有教养的社会名流-在线浏览

有教养的社会名流-在线浏览 Unit Seven Good Taste, Bad Taste Stephen Bayley About the Author Stephen Bayley: (1951~ ) British design consultant, writer, exhibition organizer and museum administrator; born on October 13, 1951, at Cardiff. He attended Quarry Bank School, Liverpool, Manchester University and Liverpool School of Architecture, and graduated with an M.A. He worked as Lecturer in History of Art at the Open University in 1974-1976 and the University of Kent in 1976~1980; director of Conran Foundation and subsequently the Boilerhouse Project and the Design Museum in 1980~1990; principal of Eye-Q Ltd . (design consultancy, now Redwood and Bayley Ltd.) in 1990 onwards; contributing editor of GQ in 1991 onwards. He lectured throughout the UK and abroad. Periodical Publishers Association Magazine granted him Columnist of the Year 1995, and France gave him Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. His publications include: In Good Shape (1979), The Albert Memorial (1981), Conran Directory of Design (1985), Sex, Drink and Fast Cars (1986), Commerce and Culture (1989), Taste (1991), General Knowledge (1996), and many contributions to newspapers and magazines. His leisure interests include travel-related services, solitary sports, books. This passage deals with the subject of taste. Individuals differ in their tastes as well as in their accepts of what constitutes good taste. The passage provides a basis on which further discussions can be conducted and readers are encouraged to air their own views. Language Points 1. Para. 2: Before the age of mass production, taste used to be the province of an educated elite. Here “province” means “a branch of thought, knowledge, or study considered as having fixed limits”. the province of an educated elite 有教养的社会名流 2. Para. 3: it is rather as the novelist Arnold Bennett put it: good taste might be better than bad, but bad taste is certainly better than no taste at all. Here “as the novelist Arnold Bennett put it” is a parenthesis; “good taste … no taste at all” is a predicative clause with the connective word “that” omitted. 3. Para. 5: Since the 18th century when taste was first discussed, people have believed that it was an endowment of an elite, handed down to those poor souls below who wanted to better themselves. Here “handed down … to better themselves” is a participial phrase which functions as an adverbial and gives an accompanying state. The adverb “below” in this participial phrase modifies its antecedent “souls”. 4. Para. 7: Learn these and you’re in there with the tastemakers. Here “be in … with” means “to be friendly with.” More examples; 1) As he was in with the management, he got to know things before the other employees did. 2) They are in with the junior executive set. 5. Para. 9: Underpinning what is always thought to be good taste are recurrent ideas such as refinement, restraint, appropriateness and good manners. Here in the sentence there is an inversion of subject and verb: “Underpinning … are recurrent it ideas … ” The clause “what is always thought to be good taste” is an object clause. It is the object of the verb “underpin”. 6. Para. 18: It cannot be long before it is generally realized that perfect proportions and understated elegance are superior to meretricious ornament, flashy standing only for the degree of social pretentiousness (which) they exude. This is a complex sentence. The principal clause is “It cannot be long”. “It” here is used with expression of time. The subordinate clause is “before it is generally realized that … they exude”. It is an adverbial clause of time. Notice here: “it” is used as a formal subject, the real subject is the following that-clause. And in this “that-clause” an attributive clause “they exude” is introduced, qualifying the antecedent “pretentiousness”. Word Study 1. keep up with: remain level with, be fully informed of 1) Tom worked hard to keep up with the other students. 2) How do you keep up with the latest styles in fashion? 3) It is extremely important for us to keep up with the changes in the international situation. 2. (may / might) as well (do sth.): without loss and possibly with gain 1) You may as well wait upstairs. 2) I may as well tell you straight away that I really cannot do much about it. 3) After the dog ran away, father thought he might as well sell the dog house. 3. sketch n. 1) a simple, rough drawing done quickly without much detail -- He has done a new sketch of Lady Gregory. -- The artists made several sketches before beginning the final painting. 2) a brief written or spoken description; an outline -- The book began with a sketch of the author’s life. -- I will give you a sketch of what has happened. 4. enchant v. fill with delight; charm 1) The beautiful house enchanted everyone who saw it. 2) He was enchanted by / with the idea. 3) We were enchanted with the performance of opera. (The performance of the opera enchanted us.) enchanting adj. 1) She is an enchanting girl. 2) I have long thought of it as the most enchanting village in England. enchanted adj. The musicians were given a standing ovation (enthusiastic, prolonged applause) by the enchanted audience. 5. recurrent adj. happening again and again; repeated 1) He suffers from recurrent pains in his head. 2) Inflation will be the recurrent problem we must face. 3) She tried to rid herself of the recurrent memories of her unhappy childhood. 6. restraint n. quality of being calm or controlled, of not showing strong feelings 1) I think you showed great restraint in not hitting him after what he said. 2) The wise man exercises restraint in his behavior and enjoyments. 3) A work of art should show just the right amount of restraint. 7. alternative n. a chance to choose or decide between two or more possible things, courses of action, etc.; something that may be taken or chosen instead of one or more others 1) I’m afraid I have no alternative but to cancel the project. 2) There is but one alternative, we must leave. 3) The judge offered the criminal the alternative of a fine or six months in prison. 8. excess n. something more than is reasonable; lack of moderation 1) His excesses in drinking shortened his life. 2) An excess of rain may cause disastrous consequences. to excess 1) It is harmful to eat to excess. 2) She is generous to excess. 3) Don’t carry your grief to excess. 9. be better off: be in a better position; be wise to choose (doing something) 1) You’d be better off leaving the country. 2) Because of his asthma, he would be better off in a different climate. be well / badly off: have (not) a lot of money or supplies of something 1) Jim is not rich, but he’s not badly off. 2) It doesn’t matter if your husband isn’t well off, if he can make you happy. 参考译文 Unit 7 高雅，庸俗 斯蒂芬?倍勒 [1] 你所拥有的东西，正像你所追赶的社会时尚一样。无疑能说明你的情趣。你买的每件物品都显示出你的某种爱好。而这种爱好是你的伴侣或最亲密的朋友在你们的亲密交住中也没有察觉到的。你每次购物都在运用你的情趣。 [2] 在大规模生产的时代以前，情趣是属于有教养的社会名流的范畴。但是，当全民都第一次成为消 费者之后，情趣就走出沙龙来到了大街上。突然间，每个人都有了进行选择的机会。 [3] 不可能客观存在像“高雅”或“庸俗”这样的东西。还是小说家阿诺德?贝内特说得好:高雅的情趣也许比庸俗的好，但庸俗的情趣肯定比根本不讲情趣要强。 [4] 运用情趣并不难。你先确定你希望你所拥有的各种东西反映出何种情趣，然后再根据情况进行安排和协调。但是，请注意:并非每一个决定或选择都会令你感到高兴的。如果你要买一个玛瑙烟灰缸，那还不如租一块广告牌向世界宣布:“我上当了，让那些玩世不恭的家伙骗了，他们用华而不实的玩艺儿诱我上了钩。” [5] 自18世纪首次讨论情趣以来，人们就认为情趣是高贵者们赏给那些希望提高修养的可怜的下层人的一种恩赐。这就向倡导时髦风尚的人 (他们或是维多利亚统治时期的贵族式官僚，或是今天专门从事介绍人们花钱买老式家具的一帮圆滑的“室内装饰家”)打开了市场。 [6] 但是，情趣问题只是属于家庭的一个线索吗,不。情趣是一整套价值观体系的体现。这是指你自己的价值观。 [7] 要做到理解情趣就意味着你应该确信自己的选择。看看情趣的历史，你就会发现，它就像是人类文明史的梗概:200年来，洛可可式、古典式、哥特式、流线式，以及后来的劳拉?阿什利式都相继成为受欢迎的情趣表现形式。虽然只有才华横溢的艺术家和设计师才能预见这种种变化，但是任何人都能理解其中的原则。尽管情趣的历史是一部变化、对抗和回潮的历史，但还是有某些模式不断反复出现。了解这些模式，你就会和倡导时鬃风尚的人相处得很好。 [8] 规则很简单。没有一种情趣是默然接受和像俾(bi)格米人那样陶醉于水晶珠和魔镜。不懂情趣，人家给你什么你就接受什么，心灵不为所动。高雅的情趣就是要在意，要选择，要通过积极的鉴别行动而使你的环境，甚至你个人的仪表更讨人喜爱，更惹人注目。 [9] 始终被人们认为是高雅的情趣，证实有着一些反复出现的观念，比如优雅、有节制、举止得体。这些品质都能引起愉悦;反之，过分粗俗终归不会令人满意。 [10] 因此，请将这些观念牢记在心，看看你所拥有的东西，再想想你所拥有的东西所表明的情趣。 [11] ?你为什么要戴只金手表,用金子做手表并不恰当。用钢或塑料会更好些。或许你是想要看起来像个发家的军火商吧。 [12] ?你那装在仿真画框里的康斯特布尔油画的复制品向世人表明，“我不懂艺术，也不在乎”。若是一幅海内肯啤酒的广告画倒是显得更与众不同。 [13] ?你那图案难看的地毯只是为了一个目的:乔装打扮“肮脏”。如果你有一块洁净而色彩朴素的地毯，你不觉得更自豪些吗, [14] ?你选择的带“"诚实”图案的面包片烤箱则向人们宣布你是这样一种人——这种人会愉快地承认:“我喜欢买那些玩世不恭的人卖的鳖脚货。不论推销部门推出任何东西，对我来说都不错„„”如果“田园厨房”是你想要的式样，那你买个烘糕饼用的烤盘会更好些。 [15] 这些产品都是骗人的。情趣真正庸俗的人也很少挑选这类东西，而情趣高雅的人则从不会挑选这类东西。只有那些根本不讲情趣的人才买它们„„而根本不讲情趣就等于说，“我无所渭”。 [16] 将来，你会越来越多地碰到需要做出选择的情况，而不会比现在少。由于变化速度的加快，使得款式紧跟时尚，有关情趣的决定只能是越来越经常的事了。 [17] 最初这会导致更大量的选择机会，可能甚至比一百多年前消费革命时期出现的生产与消费大爆炸时还要多。但是，人们很快就会发现，当任何产品都能推出来的时候，„„并没有很多产品真正为消费者所喜爱。 [18] 当有更多的消费者运用情趣时，就需要生产厂商制造出更好的、更体面的产品。不需要很久人们就会普遍认识到，完美的比例以及含蓄的优雅要优于浮华的装饰、华而不实的外表和那些旨在炫耀社会地位非凡而引起他人看重的产品。 [19] 如果你考虑一下就会发现，你更喜欢整齐和有节制。这些特点终归要比混乱和无节制更令人感到满足。还有，请记住，情趣决不是花钱多少的问题:吃一片好的切德奶酪比许多奢华的筵席还好。 [20] 有关情趣的规则就是这些:优雅、有节制、举止得体。 IV. Translation A. 在所有那些有一定自尊又有相当内容的报纸的中间部分都有一些版面，以其独到的眼光 和创造性而办得比头版更具色彩。在诸如“微型市场”这样的红字栏目下，挤满了密密麻麻 的醒目小广告，并附有大量的轮廓线条插图。这些广告宣传的奇异商品比天方夜谭中阿拉丁 的山洞宝库更加琳琅淋目。 这些广告代表着一种亚文化，甚至包括它自己的语言和标志。它的叙事语言都用最高级， 它唯一的语法规则是惊叹号。所提供的全部商品的共同特征是以某种确实很独特的方式极其 诱人地使生活丰富多彩。这些商品总是能够满足制造出来的需求，因为这是一种在广告出现 之前几乎毫无例外地并不存在的需求。 B. 1. One of the unhealthy trends today is that many people spend too much money just trying to keep up with the Joneses. 2. Since he doesn’t give you a chance to make a choice, you might as well refuse his offer. 3. Imagine what stories the things you have bought will tell and you will be careful about taste next time when you buy. 4. Anything we put into the market sells well because people have convictions [trust] in quality of our company’s products. 5. You’d not be better off just acquiescing like this. 6. In old times, the design of furniture got out of touch with real life. Needless ornamentation (decorations) made us forget what furniture was really for. Modern design aims at simplicity and efficiency, getting rid of all that is inessential, but providing what is pleasing and useful. A piece of fine modern furniture should never be seen in isolation, but as part of a setting. Only then can we judge its shape, color and utility, and say whether it is in good taste or not. V. Writing 1. Title: On Buying Clothes 2. Time limit: 30 minutes 3. Word limit: 120-150 words Suggested passage: On Buying Clothes Clothes play two major roles: functional (or practical), and decorational (or esthetical). When we buy clothes, there are more factors to take into consideration: size, price and durability. Functional considerations in buying clothes are obvious because we wear different clothes for different seasons and different occasions. So is the dictating factor of size. We rule out any possibility of buying an article unless it fits us perfectly. For most of us, price and durability still greatly influence our buying. But as people’s pockets become more and more bulging nowadays, these two factors carry less and less weight when people make their decisions at a fashion shop. Perhaps the most difficult decision to make in buying a piece of clothing is about its style on esthetical grounds; its shape, its color, the texture of its material, and its workmanship. As what we wear tells stories about us, showing to others what kind of people we are and what kind of taste we have, we can not afford to be careless about this. We try a coat on and stand before a mirror, turning this way and that, imagining how others would think of us in it. When finally we decide to take it, it is because we are convinced that we have properly exercised our taste in addition to other practical consideration. Supplementary Reading I. 1. They were going to Cairo to take fashion photographs. 2. Five. 3. She was the fashion editor and organizer of the trip. 4. There was no one to meet them. 5. A hotel on the bank of the Nile. 6. Because the light was best early in the day. 7. The hotel staff was fascinated by them. 8. Because their behavior seemed so peculiar to the local people. 9. Because she was wearing beautiful clothes and dirty white sneakers at the same time. 10. None. 11. Because he didn't understand what the team was doing and thought they would like to have a swim. II. 1. 模特林恩伸开四肢躺在椅子上，修长的两条腿裹在兰色斜纹粗布仔裤中。一只穿着旅游 鞋的脚轻轻打着耳机里传来的乐曲节拍。在去埃及的整个旅途中这副耳机始终牢牢地戴 在她的头上。 2. 理发师西蒙，他那如花似玉般的艳丽，以及他那一头像少女一样长的金色卷发在国内就 惹来人们的非议，更不用说在中东了。乔这位化装师是个乐哈哈的漂亮姑娘。她的快乐 具有很强的感染力。她不停地朝每个长相阴险的陌生人点头微笑，而我这个时装队的时 装编辑和大家推选出来的“母亲”队长团团转着护在他们四周，寻找着打电话的零钱。 3. 我们五人簇拥着走出这间小屋时，埃及人撇着嘴望着我们。当他看见走在最后，身着缀 满金光闪闪金属小圆片衣服，涂着鲜艳唇膏和深紫色眼睑膏的林恩时，他完全失去了镇 静。 4. 我站在喷泉下护着她的头发，不让泉水淋湿它，西蒙颤巍巍地站在上面调节喷泉水流， 而乔则在大理喷水池边上保护着身体平衡，用反光板调节灯光。 5. 我朝下看了看我滴满水珠的湿衣服，然后望着我面前的全部人马，他们都在那精致的大 理石喷泉周围摆着各种各样的滑稽姿势，我对着保安头儿亲切地笑了笑。