Unit 5 Text B SS (1).doc

Unit 5 Text B1. veteran vetrn n.老兵 a.老练的2. surge s:d vi./ n.蜂拥而出；猛增3. sorghum sgm n. 高粱4. hallucinatory hlusntri a. 引起幻觉的5. subversive sbv:siv a.颠覆性的，破坏性的6. exile eksail n.流放；被流放者7. evocative ivktiv a.唤起的，激起的 1. Literature in translation in the United States has wide but shallow roots, making English language stars out of the likes of Gabriel Garcia Mrquez and Haruki Murakami, but leaving most of Chinas writers struggling to take hold. Now, veteran1 translator Howard Goldblatt, the man responsible for bringing to life in English the major works of novelist Mo Yan, winner on Thursday of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature, is predicting a surge2 in interest in the Chinese author. 2. Goldblatt translated Mo Yans 1930s wartime novel Red Sorghum3 for Viking Press in 1993. Wow, was it wonderful, Goldblatt recalled in a telephone interview. But the U.S. publisher had a harder time in the market with the manuscript of Goldblatts personal favorite of Mo Yans works, the satirical novel Republic of Wine, about Chinas relationship with food, published in English in 2000.3. Its a technically brilliant book, bringing four strains of a complex story together. But as happens with lots of literature in translation in America, they couldnt see it selling, Goldblatt said, That wont happen now. There will be strong negotiations for his next work.4. The Nobel committee said in its announcement of the award worth $1.2 million that the hallucinatory4 realism of Mo Yan, a pen name that means dont speak in Chinese, has been judged subversive5 because of its sharp criticism of contemporary Chinese society.5. Mo Yan, who was born to farmers in 1955 in Shandong province and lives in Beijing, is the second Chinese novelist to win the Nobel Prize for literature after Gao Xingjian won in 2000 in exile6 in Paris.6. Goldblatt is now elbow-deep Mo Yans latest novel, called Frogs in English, which he says is a very personal and evocative7 novel about Chinas one child policy. The books central character is based on the authors real life aunt, a rural doctor who presided over thousands of births and thousands of forced abortions as family planning officials tried to keep a lid on Chinas population.8. spotlight sptlait n.聚光灯；关注中心9. boost bu:st n.增涨；推动，激励10. prolific prlifik a.多产的11. slaughterhouse slthas n. 屠宰场12. sandalwood sndlwud n. 檀香，檀香木13. omniscient mnint a.无所不知的14. unobtrusive nbtrsv a. 不唐突的；谦虚的；不引人注目的15. flip through v.浏览,草草翻阅7. Excerpted in the British literary magazine Granta in October, Frogs is now being shopped around by the Wylie Agency in New York. Goldblatt says that despite the spotlight8 of the Nobel win, translations face the harsh reality that only about three to four percent of books published in the U.S., the worlds most profitable market for books with over $27 billion in sales in 2011, were originally written in a language other than English. (Chinas is now the worlds largest book market in terms of number of books sold).8. But Goldblatt predicts the Nobel Prize should help Mos work reach a broader American audience. He says his friend, the translator John Nathan, noted an increase in U.S. sales of the works by Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe after he won the award in 1994. Thats when John said his royalty checks really got a boost9 from the incredible bump in sales from the books.9. A prolific10 writer, Mo also has two other books translated by Goldblatt forthcoming. The first, POW!, is a tale of a kid who cant get enough meat to eat despite living near a slaughterhouse11. It will hit bookshelves at about 400 pages in November from Seagull Books, distributed by the University of Chicago Press.10. The second, from the University of Oklahoma Press in January, is Mos Sandalwood12 Death, a tale set during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 in northeast China during an episode when peasants led a rebellion against German settlers building a railway there. Goldblatt says the story is bookended by multiple points of view, each with a different style, and anchored at its middle by the voice of an omniscient13 central narrator.11. Its a different voice than Mos from past novels, separated as he is from the events of the time of the story by 100 years, but its definitely his strong voice, Goldblatt said.12. In person, Mo proved unobtrusive14 and quiet when he once visited Goldblatt and his wife at their home in Boulder, Colorado, staying there for a week. He read everything in the house. Not just flipping through15, but reading everything cover to cover, Goldblatt said, noting a particular interest at the time in writers from Taiwan.16. arcade ked n.拱廊,有顶通道17. clarification ,klrfke()n n.解释，澄清18. query kwiri n.问题，疑问13. We sat and talked for days. He has an enormous wealth of stories and anecdotes, says Goldblatt, noting that since it takes about a year to translate one of Mos books, hes barely been able to keep up.14. There are hundreds of stories but weve only managed to publish one collection, Goldblatt says, referring to the 2001 collection Shifu, Youll Do Anything for a Laugh, championed by the late Richard Seaver of Arcade16 Books, publisher of Samuel Beckett and William S. Burroughs.15. The titles of Mo Yans Seaver had bought for publication in English, including such novels as Big Breasts and Wide Hips, Life and Death are Wearing Me Out, and The Garlic Ballads, were taken on by Skyhorse Press upon Seavers death in 2009 and all remain in print.16. Now we may see a circling back to earlier works that remain untranslated and an interest in collecting more of Mos stories, Goldblatt said.17. Goldblatt says whats hard about translating Mos work has little to do with Chinese.18. The biggest challenge is to write well and Im the last person in the world to say whether or not Ive been successful at that. As to the Chinese, its not the words, because I can always ask Mo Yan. Capturing his tone is the hardest thing to do, distancing myself from the text and reading it carefully and getting a sense of how his books do what they do so well. The Chinese language does not lend itself to literal translation. Working with Mo over the years has required Goldblatt to fire off regular emails to Beijing seeking clarification17. He usually gets quick replies, but a recent query18 went unanswered.19. I heard from lots of people that Mo Yan didnt want to be in Beijing when the prize was announced and went into hiding in Gaomi in Shandong where hes from, he said. I fully expect my brief congratulatory note to get lost in a wave of attention hes getting. Part I Understanding the textMultiple Choice Questions1. Which of the following statements is true of literature translation in the US?A. There are works translated from few languages.B. Works by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Haruki Murakami are well received.C. Moyan has been made a star in the US, which leads to his Nobel Prize win.D. Chinese writer are similar to Haruki Murakami in many ways.2. The translated work of Repbulic of Wine _.A. was read by a large American audienceB. gave Goldblatt a harder time in the translationC. deals with Chinas relationship with foodD. tells a story too complex for the American readers 3. According to the passage, Moyan was awarded the prized for the _.A. documentary descriptionsB. complexity of storiesC. hallucinatory realism D. criticism of the society4. Moyans latest works Frogs _.A. is based upon a real life characterB. depicts the reality of carrying out the family planning policyC. did not sell well in the US market of literature D. All of the above5. Goldblatt is _ when he predicts the sales of Moyans works in US after his Nobel Prize win.A. pessimisticB. optimisticC. unconcerned D. uncertain6. It can be inferred from the passage that _.A. translators can benefit from the sales of the translated worksB. Kenzaburo Oes works sold well in US even before the Nobel Prize winC. China is now the most profitable market for booksD. US readers now are more interested in the works originally written in Chinese.7. Which of the following books is set against the scene of the Boxer rebellion？A. PowB. Sandal Wood DeathC. Big Breasts and Wide HipsD. Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out8. The difficulty in translating Moyans works lies in _A. the language of ChineseB. the background of the storiesC. the tone specific to the worksD. low level of clarification9. In the eyes of Goldblatt, Moyan _.A. is quiet and loves readingB. is a good story tellerC. thinks little of fameD. All of the above10. The best title for this passage could be _.A. Why Moyan Was Awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for LiteratureB. How Howard Goldblatt Cooperated with Moyan in the TranslationC. Will Moyans Nobel Prize Finally Mean Better Sales AbroadD. Will Howard Goldblatt stop translating Moyans worksPart II Building your vocabularyDirections: Fill in the blanks with the words given in the word lific spotlight veteran query exile clarification surge evocative boost omniscient subversive unobtrusive1. I had to come up with something _ that would kindle their desire to pursue high performance on their own terms.2. Gestures should be _; your audience should focus not on the beauty or appropriateness of your gestures but on your message. 3. If you have a _ about your insurance policy, contact our helpline. Our assistants will be happy to help you.4. Networking not only helps your business to grow but can _ your confidence and business knowledge. 5. The _ across the poverty line is a period of accelerating growth both for the new middle class and for the country it inhabits.6. The data is fascinating, but I have already seen it misinterpreted, so I thought some _ might be useful. 7. If you describe someone as _, you mean he knows or seems to know everything. 8. The Congress approved a $1.1 billion package of pay increases for the _ of the Persian Gulf War.9. Its not easy for a low-key couple to maintain their love, especially when they are living under the _.10. Therefore, those who accept and support the social systems views are considered normal, while those who disagree are considered abnormal or even _ .11. Through the _, Dante created The Divine Comedy - divided into Hell, Purgatory and Paradise - a poem many consider the greatest ever written.12. Thats a lot of writing each day,