《基礎英語》課件 Unit 1 Thinking as a Hobby

1、 Unit 1 Thinking as a HobbyWilliam GoldingI. Introduction to the TextStudents who have been using this textbook must have noticed that each book begins with an essay about studies or education, and this one is no exception. The present text is about thinking, and thinking is important. Intelligent y

2、oung students do not need to be told this. They know that linguistic competence is not just grammar and vocabulary. They know that they have learn to deal with more serious subjects and discuss more complex problems. They know a good liberal arts education must include good training in logical and c

3、ritical thinking problems. The authors use of the word hobby is interesting. By using this word he means that thinking is not just for professional thinkers like philosophers. It is something all educated people should enjoy doing. This special interest is often referred to as “idle curiosity”, and

4、it is considered one of the most precious qualities in young scholars. Students should play with ideas the way they play with balls. Both are important for their healthy development, one mental, and the other physical.The essay can be neatly divided into three parts. The first part tells us how the

5、subject of thinking was first brought up to the author and how he came to understand the nature of what he calls grade-three thinking, which, he discovered, was no thinking at all, but a combination of ignorance, prejudice and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, according to the author, most people belong to

6、this category. The second part deals with grade-two thinking. People who belong to this category can detect the contradictions of grade-three thinkers beliefs. They can see their ignorance, prejudice, hypocrisy and lack of logic, which gives them great delight and satisfies their ego. However, grade

7、-two thinking has nothing constructive to offer. It destroys without the power to create. Therefore the satisfaction it brings the thinker is limited and does not last. The answer to this lies in the third part in which the author discusses the definition of grade-one thinkerspeople who set out to f

8、ind the truth and get it.It would be interesting to ask ourselves which of the three categories we belong to, and if, for some reason, we are not yet grade-one thinkers, whether we have any need or wish to move up to the next grade.The author does not say explicitly what coherent system of thought h

9、e has finally developed which makes him a grade-one thinker. But he has given us very broad hints. Obviously his thinking is based on high moral standards and is opposed to such things as big business, centralized government, wars, armies, heady patriotism, dishonest politicians, etc which he regard

10、s as mere trifles or pointless actions. We can also infer from his sarcastic description of those historical events and political figures where he stands in religion and politics.William Golding does not seem to have much confidence in mass wisdom. In fact he pities the nine tenths of the people who

11、 enjoy agreement as cows will graze all the same way on the side of a hill. He is particularly critical about young people who seem to him particularly contented with the world. Is he justified in taking this attitude toward people in general and young people in particular?Despite the serious nature

12、 of the subject, the essay is written with a great sense of humor. We know that the authors purpose is to tell people how important it is to be able to think. But he does not adopt the approach of a straight lecture. Instead, he tries to achieve this aim by making the unthinking people appear ignora

13、nt, illogical, self-contradictory and, generally, silly and ridiculous. In other words, laughter is his chief weapon. Through those hilarious anecdotes, he laughs at the headmaster and Mr. Houghton, ridicules British and American politicians and teases his girlfriend Ruth. But he also laughs at hims

14、elf as the disintegrated boy in school, and for this he uses the first person in his narration. It should be noted that self-mockery is a very important kind of humor and can have an unusually powerful effect.II. About the AuthorWilliam Golding (1911-1993) was a British writer who won the Nobel Priz

15、e for Literature in 1983, and who is known especially for his novel Lord of the Flies. Golding was born in Cornwall and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford. Before World War II, he worked as a writer, actor, and producer with small theatre companies and as a teacher. During the war he served in th

16、e Royal Navy. He returned to writing and teaching after the war. Lord of the Flies did not appear until 1954 and was an immediate success. The intrinsic cruelty of man is at the heart of many of Goldings novels. He often presents isolated individuals or small groups in extreme situations dealing wit

17、h man in his basic condition stripped of trappings, creating the quality of a fable. His novels are remarkable or their strikingly varied settings.III. Cultural NotesVenus It refers to the goddess of beauty and love in Roman mythology, but here it refers to the Greek stature of the goddess that can

18、be seen in the Louvre in Paris. It is badly damaged and is famous for having no arms.Rodins Thinker（羅丹的思想者）This piece of work was part of a commission（委托）by the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs（裝飾藝術博物館),Paris. The museum wanted a monumental portal(雄偉的人口)to act as the door of the museum. Rodin was the creator

19、 of the sculpture and his inspiration came from The Divine Comedy（神曲）of Dante（但丁）, therefore, he named the door The Gates of Hell（地獄之門). The statues represented the main characters in The Divine Comedy. The Thinker was originally intended to depict（描繪）Dante in front of The Gates of Hell, contemplati

20、ng his great poem. (In the final sculpture, a miniature of the statue, the thinker, sits atop the gates, pondering the hellish fate of those characters beneath the gates.) The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted to create a heroic figure, following the tradition of Michelangelo (米開朗基羅), to demonstrat

21、e the poets compassion as well as struggling of his feelings for the characters who were tortured in the hell. At first, Rodin made a small plaster version around 1880. Then he finished a large-scale bronze (青銅) cast in 1902, but not presented it to the public until 1904.IV. Structure of the TextPar

22、t I ( Paras. 1-15) The author tells us how he begins to consider the subject of thinking. Part II ( Paras. 16-24) The author states his opinion about “grade-three thinking” through a typical character Part III (Paras. 25-29) The author points out the confusion of the “grade-two thinkers” through his

23、 own experience. Part IV (Paras. 30-35) The author reveals the essence of “grade-one thinking” and tells us his determination to do it. V. Detailed Discussion of the TextPara 11. I came to the conclusion that there were three grades of thinking.1) Language points: (1) Draw students attention to the

24、collocations of “conclusion”: to come to a conclusion; to reach a conclusion; to arrive at a conclusion; to draw a conclusion; to jump to a conclusion, etc(2) grade: degree; level; stage in a process, eg. low-grade steel; high-grade alloy; grade-one pupils; well-graded teaching material; to upgrade

25、productsPara 22. grammar school1) Culture: In Britain, it refers to a school for children over 11 who are academically bright. Today, there are few grammar schools. Most secondary schools are called “comprehensive” and take in all children over 11 whatever their abilities. In the United States, a gr

26、ammar school used to mean an elementary school, but it is now considered old-fashioned.3. He had some statuettes in his study.1) Language points: statuette n. 小雕塑，小塑像: A china statuette of a boy holding a fish stands on the table. 桌上有個小男孩抱魚的小瓷像。串 同族：statue n. 雕像，雕塑 同義：figurine n. 小雕像，小雕塑同根：state v.

27、陳述 stance n. 姿態(tài)；立場辨statuette / statute / stature這三個單詞屬于形近詞，容易混淆，但意思各不相同。statuette小雕像：A china statuette of a shepherdess stood on the table. 桌上有一個牧羊女的小瓷像。statute 法令，法規(guī)：Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute. 保障消費者利益已在法令里作了規(guī)定。條例，規(guī)章：under the Universitys statutes根據(jù)該大學的章程stature 身高：She had

28、not yet grown to full stature. 她的身體還沒有完全發(fā)育好。 = 2 * GB3 * MERGEFORMAT 名望She is an artist of great stature. 她是一位極具名望的藝術家。警在單詞statuette中，-ette是后綴，表示“小”的意思，例：novelette中篇小說，與其意思相同的前綴和后綴還有：mini-例：miniskirt短裙 micro-例：microenvironment小環(huán)境-ing 例：ducking小鴨子 -let例：booklet小冊子 -y或-ie例：cooky / cookie小甜餅-et例：lionet

29、小獅子4. One was a lady wearing nothing but a bath towel.1) Language points: nothing but: nothing except; only, e.g. The doctor told her that it was nothing but a cold. / He cared for nothing but his name and position. / He was nothing but a coward.5. She seemed frozen in an eternal panic lest the bath

30、 towel slip down any farther; and since she had no arms, she was in an unfortunate position to pull the towel up again.1) Language points:(1) eternal: a. continuing forever or indefinitely永恒的，永久的：Some people believe that the real love between a man and a woman can be eternal.有人相信男女之間的愛情可以永恒。tiresome

31、ly long，seemingly without end沒完沒了的，無休止的：I cant bear their eternal arguments. 我受不了他們無休止的爭吵。串 同族：eternity n. 永恒 反義：temporary n短暫的辨 eternal / permanent / perpetual / everlasting這四個詞均有“持久的，永久的”的意思。eternal語體較莊重，指永遠存在，無始無終。例：It seems that the universe is an eternal thing.宇宙好像是一種永恒存在的事物。permanent指總是處于相同的情況

32、，可長期持續(xù)下去。例：This is my permanent address.這是我的長期地址。perpetual語氣最強，指保持永久不變或永無止境地持續(xù)下去，有時用于貶義，指令人厭煩之事。例：We lived for years in a perpetual state of fear. 多年來我們一直生活在恐懼中。everlasting語氣較莊重，有時可與eternal換用，指持續(xù)不盡，或指開始后一直進行下去。例：We cherish our everlasting friendship. 我們珍視彼此之間長存的友誼。(2) lest: (fml) for fear that; to m

33、ake sure that sth would not happen The subjunctive mood is used in the clause lest introduces. 即“唯恐，以免”，在句子中引導目的狀語從句，且從句中要用虛擬語氣“should+v.”或者動詞原形。e.g. We ran as fast as we could lest we miss the train. / He did not tell his father about the exam lest he get mad at him.(3) Do not mix up farther with “

34、further”. The former refers to physical distance whereas the latter to degree, time and all other figurative uses. 前者通常用來指實際的、物理意義上的距離，而后者指程度、時間上的距離 Often further is used too often in translation from the Chinese and is not needed.e.g. The next village turned out to be much farther than we had thoug

35、ht. / We will discuss it further tomorrow. / Further development of our economy will strain our resources too.(4) (not) to be in a position to do sth: (not) to be able to do sth because you (do not) have the ability, money or power to do it, e.g. Im sorry, but I am not in a position to answer that q

36、uestion. / For the first time in history, man is now in a position to destroy the whole world. / We are now in a better financial position to deal with our social problems.2) Paraphrase: She seemed forever worried about how to make sure that the bath towel would not slip down, and because she had no

37、 arms, she was not able to pull the towel up again.3) Analysis: frozen 一詞用得非常精妙，刻畫出雕像的人物造型和其驚恐的表情像瞬間凍住一樣。6. Next to her, crouched the statuette of a leopard, ready to spring down at the top drawer of a filing cabinet.1) Language points: (1) next to: situated very close to sb / sth with nobody / noth

38、ing in between, e.g. Do you know the girl standing next to the teacher? / The two tall buildings used to stand right next to each other here.(2) crouch v. to bend low with the limbs pulled up close together蹲伏，蜷伏：Crouching Tiger，Hidden Dragon臥虎藏龍to bend parts of the body as in humility or fear蜷縮：She

39、crouched by the fire to get warm. 她蜷縮在火堆旁取暖。(3) leopard n.豹：A leopard cannot change its spots. 諺江山易改，本性難移。2) Grammar:這是一個倒裝句，正常語序應該是the statuette of a leopard crouched next to her。Language points: 7. Beyond the leopard was a naked, muscular gentleman.1) Language points: Pay attention to the followin

40、g words in which -ed is pronounced as /-id/: a naked man; a learned professor; that blessed morning; a wicked boy; the wretched life; our beloved country; ragged pants; my aged parents (But not in a man aged 45); rugged individualism; dogged effortsPara 38. The headmaster had placed them where they

41、would face delinquent children.1) Language points: a. failing in what duty requires不盡責的，失職的：He was assumed as a delinquent manager.大家都認為他是一個沒盡到責任的經理。guilty of a minor misdeed有過失的，有罪的：Should we help the delinquent children with the instruction of psychologists?我們是不是應該在心理學家的指導下去幫助那些犯了罪的孩子？| n. 罪犯；違法者：

42、a juvenile delinquent少年犯串 同族：delinquency n. 失職，過失 反義：duteous n. 盡職盡責的In the original text (The present text is an abridged version. ) , the author mentioned some of his delinquent behavior for which he was punished: breaking a window, failing to remember Boyles Law and being late for school. But he

43、said, I had broken the window because I had tried to hit Jack Arney with a cricket ball and missed him; I could not remember Boyles Law because I had never bothered to learn it; and I was late for school because I preferred looking over the bridge into the river. 2) Paraphrase: The headmaster had pl

44、aced them where the naughty children who disobeyed obligations could see it.9. . because they symbolized to him the whole of life.1) Paraphrase: . because they represented / stood for the whole of life to him. (The leopard stood for all animal needs or desires; Venus stood for love and the Thinker s

45、tood for thinking as a uniquely human feature. )10. The naked lady was Venus. 1) Culture: Venus: (Roman mythology) the goddess of love and beauty, identified with the Greek goddess Aphrodite11. She was just busy being beautiful.1) Language points: to be busy doing sth: In this pattern, what follows

46、the word busy is usually an action verb. 2) Analysis: This sentence means that from the boys point of view, the Goddess of Love was simply trying to remain beautiful.12. Rodins Thinker1) Culture: This is the most famous piece of art by the French sculptor August Rodin. It is said to be the statue th

47、at most clearly shows the abstract idea of thinking. The thinker is pondering so intensely that his toes are tightly clutching the ground.Para 413. As we now know, I was not integrated. I was, if anything, disintegrated. 1) Paraphrase: As we now say, I was not a good pupil to become one part of the

48、unified class. On the contrary, I was a trouble maker.2) Language points:(1) integrated: a. formed or united into a whole, forming a part of a harmonious group完整的；綜合的：Now they can design integrated iron and steel works. 現(xiàn)在他們能設計出鋼和鐵的合成制品?？?be integrated into統(tǒng)一到中去，與相結合串 同族：integrate v. 整合，使融人integral

49、a. .整體的 反義：disintegrated a. 分崩離析的 同根：integer n. 整數(shù) integrant n. 構成整體的成分專八現(xiàn)頻 In these cases, the project in question must be integrated into one of the partner nations overall or sector specific policies that aim at reducing poverty. TEM-8, 2004閱讀 譯文鑒于這些情況，這一有爭議的項目必須被納入合作國家整體或部門的一項旨在減少貧困的具體政策中。(2) if

50、 anything: on the contrary相反；甚至還不如說：e.g. He is not known for his generosity. He is, if anything, quite miserly. / The weather forecast says that it will not be warmer this winter. It will, if anything, even colder than last year. / Joe isnt a bad boy. If anything，hes a pretty good one.喬不是一個壞男孩。相反，他是

51、一個非常好的男孩。串 anything but除外什么都；絕不；一點也不3) Analysis: disintegrated: Here, it is used by the author to mean the direct opposite of integrated, and therefore means some kind of a trouble-maker.Note: This is not the way the word is normally used.14. Whenever I found myself in a penal position before the he

52、admasters desk I would sink my head, and writhe one shoe over the other.1) Paraphrase: Whenever I found myself would be punished before the headmasters desk, I would lower my head and writhe the shoes.2) Language points: (1) penal a. of, relating to punishment esp. by law應受處罰的；刑罰的：penal offense 刑事犯罪

53、串 同族：penalize v. 處以刑罰；懲罰 penalty n. 刑罰；罰金 同義：punishable a. 該罰的；可處罰的(2) writhe v. to twist in or as if in pain (因痛苦而)扭動身體; 蠕動：The prisoner writhed in discomfort. 犯人因為不舒服而扭動身體。to suffer acutely from embarrassment, revulsion, etc.（因尷尬、厭惡籌情緒而）難受：Of course students will writhe under such unjust treatment

54、. 當然，學生會對這樣不公正的對待感到不快。Para 6-715. “What are we going to do with you?” Well, what were they going to do with me?Analysis: When the school headmaster asked, What are we going to do with you? he meant How can we make you mend your ways and become a nice boy? But when the boy mused, Well, what were they

55、 going to do with me? he was wondering how the school authorities were going to punish him this time.Para 9Then I would look up at the cupboard, where the naked lady was frozen in her panic and the muscular gentleman contemplated the hindquarters of the leopard in endless gloom.1) Paraphrase: Then I

56、 would look up at the cupboard, where the naked lady showed a panic look and the gentlemen with muscles seemed in endless sadness as he was looking the back part of the leopard and thinking deeply.2) Language points: (1) muscular a. = 1 * GB3 * MERGEFORMAT of, relating to or consisting of muscles 肌肉

57、的: muscular dystrophy肌肉萎縮possessing physical strength and weight 強健的 The football player is tall and muscular. 那名足球運動員身高體壯。串 同族：muscle n. 肌肉；力量 同義：athletic a. 體格健壯的 strong n. 強壯的反義：feeble a. 虛弱的，無力的 weak a. 虛弱的，體弱的(2) contemplate: to think for a long time in order to understand better, to think abou

58、t intently and at length沉思;考慮：The young surgeon contemplated the difficult operation of kidney transplant. 年輕的外科醫(yī)生為腎移植這一棘手的手術冥思苦想。to have in mind as a possibility計劃，打算：Are you contemplating marriage?你打算結婚嗎？to look at thoughtfully注視，凝視：She lay on the grass, contemplating the high, blue sky. 她躺在草地上，凝視

59、著高高的藍天。串 同族：contemplative a. 沉思的 contemplation n. 注視；沉思 同義：meditate v. 冥想 deliberate v. 深思熟慮 ponder v. 思索(3) the hindquarters: the rump; the back part of an animal3) Analysis: Note the humorous way the boy viewed the image of The Thinkerlooking at and contemplating the rump of an animal in this gloo

60、my manner. It didnt make any sense to him.17. His spectacles caught the light so that you could see nothing human behind them. There was no possibility of communication. 1) Paraphrase: to catch the light: to have the light shine on it brightly and suddenly2) Analysis: The teachers glasses caught the