复旦研究生综合英语

1、Unit 2 Is Love an Art?Additional lnformation for the Teachers ReferenceText Is Love an Art?Warm-up ActivitiesFurther ReadingSpeaking SkillsAdditional Work复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?Warm-up Activities1. Give your own definition of love. There once existed a man who truly demonstrated all the aspe

2、cts of that indefinable feeling called “love”. With hopes that you will understand, here is his story. A feud led to war in his land, where he had been raised. He knew every blade of grass, every person, tree and soul. Here he was happy. Here he could be himself and free. For this he loved the land.

3、 Thus, he went to war to fight for something he held so dear to him.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? There at war he met a friend, another man of his age. He liked this man very much. He could talk to him, trust him, believe in him, share in his hopes and dreams, and he was happy for him. For this, h

4、e loved his friend. After war the man returned home to his family. His mother hugged him and held him tight, so happy that he had returned safely. His mother, his father, brothers and sisters shared in his triumphs. These were the people who had taught him life lessons, who were there for him when h

5、e was in need. They had a relationship so tight and wonderful that it was bonded by more than blood alone. And for this, he loved them.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Then the man met a woman (or man depending on preference) and he felt important, accepted, wanted, cared about, understood, cherished

6、 and everything else that is wonderful and good in the world. And all those things he felt from the woman, he felt for the woman as well. She was every other love combined. And for this, he loved her. And love can only be defined as all these things combined.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?2. Can you

7、 suggest ways to win a young woman or a young mans love? At some point in our lives, we all play the dating game. The question is: how do we win it? Should we exaggerate our positive qualities or stick to the truth? Which pick-up lines are winners and which ones bomb? Will a blind date lead to long-

8、lasting love? Here are some “rules” to live by in the dating world. Choose the ones you think will work for you:Make them suspect youre interested, but dont let them know for sure. Men like the chase, so give it to them!l 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?You could be married tomorrow if you lowered yo

9、ur standards far enough.Better to wait for the real thing than to waste your time on something that wont last.If you find a guy who claims he wants to take care of you, get away fast! Youll just end up taking care of him.Youll find Mr. Right when you know you are Ms. Right when you feel secure and o

10、kay with yourself.Refuse to play games. I fell in love with my fianc when he simply walked up to me and presented himself - no dumb lines, no fake smile, just “Hi, how are you doing?”Stay away from men who talk only about money. Thats usually a sign of insecurity.l l l l l l 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love

11、an Art?When you need to get away from a guy, start talking about something really boring, like computers. That will usually scare him off. Dont put up with criticism, especially when it comes to food. Every woman should be free to eat what she wants when she wants.Dont be too picky. I know women who

12、 have shunned men because they didnt look right (head is too big), smell right (too much cologne) or even breathe right (too loud). Unfortunately, women who like this end up ignoring or dumping perfectly good men without even giving them a chance.l l 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?On a first date, k

13、eep it brief. You want to have something to talk about the next time.Pay more attention to whether he s a good person and will be good to you than to what he looks like.Never date more than one guy at a time, even if they know about each other. Its exhausting and confusing. Youll end up wanting to b

14、e rid of all of them, even if under other circumstances one or more of them might have hadpotential.l l l 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Erich Fromm (1900 - 1980) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He received his Ph. D from Heidelberg in 1922 and began a career as a psychotherapist. In 1934, he moved

15、 to the U. S. and settled in New York City, and eventually became a naturalized U. S. citizen. In the 1940s he began to write. Some of his well-known books are Escape from Freedom (1941), The Sane Society (1955), The Art of Loving (1956), Lie without Illusions (1962) and The Anatomy of Human Destruc

16、tiveness (1973). A psychiatrist primarily concerned with the condition of the human Additional lnformation for the Teachers Reference1. Erich Fromm复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?spirit, Fromm has had enormous influence on scholars and practitioners in psychology, sociology, history, economics, anthr

17、opology, and theology.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?2. What is Love? In English we say the one word“ love” where in Greek there are four words. Our word “love” actually covers four kinds of love, namely, 1) agape, that is, spiritual love or the love of God; 2) storge, that is, family love; 3) phili

18、a, that is, the love between friends which we usually call brotherly; and 4) eros, that is, love experienced between a man and a woman when sexual feelings stir between them. It is the fourth kind of love that someone is experiencing when they tell you they have fallen in love. Its a great experienc

19、e. It comes in that wonderful rainbow like section of the spectrum of human emotion.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Its strange, in a sense, that eros is in many ways the most transient of the forms of love and yet it gets the most attention. Some people even seem to make it the one zone in life tha

20、t youre always supposed to be attempting to land in or trying to stay in.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?3. Valentines Day (February 14) There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentines Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to gi

21、ve up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailers daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. Other aspects of the story say that Saint Val

22、entine served as a priest at a temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius, but Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A. D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messa

23、ges and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball. In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were in

24、troduced in the 1800s and now the date is very commercial. The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14. The spirit of goodwill continues to be important, whether between lovers or friends. Valentines are sent out with sentimental verses and children exchange

25、valentine cards at school.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?4. The Victorian Age (1837 -1901) The Victorian Age refers to the period of the reign of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, which lasted from 1837 to 1901. Queen Victoria herself lived from 1819 to 1901. Only 18 when she came to the throne, Vict

26、oria oversaw England at the height of its overseas power. The British Empire was established and reached its greatest expanse under her reign. Perhaps most important during the Victorian Age was the shift away from a way of life based on ownership of land to a modern urban economy based on trade and

27、 manufacturing. Although we have a lingering impression of the Victorian Age as a repressive and repressed society, it was one of the复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?most vital periods of English history, lively and full of controversy. Belief in technology was at its height, and the superstitions of

28、magic had been swept away, reserved for gothic horror novels. Medical science was improving by leaps and bounds. This era continued the romantic ideals associated with love and nature. However, love was mostly not a spontaneous personal experience which then might lead to marriage. Marriage was cont

29、racted by convention instead of as a result of romantic love. Women usually married men chosen and approved of by their parents, and men chose women who were appropriate social matches. Love was supposed to develop between the two after marriage.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?Is Love an Art?NotesInt

30、roduction to the Author and the ArticlePhrases and ExpressionsExercisesMain Idea of the Text复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?Main Idea of the Text In the text, Fromm states that people have the wrong attitude towards love. Most peoples first faulty assumption is that they see the problem of love prima

31、rily as that of being loved, rather than that of loving, of ones capacity to love. The second wrong assumption is that they see the problem of love as the problem of an object, not the problem of a faculty. The third error lies in the confusion between the initial experience of “falling” in love, an

32、d the permanent state of being in love. Based on this analysis, Fromm maintains that love is an art just as living is an art; and, if we want to learn how to love we must proceed in the same way we have to proceed if we want to learn any other art. He describes复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?two cruc

33、ial steps in the learning of an art; mastery of the theory and mastery of the practice. Essential to both of these steps, the mastery of the art must be a matter of the greatest concern nothing may be more important than it. When that art is the art of loving, nothing may be valued more than love it

34、self.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?Introduction to the Author and the Article Erich Fromm (1900 - 1980) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. After receiving his Ph. D. from the University of Heidelberg in 1922, he began his career as a psychoanalyst, philosopher and writer. During his long and productiv

35、e career, he taught and engaged in research in several institutes and universities in the United States and Mexico, as well as publishing many books and articles, including The Sane Society (1955) and The Art of Loving (1956).复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? The following selection is chosen from The

36、 Art of Loving, which is considered his most famous work. In this selection Fromm states that people maintain wrong attitudes towards love and argues that love is an art, just as living is an art; in his view, if we want to learn how to love we must proceed in the same way we would if we wanted to l

37、earn any other art.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Is love an art? Then it requires knowledge and effort. Or is love a pleasant sensation, which to experience is a matter of chance, something one “falls into” if one is lucky? This little book is based on the former premise, while undoubtedly the maj

38、ority of people today believe in the latter.Erich FrommIs Love an Art?Text复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Not that people think that love is not important. They are starved for it; they watch endless numbers of films about happy and unhappy love stories, they listen to hundreds of trashy songs about

39、 love yet hardly anyone thinks that there is anything that needs to be learned about love. This peculiar attitude is based on several premises which either singly or combined tend to uphold it. Most people see the problem of love primarily as that of being loved, rather than that of loving, of ones

40、capacity to love. Hence the problem to them is how to be loved, how to be lovable. In pursuit of this aim they复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?follow several paths. One, which is especially used by men, is to be successful, to be as powerful and rich as the social margin of ones position permits. Anot

41、her, used especially by women, is to make oneself attractive, by cultivating ones body, dress, etc. Other ways of making oneself attractive, used both by men and women, are to develop pleasant manners, interesting conversation, to be helpful, modest, inoffensive. Many of the ways to make oneself lov

42、able are the same as those used to make oneself successful, “to win friends and influence people.” As a ED matter of fact, what most people in our culture mean by being lovable is essentially a mixture between being popular and having sex appeal.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? A second premise behin

43、d the attitude that there is nothing to be learned about love is the assumption that the problem of love is the problem of an object, not the problem of a faculty. People think that to love is simple, but that to find the right object to love or to be loved is difficult. This attitude has several re

44、asons rooted in the development of modern society. One reason is the great change which occurred in the twentieth century with respect to the choice of a “love object.” In the Victorian age, as in many traditional cultures, love was mostly not a spontaneous personal experience which then might lead

45、to marriage. On the contrary, marriage was contracted by convention either by the复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?respective families, or by a marriage broker, or without the help of such intermediaries; it was concluded on the basis of social considerations, and love was supposed to develop once the

46、marriage had been concluded. In the last few generations the concept of romantic love has become almost universal in the Western world. In the United States, while considerations of a conventional nature are not entirely absent, to a vast extent people are in search of “romantic love,” of the person

47、al experience of love which then should lead to marriage. This new concept of freedom in love must have greatly enhanced the importance of the object as against the importance of the function.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? Closely related to this factor is another feature characteristic of contempo

48、rary culture. Our whole culture is based on the appetite for buying, on the idea of a mutually favorable exchange. Modern mans happiness consists in the thrill of looking at the shop windows, and in buying all that he can afford to buy, either for cash or on installments. He (or she) looks at people

49、 in a similar way. For the man an attractive girl and for the woman an attractive man are the prizes they are after. “Attractive” usually means a nice package of qualities which are popular and sought after on the personality market. What specifically makes a person attractive depends on the fashion

50、 of the time, physically as well as mentally. 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?During the twenties, a drinking and smoking girl, tough and sexy, was attractive; today the fashion demands more domesticity and coyness. At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of this century, a man had to be aggre

51、ssive and ambitious today he has to be social and tolerant in order to be an attractive “package.” At any rate, the sense of falling in love develops usually only with regard to such human commodities as are within reach of ones own possibilities for exchange. I am out for a bargain; the object shou

52、ld be desirable from the standpoint of its social value, and at the same time复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art?should want me, considering my overt and hidden assets and potentialities. Two persons thus fall in love when they feel they have found the best object available on the market, considering the

53、 limitations of their own exchange values. Often, as in buying real estate, the hidden potentialities which can be developed play a considerable role in this bargain. In a culture in which the marketing orientation prevails, and in which material success is the outstanding value, there is little rea

54、son to be surprised that human love relations follow the same pattern of exchange which governs the commodity and the labor market.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? The third error leading to the assumption that there is nothing to be learned about love lies in the confusion between the initial experi

55、ence of “falling” in love, and the permanent state of being in love, or as we might better say, of “standing” in love. If two people who have been strangers, as all of us are, suddenly let the wall between them break down, and feel close, feel one, this moment of oneness is one of the most exhilarat

56、ing, most exciting experiences in life. It is all the more wonderful and miraculous for persons who have been shut off, isolated, without love. This miracle of sudden intimacy is often facilitated if it is combined with, or initiated by, sexual attraction and consummation. 复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an

57、 Art?However, this type of love is by its very nature not lasting. The two persons become well acquainted, their intimacy loses more and more its miraculous character, until their antagonism, their disappointments, their mutual boredom kill whatever is left of the initial excitement. Yet, in the beg

58、inning they do not know all of this, in fact, they take the intensity of the infatuation, this being “crazy” about each other, for proof of the intensity of their love, while it may only prove the degree of their preceding loneliness.复旦研究生综合英语Unit 2 Is Love an Art? This attitude that nothing is easi

59、er than to love has continued to be the prevalent idea about love in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love. If this were the case with

60、any other activity, people would be eager to know the reasons for the failure, and to learn how one could do better or they would give up the activity. Since the latter is impossible in the case of love, there seems to be only one adequate way to overcome the failure of love to examine the reasons f