Landmark- English Communication III (Lesson 8) 8-10

➑ It seemed to me / that there could be nothing more beautiful / than the sun, / whose warmth makes all things grow. // But Miss Sullivan shook her head, / and I was greatly puzzled and disappointed. // I thought it strange / that my teacher could not show me love. //

there is nothing more A than B：BよりAなものはない　warmth：暖かさ
shake one's head：首を横に振る
I thought it strange that：(that以下のこと)が奇妙だと思った

➒ A day or two afterward / I was putting different sized beads / on a string / in symmetrical groups ― / two large beads, / three small ones, / and so on. // I had made many mistakes, / and Miss Sullivan had pointed them out again and again / with gentle patience. // Finally I noticed a very obvious error / in the sequence / and for an instant / I concentrated my attention on the lesson / and tried to think / how I should have arranged the beads. // Miss Sullivan touched my forehead / and spelled with decided emphasis, / “Think.”

afterward：後　dead(s)：ビーズ　symmetrical：対称的な cf. asymmetrical
and so on：など　cf. and so forth / and it goes
gentle patience：優しく忍耐強く　sequence：連続、ひと続きのもの
for an instant：ちょっとの間、ほんのつかの間　concentrate on ～：～に集中する　decided：明らかな、確固たる、はっきりとした

➓ In a flash / I knew / that the word was the name of the process / that was going on in my head. // This was my first conscious perception / of an abstract idea. //

in a flash：瞬時に　conscious perception：意識的な認知・意識的に認識する
abstract idea：抽象的な概念