Transcript Unit Five - 复旦大学大学英语教学网站

Unit Five
How to Celebrate Holidays
Thanksgiving--- general
information
Thanksgiving is observed in the US on the
fourth Thursday in November. For many
Americans, it’s the most important holiday
apart from Christmas. It’s a day for family
to have a reunion. Schools, offices and
most businesses close for Thanksgiving and
many people make the whole weekend a
vacation.
(to be continued)
(continued)
A traditional dinner with foods that
come from North America features
Thanksgiving. Wild turkeys,
pumpkins ,corn on the cob, sweet
potatoes (also called potato-yams)
make up a list of typical food on this
day.
Wild Turkey
Pumpkin
Corn on the Cob
A Thanksgiving Dinner
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

On Thanksgiving there are special television
programmes and sports events. In New York there
is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a
long line of people wearing fancy costumes
march through the streets with large balloons
in
the
shape of
imaginary
characters.
Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the
Christmas period, and the next day many people
go out to shop for Christmas presents.
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Thanksgiving--- the myths
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(1) Who observed the first Thanksgiving?
It was not the Pilgrims but the Indians.
The native Americans celebrated many
Thanksgiving before Europeans ever
arrived. For example, one Indian tribe
(Wampanoag ) held six Thanksgiving
festivals throughout the year.
Thanksgiving--- the myths

(2) Was the pilgrim’s Thanksgiving a merely
harvest festival?
No. In fact, Thanksgiving praises God for the
harvest, makes reference to the "goodness
of God" in providing for them the feast. It
had a religious significance.
The First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving--- the popular story
behind it
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Follwing is the story believed by many as the
origin of Thanksgiving.
On December 11, 1620 ,the Pilgrims set around at
Plymouth Rock. Their first winter was devastating.
They could not find enough to eat ,and
consequently many of them died. By the spring,
they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on
the Mayflower. The Pilgrims obviously needed help
and it came from an English-speaking member of
the Wampanoag nation, Squanto.
(to be continued)
(continued)
Squanto decided to stay with the Pilgrims
for the next few months and teach them
how to survive. He brought them food and
skins, taught them how to cultivate new
vegetables and how to build Indian-style
houses. He educated the Pilgrims on
poisonous plants, medicine, how to get sap
from the maple trees, use fish for
fertilizer, and dozens of other skills
needed for their survival.
(to be continued)
(continued)
The harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one and the
Pilgrims decided to celebrate with a feast. They asked
Squanto and the leader of the Wampanoags,
Massasoit to bring their immediate family and to dine
with them. The English had no idea how large Indian
families could be and Squanto and Massasoit arrived
accompanied by 90 relatives. The feast lasted three
days. The Pilgrims and Indians ate outdoors at large
tables.
This is generally regarded as the first Thanksgiving .
Mayflower
Pilgrims
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The 102 English people who sailed to
America on the Mayflower in 1620.
Weakened by the seven-week crossing and
the need to establish housing, they came
down with pneumonia and consumption
(tuberculosis). They began to die -- one per
day, then two, and sometimes three. They
dug the graves at night, so that the Indians
would not see how their numbers were
dwindling. Later ,they got help from the
Indians and established Plymoth colony.
Pilgrim Landing
Native Americans

They were living in North America
for many hundreds of years before
Europeans reached the continent.
For a long time, white people called
them Indians. Today, many people
don’t like this name since it is based
on a mistake made by Columbus who
thought he had landed in India when
he arrived in America.
Native Americans
Native Americans
About the author
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Born: 11 August 1921
Place of Birth: Ithaca,
New York
Died: 10 February 1992
Place of Death:
Washington
Major Works
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1939, enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard.
1965, Haley's first major book The
Autobiography of Malcolm X published
1976, the completed version of the
Pulitzer
Prize-winning
book
Roots
published
1990, A Different Kind of Christmas, a
book about the underground railroad, and
Queen, the story of Haley's paternal
ancestors published
Coast Guard
Discussion
Have you ever felt that you are
indebted to somebody for what you are
or what you have?
Discussion
It’s true that we may be grateful to a stranger
who tells us the directions in the street, but
we often forget to express our gratitude to
the milkman, the elevator operator, our
teachers, friends or parents --- all who oblige
us in one way or another.
 What refrains us from doing so?
Text Organization


Part One (Paras 1-9)
On Thanksgiving Day in 1943, the writer ,
who was a young coastguardsman at that
time at sea, came up with the idea of
expressing his gratitude to those who had
helped him.
Text Organization
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Part Two (Paras 10-16)
The writer wrote thank-you letters to his
father, his grammar school principal, and his
grandmother respectively.
Text Organization
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Part Three (Paras 17-23)
The writer received three letters in reply in
which each told him how much he or she
appreciated his letter.
Text Organization
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Part Four (Paras 24-26 )
The writer wishes everyone to find the good
in others and praise it.
Language Study

under way: in motion or operation
The national educational reform is already
under way.
A debate on whether it is proper to keep pets
is under way.
Language Study
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

You can get something under way, or something
can get under way or be under way.
1) I need two more assistants to get the research
under way.
2) Twenty players will be competing for the
championship when the tournament gets under
way tomorrow.
Language Study

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
What does the word “holds” probably mean based
on the context?
Hold, here used as a noun, is the place in a ship
or plane where cargo is stored. （船舱；货舱）
e.g. The hold was full when the ship left the
port.
Language Study

load: (v.) put goods onto a vehicle
How long will it take to load the machines onto the
truck?

load: (n.) amount of weight carried by a vehicle
After getting paid, she left, promising to return the
next week for a new load of wash.
 (Other forms: unload, overload ,reload, n+load of …)
… bombs packed delicately in padded
racks.

According
to
the
description, the bombs
were like wine packed
carefully in racks, and
there was soft material
under the bombs to keep
them safe.
… quite the same as for folk ashore, this
Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily preparing
a traditional dinner featuring roast turkey.

Paraphrase: Just like people on land, on
this Thanksgiving morning we were also
busy preparing a traditional dinner with
roast turkey as a typical course.
The pattern “a period of time + see + an
event” simply means the event takes place
during that period of time.
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The late 20th century has seen some
unprecedented changes in China.
2) The past week saw Tom buried in the books
trying desperately to catch up with the missed
readings.
put away: remove (sth.) to a place
where it is usually stored
1) She folded up the towels and put
them away in the cupboard.
 2) The children were asked to put
away the toys by themselves after
class.

When you get to something or get to doing
something, you start doing or dealing with it.
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1) Unless it’s an emergency, you’ll have
to wait for weeks before the committee
gets to your proposal.
2)
Recently I got to rereading some of
my early works and was amazed how much I
have changed.
Translation
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1）我们开始工作吧。
2）警察到底什么时候才开始调查这个案子呢？
3) 听说女儿开始考虑结婚了，母亲总算松了
一口气。
Language Study
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in quest of: seeking, trying to find
He went to America in quest of liberty.
He visited many witnesses of the accident in
quest of the truth of his son’s death.
Now complete the following sentences
with this phrase.
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1)
the
2)
for
Mary sent an application letter to
company _______________________.
Scientists have been studying AIDS
years ________________________.
reverse: turn around to the opposite
direction; exchange the position of

1)
The
videotape
will
automatically when it finishes.
reverse

2) Suddenly remembering that she forgot
to lock the door, Mary reversed her car
and drove back home.

3) Attention please this vehicle is reversing!
turn over: think about, consider

1) As He watched the chairman speaking,
Prof. Randolf turned over in his mind
the speech he was about to deliver to
the audience.
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2) He had turned the matter over and over again,
trying to figure out a solution.
Translate the following into English.
 至少有七个人对我有不同寻
常、影响深远的帮助。但我
难过地意识到其中约有一半
已经过世了——所以他们永
远也无法接受我的谢意了。
swallow hard : make a movement in the throat
because you are nervous, frightened, angry,
etc.
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He swallowed hard as he turned over the
examination paper. (他紧张地翻开考卷.)
Mother swallowed hard as she opened the letter
coming from the front. （提心吊胆地展开信）
He must not show any emotion, he reminded
himself as he took a deep breath and swallowed
hard. （克制住自己）
Negation with “beyond”
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Apart from the common negation using
“NO/NOT”, the word “beyond” is a useful and
idiomatic expression of negation in English. If
something is beyond understanding or belief, it
can not be understood or believed; if something is
beyond someone, the person can not deal with it.
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So when translating the sentence “这篇文章太难
了，我根本看不懂。”
We can say:
1) The article is so difficult that I don’t
understand it at all.
2) The article is too difficult for me to
understand.
We can also say:
3) The difficult article is completely beyond
me.
Now rephrase the following sentences with “beyond”
and then translate them into Chinese.
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1. There is no doubt about his loyalty.
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2. No word can express my admiration for him.
gratitude: being thankful,
thankfulness

1)
The students expressed their
gratitude to their teacher in a card.

2) Thanksgiving was the early settlers’
expression of gratitude for god’s
blessings.
specific: particular, precise and exact
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1) Though there are specific courses
required within each discipline, all
students should complete the 10 basic
ones outlined in the curriculum.
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2) The Federal Government should be more
specific when issuing warnings about terrorist
threats.
on sb.’s behalf / on behalf of sb.: for sb.; in the
interests of sb.; as the representative of sb.

The Reemployment Center, as its name indicates,
operates mainly on behalf of the layoff.
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医生禁止喝酒是为了你好。
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In response to continuing inquiries from
the media, her husband has issued the
following statement on her behalf.
If you impress something on somebody, you make
them understand its importance or degree.
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1) Despite the tough job, my mentor has
always impressed upon me that there is
always a way to overcome barriers.
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2) Failing all the job interviews, Ted now needed
no one to impress on him the necessity of a
college certificate.
If something impresses you, you feel
great admiration for it.
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What
impressed
me
most
was
harmonious relationship between
villagers.
the
the
graduate to/into: advance in degrees

She graduated to a higher position in the
company.
diminish: become lesser or
smaller

1) The past year has seen the value of our
car diminish substantially.
2) Though he was promoted to a higher
rank, his responsibilities diminished in
reality.
sb’s influence, patience, wind, etc. can also
diminish
Translation
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1) The reporter exposed the corruption in the city
government.
2) Agricultural workers top the list of candidates
for skin cancer because they are outdoors and are
exposed to the sun on a daily basis.
3) Being exposed to these cultures enables us to
not only learn about other cultures, but also see
our own culture in a new light.
immerse: cover completely in a liquid;
absorb deeply

1) Immerse the vegetable in clear water
several times to remove the sand and
soil.
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2) As a community, we are immersed in the
quest for harmony throughout the world's nations.
Language Study
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assemble : bring or call together into a
group
The students assembled solemnly on the
playground.
My grandparents had assembled all the
members of the family for this year’s picnic..
(compare: resemble)
Language Study
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considerate: thoughtful of the regards or
feelings of others
Friendly and considerate, he invariably
consults with inferiors before making
decisions.
(compare: considerable)
accord: grant

1) Government at all levels should accord
priority to reporting cases of SARS honestly.
2) Hindi is likely to be accorded the
status of an official language at the
United Nations, according to the
Minister of State for External Affairs.
3) To exercise their functions effectively,
inspectors shall be accorded privileges and
immunities as following.
Language Study
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successive : following one after the other
After three successive defeats, he decided to
withdraw from the match.
He was elected mayor for the third
successive term.
Language Study
humble (v.) : to cause someone to realize he is not
as important or good as he thinks he is .
The result of the speech contest humbled
him.
 humble (adj.) not arrogant ;low in rank
he came from a fairly humble, poor
background.
Be humble in front of God.
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go about: behave; keep busy doing sth.;
set about
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1) In winter everyone goes about in fur
coats and thermal boots.(behave)
2) In spite of the bomb attack yesterday,
most people seem to be going about their
business as usual.(keep busy doing)
How do you go about getting a passport these
days? (set about)
Appreciate the Essay

As a veteran writer, the author displays a
good command of the language. For
example , in Para 18 he vividly presents us
a picture of earnest soldiers when the mail
bag arrived. Verbs like pound, cluster,
shout , and push indicate that they can’t
wait to get their own mails.
Mark Twin’s comment on praise
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Mark Twain once said “I can live for two
months on a good compliment”. To give
the praise costs the giver nothing but it
can produce considerable results on the
receiver. This coincides with what the
author said in the essay “Find the good-- and praise it.”
What do you think of this statement?
Reminder
An ounce of praise is worth a pound of
scolding.
 Gratitude is something of which none of us
can give too much.
 Our praise are our wages.---Shakespeare
Therefore don’t hesitate to praise or thank
others, since it will not only bring joy into
other people’s life ,but add happiness into our
own life.
