Unit 2 A good read
The Integrated Course
2-1 Active reading 1
Pre-reading activity-1
01、I think it is used to get our attention. It is not likely that books in general can be dangerous. It's like a road sign but not a real warning.
02、I am sure it depends on the book and on the reader, but, in general, books give information or knowledge. They stimulate our imagination, and show us other possibilities. Any of these aspects could help to change our lives.
03、Yes, I suppose some books might have a harmful effect on children or some adults.
04、From any age, really, as soon as young children hear books being read to them or see the pictures in picture books. This could be when they are a few months or one or two years old.
05、I think the writer is referring to fiction. Fiction uses beautiful language and has imaginative power that can inspire you and change your life. I think the writer is referring to non-fiction. Fiction is the work of the imagination, so the knowledge and power that comes from non-fiction is more likely to change your life.
Txet
Vocabulary
Exercise-1
01、B
Exercise-2
01、C 02、B 03、A 04、C 05、B 06、A
Exercise-3
01、hinted
02、seek
03、out
04、immerse
05、fosters
06、reproduce
Exercise-4
01、excluding
02、withstand
03、Normally
04、cite
05、neglect
Exercise-5
01、interact
02、confront
03、likewise
04、influential
05、induce
06、dialect
07、mysterious
Exercise-6
01、B 02、A 03、B 04、A 05、A 06、A 07、B
2-2 Active reading 2
Pre-reading activity-1
01、A
Background information
Txet
Vocabulary
Exercise-1
01、C 02、A 03、C 04、A 05、C 06、D
Exercise-2
01、drowned 02、enriched 03、recommendation 04、strive 05、originality 06、classifications 07、obstacle 08、idle 09、tackled
Exercise-3
01、demoralized 02、autobiographical 03、prodigious 04、unparalleled 05、enlightenment 06、prohibiting 07、advantageous 08、indubitably
Exercise-4
01、looked upon 02、toyed with 03、on the side 04、For the most part 05、part with 06、stumble upon
Exercise-5
01、A 02、A 03、A 04、A 05、B 06、A 07、B
2-3 Language in use
Grammar&structure-1
01、famous
02、curious
03、envious
04、mountainous
05、voluminous
Grammar&structure-2
01、Getting up (To express an everyday activity)
02、To write (This is a bit more of an abstract or a grand idea.)
03、Forgetting (To express a normal activity for many people)
04、To spend (Use this form for an abstract or important idea.)
05、To be or not to be (Taken from Shakespeare'sHamlet, this is an abstract, important idea better expressed using the formal infinitive rather than the gerund. "Being or not being " would suggest a more immediate, everyday idea.)
Grammar&structure-3
01、Ask yourself carefully if / whether it be the right time to start this kind of project.
02、I very much doubt if / whether it be the first edition of Dr Johnson's Dictionary.
03、I am not sure if / whether it be common knowledge that Arthur Miller thought like this.
04、Perhaps we should inquire if / whether it be necessary to produce any documents when making an application.
05、I doubt if / whether it be the right way to tackle the problem.
Collocatios-1
01、(a) This could be a long list! I'd say: global warming, pollution, water shortages, extreme weather conditions, local military conflicts, poverty, famine and unemployment, to name only a few.
02、(b) Not today, but a few days ago I was confronted by someone asking for money, which I didn't like at all.
03、(c) The problem that my grandfather is elderly and has Alzheimer's disease. He needs constant care because he forgets ordinary things. It is difficult for my parents and for me because we all take turns to look after him. I realized what this was really like when I had to look after him for a weekend when my parents were away.
04、(a) They don't like doing work or other things that they should do.
05、(b) The machinery is not being used.
06、(c) Not really. They are slightly curious to see what the book is about, but they have no real interest.
07、(d) No, I don't, because I know that the threat has no real purpose.
08、(a) I suppose there are several issues which need to be tackled in the near future, including rising prices, unemployment in some places, and some social problems in a few areas.
09、(b) I am inclined to be direct and simply ask them about their ideas and opinions. I think they will tell me honestly if they believe I am really interested in what they think.
10、(c) I have managed to get the ball away from my opponent so that my team can keep it.
11、(a) To withstand a direct attack, well-placed strong defences are needed.
12、(b) To withstand the cold in winter, I need thick, warm clothes.
13、(c) Yes, I can. Actually, our teachers generally give us our assignments at intervals and we usually know well in advance what we should do. So as long as we get on with the work (and don't leave it until the last minute) the pressure is not too intense and we can manage.
Translatio-1
01、电子书改变了我们的阅读方式，这种改变既有好的一面也有坏的一面。从好的方面说，人们现在读书的量在增多。随着亚马逊Kindle电子阅读器和谷歌图书搜索服务的出现，人们现在可以读到海量的图书。亚马逊的数据表明，Kindle用户在拥有Kindle电子阅读器之后购书量显著上升，因为用Kindle购书更加便捷了。虽然人们的读书量在增多，但读书专注度却在下降。亚马逊发布了一款Kindle应用程序供人们在苹果手机上阅读Kindle电子书，这意味着读者看电子书时更容易分心了，因为他们会时不时地刷一下网页、查看一下邮件或社交平台的最新动态。随着人们读书注意力的下降，他们很难再体会到读书的一个最大的乐趣完全沉浸在书籍的海洋中。
Translatio-2
01、Every year on World Book Day (April 23), activities on "Nationwide Reading, Intellectual China" are organized all over China, to cultivate the ethos of reading in the country and spread the awareness that reading should not only be for students and intellectuals, but be part of everyone's way of life. Reading has much to do with personal growth, and the spiritual level of a nation largely depends on the reading performance of its people. Starting from 2014, for three consecutive years "nation-wide reading" has been included in the Report on the Work of the Government in China, for reading is conducive not only to innovation but also to the moral sense of society.
2-4 Reading across cultures
Text
Vocabulary
Exercise-1
01、It is set in Nigeria at the end of the 19th century. It is the story of how a tribe reacts when the first white people arrive as Christian missionaries.
02、He is a brave warrior who rises from a poor background to become a rich and respected man in his tribe. He is also proud and his pride results in his undoing.
03、Because he kills a boy. There is an accident when Okonkwo's gun goes off at a funeral, so he is exiled as punishment.
04、Things have changed because Europeans have arrived and the tribespeople are converting to Christianity.
05、Okonkwo commits suicide because he opposes the changes in the traditional way of life.
06、I think the reader will feel that this is a tragedy: Okonkwo should not take his own life and the white people should not change the tribal traditions as they did.
07、Because if he had written in a Nigerian language most people outside Nigeria would not be able to read his novel. By writing in English there is a wider audience and English could "bear the weight" of his African experience.
08、It avoids stereotypes, such as that the natives are innocent and the colonizers are evil. Both groups have good and bad people. It also provides a valuable portrayal of the culture clash when traditions meet forces for changes.
Exercise-2
01、One way to look at this question is to see which ones have been translated from Chinese into English and then publicized and reviewed in English because this shows these novels have an international audience. English translations published in recent years include: Wolf Totem (《狼图腾》, 2004), by Jiang Rong, is a widely acclaimed parable about the death of Mongolian culture. A Beijing student in the 1960s went to the countryside and lived with nomadic herders on the Mongolian grasslands and described wolves' life. Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (《生死疲劳》, 2006), by Mo Yan, tells the story of peasants' lives between 19502000 through the rebirth of an executed landlord who now lives as animals, telling how life has changed over those years. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (《长恨歌》, 2003), by Wang Anyi, shows the history of Shanghai, 19451985, through the life of a woman who won a Miss Shanghai beauty contest and lived through tragedy and romance.
02、In a way they all show something of Chinese culture since they are written about Chinese people, but they are fiction, not anthropology textbooks, so we wouldn't expect them to be exact mirrors of culture. In any case, a novel would probably only deal with one or two aspects of culture.
03、Wolf Totem is about Mongolian culture experienced by a Han Chinese student, so the three books are all about ethnic culture within China.
04、Obviously most of them write in Chinese, although some could write in the minority languages used in China. Overseas Chinese may write in the language of the country where they are living, for example, if they live in France they may write in French.
05、I don't know of any Chinese novelists who write in English in China, but in America, Britain and other countries there are quite a few Chinese writers (or writers of Chinese descent) who write in English. Perhaps the best-known Chinese writer in English is Han Suyin (19172012) whose works include: A Many-Splendoured Thing (1952), The Mountain Is Young (1958), The Crippled Tree (1965), A Mortal Flower (1966), Birdless Summer (1968), My House Has Two Doors (1980) as well as a number of historical works. Some well-known examples of Chinese writers in America who write in English are: Maxine Hong Kingston (1940 ) who has written about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the US in The Woman Warrior (1976) and China Men (1980). Amy Tan (1952 ) who has written about Chinese-American families and female identity in The Joy Luck Club (1989), The Kitchen God's Wife (1991) and TheBonesetter's Daughter (2001). Adeline Yen Mah (1937 ) whose memoirs of childhood and family conflicts include Falling Leaves (1997) and Chinese Cinderella (1999). Anchee Min (1957 ) who has written memoirs, Red Azalea (1994), a semiautobiographical novel, Wild Ginger (2002), and historical novels Empress Orchid (2004) and The Last Empress (2007). Bette Bao Lord (1938 ) who wrote a novel of family life set in pre-revolutionary China, Spring Moon (1981). An example of a Chinese writer in Britain who writes in English is Timothy Mo (1950 ), whose work includes The Monkey King (1978), Sour Sweet (1982), which is about life in Britain for a Chinese family in the 1960s, and An Insular Possession (1986), a historical novel about the first Opium War. Of course, there are also many Chinese scholars and academics in China who write research articles in English so that people outside China can read their work.
2-5 Guided writing
Writing skills
Writing task-1
01、The first paragraph introduces the book title and the writer. It indicates the setting and main idea and shows what type of novel it is.
02、These paragraphs summarize the plot in more detail.
03、The final paragraph gives an evaluation of the strengths of the novel and comments on how people have reacted to it.
04、The present tense. This puts people into the scene like a commentary on something that is happening now. This is sometimes called a "narrative present tense".
05、Only his name and the fact that he writes in English and has African experience we might guess the writer is from Africa.
06、The reviewer gives a positive judgment about the book: It was regarded as a great "postcolonial" novel and a valuable portrayal of the conflict between tradition and forces for change.
Writing task-2
01、Mo Yan:Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out(《生死疲劳》, 2006, translated into English in 2008) It is about a landlord who comes back to life as five different animals to witness the changes in rural areas in China over a 50-year period.
02、In rural China between 1950 and 2000.
03、It describes village life with social and economic changes and how the family of the dead landlord live.
04、It's a novel of exaggerated fantasy and humour.
Writing task-3
01、He is described as a brave, rich, respected and proud man.
02、The first three are positive, but proud is not positive because "his pride leads to his undoing", so it is a negative quality.
03、He takes part in the sacrifice of his adopted son, even though he is more fond of him than his own son. He is exiled for killing a boy in an accident; for him, it may be a tragedy that the white men have changed the traditional way of life and also a tragedy when his son becomes a Christian. Finally, he commits suicide.
04、The last sentence could be omitted because it gives further plot details, which do not contribute much to the summary of the novel.
05、Because those lines give a view of the white administrator. This shows the attitude of whites to the Nigerian people.
Writing task-4
01、They are hard-working, stubborn and independent.
02、The wordshard-workingandindependentare positive, butstubbornis mainly negative.
03、I would refer to the basic plot of the dead landlord being allowed to return to earth in the form of five animals; the event of the dead pigs; the death of the donkey and monkey.
04、The novel ends with the return of the landlord Ximen Nao as a big-headed boy who has an unusual memory and a gift for language maybe this is a reference to the writer because the writer comes into the story in a self-mocking way.
Writing task-5
01、One strength is that the writer avoids the stereotypes of completely innocent natives and completely evil colonizers. Both sides have good and bad characters.
02、It was recognized as a great post-colonial novel.
03、It is a valuable portrayal of the clash between tradition and forces for change.
04、I think it is a good story with unexpected twists and turns. Also, it tells us a lot about a traditional culture which I suppose has completely changed now.
05、Vivid scenes of fantasy which are bizarre but fascinating Exaggerated humour and slightly crazy events and descriptions A portrait of changes in rural life given with a kind of "magical realism"
Writing task-6
01、Mo Yan's recent novel Life and Death Are Wearing Me Outis a bizarre fantasy of a rich landlord and his family set against 50 years of social change in rural China. This fascinating novel was translated into English in 2008. The landlord Ximen Nao is executed early in the Chinese Revolution. In hell, he refuses to admit his wrongdoing, and Yama, the King of Hell, allows him to return reincarnated in the successive forms of five animals a donkey, an ox, a pig, a dog and a monkey so that he can find out his guilt. The animals, each connected to Ximen's family, see the changes in rural China between 19502000, but cannot help the family. One strength is how Mo Yan creates exaggerated and absurd scenes which are vivid and humorous, and gives a tragic insight into past situations: When pigs get ill and die, the villagers try many methods to get rid of the bodies and finally put them in the river. When the donkey dies in the great famine, it is instantly turned into pieces of meat; in more recent times, the monkey has a short life while people ride in luxury cars and wear Rolex watches. This scene shows typical humour: "The loudspeakers blared so loud a farmer's wife had a miscarriage, a pig ran headlong into a wall and knocked itself out, a whole roost of laying hens took to the air, and local dogs barked themselves hoarse." The main characters are hard-working, stubborn, human and independent; other characters are shown through satire. Ximen's final reincarnation is as a big-headed boy with an unusual memory and a gift for language possibly an ironic reference to the writer who has appeared in a self-mocking manner in several scenes in the novel.
2-6 Unit test
选词填空-填单词
forego
dialect
realm
drown
influential
mysterious
idle
foster
normally
classification
exclude
stature
obstacle
neglect
advantageous
likewise
cite
originality
interact
ammunition
单词填空
with
as
for
upon
with
out
for
on
in
upon
选词填空15选10
recommendation
adventurer
stereotypical
gratuitous
confront
enlightenment
sacrifice
undoing
desperately
tackle
仔细阅读
B. Literary analysis. B. Paragraph 4. B. Ebenezer Scrooge. D. influential D. Readers should learn the same lessons as characters do in the story.
Further practice
2-7 Vocabulary
Exercise-1
01、B 02、H 03、E 04、A 05、D 06、F 07、C 08、G
Exercise-2
01、passivity 02、adventurer 03、administrator 04、enchanting 05、interactive 06、classification 07、confrontation 08、exclusion
Exercise-3
01、A 02、A 03、A 04、A 05、A 06、A 07、A 08、A 09、A
Exercise-4
01、stumble upon
02、For the most part
03、peace and quiet
04、have something in common
05、take the trouble
06、In a sense
07、as it were
08、in one sitting
Exercise-5
01、intensely
02、a realm
03、cherish
04、recognizable
05、lined
06、to the extent
07、passionate
08、store
09、wage a struggle
Exercise-6
01、Reading
02、To reflect
03、Associating
04、To prohibit
05、tackling
06、To strive
07、To coin
08、Recommending
Exercise-7
01、controlled
02、impulse
03、vast majority
04、offered thanks
05、man of action
06、waste of time
07、coining
08、expression
2-8 Structure
Exercise-1
01、Dozens of books have been written about him and his works. Such is his books' influence.
02、I spent three days searching for the book on the Internet. Such was my desperation to find it.
03、At first we found it difficult to congratulate our friend. Such was our envy when she got her novel published.
04、Certain books can completely change your life. Such are the benefits of reading them.
05、I don't dare to keep the manuscript in my house. Such is its value.
Exercise-2
01、I'm not certain if / whether it be necessary to read both Thomas Merton's books on the subject.
02、I'm not sure if / whether it be a recommendation I should seriously think about.
03、I don't know if / whether it be a good idea to write the story so fast.
04、Think carefully about whether it be an experience you really want to go through.
05、I'd like to know if / whether this be the 17th-century portrait of the writer that was recently discovered.
2-9 Reading
Reading1-1
01、D
02、C
03、C
04、C
05、D
Reading1-2
01、D 02、A 03、E 04、C 05、G 06、H 07、F 08、B 09、I
Reading2-1
01、immigrants 02、racism 03、maintain their own identity 04、integrate into British life 05、parents came from colonie 06、explore 07、its collective preoccupations 08、wide-open spaces 09、lacks big themes 10、important and fascinating topic 11、among the best-known 12、genetically engineered 13、a brown person 14、be free
Reading2-2
01、B 02、B 03、A 04、A 05、A 06、B 07、B 08、A 09、A
2-10 Integrated skills training
Exercise-1
01、D 02、B 03、A 04、C 05、B 06、A 07、C 08、A 09、D
Exercise-2
01、Despite the views of cynics and misanthropes, it is my belief that men will always strive to share their deepest experiences.
02、I know now that I did not need to read even a tenth of what I have read.
03、The most difficult thing in life is to learn to do only what is strictly advantageous to one's welfare, strictly vital.
04、There is an excellent way to test this precious bit of advice I have not given rashly.
05、When you stumble upon a book you would like to read, or think you ought to read, leave it alone for a few days.
06、Think what you yourself might have written had the opportunity been yours.
07、If you are honest with yourself you will discover that your stature has increased from the mere effort of resisting your impulses.
Exercise-3
01、很多作家都受到了查尔斯・狄更斯的巨大影响，其中就包括珀尔・S. 巴克（注：即赛珍珠）。她花了十余年的时间一遍又一遍地阅读狄更斯的小说。谈到狄更斯，她心里充满了温暖的感激之情：如今，我对他怀有一份异于对其他任何人的特殊感情。他打开了我的眼界，让我学会了解别人。他教导我热爱所有人，不论高贵或卑贱、富贵或贫穷、年老或年幼。他教导我痛恨伪善和口蜜腹剑。他教导我粗暴里面可能藏着友善，而友善是人世间最美好的东西，善良亦是。他教导我鄙视不择手段赚钱的行为。现在人们常说他对人物的剖析过于浅显、感情用事并且简单幼稚。或许是这样，但是我发现，大家都出奇地喜爱他笔下的那些人物：或许是性格上有一点瑕疵的好人，或许是性格复杂一些的坏人。我并不认为他朴实的风格是一件憾事，它有它自己的优点，那就是对生活的热爱。
Exercise-4
01、When reading, you should make the desk clean and tidy, arrange the books in order, sit upright, take up the book and read carefully and clearly by looking at the words slowly and attentively. You should read each word aloud, without making any mistakes, any omissions, any additions, any transpositions, or putting any strain on your memory. Read it over and over, and you will surely read fluently and keep it in mind for a long time. As the old saying goes, "When a book is read a thousand times, its meaning will become obvious." In other words, if you have read a book well, you would understand it thoroughly without anyone's interpretation. I once said that reading involves concentration of three parts: the mind, eyes and mouth. If you are absent-minded, you cannot see clearly. Without the concentration of your mind and eyes, you can only read carelessly and can never manage to memorize it. Even if you do, it won't last for long.
