现代大学英语精读6 lesson5--lesson8讲义

Lesson Five: The One Against the Many 1. About the author: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917- ) Study note 1 on page 69. 2. About “The One Against the Many”: The United Stated of America was born in 1783. Within a span of less than 250 years, the U.S. has grown from a new-born country of 13 former colonies to the only superpower in the world with its interests projected to nearly every corner of the world. Why has the US developed so fast? What are the most important factors that have contributed to such a rapid development? The author thinks that the single most important explanation is “the national rejection of dogmatic preconceptions about the nature of the social and economic order” This text taking America as an example, analyzes the relationship between “the one” referring to one viewpoint and “the many” referring to many viewpoints. In other words, the author regards pragmatism as the key factor which contributed to the rapid development of the US. Compared with the experience of China, we can further understand the differences between dogmatism, ideology and pragmatism. II. Outline of the essay Part I (Para.1) American experience in achieving rapid national development Part II (Para.2-6) the factors that facilitated the rapid social and economic development of the United States Part III (Para.7-10) difference between pragmatism and ideology Part IV (Paras.11-12) an example of distinction between ideals and ideology Part V (Para.13-14) what is wrong with ideology? PartⅥ(Para.15-19) differences between the ideologist and the pragmatist in their views of history and in their approaches to issues of public policy. PartⅦ(Para.20-22) conclusion: the “many” should be the choice III. Detailed Analysis of the Text: Part 1 (para.1): American experience 1. period, epoch, era and age Period is the general term for any portion of historical time. Epoch and era are often used interchangeably, but in strict discrimination, epoch applies to the beginning of a new period marked by radical changes, new developments, etc., and era, to the entire period. Age is applied to a long period identified with some dominant personality or distinctive characteristic. e.g. The curtain was rung up on a new epoch in our history. 我国历史上一个新纪元的序幕揭开了 Einstein's theory marked a new epoch in history. 爱因斯坦的理论标志着历史上一个新时代的开始。 The October Revolution ushered in a new era in the history of mankind. 十月革命开创了人类历史的新纪元。 We are living in the computer era. 我们正生活在计算机时代。 Many people call the age we live in the age of technology. 许多人把我们生活的时代叫做工业技术时代。 2. instructive: enlightening, informative e.g. He found it both interesting and instructive to learn about the careers of great men. 他觉得了解伟人的生平既很有趣又有教益。 This is an instructive book. 这是本有教育意义的书。 Part II (Paras.2-6): Factors This part deals with the factors that facilitated the rapid social and economic development of the United States. The author points out in Paragraph 6 that the fundamental factor has been the national rejection of dogmatic preconceptions about the nature of social and economic order. Para.2 1. The first sentence of this paragraph is a transitional sentence. The last sentence refers to the several fundamental elements that facilitated the rapid social and economic development of the American continent. 2. capacity: ability to do things e.g. He has an inbred capacity for reading the riddle the right way in cases of mystery, great or small. We are impressed by his capacity for handling an immense amount of work without appearing to extend 我们很佩服他能处理大量的工作而看来一点也不勉强。 3. bless - give a benediction to e.g. Bless you, my boy. 孩子, 为你祝福。 Good-bye, and may God bless you. 再见,愿上帝保佑你。 Bless her from marrying a miser. 上天保佑她不要和一个吝啬鬼结婚。 Bless your heart, I know you didn't break the vase on purpose. Don't cry. 好了好了，我知道你不是故意把花瓶打破的。别哭了。 4. above all: over and above all other factors or considerations e.g. Prize security above all else. 安全第一 He was above all a good and tireless writer. 他首先是位优秀的、不知疲倦的作家。 What a child should do, above all, is to do well in his studies. 小孩子该做的最重要的事是学好功课。 5. scarce; rare scarce: insufficient to meet demand rare: unusual; excellent; undercooked, as meat e.g. His collection of rare books is worth millions. Jack is a rare friend. I like rare steak, nice and bloody! Food was scarce throughout the war. 6. in relation to something: compared with something; and how that connects to something e.g. I have nothing to say in relation to that matter. 关于那件事, 我没什么好说的。 You are only slightly underweight for (i.e. in relation to) your height. 按你的身高来说, 你体重仅稍轻一点儿. 7. ratio: relation in degree or number between two similar things e.g. The ratio of students to teachers is 35:1. 学生和老师的比率是三十五比一。 Men outnumber women here in the ratio of three to one. 此地男子数量以三比一超过女子。 The birthrate in this city is increasing at a ratio of0.6 to a thousand every year. 这个城市的出生率以每年千分之0．6的比率上升。 8. “Had that been so, the Indians, for whom the ratio was even more favorable, would have developed the county long before the first settlers arrives from over the seas.” This statement is in the subjunctive mood. The original sentence is “If the favorable ratio between population and resources had been the only factor the Indians, for whom the ratio was even more favorable, would have developed the county long before the first settlers arrives from over the seas.” Who were “the first settlers”? Generally speaking, they referred to the founders of Jamestown (Virginia) in 1607 and the 102 passengers who sailed on the mayflower in 1620 to plant the first colony at Plymouth in what is today southeastern Massachusetts. 9. approach: v. to begin to deal with or work on (= go about; set about); to come near or nearer, as in space or time e.g. He prefers to approach a problem from different angles 他喜欢由不同的角度研究一个问题. Spring approaches. Para. 3 1. This paragraph is about the first factor: the deep faith in education. “It arose originally from a philosophical rather than an economic commitment—from a faith in the dignity of man and from the resulting belief that it is the responsibility of society to offer man the opportunity to develop his highest potentialities. But at the same time, it also helped produce the conditions essential to successful modernization. ” 2. Why did it originally arise from a philosophical rather than an economic commitment? The thinking of Thomas Jefferson exemplifies the position that state-supported education for all citizens is a basic requirement for democracy. He wrote in 1816, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” 3. Through this paragraph, we can know the importance of education to a development of a nation, as a Chinese college student what do you think is the distinct importance of education to our country? 4. What is the function of the last sentence? In spite of the fact that economic commitment was not the major reason for respect for learning, wide literacy became a necessary condition for modernization. This statement also lends itself to smooth transition to the next paragraph. 5. arise: come into being e.g. Accidents often arise from carelessness. 事故往往起因于粗心。 How did this quarrel arise. 这场争吵是由于何种原因引起的? Para. 4 The first sentence of this paragraph is the topic sentence. This sentence, linking up with the last sentence of paragraph 3, forms a smooth transition. 1. Do you think the concept applicable to China? Yes. The national strategy of economic development through science-technology and education is based on this concept. 2. attribute: to relate to a particular cause or source; ascribe (v.); a quality or characteristic inherent in or ascribed to someone or something (n.); e.g. They attribute their success to their teacher's encouragement. 他们把成功归因于老师的鼓励。 Politeness is an attribute of a gentleman. 彬彬有礼是绅士的本色。 Her greatest attribute was her kindness. 她最大的特点是为人厚道. 4. rightly: in a correct manner; properly; with honesty; justly.; really (informal) e.g. If I remember rightly the party starts at 8 pm. 我记得聚会是在下午8点开始. He believed, rightly or wrongly, that she was guilty. 对也罢，错也罢，反正他认为她是有罪的。 I don't rightly know whether it was Tuesday or Wednesday. 我说不准那天是星期二还是星期三。 5. tangible: perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch (= concrete; intangible) e.g. There is no tangible proof. 没有确凿的证据。 The U.S. troops brought few tangible benefits to the Iraqi people. 美国部队没有伊拉克人民带来多少实际好处。 Para. 5 This paragraph is about another factor: self-government and representative institutions. We have found no better way than democracy to fulfill man’s talents and release his energies. 1. Self-government: it is the principle that the people are the ultimate source of governing authority and that their general welfare is the only legitimate purpose of government. 2. representative institutions: (代议制政府机构)They refer to a system of government institutions that give citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who will work on their behalf. 3. commitment: the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose; the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action (= loyalty, dedication ) His political commitment is only skin-deep. 他政治上的承诺只是面文章。 The President affirmed America's commitment to its European allies. 总统申明美国履行对其欧洲盟国承担的义务. I felt I did not have to make such a commitment to them. 我觉得我没有必要对他们作出那样的承诺。 In the last decade，however，we have sought to fulfill the goal with greater zeal，greater commitment，and greater success than at any period in our history. 在过去十年中，我们比历史上任何时期都力求更加热心地，更加献身地，更加成功地来达到这个目标 My aunt has a sincere commitment to Buddhism. 我姑妈笃信佛教。 4. fulfill: to develop to the full e.g. She fulfilled herself both as a mother and as a successful writer.  作为一名母亲和作为一名成功的作家，她都充分发挥了自己的才能。  She succeeded fulfilling herself as an actress.  她作为一名演员充分发挥了自己的才干。 5. Put the following sentences into Chinese: 1)The doctor’s instructions must be  fulfilled exactly.  2)This way of life no longer fulfills the  individuals concerned.  3)If he is lazy, he will never fulfill his  ambition to be a doctor.  5. What is cooperative activity? 6. initiative - readiness to embark on bold new ventures; the first of a series of actions (=go-ahead, first step, opening move) e.g. man‘s subjective initiative 人的主观能动性 The initiative has passed to us. 主动权已转到我方 give full scope to the initiative of the masses. 充分发挥群众的积极性 In the absence of my commanding officer, I acted on my own initiative. 指挥官不在场, 我主动见机行事. 7. Another has been the understanding of the role of cooperative activity, public as well as voluntary: In this sentence the author wants to show that emphasis on personal freedom and personal initiative does not preclude cooperative activity, which is also very important. Cooperative activity takes two forms; one is public, that is to say, compulsory; the other is voluntary. Public cooperative activity presumably is organized by the government. Voluntary activity is widespread in the U.S. Community service and community spirit is a case in point. There are also many voluntary organizations in the U.S. Para. 6: the most important factor 1. …the national rejection of dogmatic preconceptions about the nature of the social and economic order: As a nation, America has refused to cling to certain rigid principles concerning social and economic development. America has been adaptable and flexible. 2. America has had the good fortune not to be an ideological society: It is lucky that Americans are not keen on following a body of rigid ideas or theories in their social, economic or political activities. 3. dogmatic: opinionated (=arbitrary) e.g. A teacher who is not dogmatic is simply a teacher who is not teaching. You have merely made a few dogmatic comments on my work, and I can’t accept your dogmatic opinion. 4. ideological: political and ideological education 政治思想教育 the ideological sphere 意识形态领域 He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。 . Part III (Paras.7-10) the difference between pragmatism and ideology Para.7 1. What are the elements in the definition of ideology? The definition includes two elements: one is a group of doctrines (beliefs) which are precise and not flexible and which form a system; the other is the use of these doctrines to understand, preserve or transform the world. 2. What is one big thing the hedgehogs know? When they encounter danger, they will invariably curl themselves up into balls with the sharp spines sticking out as defense. This is the only way they know to protect themselves. The hedgehog is here being compared to the ideologist who only follow the dogma he believes in. 3. What is the characteristic of the foxes? The foxes do not stick to one way of protecting themselves. They use many different ways to deceive their chasers. 4. dogma: a belief or doctrine that is handed down by authority as true and indisputable e.g. The young man could not accept his parent's narrow dogma. The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present” (Abraham Lincoln) “平静的过去时代的那些信条，不适用于暴风骤雨式的现代社会了 5. intelligence: the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge; bright, perceptive people e.g. Use your intelligence, and you‘re sure to achieve something.发挥你的聪明才智,你一定能取得成就。 Bill Gates is one of the top intelligences in the world. 6. Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin, (June 6, 1909 – November 5, 1997) was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the 20th century. Para.8 1. “Nor can one suggest that …temptation”: No one can say that Americans have never been tempted by the approach of understanding, preserving or transforming the world according to rigid dogmas. 2. immune: adj. secure against (≈exempt); relating to or conferring immunity (to disease or infection) (= resistant) e.g. He seems to be immune to criticism. 他似乎不受批评的影响。 I'm immune to smallpox as a result of vaccination. 我种过牛痘了, 所以对天花有免疫力. 3. condition: v. to affect, modify or influence e.g. She had to condition herself to long hours of hard work.她必须习惯长时间辛苦的工作. They conditioned the troops to marches in snow mountains. 他们使部队能适应在雪山地带行进． 4. formidable: extremely impressive in strength or excellence (≈impressive ) e.g. He was one of the most formidable intellects of his time. 他是该时代的盖世奇才. It is a formidable task, but we are determined not to shrink from it. 这是一个非常艰巨的任务，但是我们决不退缩。 5. secular: worldly rather than spiritual. e.g. Living in the secular world, people can hardly avoid making errors. The old monk freed himself from secular concerns. 这位老僧超脱了凡夫俗子所关心的事情． ６. endow: to provide with some talent or quality e.g. She is endowed with great writing ability. 她具有杰出的写作天赋。 Great musicians like Mozart and Beethoven certainly were endowed with musical talent. ;像莫扎特,贝多芬一类的 伟大音乐家确实具有音乐 天赋. 8. all-inclusive: including everything; comprehensive. e.g. Tom's eyes swept the room in a single all-inclusive glance. I prefer all-inclusive tour (全包价旅游）, simple and easy. 9. translate: change from one form or medium into another (= transform) e.g. I translate his silence as a refusal. 我把他的沉默解释为拒绝。 They started to translate into action the dreams of African unity. 他们开始将统一非洲的梦想转化为行动。 After the war he was translated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 战后,他被调到外交部工作。 I wonder how your religious beliefs would translate into political action. 我不知道你的宗教信仰如何转化为政治行动。 10. construe; understand construe: to interpret the meaning e.g. How do you construe what he did? 你对他之所为作何解释? Para. 9 1. yet: conj. and despite this; nevertheless e.g. "Well, it may be a joke; and yet the professor seems very much in earnest about it," replied Tom. She is willing，yet unable．她心有余而力不足。 2. foxily: in an artful manner (= craftily ) e.g. He foxily arranged to be there when the decision was announced. 3. mistrust; distrust mistrust: to feel doubt (v.) distrust: to completely lack confidence in (v.) e.g. She has a deep mistrust of anything new or strange.她对任何新奇事物皆十分怀疑. He mistrusted Jim‘s ability to do the work. 他怀疑做这项工作的能力． I could hardly distrust my ears when I heard the news. 听到这个消息，我简直不敢不相信自己的耳朵． Her constant lying led me to distrust everything she said. 她总撤谎, 我完全不相信她的话了. 4. a priori: accepted without being thought about or questioned (formal) e.g. The existence of God is a priori for most people with a religious faith. In a court of law, a priori assumptions about guilt and innocence can be dangerous. 5. Our national faith has been not in propositions but in processes: Americans believe in continuous development, in ways toward better life or better society rather than in fixed ultimate goals. 6. so to speak: this is one way to say it (= in other words) e.g. Mary is, so to speak, a hardworking student. 玛丽可说是个用功的学生。 The new procedures have been officially christened, so to speak. 新措施可以说已经正式实施了 A: Do you make a lot of money, so to speak (=in general)?          一般来说，你赚很多钱吗？            B: That's none of your business. 于你无关.  A: My friend is an actress, so to speak (= kind of).               我朋友好象是个女演员。 B: What does that mean? Does she act or...? 那是什么意思？她到底演不演还是怎么？ 7. falsify - make false by mutilation or addition (= distort) e.g. Her speech in Parliament was falsified by the newspapers.她在议会里的发言被报纸歪曲了。 Don't falsify data, China statistics chief says. falsify reality: to present a wrong picture of actual situation due to looking at things dogmatically; to distort or misrepresent actual situation as a result of clinging to certain dogmas. 8. imprison - confine as if in a prison (≈detain; confine) e.g. YOU can imprison my body but not my mind. 你可以禁錮我的身體,卻束縛不了我的心靈. His daughters are virtually imprisoned in their own house; he does not let them go out alone. imprison experience: to restrict what people can do; to limit the practice of the people 9. in consequence; in consequence of Cause + in consequence + result Result + in consequence of + cause e.g. Lily liked to show off her beauty, in consequence, her friends deserted her. 她喜欢炫耀自己的美貌，因此朋友们都离她而去 Lily's friends deserted her in consequence of her showing off her beauty all the day. Para. 10 1. Pragmatism is no more…experience: Abstract ideas have a place in pragmatism just as experience has a role in ideology. 2. devoid: adj. completely lacking e.g. This is a novel devoid of wit and inventiveness.这是一部缺乏创意和情趣的小说. A well devoid of water is useless.无水的井没有用途。 2. Why does the author mention the American Revolution? The author wants to show that the colonists used the ideals explained by the British as reasons for their fight for independence. The origin of the ideas embodied in the Declaration of Independence can be traced to the two Treatises on Civil Government published by British political philosopher John Locke in 1689. 3. What does the author want to prove? The author, in describing the American Revolution, uses the word “ideal”. This leads to the explanation of the differences between “ideology” and “ideals” in Paragraph 11. Part IV (Paras.11-12) In this part, the author uses Thomas Jefferson as an example to illustrate the distinction between ideals and ideology. 1. ideal; idealistic ideal: perfect idealistic: pursuing perfection, believing that people and things can be perfect or nearly perfect e.g. For all its richness and all its progress, it is not an ideal society. 尽管它很富有,也很进步,但它不是一个理想的社会。 He is looking for a wife but he hasn‘t found his ideal mate. 他正在寻找未来的妻子，但还没有找到理想人选。 He was her ideal of all that was manly. 他集男子汉所有气质于一身,是她心中的偶像。 They made an ideal couple; she made money and he spent it. Some idealistic people have a frustrating time in this life; they don't know what perfection is. 2. As an ideologist, however, Jefferson…curiosity: As a man following a fixed set of beliefs, Jefferson is only an interesting historical figure. His beliefs are out of date and are irrelevant to present reality. expound; propound expound: to explain in detail propound: to put forward for consideration e.g. I would like you to expound your views. 我希望你能发表见解。 I find it hard to expound it clearly. 我发现对此很难解释 清楚. He likes to propound problems but not the ways to solve them. 他喜欢提出问题而不喜欢提出解决问题的办法. 4. fertile: rich in invention e.g. He is fertile of imagination. 他想像力很丰富。 With a fertile mind, he turned out to be a novelist.凭着想象力丰富的头脑,他成为了小说家. 5. As an ideologist, however, Jefferson…curiosity: As a man following a fixed set of beliefs, Jefferson is only an interesting historical figure. His beliefs are out of date and are irrelevant to present reality. 6. As an ideologist, he believed, for example, that agriculture was the only… to national development: According to the author, Jefferson held that agriculture should be the basis of the United States and farmers constituted the best citizens of a democratic state. He opposed the development of commerce and industry, the establishment of national bank, urbanization and a strong, federal government. 7. basis; base; Basis: foundation, fundamental part (used figuratively) Base: foundation, fundamental part (used literally) e.g. We camped at the base of the mountain. 我们在山脚下扎营。 Our company's base is in New York , but we have extended many branches all around the world. 我们公司的总部设在纽约，但是分公司遍及全世界。 What's the basis of your opinion? 你的意见的根据是什么？ We are willing to develop economic relations with all countries on the basis of mutual benefits. 我们愿意在互利互惠的原则下同各国发展经济关系。 8. This was Jefferson’s ideology, and had the United States…modern state: According to Jefferson’s ideology, he was opposed to industrialization, hence modernization. So if the U.S. had accepted his ideology and put it into practice, there would not be a strong modern America. 9. impotent: lacking power or ability (≈infertile) e.g.　　  Without the chairman‘s support, the committee is impotent. 没有主席的支持，委员会是无能为力的。 Failure results from the impotent leadership. 失败在于不得力的领导． Para.12 1. conform - be similar, be in line with (=in line with) e.g. A coat must conform to the figure of the wearer. 衣服必须与身材相配. On the first day when a pupil enters school, he is asked to conform to the school rules. 从进校的第一天起,学校 就要求学生遵守校规. 2. … who said that one generation could not…human destiny: Jefferson, the idealist, did not believe that one generation should impose on the next generation its view of what policy a nation should pursue or what should be the future goal of the nation. Part V (Paras.13-14) The part answers the question: what is wrong with ideology? The author points out that the ideologists confuse ideology, an abstraction from reality, with reality itself. This confusion leads to two bad results, in the interpretation of history and the choice of public policy. Para.13 1. An ideology is not a picture of actuality;… from reality: Ideology is not reality. It is an abstraction from reality. In other words, ideology heaves out part of reality in order to form a simplified picture or model. The earlier definition of the author stresses the composition and characteristics of ideology: a set of systematic, detailed, comprehensive and dogmatic principles. The current definition deals with the relationship between these principles and reality. 2. salient: strikingly conspicuous; prominent (= noticeable) e.g. The following are salient points of Budget 2007 which was announced by Prime Wen in a 110-minute speech in the National People’s Congress.. The salient point of his plan is summed up in this report. 他的的要点在这个中酌此概括。 3. per se: by itself or in itself e.g. Most people know very little about educational process per se.大多数人对于教育工作的过程本身并不了解。 Alcohol per se is harmless enough; it is only when taken in excess that it becomes dangerous.酒本身并无大害，只有饮用过度才有危险。 4. discourse: spoken or written communication, serious talk or discussion e.g. Sweet discourse makes short days and nights.【谚】话若投机嫌日短。 They listened to his discourse on human relations. 他们听他作关于人际关系的演讲。 discourse analysis 语篇分析 5. The ideological fallacy is to forget … itself: The mistake of ideologist is to take ideology for reality itself, forgetting that it is only a theoretical summary of certain part of reality. 6. fallacy: a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning e.g. This is a statement based on fallacy. 这是一项基于谬误推理之声明。 The fallacy has been exposed in its naked absurdity.这谬论的荒诞性已被充分揭露。 Para.14 Question1: Does the author really think the ideologist has committed a sin? Question2: Why is reality unpredictable, untidy? Answer 1: No, he uses this word in a humorous way, meaning fault or bad habit. Answer 2: Actual development in reality does not work according to plan, theory or arrangement. The Asian financial crises took people by surprise. The same with SARS. That is why we advance the ideas of “seeking truth from facts” and “keeping abreast of the times”. 1. beset: to trouble persistently e.g. Premier Says China Beset by Corruption  and Rural Land Issues. Work is the grand cure of all the maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind. ( Carlyle )工作是医治人间一切病痛和疾苦的万应良药。(卡莱尔) He was beset by doubts. 他疑虑重重。 The country was beset with many problems. 这个国家被许多困难所困扰。 The government is beset with a complex array of economic problems. 政府为一系列复杂的经济问题所困扰。 PartⅥ (Paras.15-19) In this part the author elaborates on the differences between the ideologist and the pragmatist in their views of history and in their approaches to issues of public policy. Para.15 1. The ideologist contends that… an infallible priesthood: The ideologist argues that history can be explained and predicated with the command of a body of clear-cut, absolute social dogmas. And only the group of people who have mastered these dogmas can correctly interpret history. 2. custody: care; protection; guardianship e.g. A father has the custody of his children when they are young.（孩子年幼时，做父亲的有监护的责任。） His car was held in the custody of the police.（他的汽车被警察扣压。） 3. infallible: incapable of error; never wrong e.g. None of us is infallible.我们中没有一个人是绝对不会出错的. Development: the infallible choice of social development in the contemporary time.科学发展观:当代中国社会发展道路的必然选择. 4. …and often whose central dogma is…priesthood: The essence of the theoretical system is put in the hands of a small group of people who can never go wrong. What is the tone of this statement? The author is highly critical of this infallible priesthood. The tone is satirical. 5. In the old philosophic debates… interpretation: This statement tells us the conflict is an old one. The “one” and ideology are one and the same thing. But ideology is contrasted with pragmatism as is the “one” with the “many”. Para.16 The first sentence of this paragraph is a transition, leading to the view of the “many”. 1. repugnant: offensive to the mind e.g. Terrorist acts are repugnant to me whether they are committed by organizations. We are repugnant to every sort of dishonesty. Why this view is repugnant and false? It is repugnant because it is inconsistent with the actual development of history. It is false because it fails to give a true picture of history. 3. empirical - derived from experiment and observation rather than theory; (≠theoretical ) e.g. It is your own empirical generalization, and it is correct. Human life and its persons are poor empirical pretensions. 4. Against the belief in the all-encompassing … unconstrained minds: 1) This is a long sentence with five parallel phrases beginning with “against” and three parenthetical structures. The purpose is to build up force and make the statement more powerful. 2) …the belief in the all-encompassing power of a single explanation: … the belief that a single explanation has the power to give answers to all issues in history. 3) What is meant by “in the back of some sacred book”? The author means in the last few pages or in the concluding part of some book which the ideologists regard as authoritative. The author is being sarcastic about those books, hence the word “sacred”. 4) …where free men may find…Absolute Truth,…: In the universe a person whose mind is unconstrained may be able to discover relative truths but no man on earth can claim that he has already grasped the one and only Truth. 5. unfinished - not brought to an end or conclusion e.g. The first thing he asked for was the unfinished letter. Have watched the film “An Unfinished Life ”? 6. contingency - a possible event or occurrence or result e.g. For a harmonious society the contingency management system is necessary. Don’t worry, Jack. We’ve got the contingency plan() already. Para.17 This paragraph is a transitional paragraph. The first sentence sums up the arguments in the previous two paragraphs. The second sentence beings the readers to the differences “in their approach to issues of public policy”. 1. mistake (for): to take (sb. or sth.) for another by mistake; to recognize or identify incorrectly e.g. Don't mistake coincidence for fate. Don't mistake friendship for love. Para.18 1. What is meant by “the choice between private and public means”? It means the choice between nationalization, state ownership and planned economy on the one hand and private ownership and market economy on the other. 2. Why has there been much discussion on underdeveloped countries? After winning political independence in the 1960s, these newly independent countries started looking for a path towards rapid economic development. Should they follow the path of former colonial powers or should they follow the path of the Soviet Union? There were serous debates. These countries later took different paths with different consequences. 3. What is the author’s view on this issue? The author thinks this is not moral issue to be decided on absolutist grounds. It is a practical question as to which means can best achieve the desired goal. It can only be solved through experience and experiment. Note the remarks of Mr. Deng Xiaoping: “二十年不要争论”, “摸着石头过河” 4. What is the author’s suggestion? The author’s suggestion is that certain words should not be allowed to use in discussions because they do not have clear meanings and can only arouse emotion. 5. What , according to the author, are those words? The author may refer to words like socialism, capitalism, democracy. 6. obsess - be preoccupied with something (≈worry) e.g. I don’t obsess as much as I used to over stupid things. I don't have time to obsess about my weight, because now I'm obsessing about my kid. 7. banish: to get rid of e.g. My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth. I know, to banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task. It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort. 8. demagoguery: the methods or practices of a demagogue (a person who tries to stir up people by appeals to emotion, prejudice, etc. in order to win them over quickly and so gain power) e.g. Any politician who starts shouting election-year demagoguery about the rich and the poor should be asked, "What about the other 90 percent of the people? Para.19 1. What is mixed economy? Mixed economy refers to an economy that embraces both private and public enterprises. Today most economies in the world accept the need of both market force and government regulation. This is, in a way, what we mean by “socialism with Chinese characteristics” or “socialist market economy”. 2. But ideology is a drug; … persist: Ideology has the characteristic of a narcotic. In spite of the fact that it has been proven wrong many times by experience, people still long to commit themselves to ideology. 3. Why does the author draw an analogy between ideology and a drug? A drug is habit-forming. Once you are addicted, it is hard to break away from it. Ideology is also addictive. It is equally hard to rid oneself of ideology. Drugs satisfy certain physical desires while ideology satisfies certain intellectual desires. PartⅦ (Paras.20-22) This is the concluding part. The author sums up the conflict of our times. He analyses the goal of ideologist and the goal of free men, leading to the conclusion that the “many” should be the choice. Para.20 1. According to the authors, what is the basic conflict of our time? The author thinks that the basic conflict is the conflict between the one and the many. In China, The conflict between the liberation of thought and the shackles of out dated concepts, policies and systems is still going on. That is why the report to the 16th Party Congress points out that creativeness is the soul of national progress and the inexhaustible source of development and prosperity. The report further states that as there is no limit to practice and experiment, so there is no limit to creativeness. This is the law of social progress. And everything has to be tested by practice. 2. predestine: determined beforehand e.g. Man was predestined to have free will. No one predestines your day-to-day life and decisions. For example, no one predestinates your career -- whether you will be a doctor, a lawyer, an Indian chief, or whatever. ... Para.21 Why do ideologists prevent free flow of ideas? They sincerely think they have the only Truth in hand, which is all-embracing and all-explanatory, so there is no need for a free flow of ideas. For those who claim to know the Truth, they are afraid of free flowing of ideas because their rule is built on indoctrination and deception. A free flow of ideas may bring to light the fallibility of their truth. 2. —but the only certainty in …abuse: The only thing that is sure of a despotic system is its unrestricted exercise of power. 3. deviant - markedly different from an accepted norm (≈abnormal) e.g. He is troubled by his deviant desires. Some young people are getting used to the deviant lifestyle. Para. 22 In the concluding part, the author contrasts the worst case of ideology with the openness, sensibility of free men. In presenting ideology, the author writes in a highly critical way. The effect is devastating. In this way, he achieves his purpose, that is, making the readers see that pragmatism is the better choice. 1. Their religious and their intellectual heritage… mistake himself for God: Christian teaching stresses original sin and fallibility of Man. Western philosophy holds that the nature of Man is fallen and flawed. 2. The distinctive human triumph, nonetheless: The most outstanding achievement of humanity is they know that no mater how hard they try, they cannot achieve Absolute Truth, yet they continue to make great efforts and refuse to give up. IV. Brief Summary Through the whole text, we come to know the author’s viewpoint, that is: “pragmatism as the key factor which contributed to the rapid development of the U.S.” and “the national rejection of dogmatic preconceptions about the nature of the social and economic order.” With the Chinese experience and current international situation in mind, we will find this essay more interesting. Despite the fact that we may disagree with the author on certain points, we still benefit from studying the well-written essay. V. Assignment 1. How does the author begin his essay? Why does he begin it in this way? 2. How does the author end his essay? Is it a good ending? Why (not)? P.72-Ⅵ Translate the following into Chinese Lesson Six Death of a Pig I. Background information 1) The Norton Sampler: The text was selected from the Norton Sampler , 3rd Edition, edited by Thomas Cooley, New York and London :W.W. Norton & Company,1985. The Norton Sampler is a rhetorically arranged collection of short essays for composition. It echoes the cloth samplers once done in colonial America, presenting the basic patterns of writing for students to practice just as schoolchildren once practiced their stitches and ABCs on needlework samplers. The edition shows students that description, narration, and the other patterns of exposition are not just abstract concepts used in composition classrooms but are in fact the way we think—and write. The Norton Sampler contains 63 carefully chosen readings—classics as well as more recent pieces, essays along with a few real-world texts—all demonstrating how writers use the modes of discourse for many varied Beautifully written, demonstrating its own lessons about good writing. Students will find the book accessible and inspiring. 2) E. B. White (1899-1985): Leading American essayist and literary stylist of his time, White was known for his crisp, graceful, relaxed style. "No one can write a sentence like White," James Thurber once stated. White's stories ranged from satire to children's fiction. While he often wrote from the perspective of slightly ironic onlooker, he also was a sensitive spokesman for the freedom of the individual. 2. About Pigs Why did E. B. White choose to write about a pig? Did his stories really happen? Read the answers in this letter, which he wrote to all kids everywhere shortly before his death. Dear Reader: As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.) Yours sincerely, E. B. White II Discourse analyses 1. The main idea of the text. By recording the last few days he spent with his pig, E. B. White empathized with his ailing pig. His role was changed, from the butcher in winter to the pig’s friend and physician and his feeling of caring, sorry and sympathies were revealed vividly. Besides, he conveyed in his message that for humans or animals, time is painfully one-directional: the lost life can never return. 2. The outline of the text Part I （pp 1-14） I bought a pig in the mid-September and I noticed something wrong with the pig. ① (pp 1—3) using the backshift way of description to tell my pig died and my feeling towards it. ② (pp. 4—14) with the time sequence, the author described how they treated the sick pig after noticing it was ill Part II (pp15-35) My pig was suspected to got a fatal disease and the coming of Doctor McFarland ① (pp15-30) I phoned the doctor and the doctor suspected that erysipelas has to be considered. ② (pp 31-35) the doctor’s examination of the pig and my feeling of relief. Part III (pp36—41) the death of my pig and his burial. ① (pp 36—37) My pig’s last activities and final death ② (pp.39—40) My dog’s burial III. Detailed study of the text Part 1 (pp 1-14) 1. ailing adj. somewhat ill e.g. He was still ailing, it was said, and the Squire nursed him like the proverbial woman. 2. … things might easily have gone the other way round: Things might easily have happened in the opposite way, say, I died at last, and the pig lived. 3. recall; recollect Recall: to remember; to revoke; to take back (verbs); the ability to remember (noun) Recollect: to recall to mind, remember He tried to recall how the faulty design had been tested. The company recalled all contracts until a new design could be implemented. General Motors recalled their defective automobiles. He had total recall of all the meetings. Workers could not recollect a worse catastrophe for their company. 4. This uncertainty afflicts me with a sense of personal deterioration; if I were in decent health I would know how many nights I had sat up with a pig: The fact that I cannot remember exactly when the pig died shows that my health is deteriorating. Otherwise, I would be able to remember. Notice the humor conveyed by the solemn tone as if the event was of great historical importance. 5. afflict; inflict afflict: cause distress inflict: impose something unpleasant e.g. Jack was afflicted with running sores. Jack wanted to know why God inflicted pain and sorrow on him. 6. decent Waiting for a decent death. 活着就是为了死的时候体面一点 It was decent of her to help the homeless. 她帮助无家可归的人，真是可敬。 I am a decent girl !!! -----我是正经人家的女孩 He spent three years in a sweatshop before he found a decent job. 他在一家血汗工厂做了三年才找到一份像样的工作。 His first novel was a flash in the pan, and he hasn't written anything decent since. 他的第一部小说如昙花一现，此後他再没写出像样的东西。 The director of my factory was very decent about my being away when my wife was ill. 我妻子病时, 我告假回家去, 厂长对我是相当宽容和照顾的。 The new manager is pretty decent to us. 新上任的经理对我们相当和气。 He's done the decent thing and resigned. 他做了件体面的事, 辞职了. We must provide decent housing for the poor. 我们必须为穷苦人提供适当的住房. The lack of decent public transport is a great disadvantage. 没有适当的公共交通工具是很不方便的. You can't have good acting without a decent script. 没有像样的剧本是不可能有好的表演的。 His behavior is so awful that he ought to be drummed out of decent society. 他的举止如此低俗，应该把他从文雅的社会中驱逐出去。 His flippancy makes it difficult to have a decent conversation with him. 他玩世不恭, 很难正经地和他交谈. Ragged jeans are not very decent to wear to a ball. 穿着破旧的牛仔裤在舞会 上显得不太得体. Most university graduates consider white-collared position as decent jobs. 绝大多数大学毕业生 都认为白领职位是体面 的工作. 7. It is a tragedy enacted on most farms with perfect fidelity to the original script: The raising of a pig is like a tragedy, because it always ends in the killing of the pig, and the set pattern—buying, raising and butchering –is strictly followed on most farms. Notice here the author follows his metaphor, saying that most farmers never change the pattern—the procedure of the buying, feeding and killing of a pig remains the same. 8. enact - act out; represent or perform as if in a play e.g. She hated to re-enact the character in the play. She often enacted the Stories told by her father. 9. fidelity: A fidelity is loyalty to a person, organization, or a set of beliefs. e.g. Fidelity to engagement is a virtue 信守诺言是一种美德。 His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion 他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。 10. premeditate: v. consider, ponder, or plan (an action) beforehand e.g. The crime was premeditated. 犯罪是预谋好的。 She carefully premeditated each step of her plan. 她仔细地考虑她的每步计划。 11. in the first degree e.g. murder in the first [second, third] degree 谋[故、误]杀 M-! (惊呼声)杀人啦! a principal in the first [second] degree 【律】主[从]犯 12. The murder, being premeditated, is in the first degree but is quick and skillful, and the smoked bacon and harm provided a ceremonial ending whose fitness is seldom questioned: The tragedy has an ending—the killing of a pig and the serving of its meat. The killing, deliberately planned and carried out efficiently, is the most type of murder. However, whether pigs should end their lives that way has never been questioned. Notice the humorous use of the legal term “premeditated”. 13. Once in a while something goes wrong – one of the actors goes up in his lines and whole performance stumbles and halts: The metaphor is carried on. Occasionally something goes wrong. One of the actors in the play, in my case, the pig, performs its part too early, thus creating the chaos, and the whole play has to stop. The author humorously introduces the premature death of his pig. 14. The classic outline of the tragedy was lost: What is the classic outline of the tragedy ? To buy a piglet in spring, feed it through summer and fall, and butcher it in winter. In other words, the pig is not supposed to be sick any time in between. 15. I found myself cast suddenly in the role of pig’s friend and physician—a farcical character with an enema bag for a prop: The author was suddenly made to play the role of the pig’s friends and physician—he had to take care of the pig when it got sick—whereas originally he was supposed to be the butcher. 16. cast: throw: to place actors in roles; players in a play or movie e.g. They often cast loving glances. 他们常常传送秋波. The cast bowed as the audience. applauded. 演员们向鼓掌的观众鞠躬. The director cast me as a scientist. 导演选派我扮演科学家。 17. This was slapstick—the sort of dramatic treatment that instantly appealed to my old dachshund, Fred, who joined the vigil, held the bag, and when all was over, presided at the interment: The whole matter of the pig getting sick and me taking care of it was like crude comedy, but my dog liked it very much—he did not miss any part of it; he was there when I stayed awake during the night to take care of the pig ; he was there to hold the enema bag during medical treatment; he was even in charge of the burial after the pig died. 18. slapstick: a rough play in which the humor depends on physical actions rather than on the clever use of language 19. When we slid the body into the grave, we both were shaken to the core: The author feels deeply upset. Notice the pomposity of the language and the exaggeration used to create humor. 20. But I’m running ahead of my story and shall have to go back: This sentence concludes the summary, and prepares the reader for the complete story. 21. overhang - project over e.g. The tall trees overhang the road. 22. rail fence 23. A pig couldn’t ask for anything better—or none has, at any rate: A pig couldn’t ask for better living condition; at least no pig has ever complained. Notice the humor here—a pig couldn’t speak; therefore it couldn’t let us know whether it was contented with its living conditions or not. 24. There is never any identification needed on a country phone; the person on the other end knows who is talking by the sound the voice and by the character of the question: It is a small village and everyone knows everyone else. Therefore you don’t have to say who you are when you talk to someone on the phone. 25. Henry says roll him over on his back and give him two ounces of castor oil or sweet oil, and if that doesn’t do the trick give him an injection of soapy water: They didn’t even bother to check what was wrong with the pig and decided on the treatment straight away, as if the only disease a pig could suffer from was indigestion. Castor oil, sweet oil and soapy water are all for the purpose of having the vomit and thus solving indigestion. 26. do the trick: provide a solution; give the desired result e.g. If we use a piece of cork it might stop the leaking and do the trick. I have a fever. Can the tablet do the trick? 27. though: ad. (postpositive) however e.g. He said he would come, he didn‘t, though. 他说他要来，可是并没有来。 She promised to phone. I heard nothing, though. 她答应要打电话来. 可我没听到回信儿.4.I expect you're right I'll ask him, though. 我认为你说得对--我去问问他也好. 28. catch up on: If you catch up on an activity that you have not had much time to do recently, you spend time doing it. e.g. I was catching up on doing a bit reading, as I was fully engaged in the past two weeks. 29. odds and ends: a group of small objects of different types which are not very valuable or important One good thing I got done at the office today was to clean up my desk. I'd let so many odds and ends pile up that you could scarcely see the desk itself. But I got busy and took care of everything." 30. Unconsciously I held off, for an hour, the deed…the even succession of days. I wanted no interruption, wanted no oil, no deviation. The author uses parallelism (no interruption in the regularity of feeding, the steadiness of growth, the even succession of days; no interruption, no oil, no deviation) to emphasize, or so it seems, that he was unwilling to accept the failure of his “scheme”. 31. hold off: to stop or delay doing something e.g. Let's hold off until we have more data. The rain held off just long enough for us to have our picnic. 雨一时下不起来，我们有足够的时间吃完野餐。 Could you hold off (making) your decision until next week? 你可以推迟到下星期再做决定吗? 32. desultory - marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; (≈purposeless) e.g. He broke into a desultory chat with me over his business affairs. 他突然开始和我漫无边际地谈起他的生意来了。 32. roll by: move away e.g. I am sure that our difficulties are only temporary. We must wait until the clouds roll by. 我相信我们的困难是暂时的，我们一定要等待时机。 He waited and waited till the clouds rolled by. 他等了又等，直到时机到来。 33. summon: ask to come; gather or bring together e.g. He summoned his soldiers to fight. 他号召部下战斗。 The shareholders were summoned to a general meeting. 那些股东被召集去叁加股东大会。 I was summoned by my boss (to explain my actions). 老板把我召去（要我对自己的行为做出解释）. 34. Clothesline: A cord, rope, or wire on which clothes may be hung to dry or air. e.g. It’s a skid-proof clothesline from the department store. 35. listless: marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm (=dispirited) e.g. And between the trees appeared one or two street lamps, listless as the eyes of someone drowsy.树缝里也漏着一两点路灯光，没精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。 At last, she asked listlessly, “Is that you?” 36. right - regain an upright or proper position (≈change posture) e.g. The capsized boat righted again. The half-drunk man finally righted himself and sat in chair with a forced smile. 37. In the upset position the corners of his mouth had been turned down, giving him a frowning expression: This is a vivid description of the pig’s facial expression ( as is a pig was capable of giving a facial expression) during the treatment, which shows that he didn’t like it. 38. They did not look troublesome but at the same time they did not look like mere surface bruises or chafe marks, Rather they seemed blemishes of internal origin: Those small dark spots immediately puzzled and worried the author. Although they didn’t seem too serious, they were not bruises caused by external force but were symptoms of internal illness. 39. rehearse: to practice in preparation for a public performance (= practice) e.g. He rehearsed the interview in his mind beforehand.他把面试时要讲的话预先想好了. If you can rehearse it 10 times in front of others, it will eventually become a good presentation. Ask the listeners to comment on your presentation. 40. List of words ending with -some adventuresome; awesome; blithesome; boresome; bothersome; burdensome; cuddlesome; cumbersome darksome; delightsome; dolesome; eyesome; fearsome; gamesome; gladsome; gleesome; handsome; irksome; lightsome; lonesome; longsome; meddlesome; nettlesome; quarrelsome; tiresome; toothsome; toilsome; troublesome; unhandsome; unwholesome; venturesome; wearisome; wholesome; winsome; worrisome 41. at someone else’s expense: (humorous) being a guest at someone else’s expense. The author had just had a good dinner at his friend’s place. 42. crave - have a craving, appetite, or great desire for e.g. By this time the inner man began to crave nourishment. 到这个时候，肚子开始咕咕叫着要吃东西了。 He knows that if they trust him, he can give them the happiness which they crave. 他认识到如果他们信赖他，他能够把他们所热切渴望的幸福赐与他们。 43. lusty; lustful lusty: full of strength or vitality lustful: full of strong drive, desire, or enjoyment, especially strong sexual desire e.g. The lustful sailors were driven upon the rocks by the siren's song. The team broke the huddle with a lusty yell. 44. vicarious: experienced through the actions of other people e.g. His success gave her vicarious pleasure. 他的成功给她如同身受的快乐。 He got a vicarious thrill out of watch his son score the winning goal. 他看著儿子射入一球获胜，也感到同样兴奋。 Part II (15-35) the process of treating the ailing pig. 1. dachshund 2. …made many professional calls on his own: The dog would often even visit the pig by himself as if he were a doctor or nurse. Notice the humorous use of the word “professional”. 3. bedridden: confined to bed (by illness) e.g. They were bedridden all of Wednesday and Thursday, and seemed to grow more and more tired and worn, all the time. 4. You could see him sown there at al hours, his white face parting the grass along the fence as he wobbled and stumbled about, his stethoscope dangling—a happy quack, writing his villainous prescriptions and grinning his corrosive gin: Fred was quite excited about the event. He was down at the pigpen all the time. Because of his swollen joints, he moved about unsteadily. His face set apart the grass along the fence as he moves about. He was like a doctor, with his long, dropping ears dangling like a stethoscope, and he scrabbled on the ground as if he were prescribing some medicine. 5. quack - an untrained person who pretends to be a physician and who dispenses medical advice e.g. He is a quack doctor. 他是个庸医。 Don't be taken in he's just a quack. 可别上当--他纯粹是江湖医生. 6. corrosive - of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action e.g. Rust and acids are corrosive. 锈与酸都是腐蚀性的。 The calling of a man's self to a strict account, is a medicine, sometimes too piercing and corrosive.一个人的严厉自责是一种有时过于猛烈，蚀力过强的药品。 7. When the enema bag appeared, and the bucket of warm suds, his happiness was complete, and he managed to squeeze his enormous body between the two lowest rails of the yards and then assumed full charge of the irrigation: When it was time to dose the pig, the short-legged and long-bodied dog he became even more excited. He managed to get through the fence and acted as if he was taking charging of the medical treatment. 8. I have noticed that Fred will feverishly consume any substance that is associated with trouble—the bitter flavor is to his liking. The dog will eat anything that is connected with trouble—especially he likes bitter flavor. 9. feverishly: in a feverish manner e.g. For my own part, I had been feverishly excited all day. They worked feverishly, so that they could complete the project before October 1. 10. to one’s liking: If something is to one’s liking, he or she likes it or approves of it. e.g. A gentleman would willingly marry, if he could find a wife to his liking. 一位伸士如能找到合意的妻子，他是愿意结婚的。 Jelly fish is not to my liking. 海蜇不合我的胃口。 It isn't to my liking. 它不合我的胃口。 Whatever my mother cooks is to my liking. 妈妈做的菜我都喜欢。 11. tower of strength: a person who can be relied on to give a great deal of support and comfort (from Shakespeare's Richard III - 'The king's name is a tower of strength'. ); (= pillar of strength; ≈sponsor, supporter, patron ) e.g. My mother has been a tower of strength during my husband's long illness 我母亲在我丈夫长期患病期间一直是我可信赖的人。 The dressers, often inexperienced or nervous, found her a tower of strength. 12. A tower of strength and in convenience: Note the humor in incongruity of “strength” and “inconvenience”. “Inconvenience” is added by the author, which means that Fred was always in the way. He was meddlesome, although he meant well. 13. The pig, curiously enough, stood rather quietly through this colonic carnival, and enema, though ineffective, was not difficult as I had anticipated: 1) there is a funny contrast between the dachshund (enthusiastic and active) and the pig (quiet and passive) 2) colon: the lower part of the bowel (the tube that takes waste out of one’s body) 3) carnival: a lively festival in which people walk through the streets playing music , dancing and often wearing unusual colorful clothes. 4) By “colonic carnival”, the author means when the pig was given irrigation, the dog was excited. He welcome this event as a festival. 14. stereotype: n. a conventional or formulaic conception or image; v. treat or classify according to a mental stereotype He doesn't conform to the usual stereotype of the city businessman with a dark suit and rolled. 他不像典型的城市商人那样, 穿一身深色的套服、 带一把收好的雨伞. It's wrong to stereotype people, as if they were all alike.把人们看作都是一样的, 这是错误的。 15. stereotyped role: traditional role Originally, the author was the butcher and the pig would grow fat, and would eventually be served as food. 16. The pig’s lot and mine were inextricably bound now, as though the rubber tube were the silver cord: The destiny of the pig and mine were joined together by the instrument of the rubber tube, which was used do the irrigation for the pig. 17. lot e.g. odd lot 零星货物; 不成套的东西; (交易所)零星股 Lot 46: six chairs 第46项: 椅子六把. Take the whole lot. 把这些全都拿去吧。 decide by lot 抽签决定 his little lot 他微少的一份 pay scot and lot 全额付清 He fabled about his lot. 他编造自己的身世。 It was settled by lot. 这事是以抽签决定的。 They are a sorry lot. 他们是一批糟糕的家伙。 Take all the lot if you want. 你想要就全部拿去. This lot of shoes sell very well. 这批鞋很畅销。 My lot is a hard one. 我的命运坎坷。 Is there a parking lot nearby? 附近有停车场吗? He repined at his unhappy lot. 他因命运不济而怨天尤人。 She's the best of the lot/bunch. 她出类拔萃. I would not want to share his lot.我可不愿和他同甘共苦。 Come on, you dozy lot use your heads. 快点, 你们这群笨蛋--开动脑筋嘛! For this lot, could you consider prompt shipment. 我们这批货，能不能考虑即期装运？ The successor falls to the lot of Tom. 理应由汤姆做继承人。 The price quoted was for the small lot you named, 5 metric tons; we can offer you10% off for a 150. 这一价格是针对你方5吨小批量订货的，如果订150吨，我们可降价10％。 He was not such a bad lot as to round on his comrades-in-arms. 他不是坏得会出卖自己的战友的那种人。 He won 500 and then blued the lot in three days. 他赢了500英镑, 可是才三天就花得精光. Nobody in the first lot of applicants was suitable for the job. 在第一批求职者中无人适合做那份工作. To hell with the lot of you, I'll do what I please! 你们全都见鬼去吧, 我爱怎麽著就怎麽著! 18. The pig’s lot and mine were inextricably bound now, as though the rubber tube were the silver cord: The destiny of the pig and mine were joined together by the instrument of the rubber tube, which was used do the irrigation for the pig. 19. From then until the time of his death the pig I held the pig steadily in the bowl of my mind; the task o trying to deliver him from his misery became a strong obsession: From the beginning of the illness to the time of his death, the pig was imbued in my mind and I found it very hard to free myself from that unpleasant situation. 20. His suffering soon became the embodiment of all earthly wretchedness: The pig’s suffering soon becomes the symbol of all miseries in life. 21. By this time: till now e.g. By this time, he was hopelessly pickled. 到这时他已经烂醉如泥了. By this time the inner man began to crave nourishment. 到这个时候，肚子开始咕咕叫着要吃东西了。 They should have arrived in Beijing by this time. 他们这个时候该到北京了。 22. My throat felt dry and I went to the cupboard and got a bottle of whiskey. Deep hemorrhagic infarcts—the phrase began fastening its hook in my mind: The author was very worried by the vet’s words about the pig’s getting erysipelas and the possibility of his catching it, so he chose to grown his worries with whiskey. 23. I had assumed that there could be nothing much wrong with a pig during the months it was being groomed for murder; my confidence in the health and endurance of pigs had been strong and deep, particularly in the health of pigs that belonged to me and that were part of my proud scheme: The author was reluctant to accept that there was something seriously wrong with his pig, because he had expected all pigs, especially his, to be healthy and strong. 24.The awakening had been violent and I minded it all the more because I knew that what could be true of my pig could also be true of the rest o f my tidy world: The realization that something could be wrong with the pig was sudden, and I felt even more upset when I thought that what happened to the pig could also easily happen to me or my world. 25. all the more: to a greater degree e.g. I know you find the subject difficult, that is all the more why you should work harder. 我知道你发现这个课题难做，这正是更应努力的原因所在。 If you are against his plan, he will stick to it all the more.如果你反对他的计划,他将更加坚持不变. 26. stocky: heavy and compact in form or stature e.g. There must have been a hundred of them--short, stocky men, with great beards that covered their faces. 27. overhaul: make repairs or adjustments to e.g. You should overhaul your car engine. Bush is right to be concerned about the long-term shortfall in Social Security funding, but the shortfall in Medicare is eight times worse, and Bush isn't campaigning to overhaul Medicare. Part III (pp36-41) the burial of the pig 1. expressive: characterized by expression e.g. She gave us an expressive smile 她意味深长地笑了笑。 It's an expressive piece of music 这是一首抒情乐曲。 2. I went back up to the house and to bed and cried internally — deep hemorrhagic intears: It is a mimicking of the doctor’s words “deep hemorrhagic infarcts”. Behind the author’s humorous words is his deep sincere sorrow for the pig. 3. Never send to know for whom the grave is dug, I said to myself , it’s dug for thee: The author was sad about the death of his pig partly because the death reminds him of the vulnerability of human life. Notice the parody used here. 4. overcast: n. the state of the sky when it is covered by clouds (= cloud over) v. make overcast or cloudy e.g. It‘s a bit overcast; it might rain. 天有点阴，可能下雨。 It began to overcast. 天开始变阴了。 His handsome countenance was overcast. 他那英俊的面容阴沉沮丧。 5. Brink - the edge of a steep place; the limit beyond which something happens or changes e.g. The tree grew on the brink of the cliff. 那棵树长在悬崖边缘。 He stood shivering on the brink, waiting to dive in. 他站在边上等待跳水时浑身发抖. He dissipated most of his money and was on the brink of bankruptcy. 他挥霍掉了大部分钱财, 濒于破产。 6. loose: not tight; free from confinement; to free from confinement lose: to not win; to misplace e.g. My shoe came loose. 我的鞋带松了。 She wore loose garments in the summer. 她在夏天穿宽松的衣服。 Can you work the screw loose. 你能使这个螺钉松开吗? She helped the child loose the laces of his shoes. 她帮孩子解开鞋带。 Keep calm: don‘t lose your composure. 保持镇静,不要慌张。 One false move may lose the game. 一着不慎，满盘皆输。 Does your watch gain or lose? 你的表走得快, 还是走得慢? 7.But even so, there was a directness and dispatch about animal burial, I thought, that made it a more decent affair than human burial : … so that the inwards that had caused the pig’s death preceded him into the ground and he lay at last resting squarely on the cause of his own undoing: Our procession was a serious and efficient one. Fred, who acted the pallbearer, walked unsteadily in the back, though he was not qualified for that function. The sorrow of losing a family member was shown clearly in his face. The autopsy of the body’s inwards was done right at the side of the grave. The intestines of the pig were first thrown into the grave, so the pig could lie exactly on those things that caused his death. 8. dispatch: Speed in performance or movement e.g. We must act with dispatch. 我们必须迅速行动。 She did the job with great dispatch. 她以高效率完成了那件工作。 With computers we can solve all problems with dispatch. 有了计算机我们可以火速地处理许多问题。 9. stopover - a stopping place on a journey; a brief stay in the course of a journey e.g. The ticket allows you two stopovers between London and Tokyo. 该票允许你在伦敦和东京之间作两次停留。 10. hitch: To fasten or catch temporarily with or as if with a loop, hook, or noose e.g. He hitched a horse to a tree. 把马栓在树上. 11. businesslike: serious and effective in the way you deal with things e.g. The talks were frank and businesslike. 会谈是坦率的,讲究实效的。 Negotiations were conducted in a businesslike manner.谈判按部就班地进行. The couple maintained a businesslike attitude toward their divorce. 这对夫妇以一种实际的态度对待他们的离婚 12. perverse: directed away from what is right or good; perverted e.g. She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed. 她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。 We all wanted to go tomorrow, but she had to be perverse and insisted on going today. 我们都想明天去，但她十分任性偏要今天去。 Lesson 7 ： Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy Teaching Points I. Background information II. Structural analysis III. Text analysis IV. Rhetorical devices I. Background information 1. John F. Kennedy Kennedy’s Childhood Kennedy’s Youth Kennedy’s Love Story Kennedy’s Family Kennedy’s Political Career 1960 Presidential Election Kennedy as President (January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963) Assassination and Burial A List of Facts about Kennedy The youngest elected president at 43 years old, and the youngest to die in office at 46 years old. Of Irish descent and the first Roman Catholic President. The first President born in the 1900's. The first president who had served in the U.S. Navy. Nicknames: "JFK"; "Jack". The only president to win a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy’s Books 1940: Why England Slept. The twenty-four-year-old son of the U.S. ambassador to England assesses the reasons why Britain failed to rearm during the 1930s and its implications for the United States. 1956: Profiles in Courage. Kennedy's testimonial on behalf of eight political leaders' tests of conscience earns the Pulitzer Prize as well as attention for the budding politician and future president. Later reports indicates that Kennedy's friend and advisor Theodore Sorensen is the book's actual author. I. Background information 2. Presidency and Inauguration THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The English version http://www.taisha.org/usa/History/docs/consteng.htm http://www.answers.com/american%20constitution The Chinese version http://www.bookhome.net/zhexue/other/mgxfgl/ Executive Oath of Office “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” —United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 “我庄严宣誓（或郑重声明），我一定忠实执行合众国总统职务，竭尽全力贯 彻、保护和捍卫合众国宪法。” U.S. Inaugural Addresses From George Washington to George Bush, Presidents have used inaugural addresses to articulate their hopes and dreams for a nation. Collectively, these addresses chronicle the course of this country from its earliest days to the present. Washington's second inaugural address on March 4, 1793 required only 135 words and is the shortest ever given. The longest on record—8,495 words—was delivered in a snowstorm March 4, 1841 by William Henry Harrison. Full texts of all U.S. Inaugural Addresses at Bartleby.com I. Background information 3. Cold War The Cold War was a period of time, not too long ago, in which strategic and political struggles existed among nations after World War II. At any given time during the Cold War, the tensions between two countries rose to what could have started World War III. II. Structural analysis Part 1 (Para. 1-5): A general statement of basic political goals Part 2 (Para. 6-10): Addressing different groups of allied nations and the United Nations Part 3 (Para. 11-19): Addressing the adversary Part 4 (Para. 21-27): Appealing to the citizens of America and of the world to support and sacrifice 1. Type of literature: political speech 2. Objective of a political speech: to explain; to convince; to persuade 3. Using the following methods for force, vividness and emotional appeal: 1)parallel structure 2)repetition of important words and phrases 3)antithesis 5)appropriate use of words 6)often-quoted statements/from Bible III. Textual Analysis 1. Employing suitable rhetorical devices and words to create the desired emotional impact 2. Clear order and appropriate tone to the different groups he is addressing 3. Employing Biblical style deliberately Appropriate use of words To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge…(P.9) To those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request…(P.11) Biblical language …our forbears fought is still at issue around the globe…the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.(P.2) Let the word go forth from this time and place…(P. 3) Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation (P.22) IV. Rhetorical Devices 1. parallelism 2. repetition 3. antithesis Parallelism …born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace…. (para. 3) …pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend…. (para. 4) Parallelism The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. --William A. Ward The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to the world. --Charles Caleb Colton Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn. --Benjamin Franklin Repetition of phrases To those old allies… To those new states… To those peoples… To those nations… (paras. 6, 7, 8, 10, 11) Let both sides… Let both sides… Let both sides… Let both sides… (paras.15-18) Antithesis United, there is little…Divided, there is little… (para.6) If a free society cannot.. who are rich. (para.8) Let both sides explore…divided us. (para.15) Paraphrase And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forebears fought is still…(Para. 2) Our ancestors fought a revolutionary war to maintain that all men were created equal, but today this issue has not yet been decided in many countries around the world. This much we pledge—and more. (Para. 5) This much we promise to do and we promise to do more. United, there is little we cannot do in the host of cooperative ventures. (Para. 5) United and working together we can accomplish a lot of things in a great number of joint undertakings. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. (Para. 9) We will not allow any enemy country to subvert this peaceful revolution which brings hope of progress to all our countries. …our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace. (Para.10) The UN is our last and best hope of survival in an age where the instruments of war have surpassed and exceeded the instruments peace. …to enlarge the area in which its writ may run. (Para.10) We pledge to help the UN enlarge the area in which its authority and mandate would continue to be in effect. …before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction. (Para.11) …before the terrible forces of destruction, which science can now release, overwhelm mankind. …yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind’s final war. (Para. 13) Yet both groups of nations are trying to change as quickly as possible this uncertain balance of terrible military power which restrains each group from launching mankind’s final war. So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness. (Para.17) So let us start once again (to discuss and negotiate) and let us remember that being polite is not a sign of weakness. Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. (Para. 17) Let both sides try to call forth the wonderful things that science can do for mankind instead of the frightful things it can do. Each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. (Para. 21) Americans of every generation have been called upon to prove their loyalty to their country. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go force to lead the land we love. (Para.27) With God’s blessing and help, let us start leading the country we love, knowing that on earth we must do what God wants us to do, let history finally judge whether we have done our task well or not but our sure reward will be a good conscience for we will have worked sincerely and to the best of our ability. Lesson eight: A rose for Emily Commentary of A Rose for Emily 《纪念爱米丽的一朵玫瑰花》课文内容讲解 Introduction to Faulkner’s Chronology Section 1 Section II Section III Section IV Section V Faulkner’s most famous, most popular, and most anthologized short story, “A Rose for Emily” evokes the terms Southern gothic and grotesque, two types of literature in which the general tone is one of gloom, terror, and understated violence. The story is Faulkner’s best example of these forms because it contains unimaginably dark images: a decaying mansion, a corpse, a murder, a mysterious servant who disappears, and, most horrible of all, necrophilia—an erotic or sexual attraction to corpses. First published in the April 1930 Saturday Evening Post, “A Rose for Emily” was reprinted in These Thirteen (1931), a collection of thirteen of Faulkner’s stories. It was later included in his Collected Stories (1950) and in the Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner (1961). Most discussions of the short story center on Miss Emily Grierson, an aristocratic woman deeply admired by a community that places her on a pedestal and sees her as “a tradition, a duty”—or, as the unnamed narrator describes her, “a fallen monument.” In contrast to the community’s view, we realize eventually that Miss Emily is a woman who not only poisons and kills her lover, Homer Barron, but she keeps his rotting corpse in her bedroom and sleeps next to it for many years. The ending of the story emphasizes the length of time Miss Emily must have slept with her dead lover: long enough for the townspeople to find “a long strand of iron-gray hair” lying on the pillow next to “what was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt” and displaying a “profound and fleshless grin.” The contrast between the aristocratic woman and her unspeakable secrets forms the basis of the story. Because the Griersons “held themselves a little too high for what they really were,” Miss Emily’s father forbids her to date socially, or at least the community thinks so: “None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such.” She becomes so terribly desperate for human love that she murders Homer and clings to his dead body. Using her aristocratic position to cover up the murder and the necrophilia, ironically she sentences herself to total isolation from the community, embracing the dead for solace. Although our first reaction to the short story might be one of horror or disgust, Faulkner uses two literary techniques to create a seamless whole that makes the tale too intriguing to stop reading: the suspenseful, jumbled chronology of events, and the narrator’s shifting point of view, which emphasizes Miss Emily’s strength of purpose, her aloofness, and her pride, and lessens the horror and the repulsion of her actions. Faulkner’s chronology One way of explaining the excellence of “A Rose for Emily” is by considering its lack of chronological order. Such a dissection of the short story initially might appear to weaken it, but this approach allows us to see Faulkner’s genius at work—particularly his own, unique way of telling a story. Unlike other writers of his era, such as John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, who usually narrate their stories in a strictly linear progression, Faulkner violates all chronological sequences. Only a few specific dates are mentioned in the story, but a close reading makes it possible to assign certain sequential events. We know, for example, that Colonel Sartoris remits Miss Emily’s taxes in 1894, and that he has been dead for at least ten years when she confronts the new aldermen. Likewise, we know that she dies at the age of 74. Using these facts, we can build a framework on which to hang the following chronology: Section IV Miss Emily is born. Section II She and her father ride around the town in an old, elegant carriage. Section II Her father dies, and for three days she refuses to acknowledge his death. Section III Homer Barron arrives in town and begins to court Miss Emily. Section IV She buys a man’s silver toilet set—a mirror, brush, and comb—and men’s clothing. Section III The town relegates her to disgrace and sends for her cousins. Section IV The cousins arrive, and Homer leaves town. Section IV Three days after the cousins leave, Homer returns. Section III Miss Emily buys poison at the local drug store. Section IV Homer disappears. Section II A horrible stench envelops Miss Emily’s house. Section II Four town aldermen secretly sprinkle lime on her lawn. Ironically, when we reconstruct the chronological arrangement in this linear fashion, we render Faulkner’s masterpiece an injustice: Looking at the central events chronologically, Miss Emily buys poison, Homer Barron disappears suddenly, and a horrible stench surrounds the house—it is apparent why she buys the poison, and what causes the stench. The only surprise would be the shocking realization that Miss Emily has slept for many years in the same bed with her dead lover’s rotting corpse. The horror of this knowledge makes the murder almost insignificant when compared to the necrophilia. However, the greatness of the story lies not in linearly recounting the events, but, instead, in the manner that Faulkner tells it; he leaves us horrified as we discover, bit by bit, why this so-called noble woman is now a “fallen monument.” In contrast to a traditional narrative approach, the story, as Faulkner presents it, begins with Miss Emily’s funeral and ends shortly thereafter with the discovery of Homer’s decayed corpse. Among other themes, it emphasizes the differences between the past, with its aristocracy—Colonel Sartoris’ gallantry, the Griersons’ aloofness and pride, and the board of old aldermen’s respect for Miss Emily—and the modern generation’s business-like mentality, embodied in the board of new aldermen and the many modern conveniences we hear about. Section 1 The story’s opening lines announce the funeral of Miss Emily, to be held in her home—not in a church—and the reasons for the entire town’s attending-the men out of respect for a Southern lady, the women to snoop inside her house. Her death symbolizes the passing of a genteel way of life, which is replaced by a new generation’s crass way of doing things. The narrator’s description of the Grierson house reinforces the disparity between the past and the present: Once a place of splendor, now modern encroachments—gas pumps and cotton wagons—obliterate most of the neighborhood and leave untouched only Miss Emily’s house, with its “stubborn and coquettish decay.” This clash between the past and the present is evidenced by the different approaches that each generation takes concerning Miss Emily’s taxes. In the past, Colonel Sartoris had remitted them for her, believing it uncivilized to remind a Southern woman to pay taxes, which Miss Emily does not do after her father dies. But the next generation, with its more modern ideas, holds her responsible for them. Miss Emily, however, returns the tax notice that the new aldermen send to her; when the young men call upon her, she vanquishes them, saying, “I have no taxes in Jefferson” and “See Colonel Sartoris,” who has been dead for at least ten years. One of the most striking contrasts presented in this first section entails the narrator’s portrayal of Miss Emily’s physical appearance and her house. Descriptive phrases include terms that add to the gothic quality of the story: She is dressed in black and leans on a cane; her “skeleton” is small; and she looks “bloated,” with a “pallid hue.” But Faulkner doesn’t say outright that she looks much like a dead person, for it is only in retrospect that we realize that the dead-looking Miss Emily has been sleeping with the very dead Homer Barron. Miss Emily’s decaying appearance matches not only the rotting exterior of the house, but the interior as well. For example, the crayon, pastel, picture mentioned prior to the narrator’s description of Miss Emily is supported by a “tarnished” stand, and Miss Emily supports herself by leaning on the “tarnished” handle of her cane. Also note that the picture is a colored chalk portrait of her father, no doubt drawn by her when she was a child. Miss Emily has some artistic talent: She teaches china painting, which is highly detailed and usually done in soft colors. But if she painted her father’s portrait using the same techniques she uses to paint china, then the portrait would not be an accurate representation of the fiercely authoritarian man who was Mr. Grierson. It would be washed out, pale as death, a shadow of his real self. Section 2 We return to the past, two years after Miss Emily’s father’s death. There have been complaints about an awful stench emanating from Miss Emily’s house. The older generation, which feels that it is improper to tell a lady that she stinks, arranges for a group of men to spread lime on her lawn and inside the cellar door of her house. All the while, she sits at a window, motionless. Of primary importance in this section is Miss Emily’s relationship to her father and her reaction to his death. The town views the father and daughter as a “tableau,” in which a sitting Mr. Grierson grasps a horsewhip and affects an oblivious attitude toward his daughter, who, dressed completely in white, stands behind him. This image reinforces the physical relationship and the emotional distance we feel between the two, and it recalls the crayon picture standing before the fireplace. Also, the horsewhip that Mr. Grierson clutches suggests a bridled violence in this most gothic of tales, a violence that will reveal itself by the end of the story. When her father dies, Miss Emily cannot face the reality of his death and her loneliness. Because she has no one to turn to—”We remembered all the young men her father had driven away . . .”—for three days she insists that her father is not dead. Her clinging to him after his death prepares us for her clinging to Homer Barron after she poisons him, and we feel that her father ultimately has some responsibility for his daughter’s killing her lover. Section 3 During the summer after Mr. Grierson’s death, Homer Barron, a happy-go-lucky type who “was not a marrying man,” and his construction crew begin to pave the town’s sidewalks. Soon the townspeople begin to see Miss Emily and Homer often riding together in a buggy. At first, they acknowledge her right to date him, but they also believe that she would never consider him seriously—after all, he is “a Northerner, a day laborer,” and she is a Grierson. Then the townspeople relegate her to adultery, condemning her as “fallen,” and we recall the first sentence of the story, when the men of the town go to Miss Emily’s funeral to pay their last respects to “a fallen monument.” A year later, Miss Emily, now over 30, enters the town’s drugstore and announces, “I want some poison.” When the druggist is reluctant to sell her any without a reason, she uses her aristocratic bearing to intimidate him: “Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye to eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up.” At this point, we have no idea why she wants the poison, although it will become clear later that she uses the arsenic to kill Homer Barron. Section 4 The townspeople, never suspecting that the poison is intended for Homer, conclude that Miss Emily will likely use it to kill herself. After Homer announces to the men that he is not the marrying kind, the townspeople think that his and Miss Emily’s relationship is a disgrace, and they try to stop it. When they can’t put an end to the relationship between the perceived lovers, they write to Miss Emily’s relatives in Alabama, and two cousins come to stay with her. The town then learns that Miss Emily has bought a man’s toilet set—a mirror, brush, and comb—inscribed with the initials “H.B.,” and also men’s clothing, including a nightshirt, which, ironically, will serve not as a nuptial nightshirt, but as a burial nightshirt for decades. Homer disappears after Miss Emily’s cousins move into the house, and everyone assumes that he has gone to prepare for Miss Emily’s joining him. A week later, the cousins leave. Three days later Homer returns. The narrator notes, “And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron.” The townspeople never suspect the horror of what happens, believing that such an aristocratic woman as Miss Emily could never do any wrong. She secludes herself for six months, and when she next appears in public, she is fat and her hair is “pepper-and-salt iron-gray,” the same color of the strand of hair that will be found on the pillow next to Homer’s decayed corpse. Years pass, and a new and more modern generation of people control the town. Miss Emily refuses to pay her taxes; she will not even allow postal numbers to be put on her house, a symbolic gesture on her part to resist what the town sees as progress. The narrator notes Miss Emily’s staying power: “Thus she passed from generation to generation—dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse.” The term “perverse” undoubtedly carries a double meaning—her perverseness both in refusing to pay taxes and to permit postal numbers on her house, and in nightly sleeping with a corpse. Section 5 We return to the present and Miss Emily’s funeral. Her black servant meets the mourners, who arrive at the house, then he walks out the back door and disappears forever, apparently fully aware that Homer’s decayed body is upstairs. Even in death, Miss Emily cannot escape her father: “They held the funeral on the second day . . . with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier . . .” When the townspeople break into a locked room upstairs, they find carefully folded wedding clothes and Homer’s remains. Only after their initial shock at seeing his skeletal corpse do they notice an indentation on the pillow next to him, with a long strand of iron-gray hair lying where a head once rested. Because Faulkner presents his story in random fragments, it is not until the final sentence that the entire picture of Miss Emily is complete. We realize that, having been denied male companionship by her father, she is desperate for human love, so desperate that she commits murder and then uses her aristocratic position to cover up that murder. But by killing Homer, she sentences herself to total isolation. With no possibility of contact with the living, she turns to the dead. Introduction to A Rose for Emily /《纪念爱米丽的一朵玫瑰花》内容介绍 “A Rose for Emily” is a successful story not only because of its intricately complex chronology, but also because of its unique narrative point of view. Most critics incorrectly consider the narrator, who uses “we” as though speaking for the entire town, to be young, impressionable, and male; however, on close examination, we realize that the narrator is not young and is never identified as being either male or female. The character of the narrator is better understood by examining the tone of the lines spoken by this “we” person, who changes his/her mind about Miss Emily at certain points in the narration. Consider the opening sentence of the story and the reasons given for the townspeople’s attending Miss Emily’s funeral: “. . . the men [went] through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument.” Is the narrator saying that the town views Miss Emily respectfully? Do the men remember her with affection? What has Miss Emily done to deserve the honor of being referred to as a “monument”? Once we discover that she has poisoned her lover and then slept with his dead body for an untold number of years, we wonder how the narrator can still feel affection for her. And why does the narrator think that it is important to tell us Miss Emily’s story? In general, the narrator is sympathetic to Miss Emily, never condemning her actions. Sometimes unabashedly and sometimes grudgingly, the narrator admires her ability to use her aristocratic bearing in order to vanquish the members of the city council or to buy poison. The narrator also admires her aristocratic aloofness, especially in her disdain of such common matters as paying taxes or associating with lower-class people. And yet, for a lover she chooses Homer Barron, a man of the lowest class, and more troubling than his social status is the fact that he is a Yankee. Ironically, the narrator admires Miss Emily’s high-and-mighty bearing as she distances herself from the gross, vulgar, and teeming world, even while committing one of the ultimate acts of desperation—necrophilia—with a low-life Yankee. The narrator, who does not condemn Miss Emily for her obsession with Homer, nevertheless complains that the Griersons “held themselves a little too high.” But even this criticism is softened: Recalling when Miss Emily and her father rode through the town in an aristocratically disdainful manner, the narrator grudgingly admits, “We had long thought of them as a tableau”—that is, as an artistic work too refined for the common, workaday world. Also, the narrator almost perversely delights in the fact that, at age 30, Miss Emily is still single: “We were not pleased exactly, but vindicated.” After Miss Emily’s father’s death, the narrator’s ambiguous feelings are evident: “At last [we] could pity Miss Emily.” The townspeople seem glad that she is a pauper; because of her new economic status, she becomes “humanized.” Moving from admiring Miss Emily as a monument to taking petty delight in her plight, the narrator again pities her, this time when she refuses to bury her father immediately after he dies: “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” The word “cling” prepares us for her clinging to Homer’s dead body. With the appearance of Homer, the narrator, now obviously representing the town’s views, is “glad” that Miss Emily has a love interest, but this feeling quickly turns to indignation at the very idea of a Northerner presuming to be an equal of Miss Emily, a Southern, aristocratic lady. The narrator cannot imagine that she would stoop so low as “to forget noblesse oblige” and become seriously involved with a common Yankee day laborer. In other words, Miss Emily should be courteous and kind to Homer, but she should not become sexually active with him. Once the town believes that Miss Emily is engaging in adultery, the narrator’s attitude about her and Homer’s affair changes from that of the town’s. With great pride, the narrator asserts that Miss Emily “carried her head high enough—even when we believed that she was fallen.” Unlike the town, the narrator is proud to recognize the dignity with which she faces adversity. To hold one’s head high, to confront disaster with dignity, to rise above the common masses, these are the attitudes of the traditional Southern aristocracy. For example, when Miss Emily requests poison from the druggist, she does so with the same aristocratic haughtiness with which she earlier vanquished the aldermen. When the druggist asks why she wants poison, she merely stares at him, “her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye,” until he wraps up the poison for her. In the Southern culture of the time, to inquire about a person’s intent was a vulgar intrusion into one’s privacy. Yet, at this point, despite the narrator’s admiration of Miss Emily’s aristocratic haughtiness, we question a society that allows its members to use their high positions, respect, and authority to sidestep the law. We wonder about the values of the narrator. Who, then, is this narrator, who seemingly speaks for the town but simultaneously draws back from it? The narrator makes judgments both for and against Miss Emily, and also presents outside observations—particularly in Section IV, when we first learn many details about her. At the beginning of the story, the narrator seems young, is easily influenced, and is very impressed by Miss Emily’s arrogant, aristocratic existence; later, in Section IV, this person seems as old as Miss Emily and has related all the important things Miss Emily has done during her lifetime; and by the story’s end, the narrator, having grown old with her, is presenting her with a “rose” by sympathetically and compassionately telling her bizarre and macabre story. By using the “we” narrator, Faulkner creates a sense of closeness between readers and his story. The narrator-as-the-town judges Miss Emily as a fallen monument, but simultaneously as a lady who is above reproach, who is too good for the common townspeople, and who holds herself aloof. While the narrator obviously admires her tremendously—the use of the word “Grierson” evokes a certain type of aristocratic behavior—the townspeople resent her arrogance and her superiority; longing to place her on a pedestal above everyone else, at the same time they wish to see her dragged down in disgrace. Nevertheless, the town, including the new council members, shows complete deference and subservience toward her. She belongs to the Old South aristocracy, and, consequently, she has special privileges.