【正文】 my lips right in front of my astonished friends who watched and disapproved. (Para.8)Meaning: Without my permission, sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to showhis love in front of my friends, who were astonished and resented what he did.Note: “Plant a kiss” is a figurative use of the word plant, which means an intimate andpublicly demonstrative kiss showing his love to all who are watching.30 But the truth is we had a pure and responsible relationship for seven full years.Sitting by the palm trees, hand in hand, we would listen to romantic songs, watchthe sunset, and weave dreams of being together with children of our own, forever.(Para. 8)Meaning beyond words: Butch showed much respect for her conservative perception oflove. For seven years, they just enjoyed their romance in a traditional way.31 Two years passed in a blur. One day, Butch took me by surprise as he kneltdown and proposed marriage holding a dozen red roses! (Para. 9)Meaning: Two years passed so quickly that I didn’t real y remember everything clearly.One day, I was startled when Butch, holding a dozen red roses, knelt down to proposemarriage.Note: propose to sb. = propose marriage to sb.32 Filled with deep emotion, I confessed my love for him, “How roooomaaaantic!!”(Para. 9)Meaning: I admitted my love for him with deep affection. It was super romantic!Meaning beyond words: She was so happy and thril ed to accept Butch’s marriageproposal that she said the word romantic in a slow and exaggerated way.Note: In informal writing, people would emphasize something in a similar way. Forexample:*Thank you soooooo much! 真是太太太感謝您了！33 Then my brain woke up from fantasy land. I cried out, “Good heavens. No! We’retoo young to tie the knot. We haven’t even graduated from college yet!” I reallyloved him but was pessimistic about our chances for success.(Para. 9)Meaning beyond words: Al of a sudden, she woke up from the romantic scene. Thoughshe already accepted love from Butch and confessed her love for him, she was not surewhether they would get married and have a happy ending as they were stil col egestudents.Note: It isn’t clear whether this expression tie the knot derives from an actual knot used inmarriage ceremonies or whether the knot is merely symbolic of a lasting unity. Knots havea place in many cultures and usually symbolize unbreakable pledges. Actual knots havecertainly been used in marriage ceremonies for some time. The word knot, although not inthe phrase tie the knot, has been associated with marriage since at least the 13th century.34 We married five years later. (Para 10)Meaning beyond words: Though she was pessimistic about their chance for success oflove, she accepted Butch’s proposal. They got married five years later, which il ustratestheir deep and true love for each other.35 Our faithful journey of love and learning took us down rocky roads of hardshipand on smooth easygoing highways. (Para. 11)Meaning: Our devoted and faithful love guided us both in times of happiness and also intimes of hardship.Note: The word rocky es from the noun rock bining with y. A rocky road refers toa road ful of rocks, uneven or not flat. Words of this groupinclude: muddy, stony, grassy, snowy, rainy, etc.36 It is a long, romantic, sometimes crazy, love story that sums up a 29year longhoneymoon together as a couple who are still madly in love with each other. (Para.11)Meaning beyond words: She felt very proud of her longlasting romantic, sometimeseven crazy love, which was just like a 29year long honeymoon for her and her husband.37 Our love menced with a casual attraction but bloomed into a mature loveand rich life. (Para. 11)Meaning beyond words: Completely beyond her expectation, love came to her as shestarted with a casual date but ended up growing into a mature love and rich life.Note: We usually use mence doing sth. or mence with sth. Also, in the US, theofficial col ege/university graduation ceremony is cal ed “mencement”. The wordrefers to the pletion of one’s education and the beginning of one’s new adult life.Note: The phrase “bloomed into a mature love and rich life” in the text is used figuratively,meaning their love was just like blossoms on a tree.