Transcript Document

Unit Two
Hiroshima --the "Liveliest" City in Japan
Teaching Plan
 I. Teaching objectives
 Get to know the background of the first atomic bomb in the human history
 Learn how to use effective action verbs
 Get to know some important figures of speech employed in this text
 II. Teaching tasks
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Pre-reading questions
Background knowledge
Detailed Study of the text
Rhetoric devices
Follow-up discussion
Exercise and Homework
 III． Important and difficult points
 The separation of the anti-Japanese psychology of the Chinese students’ with the
author’s repentance for the A-bomb cataclysm.
 What is a narration?
 The understanding and comprehension of the contradiction between the sorrowful
mentality of the author and the humorous language of the text.
 Some useful expressions such as to be preoccupied, to be oblivious, and etc.
 IV. Important words
 reportorial, kimono, preoccupation, oblivious, ritual, lurch, intermezzo, heave,
barge, moor, arresting, tatami, twinge, linger, inhibit, agitated, reverie, heinous,
formaldehyde, have a lump in one’s throat, on one’s mind, rub shoulders with, by
trade
 V. References
 高级英语（修订本），第一册，张汉熙主编，王立礼编，外语教学与研究出版社，
1995.6 。
 高级英语（修订版）学习指南，第一册，张鑫友主编，湖北人民出版社，2000.8。
 高级英语（修订本）教师参考书，第一册，王立礼编，外语教学与研究出版社，
1995.6。
 高级英语精读精解, 姚兰，西南交通大学出版社，2004。
 英语名篇精品，马洵，天津大学出版社，2000。
 英语语体和文体要略，秦秀白，上海外语教育出版社，2002.4。
I． Background information
Japan
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National Name: Nippon
Geography: Four main islands: Honshu (本州), Hokkaido (北海道),
Kyushu (九州), and Shikoku (四国)
Area: 371,857 sq.km.
Population: 122,700,000 (1988).
Capital: Tokyo
 Sept.1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. France and Britain declared war on Gr.
immediately, officially beginning World War II
 Jun.22, 1941
Gr. invaded USSR
 Dec. 7, 1941
Pearl Harbour
 Sept. 1943
Italy surrendered
 May. 7, 1945
Gr. surrendered unconditionally
 Aug. 6, 1945
the first A-bomb exploded in Hiroshima
 Aug. 8, 1945
USSR declared war on Japan and occupied Manchuria
 Aug. 9, 1945
the dropping of the second A-bomb on Nagasaki
 Aug. 14, 1945 Japan announced its surrender
Hiroshima
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first build in 1593, meaning "broad island", made up
of 6 delta islands;
more than 80 bridges connecting them with one
another and with the mainland; capital of Hiroshima
prefecture ;
important position on the key land and water routes
Chief industrial and population center of the Chugoku
region;
industries including iron and steel, shipbuilding, cars
and trucks, machinery, textiles and paper;
before World War II, 7th largest city in Japan, with a
population of 350,000;
during the war, regional army headquarters, major
rail center and producer of war materials;
the Atomic Explosion
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struck by the first atomic bomb at 8:15 a.m. on
August 6,1945;
explosion near the center of the city, destroying
almost everything within a radius of 2 km;
over 71,000 people killed instantly, many more later
died of injuries and the effect of radiation;
survivors still dying of leukemia, pernicious anemia
and other diseases induced by radiation;
almost 98 % of the buildings destroyed or severely
damaged;
Postwar Hiroshima
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ruin of the Institute of Industrial Development
preserved as a symbol of terror of destruction;
Peace Park laid out nearby including a
cenotaph memorializing the victims and a
museum housing the relics;
a special hospital built to treat radiation victim
and to conduct research into its effects
Some Japanese Items
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1) Kimono --- a loose Japanese robe with wide
sleeves and a broad sash , traditionally worn as
an outer garment by the Japanese.
2). Tatami --- straw matting used as a floor
covering in a Japanese home. It is a custom of
the Japanese to remove their shoes once they
go indoors, walking on the tatami matting in
their socks.
II. Analysis of the text
1. the title
Why does the author put the word "liveliest" in
quotation marks?
1) what the city is said to be
2) considers it ironic to use the word
"liveliest" to describe a city that had been
atomized.
2. Paragraph 1: My arrival at
Hiroshima and my emotion
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The fastest train in the world slipped to a stop,
Not understand what the Japanese
stationmaster shouts,
A lump in nay throat and a lot of sad thoughts
on my mind
Reportorial assignment
Scene of the crime
3. Paragraph 2: First impression of
the Japanese people
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Not appear to have the same preoccupation,
No difference from other Japanese cities,
Little girls and elderly ladies in kimonos--teenagers and women in western dress
Serious looking men oblivious of the crowds,
bobbed up and down, exchanged ritual formula
4. Paragraphs 3-7: Find the place for
interview with much difficulty
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Cab driver: zealous but not very helpful
Speed through narrow streets, lurched from side to
side, not knowing the way
City Hall usher: Polite and helpful; bowed deeply,
heaved a long, musical sigh, sketched a little map
Restaurant: Canal embankment, barge with a roof
like one on a house, Traditional houses on boats,
adrift amid beige skyscrapers, rather arresting
pectacle
5. Paragraphs 8-19: Interview
with the mayor
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Restaurant: Low-ceilinged rooms, little floating
house, soft tatami matting
The author--- remove shoes, meet the mayor in my
socks, feel embarrassed;
Mayor---tall, thin, sad eyed and serious, mentioned
the name of Hiroshima several times, praising
southern Japanese sea food
Guests--mostly Japanese few Westerners
(Americans and Germans)-- inhibited, agitated,
puzzled
Hiroshima--oysters? Not the bomb, the misery and
the heinous crime?
6. Paragraphs 20- 27: Conversation
with a small Japanese man
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The Japanese man: small, with large, thick glasses,
almost an old man, tell the true feelings
Two schools of thought:
(1) Preserve traces of the bomb
(2) Get rid of everything, even the monument, the
atomic museum "gayest city in Japan", while many
people with hidden wounds, and burns
7. Paragraphs 28-38: Interview with an
atomic explosion victim
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Hospital: smell (formaldehyde, ether), stretchers and
wheelchairs, nickel-plated, send shivers down the spine
Atomic Section: third floor, 17 beds, a handful of patients
kept alive, by constant care ,others died of illness or
committed suicide
The old man: fisherman, ill for 20 years, something wrong
inside;
Saw the fire ball, no burns on the body, ran all over the city
Hair began to fall off, belly turned to water, felt sick
Why commit suicide?
Humiliating to survive,
Children encounter prejudice, marriage affected
People afraid of genetic damage
Lucky birds: of brightly colored paper, a new one each day, as
a congratulation
8.Paragraph 39: Reflections
after the interview
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Tear into pieces the notebook with questions
for patients
Read the answer in every eye
III. Language points
1. Hiroshima--the "Liveliest" City in Japan:
The word "liveliest' is put in quotation marks
to show that this is what the city is said to be
and the writer perhaps considers it ironic to
use the word "liveliest" to describe a city that
had been atomized.
2. "Hiroshima! Everybody off!"
1) off: down from
2) Everybody should now get off the train
These words were chanted by the
sationmaster to inform the passengers that
the train had arrived at its terminal
destination and all passengers were to
detrain.
3. That must be slipped to a stop in Hiroshima
 l) "Must" here expresses strong probability a
 2) in the Japanese stationmaster's uniform:
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in : (of dress) wearing something e.g. in w
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stationmaster : the official in charge of a ra
3) slipped to a stop : came to a stop
smoothly and effortlessly, in a gliding
manner
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slide, slip, glide
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Slide implies accelerated motion
without loosing contact wit the slippery
surface.
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Slip often suggests involuntary rather
than voluntary, sometimes even definitely
implying a loss of footing and a fall.
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Glide, rather close to slide, means to
move smoothly, quietly and continuously
as is characteristic of dances, e.g. Plan
glided down to the airfield.
4. And secondly, because I had a lump in my throat
and a lot of sad thoughts on my mind might say
1) I had a lump in my throat: I was choked with emotion;
I was so overcome with emotion that I could not speak
or think clearly.
2) a lump in one's throat: a feeling of pressure
in one's throat, caused by repressed emotion
3) a lot of sad thoughts on my mind: I was troubled about some
sad events; I was occupied with some sad thoughts
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4) on one's mind: occupying one's thoughts, esp.
as a source of worry
5) to have to do with: to be a concern of;
to be about; to be connected with
6) My sad thoughts had no connection with what
the stationmaster might say
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5. The very act of stepping on this soil any
reportorial assignment I’d previously taken
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1) very: itself and nothing else
2) stepping on this soil : putting my feet down on this
soil; landing in Hiroshima
3) far greater: adverbial modifiers of adj. or adv.
in the comparative degree
4) adventure: an unusual journey or an exciting or
remarkable experience
5) reportorial assignment: reporting work for a
newspaper
6) The fact that I was now in Hiroshima was in itself
a much more exciting experience for me than any trip
I had taken or any reporting work I had done in the past.
6. Was I not at the scene of the crime?:
1) scene: place of an actual event 2) the
crime: the dropping of the A-bomb on
Hiroshima 3) Rhetorical questions are
usually asked only for effect, as to
emphasize a point, no answer being
expected 4) I was now at the place
where the first A bomb was dropped
7. Information provided in the first
paragraph
1) The author was here on a reportorial
mission.
 2) Hiroshima was not the author's first
assignment.
3) He was preoccupied with some sad
thoughts--the crime of the A- bomb. He
was tortured by a guilty conscience
4) He didn't understand Japanese.
 8. The Japanese crowd that I had:
 1) did not appear to have--did not seem to have; judging
by appearances, the author could not have been
absolutely sure that the Japanese crowd did not have
the same preoccupations
 2) seem, look, appear
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Seem suggests a personal opinion based on
evidence that satisfies the judgment.
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Look implies that the opinion is based on a visual
impression.
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Appear may convey the same implication as look,
but it sometimes suggests a distorted impression
produced by an optical illusion, a restricted point of view
etc.
e.g. The setting sun made the spires
appear ablaze.
9. From the sidewalk things seemed much
the same as in other Japanese cities: 1)
sidewalk: chiefly used in the U. S.; British:
pavement; New Zealand : footpath 2)
much the same: about the same; much
here tones down rather than emphasizes
the word same 3) Seem is used to
indicate that things are actually not so.
 10. Little girls in western dress:
 1) elderly: approaching old age, past middle age
 2) rub shoulders with : (informal) meet and mix with
(people)
 e.g. The foreign visitors said that they would like to rub
shoulders with ordinary Chinese people.
 During those two terms at the hoarding school, she
rubbed shoulders with the rich.
 This is not the sort of club where the great rub shoulders
with the humble.
 3) teenager: boy or girl from 13 to 19
 4) This sentence gives the impression that in Japan
traditional style and western style exist side by side.
 11. Serious looking men : “Tomo aligato gozayimas" :
 1) to be oblivious of (or to) : to be unaware of e. g.
Oblivous of each other, the two men flashed past on their
separate missions;
We should not be oblivious to
the reality that Soviet restraint resulted only from our
forcing of the issue and determined persistence.
 2) They were so absorbed in their conversation that they
seemed not to pay any attention to the crowds about
them.
 3) bob up and down repeatedly in little bows: bow
repeatedly
 4) bob up and down: move up and down automatically
(humourous description of the bows)
 5) ritual: all the rites or forms connected with a ceremony;
particular form of any procedure regularly followed; here
used as an adj. meaning "done as a rite"
 6) formula of gratitude and respect: form of words used
regularly such as "How do you do?" "Excuse me."
 12. Others were using little red telephones that
hung on the facades of grocery stores and
tobacco shops:
 1) facade: front or face of building towards a street or
open place
 2) grocery store : a store where tea, butter, sugar, tinned
food and such household requirements as soap and
soap powder are sold
 13. cab driver: (chiefly American) taxi driver.
 We might infer from the use of such words as
"sidewalk" "store" and "cabdriver" that the author
is most likely an American.
 14. whose door popped open at the very sight of
a traveler:
 1) as soon as the taxi driver saw a traveler, he
immediately opened the door
 2) pop open : burst open with a short, sharp,
slightly explosive sound
 3) at the sight of: on seeing
 15. City Hall: a building which houses the offices
of a municipal government
16. He grinned at me in the rear-view
mirror: 1) grin: smile broadly as to show
teeth, originally expressing
amusement,
foolish satisfaction or contempt etc., but in
current English, tending to imply naive
cheerfulness 2) rear-view mirror: drivingmirror inside a motor-vehicle for seeing out
of the roar window
17. We set off at top speed: l) set off:
start (a journey, race etc. ) 2) the taxidriver drove very fast"
18. The tall building of the martyred city in
response to the driver's sharp twists of the
wheel: 1) martyred city: the city that has
been made to suffer 2) flash by: pass
swiftly 3) lurch : roll or sway suddenly
forward or to one side 4) in response to: in
answer to 5) sharp twist: abrupt change of
direction 6) The high buildings passed
swiftly and when the driver made abrupt
changes of direction, we sometimes
swung to one side, sometimes to the other
side in response to the swaying motion of
the car.
IV. Rhetorical devices
1. Anti-climax: a common literary device
to achieve humor, surprise, satire etc.
e.g. Hiroshima ... a town known
throughout the world for its --- oyster
2. Alliteration: the appearance of the
same initial consonant sound in two or
more words.
 e.g. .. and ever since then they have
been testing and treating me
3. Rhetorical question:
question asked only for effect, as to
emphasize a point, no answer being
expected.
e.g. Was I not at the scene of the crime?
V. Writing skills
1. American English words:
 Sidewalk, store, cab driver, etc,
 The use of these words indicates that the
writer is very likely an American.
2. Narration:
To give an account of an event or a
serious of events, including stories,
biographies, histories, news items, and
narrative poems.
Often goes hand in hand with description,
one for the story, the other for its setting
and characters
 Five aspects to consider when planning a narrative:
 Context: circumstances at the beginning (when, where,
who);
 Context of details: relevant, useful and effective --(purpose);
 Organization: usually in chronological order, also by
using flashback;
 Point of view: first person,-more graphic and lifelike, but
limited scope;
 Purpose: to prove a theory, to illustrate a concept, to
praise a virtue, to condemn a vice, etc,
3. Writing skills in this passage:
1) Narration combined with description;
2) Good use of humorous language;
3) Good use of Anti-climax;
4 ) In chronological order;
5) Well chosen details
VI. Exercises
1. Oral work in Class
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1). Answer the questions listed on Page 19,
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2). Discussion:
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Why do you think the author put quotation
marks over "liveliest" in the title?
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2. Going through some exercises in the
text.
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3. Homework: Write a short composition
on the topics: My Visit to…
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End