AsBillsauntereddowntheCitizenshipisleofthistinylibrary,Barron's501
EnglishVerbs2ndEd.caughthiseye.Themomenthepickeditup,heknewhis
planforthenextfewhours,topreparefortomorrow'sjobinterview,wastoast.
Hisweaknesswasthelanguage.Oncelayinghishandsonadictionary-sized
tome,hewouldstarttocombthroughforunfamiliarwords.Itwasanitcha
beaverwouldhavefeltinfrontofatree.
"Itmus...[
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"CanItakealook?"Peterturnedouttobenaturallycurious.Hehadaneasystyleandneverappearedself-concious,likeakid.Billlikedhim."Sure.Comeonin"hegotofftheladderandputdownthebrush:"andmakemeanofferIcannotrefuse."ThroughtheopengaragePeterstrolledin,passedthekitchen,andcameunderthepitchedroofofthelivingroom."Ilikethosehugepanes."Hepointedtothetriangulargablesabove:"...[
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我有三寶,持而保之。一曰慈,二曰儉,三曰不敢為天下先。
慈,故能勇;儉,故能廣;不敢為天下先,故能成器長(zhǎng)。
Translation:ThreethingsareprecioustomeandIkeptthem.Theyarelove,
frugality,andnotdaringtobethefirst.Lovefillsmewithcourage.Ican
affordsharingwithothersbecauseImyselfamcheaptomaintain.Notdaring
tobethefirstallowsmetogrow.
MyUnderstanding:Ihaveneverdoubtedthefi...[
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"Youshould'vebroughtyourson."
Perchingonaladderandapaintbrushinhand,Billlookedtohisrightandsaw
thelankyfigureofPeterTan,wholivednext-door,attheothersideofthe
boxwoodbythelawn.
Thehousesinthisquietresidentialareaonthebaysideoffreeway880were
builtinthelate60swithhalfadozenlayoutsforlow-incomefamilies.Except
foronesideofanendunitonablock,eachsharedwallswithitsn...[
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Hehadneverthoughtpaintingagarage,ormanyotherdomesticjobs,couldbe
anythingbutachore,tobedonewithassoonaspossiblesothathecouldget
backtowhathewasgoodat.Nothingwrongwiththedivisionoflabor.Oris
there?
Today,threemonthsoutofajob,henoticedthatevensoakingtherollerinthe
bucketandbringingittothesurfacewithoutdrippingpaintweredelicatemoves
callingforthoughtandgoodtiming.Next,heplay...[
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EllicametovisitfromAustraliaandwedrilledandrolled.Aslendergirlinher30s,shewaswiryandstrong.LikeAmy,shewasapurplebelt,agile,andaggressive.ShecaughtmeinrearnakedchokesacoupleoftimesandIhadalotoffundefendingandescaping.FromRickson'sonlinecourses,Ilearnedoneeffectivebutterfly-killerandhadbeenenjoyingpassingmyopponents'guardseversince.Ialsodrilledhisfour-pointpositionreversewhenmypartnerpushedf...[
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Underanovercastskytheheatwavepressedonthismid-JulySunday,justasthe
meteorologistshadbeenpredictingforthepastweek.Forewarning,however,often
paralyzedBill.Themorehelearnedaboutpossibleorremotedisasters,themore
worriedhebecame.ThegloomanddoomspreadbythelocalstationssinceJanuary
amidrecordrainfalldepressedhimformonths.Intheend,nothingbadhad
happenedtohim,hisfamily,oranyoneheknew.All...[
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-oilcaken.Thesolidresiduethatisleftaftercertainoilyseeds,suchascottonseedandlinseed,havebeenpressedfreeoftheiroil.Itisgroundandusedascattlefeedorfertilizer.-oilern.1.Onethatoilsenginesormachinery.2.Nauticala.Anoiltanker.b.Ashipthatburnsoilasfuel.3.Seeoilcan.4.Seeoilwell.5.InformalAnoilskingarment.-oilglandn.1.Agland,suchasasebaceousgland,thatsecretsanoilysubstance.-oilslickn.Alayerofoilfloatingont...[
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-octantn.1.Oneeighthofacircle.2a.A45degreearc.b.Theareaenclosedbytworadiiata45degreeangleandtheintersectedarc.-octaven.1Musica.Theintervalofeightdiatonicdegreesbetweentwotonesofthesamename,thehigherofwhichhastwiceasmanyvibrationspersecondasthelower.b.Atonethatiseightdiatonicdegreesaboveorbelowanothergiventone.g.Theintervalbetweenanytwofrequencieshavingaratioof2to1.3.Agroupofseriesofeight.-octetn.2...[
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-oakumn.Loosehemporjutefiber,sometimestreatedwithtar,creosote,or
asphalt,usedchieflyforcaulkingseamsinwoodenshipsandpackingpipe
joints.
-oarfishn.Awidelydistributedmarinefishhavingaslendersilverybodyup
to11metersinlength,abrightreddorsalfinalongitsentirelength,and
anundulatingmotioninswimmingresemblingthatofasnake.
-oarlockn.Adevice,usuallyaU-shapedmetalhooponaswivelinthe...[
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