went on/kept working

[diamondcutter]

On their way, they met a group of wounded soldiers. Dr. Bethune began to operate on them at once.
Dr. Bethune went on working throughout the night. When someone asked him to have a rest, he just went on working. To him, the most important thing was to save lives.

Source: an English textbook for junior high school students in China, People’s Education Press

Dr. Bethune went on working throughout the night.

In this sentence, the use of 'went on working' looks a little weird to me. What about this?

Dr. Bethune worked throughout the night without stopping.
Or
Dr. Bethune kept working throughout the night.

 

[GoesStation]

The original is correct and natural, though the repeated "Dr. Bethune" would typically be replaced with a pronoun. You could replace went on with kept on or continued.

 

[diamondcutter]

Dr. Bethune went on working throughout the night.

When someone asked him to have a rest, he just went on working.

I think the ‘went on’ in these two sentences has different meanings.

In the first sentence, it means ‘kept on’.
In the second sentence, it means ‘continued’.

Is my understanding correct?

 

[GoesStation]

No. "Went on", "kept on", and "continued" are all possible in both sentences. The first two are more likely to me.

 

[jutfrank]

In the first sentence, it means ‘kept on’.
In the second sentence, it means ‘continued’

What do you understand to be the difference between 'kept on' and 'continued'?

 

[emsr2d2]

Source: an English textbook for junior high school students in China, People’s Education Press

You must tell us the title of the book and, if possible, the name(s) of the author(s).