者”看得见、尝得到”。
Time-machine simile: “works like a time machine immediately transporting me…”
把味觉写成时光机，生动形象。
Show-then-tell: 先展示场景→再解释概念→再举文化例，层层递进。
Reading-comprehension skills 阅读技巧
Spot definition signals 找出定义标志
“comfort food refers to …” → 划”refer to / mean / be defined as”等定义标志。
Track pronoun chains 追踪代词链
“those foods” (para 3) → 回指”certain foods in our family”，训练指代追踪。
Identify examples that extend idea 识别拓展例
鸡肉汤例子后自问：支持”associations”还是”taste”？→ 确认是”associations”。
Contrast words → structure clue 对比词=结构线索
“for a Chinese … for a native of the UK …” 对比结构，帮助预测两种文化例证。
Metaphor → interpret in context 语境解比喻
“taste of home” / “food for the soul” → 非字面，等于”emotional comfort”。
Key sentence patterns 语法句型
时间/条件状语从句
Whenever I feel lonely…；If we grow up eating certain foods…
定语从句
…comfort food whose power mainly lies in the associations…；…the people, things or places we love.
现在分词作结果状语
…which works like a time machine immediately transporting me back…
动名词作主语
Listening to her wonderful stories and greedily eating bowl after bowl…
强调句
It is hardest to give up the food that you grow up with.
As-clause for time + cause As从句表时间+原因
“As I take each bite, the sweet … flavour … fills my mouth.”
With-complex + metaphor With结构+比喻
“With pleasure, I remember the lazy Sunday afternoons…”
Conditional for general truth 条件句说普遍事实
“If we grow up eating certain foods … then those foods tend to be linked …”
It-cleft for emphasis It强调句
“It is hardest to give up the food that you grow up with.”
Not-only … but-also parallelism 省略平行结构
“It isn’t just … It’s food for the soul.”
Present-perfect for indefinite past + relevance 现完表经历+至今相关
“I have often eaten …”, “I’ve thrown myself into …”
Infinitive of purpose 不定式表目的/结果
“… enough to lift my spirits”, “… to connect to memory …”
Passive + prepositional agent 被动+to do引用观点
“… is believed to have started off …”
Quick checklist for readers 自我检查表
Circle sensory adjectives → predict mood. 圈感官形容词→猜情绪
Box linker “for example / such as” → locate evidence. 框举例词→找论据
Underline metaphors → rewrite in literal English. 划隐喻→写直白英文
Note definition sentences → paraphrase in margin. 标定义句→页边改写
Follow pronouns “those / they / it” → draw arrows to referents. 追代词→画箭头