Words and phrases

1.I’d had run-ins with the cops in Alexandra, in Soweto, but it was always more about the circumstance: a party getting shut down, a raid on a minibus.

run-in  (informal)~ (with sb)争论；争吵；冲突   an argument or a fight

例句  The fiery player has had numerous run-ins with referees.

这名脾气暴躁的队员曾和裁判员发生过无数次争吵。

2.He took me in, and the car was impounded.

impound  没收让我想到confiscate，扣押；收押（待领的狗、猫等）；关在栏中；蓄水

例句   The custom impound the whole cargo.海关没收了全部的船货。

They built a dam to impound water.他们建造了水坝来蓄水。

3.He had a deal with a defense attorney, sending him clients in exchange for a kickback.

kickback  （不合法的）回扣，酬金，佣金money paid illegally to sb in return for work or help

例句   Everyone who paid will receive a kickback.每一个交了钱的人部可以得到回扣。

4.So I played it up. I put on this character; I played the stereotype.

play up   这里意思是1.强调…的重要性；夸大；渲染；If you play up something, you emphasize it and try to make people believe that it is important.

例句  The media played up the prospects for a settlement...媒体夸大了达成和解的可能性。

其他意思  2.[BRIT 英] [Informal]机器、身体部位等 给…制造麻烦，使痛苦

例句   It was his back playing him up.是他的后背在作痛。

3.小孩淘气，不听话

5.No one else in the cell knew what to make of us, the ruthless colored gangster and his menacing, Hulk-like friend.

make of  理解；看待

to have a particular opinion about or understanding of something or someone

例句  Nancy wasn't sure what to make of Mick's apology.南希不知应该如何理解米克的道歉。

延伸  make something of   to use the opportunities that you have in order to become successful:

例句   I want to make something of my life.

She has the ambition and talent to make something of herself.

make much of 重视  make little of 不重视     make short shrift of 很快解决

make the worst of both worlds 两头吃亏   make the best of a bad job 尽力把损失减少到最小

make a mountain out of a molehill 小题大作    make a night of it 痛快地玩一晚上...

make the best of 充分利用     make an exhibition of oneself 出洋相

make a thing of  认为……重要 in British

例句 "When a boy decides to make a thing of it, there's not a girl that can match him, " one teacher said of a project on inventions. 

一位教师在谈到一项关于发明的课题时说：“当男生决定把作业当回事时，没有哪个女生能比得上他。”

Thoughts

“You must be careful who you surround yourself with because where you are can determine who you are.”

 Everything I have ever done I’ve done from a place of love. If I don’t punish you, the world will punish you even worse. The world doesn’t love you. If the police get you, the police don’t love you. When I beat you, I’m trying to save you. When they beat you, they’re trying to kill you.

他妈妈开始就教育他说绝不要犯错进监狱，她不会去救他，希望他得到教训。她也不喜欢他和hood的朋友玩。他自己也知道She didn’t hate them personally; she hated what they represented.其实也就是环境的问题，她不希望他被困在这里，只是hustling，看不到未来。她希望他能和上大学的表哥玩，因为大学能让人看得到自己未来更多的可能性。结果他就犯了大错，偷继父的车，被警察抓了。他在监狱里看到了，明白了，经历了一些让他深思的事情。当然最后她妈妈还是交了保释金，然后他出来了，他发现了他妈妈不是生气和惩罚，而是大大的失望。好像他从小到大一直在惹事的感觉！可能性格就比较调皮吧，再加上环境的影响，他就屡次犯错了。其实环境真的影响很大，我很幸运我从老家农村走了出来，本身学习还不错，加上后来还跟着爸妈来到了城市，看到了更多的可能性，相比较与我小时候的小伙伴，就没那么幸运了，很多都是早早打工谋生结婚生子了。其实，人不断地成长，克服困难，就是为了超越环境的限制，走得更远吧。