Transcript Document

New Horizon College English Book 3
新视野大学英语3
School of Foreign Studies
外国语学院
Unit 5
陈蕊
Unit Five Section A
Choose to Be Alone on Purpose
Warm-up
Listening to a melodious song. Do you know the
name of this song?
Lead - in
Our topic today is “living alone”. Like it or
not, it is true of the American life that many
people live alone. For most of them, living alone
is a compelled choice, whereas, for some others,
it is a matter of preference. But what comes out
of both is a world of difference. Now let’s
proceed with our topic-centered lead-in:
Lead-in activities:
I. Discussing
Q. 1 Do you have the moments when you
feel solitude is the best companion?
Q. 2 Do you think solitude can give rise to
inspiration? Give your reasons.
Lead-in Activities
II. Proverbs:
It is better to be alone than in bad company.
宁可孤独，不交恶友。
A secret between more than two is no secret.
三人知，天下晓。
A still tongue makes a wise head.
寡言为智。
Background Information
1. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Henry David Thoreau was a US thinker, essayist,
His A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
and naturalist. Thoreau graduated from Harvard
(1849) was the only other book he published in his
University and taught school for several years
lifetime. In later years his interest in
before leaving his job to become a poet of nature.
Transcendentalism waned, and he became a
In the years 1845-1847, to demonstrate how
dedicated abolitionist. His many nature writings
satisfying a simple life could be, he lived in a hut
and records of his wanderings in Canada, Maine,
beside Concord’s Walden Pond; essays recording
and Cape Cod display the mind of a keen
his daily life were assembled for his masterwork,
naturalist.
Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854).
Background Information
2. John Milton (1608-1674)
John Milton was an English poet and pamphleteer.
Milton attended the University of Cambridge (16251632), where he wrote poems in Latin, Italian, and
English. In 1632-1639 he engaged in private study and
toured Europe, spending most of his time in Italy. His
best-known prose is in the pamphlets Areopagitica
(1644) and Of Education (1644). He also wrote tracts on
divorce and against the monarchy and the Church of
England.
Background Information
His Paradise Lost (1667, 1674), considered the greatest
epic poem in English, uses blank verse and reworks
Classical epic conventions to recount the Fall of Man;
Milton’s characterization of Satan has been widely
admired. Paradise Regained (1671) is a shorter epic in
which Christ overcomes Satan the tempter, and Samson
Agonistes (1671) is a dramatic poem in which the Old
Testament figure conquers self-pity and despair to
become God’s champion. Considered the greatest
English poet after William Shakespeare, Milton had
wide influence on later literature.
Background Information
3. William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Wordsworth was an English poet. His contributions
His poetry is perhaps most original in its vision of the
include many lyrics controversial for their common,
almost divine power of the creative imagination
everyday language. Around 1798 he began writing an
reforming the links between man and man, between
autobiographical poem that would absorb him
humankind and the natural world. In 1843 he became
intermittently for the next 40 years, The Prelude (1850).
England’s Poet Laureate. He is regarded as the central
His second verse collection, Poems, in Two Volumes
figure in the initiation of English Romanticism.
(1807), includes many of the rest of his finest works,
including Ode: Intimations of Immortality.
Contents
• New Words
• Structure and writing device
• Passage Reading
• Summary
• Assignment
1. Commodity : n.
a. [C] something that is useful or necessary 有用的东西，必需品
b. [C] a substance or product that can be bought or sold 商品，货物
Synonyms: goods
Example
如果你想学好一门外语，就必须刻
苦学习。
If you want to learn a foreign language well, working
hard is a necessary commodity.
I. New Words
1. Commodity : n.
a. [C] something that is useful or necessary 有用的东西，必需品
b. [C] a substance or product that can be bought or sold 商品，货物
Synonyms: goods
Example
Time is the most valuable
commodity that we possess.
时间是我们拥有的最有价值的东西。
I. New Words
2. dictate:
a. Say something for someone else to write down 口授；口述
b. tell someone exactly what to do or how to behave 命令；指使
Example
他向秘书口授了一封信。
He dictated a letter to his secretary.
你没有资格对我发号施令.
You are in no position to dictate me.
I. New Words
3. humble:
a. Having a modest opinion of oneself; not proud 谦逊的；谦虚的
b. Having a low social class or position 地位或身份低下的
同义词 modest（谦虚的）；n. humbleness/ humility
Example
这个世界闻名的科学家非常谦逊。
The world-famous scientist remains a very
humble man.
他职位低下。
He held a humble position.
I. New Words
3. humble:
a. Having a modest opinion of oneself; not proud 谦逊的；谦虚的
b. Having a low social class or position 地位或身份低下的
同义词 modest（谦虚的）；n. humbleness/ humility
Collocation
my humble apology
鄙人的道歉
a humble scientist
谦虚的科学家
men of humble birth
出身卑微的人
a humble occupation
低贱的职业
I. New Words
Contents
• New Words
• Structure and writing device
• Passage Reading
• Summary
• Assignment
In this passage, a social phenomenon of
living alone is presented and analyzed,
and suggestions are given that people
should find some grace and pleasure in
their condition. The passage can be
broadly divided into five main parts:
Part I (Para.1):
Phenomenon: living alone is a
common social phenomenon.
Part II (Para. 2):
What people think of living alone.
Part III (Para. _ ~3_ ): Who are often living alone?
10
Part IV (Paras. ~11~ _ ): Some life details of the solitary
people.
13
Part V (Para. 14
~16):
The author’s suggestion:solitary
people should accept the reality
with a positive attitude.
Contents
• New Words
• Structure and writing device
• Passage Reading
• Activity
• Assignment
Part I (Para.1): Phenomenon
A.Language points
B.Questions
Passage Reading
Choose to Be Alone on Purpose
Para. 1 Here we are, all by ourselves, all
22 million of us by recent count, alone
in our rooms, some of us liking it that
way and some of us not. Some of us
divorced, some widowed, some never yet
committed.
Part I Living alone --- a common social phenomenon.
1. By recent count 据最近的统计
Example
根据最近的统计，越来越多的
金融界精英正在从华尔街转向
中国大陆。
By recent account, an increasing number of
elites in financial circles are shifting from the
Wall Street to Chinese mainland.
A. Language points
Para. 2 Loneliness may be a sort of national disease here,
and it’s more embarrassing for us to admit than any other
Here the word “disease” is used
sin. On the other hand, to be alone on purpose, having
figuratively, meaning sth unpleasant,
rejected company
rather than been cast out by it, is one
usually one that a group of people have.
characteristic
of an American hero. The solitary hunter or
deliberatel
explorer needs no one as they venture out among the deer
y
and wolves to tame the great wild areas. Thoreau, alone
in
his cabin on the pond, his back deliberately turned to the
town. Now, that’s character for you.
Para 2 What do people think of living alone ?
1. Cast out : to drive out by force; expel; make sb. leave a
place 抛弃，驱逐
Synonym: throw out/ expel
Example
出了那桩丑闻后,他被公司开除了。
After the scandal, he was cast out of the company.
A. Language points
2. venture :
1.To take a risk; dare; To expose to danger or risk 冒险;大胆行事
[(+on)]
2.以...作赌注[(+on)]
Example
他太胆小，不敢从事新的事业。
He is too timid to venture upon a new
undertaking.
他将大笔的钱拿去做股票投机。
He ventured large sums of money
A. Language
on speculative stocks.
points
Part II (Para.3-10): People who are living alone
A.Language points
B.Questions
Passage Reading
Para 3 Inspiration in solitude is a major commodity for
in
poets and philosophers. They’re all for it.Support;
They all be
speak
highly of themselves for seeking it out, at least
for of
an hour
favor
or even two before they hurry home for tea.
Para 4 Consider Dorothy Wordsworth, for instance,
helping her brother William put on his coat, finding his
notebook and pencil for him, and waving as he sets forth
into the early spring sunlight to look at flowers all by
himself. “How graceful, how benign, is solitude,” he
wrote.
Para 5 No doubt about it, solitude is improved by being
voluntary.
Para 3-10 Who are often living alone?
1. Speak highly of :
express a good opinion of someone or sth 给予高度评价，赞扬
Example
她对这位新来的老师评价很高。
She speaks highly of the new teacher.
Compare:
Speak ill/well of: express a bad/good opinion of sb or sth
He spoke ill of me to his friends.
他对他的朋友们说我的坏话。
A. Language
points
1. Seek out :
find sth. or sb. by looking hard 搜出, 找出, 想获得
Example
警方正努力找出真正的凶犯。
The police were trying to seek the real murderer out .
A. Language points
2. set forth :
1. to begin a journey; to present for consideration; 动身
2. propose 阐述
Example
他们早饭后马上启程。
They set forth immediately after
breakfast.
他已经表达出了想法。
He has set forth his ideas.
A. Language points
Para 6 Look at Milton’s daughters arranging his cushions
and blankets before they silently creep away, so he can
create poetry. Then, rather than trouble to put it in his
Move
slowly
andand
quietly
own handwriting, he calls the girls
to come
back
write it down while he dictates.
Conscience
truthfulness.
良心使人吐真言。
Para
7 You maydictates
have noticed
that most
of these artistic
types went outdoors to be alone. The indoors was full of
loved ones keeping the kettle warm till they came home.
Para 8 The American high priest of solitude was Thoreau.
We admire him, not for his self-reliance, but because he
was all by himself
out there
at is
Walden
Pond,
A “high
priest”
a person
whoand
hashe
a
wanted to be — all alone in the woods.
leadership position in a certain field.
Para 9 Actually, he lived a mile, or 20 minutes’ walk, from
his nearest neighbor; half a mile from the railroad; three
hundred yards from a busy road. He had company in and
out of the hut all day, asking him how he could possibly
be so noble. Apparently the main point of his nobility was
that he had neither wife nor servants, used his own axe to
chop his own wood, and washed his own cups and saucers.
I don’t know who did his laundry; he doesn’t say, but he
certainly doesn’t mention doing his own, either. Listen to
him: “I never found the companion that was so
companionable as solitude.”
Some people choose to live all by themselves. Henry Thoreau is an example
Para 10 Thoreau had his own selfimportance
there’s
a
Thoreau’s lifefor
was company.
self-content; Perhaps
he enjoys being
alone.
message here: The larger the ego, the less the
need for other egos around. The more
modest and humble we feel, the more we
suffer from solitude, feeling ourselves
inadequate company.
The message from them: The larger the ego, the more likely for them to live alone.
Part III (Para.11-13): Some life details of the solitary people
A.Language points
B.Questions
Passage Reading
Para 11 If you live with other people, their temporary absence can
be refreshing. Solitude will end on Thursday. If today I use a
singular personal pronoun to refer to myself, next week I will use the
plural form. While the others are absent you can stretch out your
soul until it fills up the whole room, and use your freedom, coming
and going as you please without apology, staying up late to read,
soaking in the bath, eating a whole pint of ice cream at one sitting,
moving at your own pace. Those absent will be back. Their
waterproof winter coats are in the closet and the dog keeps watching
for them at the window. But when you live alone, the temporary
absence of your friends and acquaintances leaves a vacuum; they
may never come back.
Para 11-13 some life details of the solitary people.
1. Stretch out:
a. Lengthen sth by pulling 拉长；延伸
b. Lie down, usually in order to relax or sleep 躺平，舒展
Example
The rubber band can be stretched out to twice its length.
这条橡皮筋可被拉长两倍。
他在炉火前舒展了一下四肢。
He stretched out in front of the fire.
A. Language points
2. Fill up : (cause to ) become completely full 装满；
填满
Example
当股指上升时，股票交易所充满了欢乐和喝彩声。
Joy fills up the stock exchange when the stock index is on
the rise.
A. Language points
3. At one setting (go/ stretch) : 一口气地
Synonym: in one breath (move)/ with one single effort
Example
正如一口吃不成个胖子一样，成功不能一蹴而就。
Just as no one grow fat at one sitting, no success can be
attained with one single effort.
A. Language points
4. at one’s own pace: at the speed that fits oneself 适
合某人的节奏
固定表达
at a good pace 相当快地
keep pace 齐步并进;并驾齐驱
put sb. through his paces 检验某人的能力
教练花了整个上午测试新队员的能力。
The coach spent the whole morning putting
the newcomer through his paces.
A. Language points
固定表达
`
set/make the pace 定速度
如果你让跑得最快的人来定速度,那么他们中的大
多数人都将落后。
If you ask the fastest runner to set the pace,
then most of them will be left behind.
show one's paces 显出自己的本领
他总想显露自己的本领。
He is always ready to show his paces.
Para 12 The condition of loneliness rises and falls, but the
need to talk goes on forever. It’s more basic than needing
to listen. Oh, we all have friends we can tell important
things to, people we can call to say we lost our job or fell
on a slippery floor and broke our arm. It’s the daily
succession of small complaints and observations and
opinions that backs up and chokes us. We can’t really call
a friend to say we got a parcel from our sister, or it’s
getting dark earlier now, or we don’t trust that new
Supreme Court justice.
People need to talk to others.
1. Back up:
a. (cause to) block up (使）积压
b. Support someone, especially in an argument （使）拥塞；支持
Example
要是佩吉在这儿，她一定会
支持我的说法。
Peggy would back me up
if she were here.
A. Language points
1. Back up:
a. (cause to) block up (使）积压
b. Support someone, especially in an argument （使）拥塞；支持
Example
What has backed up in one’s mind，especially emotions,
needs an outlet; otherwise, it may grow into a mental
problem.
压抑在心头的想法，特别是情感，
需要发泄。否则，就可能变成心
理问题。
A. Language points
Para 13 Scientific surveys show that we who live alone talk
at length to ourselves and our pets and the television. We
ask the cat whether we should wear the blue suit or the
yellow dress. We ask the parrot if we should prepare steak,
or noodles, for dinner. We argue with ourselves over who is
the greater sportsman: that figure skater or this skier.
There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s good for us, and a lot
less embarrassing than the woman in front of us in line at
the market who’s telling the cashier that her niece Melissa
may be coming to visit on Saturday, and Melissa is very
fond of hot chocolate, which is why she bought the
powdered hot chocolate mix, though she never drinks it
herself.
People need to talk to others.
1. At length:
a. In great detail 详尽地
b. At last 终于
Translation
• 不要过分详尽地讨论这个项目。
• 公共汽车终于来了，晚了四十分钟。
Key
• Don’t discuss the project at excessive length.
• At length the bus arrived, forty minutes late.
A. Language points
Part IV (Para.13-16): Conclusion
A.Language points
B.Questions
Passage Reading
Para 14 It’s important to stay rational.
Para 15 It’s important to stop waiting and settle down and
make ourselves comfortable, at least temporarily, and find
some grace and pleasure in our condition, not like a selfcentered British poet but like a patient princess sealed up
in a tower, waiting for the happy ending to our fairy tale.
Para 16 After all, here we are. It may not be where we
expected to be, but for the time being we might as well call
it home. Anyway, there is no place like home.
Conclusion
1. Seal up : 把某人/物密封、密闭起来
Example
独立自主决不是闭关自守，孤立奋
斗。
Self-reliance in no way means sealing oneself up
from the outside world and working in isolation.
A. Language points
2. For the time being : temporarily, not for long 暂时的, 眼下,目
前
Example
我们眼下这么做吧。
Let's do it just for the time being.
我们暂时合住一个房间吧!
Let's share the room
the
A.forLanguage
points
time being.
3.Might as well do sth : 不妨; 还是……为好
Translation
• 我们不妨一块儿去。
• 你不妨给客户服务部打个电话谈谈这事。
Key
• We might as well go together.
• You might as well phone the customer service
department about it.
A. Language points
English Equivalents of Chinese
征服广袤的荒野
最有用的东西
自视甚高
毫无疑问
蹑手蹑脚地走开
交通繁忙的大路
to tame the great wild areas
a major commodity
to speak highly of oneself
no doubt about it
to creep away
有人为伴
a busy road
某人主要的高洁之处
to have company
砍柴
the main point of one’s nobility
洗衣服
to chop wood
to do a laundry
English Equivalents of Chinese
以……为伴
随意
熬夜
to have … for company
as you please
to stay up late
详细叙说
快乐的结局
to talk at length
a happy ending
English Equivalents of Chinese
抛弃；驱逐某人:
找出；搜寻出:
动身；阐述:
放松; 伸出; 延长:
安下心来,定居:
to cast out
to seek out
to set forth
to stretch out
to settle down
Contents
• New Words
• Structure and writing device
• Passage Reading
• Activity
• Assignment
I. Word Game
There are approximately homophonous
words (谐音词) in Chinese and English.
It helps greatly memorize English words.
Listen to some Chinese words and
guess their English equivalents.
苦省
开透
衣钩
啊，跑了鸡
馊客
四里坡犁
扒手
我开闹
cushion 坐垫
kettle 水壶
ego 自我
apology 道歉
soak 浸泡
slippery 滑的
parcel 包裹
volcano 火山
II. Poem Appreciating
I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud
— William Wordsworth
I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud
– William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Contents
• New Words
• Structure and writing device
• Passage Reading
• Activity
• Assignment
Check the Internet to know them more
Walden
Henry David
Thoreau (1817～
1862)
Paradise Lost
John Milton
(1608~1674)
The Prelude
William
Wordsworth
(1770~1850)
Thanks for your attention