1.At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. (para. 1)

the Sound: the Long Island Sound

In The Great Gatsby, it is the body of water between Gatsby’s house and the home of Daisy and Tom Buchanan.

2....every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. (para. 2)

pulpless halves: 没有果肉的半拉的果皮

Instead of the spiritual hunger, we can see the material abundance through this scene.

3.On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre,...? (para. 3)

hors-d’oeuvre: (from French) a small amount of food, usually cold, served before the main part of a meal.

4....spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. (para. 3)

bewitched to a dark gold: it suggests that the dark golden appearance could only have been achieved by some magic.

5.By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums. (para. 4)

five piece: piece指“乐器”；no thin five-piece affair指“不是那些五人小乐队”

a pitful of: (pit/orchestra pit 乐池) 满满一乐池的

Oboe: 双簧管；saxophone: 萨克斯管；trombone:长号；viol:（六弦）提琴，低音提琴；cornet:短号；piccolo短笛；low drum/high drum:低/高音鼓

6.… the cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive,... (para. 4)

five deep in the drive: 五辆（汽车）一排

7....and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile... (para. 4)

Castile: 卡斯蒂利亚，位于西班牙，以产头巾闻名

8.The bar is in full swing,... (para. 4)

be in full swing: reach the highest level of activity

9. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. (para. 5)

tipped out: to pour out

10. ...seizes a cocktail out of the air, dumps it down for courage and, moving her hands like Frisco, dances out alone on the canvas platform. (para. 6)

Frisco: 弗里斯科，西班牙喜剧舞蹈演员

11.... and there is a burst of chatter as the erroneous news goes around that she is Gilda Gray’s understudy from the Follies. (para. 6)

Gilda Gray: a Polish American actress and dancer who invented the “shimmy” dance which became fashionable in the 1920s films and theater productions.

the Follies: Gilda Gray was a featured dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies—a spectacular Broadway theatrical event show.

12. ... and wandered around rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn’t know ...? (para. 9)

swirls and eddies of people: the fast movement of people. Swirl/eddy: 漩涡

13. ... and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses, who stopped at the foot of the steps. (para. 14)

give ear to: to give heed to (倾听)

14.A tray of cocktails floated at us through the twilight, and we sat down at a table with the two girls in yellow and three men, each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble. (para. 18)

each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble: 每个人自我介绍的时候都含含糊糊，听得让人一头雾水。

15....a persistent undergraduate given to violent innuendo and obviously under the impression that... (para. 36)

given to: inclined or disposed to.

16. ... East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gaiety. (para. 36)

condescend to: to behave towards somebody as though you are more important and more intelligent than they are.

East Egg represents old money—people that had inherited it; West Egg refers to new money—people that had recently gotten wealthy.

Spectroscopic gaiety: loud or boisterous celebration.

17. On a chance we tried an important-looking door, and walked into a high Gothic library... (para. 39)

Gothic: (architecture) built in the style that was popular in western Europe from the 12th to the 16th centuries, and which has pointed arches and windows and tall thin pillars.

18. Taking our scepticism for granted, he rushed to the bookcases and returned with Volume One of the “Stoddard Lectures.” (para. 48)

Stoddard: Lothrop Stoddard, an American eugenicist (提倡人种改良者) known for his theories concerning white supremacy and controlling the impact of minority races in society; Stoddard Lectures 指《斯托达德演说集》。

19. “See!” he cried triumphantly. “It’s a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. (para. 49)

bona-fide: (from Latin) genuine, real or legal; not false.

Belasco: David Belasco, an American theatrical producer, impresario (剧院经理), director and playwright.

Books are one of the symbols of spiritual wealth. Here we can find the deficiency of Gatsby’s spiritual world as other people suspected.

20. Who is Gatsby through Nick’s eyes in this chapter?

Gatsby is young and handsome, with a beautiful smile that seems to radiate hope and optimism. Nick falls instantly in love with Gatsby’s smile, remarking that it has “a quality of eternal reassurance in it.” Gatsby’s innate hopefulness is contagious. However, he has a queer false English accent that is obviously false. Gatsby, at this point in the novel, remains an enigma, a creature of contradictions.

21. One of Gatsby’s main criminal activities is bootlegging. Describe the historical background of the Prohibition.

The Prohibition era began with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in January 1919, which made it legal to forbid by law the selling of alcoholic drinks. With the passage of the Volstead Act in the same year, it become illegal to sell. Manufacture, and transport alcohol. Prohibition ended in December 1933 with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, repealing in the Eighteenth.

22. What can you see deeply on the description of the party?

This particular party is described in chapter 3 but is mirrored by all of his other parties in terms of excess. The noveau riche that populate Gatsby’s parties are the epitome of the vapid pursuit of material wealth. Despite the opulence and grandeur of Gatsby’s legendary swarays, nobody seems particularly happy. This goes for Gatsby as well. He sits alone like a third person watching and pining after a girl (Daisy) that is more illusion than anything else. This was supposed to be the American Dream but underneath it was rotten to its core. I think the parties act as a motif in the story. The first one has the varnish of excess and excitement but, as the parties go on, we can see the empty and rotting spirit that they have always embodied.