Part I Words and Expressions

1. On the other side of the crowd, Jack’s blue eyes are suddenly fixed on him, and Nath blots his cheek in the crook of his arm.

blot: to make a wet surface become dry by pressing soft paper or cloth on it. 

仿句：She blotted the water stains on the chair and sat down, staring at the man, silently. 

拓展搭配：blot something out: to cover or hide something completely. If you blot out an unpleasant memory, a thought etc, you deliberately try to forget it. 

2. …in light of Nath’s high grades and the tragic situation, the principal will exempt him from the last three weeks of school, and Nath himself will decide not to attend commencement. 

in (the) light of: if you do or decide something in the light of something else, you do it after considering that thing.

仿句：In light of the gloomy air in the classroom, he decided to interrupt and excuse himself for absence. 

3. Nath lurches forward so that he and Jack are chest to chest. Blood throbs in his right temple.

lurch: to walk or move suddenly in an uncontrolled or unsteady way. 

仿句：Jack pushed Lydia and she lurched forward, nearly dropped into the river. 

4. At home, not wanting to see anyone, he slips upstairs to his room to ruminate over what he’s heard.

ruminate: to think carefully and deeply about something 

搭配：ruminate on/over

仿句：Sitting there and ruminating over what happened last night, a look of desperation crawls onto his face. 

Part II Thoughts

葬礼过后，生活还要继续。James决定向Marilyn隐瞒Lydia的死状，以爱为名。Lydia的死太过沉重，压得他喘不过气，他没有拒绝Louisa的邀请，就如多年前他没有拒绝Marilyn的那个吻一样。Louisa让他从连日来的心力交瘁中暂时解脱。而多年前的Marilyn，同样为他灰色的生活中抹上鲜亮的色彩。Marilyn自以为可以在Lydia日记中发现她的秘密和导致她死亡的原因，然而日记一片空白，如同他们对Lydia的了解，苍白无力。她决定找出背后的原因。两个人好像已经开始在背道而驰了。

Part III Summary (Chap.1- Chap.3)

A death incident of a tenth-grade girl breaks the peace and silence of the Lees, a family of five: an American-born Chinese man, James, teaching America history in college, Marilyn, once a top student dreaming of being a doctor, Nath, about to go to college in fall, Hannah, the youngest child, and the dead Lydia. As the investigation going on, James and Marilyn find that they have been kept away from Lydia's life, not knowing what's in her mind or what happened to her at school. 

The marriage between James and Marilyn was a disapproval of American society at that time, a combination of two peoples, different culture backgrounds, contradictory ways of thinking, perceiving and dealing with things, laying hints for later developments. 

Lydia had secrets, Nath too, and  James no exception. James tries to protect Marilyn from the horrified scene of dead Lydia, (and maybe also the truth of her death) and hides secrets about many things, in the name of love.