新世纪综合教程2英语专业 unit 9 课后答案 lecture notes.doc

Unit 9Unit 9 What Is HappinessSection One Pre-reading ActivitiesII. Cultural information1. QuoteHappiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. Franklin Roosevelt2. The Pursuit of HappinessThe Pursuit of Happiness is a 2006 American biographical film directed by Gabriele Muccino about the on-and-off-homeless salesman-turned stockbroker Chris Gardner. The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the best-selling memoir of the same name written by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe. The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures.Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.Section Two Global ReadingI Text analysis1. Whats the authors answer to the question “What is happiness”?According to the author, happiness lies in the idea of becoming, in the meaningful pursuit of what is life-engaging and life-revealing.2. Whats the authors purpose of writing?To attempt a definition of happiness by setting some extremes to the idea and then working in toward the middle.II Structural analysisDivide the text into parts by completing the table. ParagraphsMain idea1-2The author points out that when we are not sure what happiness is, we tend to be misled by the idea that we can buy our way to it.3-7The author offers a number of examples to show how this misconception of happiness gives rise to the “happiness-market” in a highly commercialized society (the United States).8-9The author suggests striking a balance between what Thoreau called the low levels and the high levels.10The author gives his understanding of happiness, in the light of the Founding Fathers belief that it is “in the idea of becoming”.Section Three Detailed ReadingText IWhat Is Happiness?John Ciardi(abridged)1 The right to pursue happiness is issued to Americans with their birth certificates, but no one seems quite sure which way it runs. It may be we are issued a hunting license but offered no game.1 Jonathan Swift seemed to think so when he attacked the idea of happiness as “the possession of being well-deceived,” the felicity of being “a fool among knaves.” For Swift saw society as Vanity Fair, the land of false goals.2 It is, of course, un-American to think in terms of fools and knaves.2 We do, however, seem to be dedicated to the idea of buying our way to happiness. We shall all have made it to Heaven when we possess enough.33 And at the same time the forces of American commercialism are hugely dedicated to making us deliberately unhappy. Advertising is one of our major industries, and advertising exists not to satisfy desires but to create them and to create them faster than any mans budget can satisfy them. For that matter, our whole economy is based on a dedicated insatiability. We are taught that to possess is to be happy, and then we are made to want. We are even told it is our duty to want. It was only a few years ago, to cite a single example, that car dealers across the country were flying banners that read You Auto Buy Now. They were calling upon Americans, as an act approaching patriotism, to buy at once, with money they did not have, automobiles they did not really need, and which they would be required to grow tired of by the time the next years models were released.4 Or look at any of the womens magazines. There, as Bernard DeVoto once pointed out, advertising begins as poetry in the front pages and ends as pharmacopoeia and therapy in the back pages. The poetry of the front matter is the dream of perfect beauty. This is the baby skin that must be hers. These, the flawless teeth. This, the perfumed breath she must exhale. This, the sixteen-year-old figure she must display at forty, at fifty, at sixty, and forever.5 Once past the vaguely uplifting fiction and feature articles, the reader finds the other face of the dream in the back matter. This is the harness into which Mother must strap herself in order to display that perfect figure. These, the chin straps she must sleep in. This is the salve that restores all, this is her laxative, these are the tablets that melt away fat, these are the hormones of perpetual youth, these are the stockings that hide varicose veins.6 Obviously no half-sane person can be completely persuaded4 either by such poetry or by such pharmacopoeia and orthopedics. Yet someone is obviously trying to buy the dream as offered and spending billions every year in the attempt. Clearly the happiness-market is not running out of customers, but what are they trying to buy? 7 The idea happiness, to be sure, will not sit still for easy definitions: the best one can do is to try to set some extremes to the idea and then work in toward the middle.5 To think of happiness as acquisitive and competitive will do to set the materialistic extreme.6 To think of it as the idea one senses in, say, a holy man of India will do to set the spiritual extreme. That holy mans ideal of happiness is in needing nothing from outside himself. In wanting nothing, he lacks nothing. He sits immobile, rapt in contemplation, free even of his own body.7 Or nearly free of it. If devout admirers bring him food, he eats it; if not, he starves indifferently. Why be concerned? What is physical is an illusion to him. Contemplation is his joy and he achieves it through a fantastically demanding discipline, the accomplishment of which is itself a joy within him.88 But, perhaps because I am Western, I doubt such catatonic happiness, as I doubt the dreams of the happiness-market. What is certain is that his way of happiness would be torture to almost any Western man. Yet these extremes will still serve to frame the area within which all of us must find some sort of balance. Thoreau a creature of both Eastern and Western thought had his own firm sense of that balance. His aim was to save on the low levels in order to spend on the high.99 Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborhood would have been Thoreaus idea of the low levels. The active discipline of heightening ones perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high.10 What he saved from the low was time and effort he could spend on the high. Thoreau certainly disapproved of starvation, but he would put into feeding himself only as much effort as would keep him functioning for more important efforts.10 Happiness is never more than partial.11 There are no pure states of mankind. Whatever else happiness may be, it is neither in having nor in being, but in becoming.12 What the Founding Fathers declared for us as an inherent right, we should do well to remember, was not happiness but the pursuit of happiness. What they might have underlined, could they have foreseen the happiness-market, is the cardinal fact that happiness is in the pursuit itself, in the meaningful pursuit of what is life-engaging and life-revealing,13 which is to say, in the idea of becoming. A nation is not measured by what it possesses or wants to possess, but by what it wants to become. Paragraphs 1-2Questions1. What does the author mean when he says “The right to pursue happiness is issued to Americans with their birth certificates”? (Paragraph 1)Here the author alludes to the well-known statement in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The sentence means that everyone is born with the right to pursue happiness.2. What do the quoted expressions from Swift mean? (Paragraph 1)Both expressions “the possession of being well deceived” and “a fool among knaves” are used by Swift to describe a conception of happiness, i.e., a state of being deceived. The word “possession” here means “a state of being completely under the influence of an idea or emotion” and in this particular expression “the state of being deceived.” “A fool among knaves” refers to a person who is easily deceived without realizing it.3. Why does the author say, “It is, of course, un-American to think in terms of fools and knaves”? (Paragraph 2)Because most Americans take it for granted that pursuing happiness, or buying their way to it is in accordance with American national character.Words and Expressions1. pursue vt. try to achieve somethinge.g. He urges all sides in the conflict to pursue peace.We are working together to pursue a common goal.Derivation: pursuit n.Collocation: in the pursuit of e.g. She showed steadiness and courage in the pursuit of her aims.2. issue vt. to provide sb. with the things they need for a particular actione.g. The police in Britain are not usually issued with guns.Visitors are issued with identity cards to wear inside the factory.Collocation: issue sth. (to sb.) 将某物发给、供给或分配给某人使用e.g. The office will be issuing permits on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.Derivation: issue n.Sentences1. It may be we are issued a hunting license but offered no game. (Paragraph 1)Explanation: It may be we are given the right of pursuing happiness but we dont know where it is, because maybe there is no happiness as such at all. Note “game” originally refers to a wild animal or bird hunted for sport. Here it is a metaphor for what is being pursued, i.e. happiness. It is roughly equivalent to “false goals” at the end of this paragraph.Paraphrase: It may be that you have received the license for hunting but you dont have the chance to hunt.Translation: 它可能就像：授予了你打猎的许可证却不给你提供打猎的机会。2. It is, of course, un-American to think in terms of fools and knaves. (Paragraph 2)Explanation: As Swift was not American, his idea of happiness with regard to “fools and knaves” is certainly different from its American interpretation. The following two sentences tell us what the author thinks is Americans idea of happiness.Translation: 当然，要是你用斯威夫特的观点来考虑傻瓜和骗子，你就不像是美国人了。3. We shall all have made it to Heaven when we possess enough. (Paragraph 2)Explanation: “Make it” is an informal expression that means “succeed in moving to a certain place.”Translation: 当我们拥有的财产足够多的时候，我们将到达天堂。Paragraphs 3-5Questions1. How is the car dealers words on the banner “You Auto Buy Now” related with patriotism in Paragraph 3? (Paragraph 3)The word “auto” is homophonous to “ought to,” so the advertisement on the banner can be read as “You Ought to Buy Now,” implying that your act of purchasing a car is an act of patriotism.2. Why does the author use the words “poetry” and “dream” to describe the advertisements in womens magazines?The author intends to tell the reader that these advertisements present a perfect yet illusionary image which would ultimately create peoples desires. Implicitly, the author suggests that what money can buy is purely a dream of happiness.Words and Expressions3. deliberately ad. with a definite intention, not by chance or by accidente.g. He deliberately left his book in her dorm so that he could have an excuse to come back and see her again.The anti-government groups deliberately stirred up trouble, inducing their supporters to riot.Derivation: deliberate a.Synonym: intentionally, on purpose, purposelyAntonym: accidentally4. patriotism n. strong feelings of love, respect, and duty towards your countrye.g. The Chinese people demonstrated great patriotism in combating the earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in May 2008.Derivation: patriotic a. patriotically ad. 5. release vt.1) to allow something to be shown in public or to be available for use 2) If a company releases a film or musical recording, it allows the film to be shown in cinemas, or makes the musical recording available for the public to buye.g. We have to release the news before 5 oclock tomorrow morning.Paul McCartneys new album will be released at the end of the month.Derivation:release n.e.g. Her latest release is a rock n roll version of My Way.Collocation: be on / in general release press release （政府机构、政党等发布的）新闻稿6. therapy n. a form of treatment for an illness or medical conditione.g. The therapy involves getting the patients to tell the doctor about their early childhood. Nowadays, occupational therapy is accepted by more and more people. Synonym: treatmentCollocation: undergo therapy7. flawless a. without any mistakes, marks or bad featuree.g. The baby was plump, his skin flawless and his eyes bright blue.The flawless launch was watched by millions of people on television. Derivation: flawlessly ad.flaw n. Synonym: perfect Antonym: imperfect8. exhale vt. / vi. breathe air out through your mouth or nosee.g. Hold your breath for five seconds and then exhale slowly.He exhaled smoke hurriedly to continue his urgent work.Antonym: inhaleDerivation: exhalation n.9. display vt. to give a clear demonstration of (a quality, emotion, or skill)e.g. The new market displayed a great many goods for sale.Derivation: display n.Synonym: present, demonstrate10. perpetual a. continuing all the timee.g. Her husbands perpetual jealousy made her feel anxious.He soon grew tired of her perpetual demands for money.Derivation: perpetually ad.e.g. She perpetually wore a worried look on her face.Synonym: permanent, eternalActivity: DiscussionNowadays, people are all busy pursuing their set goals such as wealth, honor, happiness, or excitement etc. What do you pursue in your life? Discuss with your partners and try to use the following words.pursue issue deliberately patriotism release therapy flawless exhale display perpetualParagraphs 6-10Questions1. Why does the author need to say “because I am Western,” “torture to almost any Western man”? (Paragraph 8)Because Western people are supposed to be quite rational and matter-of-fact. The catatonic happiness the holy man in India believes in is totally incredible and unacceptable to a Westerner.2. How does the author differentiate the Founding Fathers notion of happiness from the misconception about it? (Paragraph 10)The author explains that the inherent right the Founding Fathers declared for us is not happiness, but the pursuit of happiness, and happiness is in the pursuit itself.Words and Expressions11. run out of not having any more of ite.g. I hope we see a gas station soon were running out of fuel.In the end she ran out of patience and started hitting him.We air-freighted the shipment because our agent had run out of stock. 我们空运了这批货物，是因为我们的代理商已用完库存了。12. materialistic a. believing that having money and possessions is the most important thing in lifee.g. Members of this sect have rejected modern materialistic values.Derivation:materialism n.Synonym: money-oriented, acquisitiveAntonym: spiritual13. devout a. (usually before a noun) very religiouse.g. His father is a devout Buddhist.Antonym: pious, dedicatedDerivation: devoutly ad. devoutness n. 14. disciplinen. the ability to control your own behaviore.g. Their attention wandered and they lacked discipline to learn.vt. train sb. / sth. to be obedient, self-controlled, skillful, etc.e.g. The military schools usually discipline students strictly. Derivation: disciplinary a. 15. torture n. great pain that is deliberately caused to sb. esp. to punish theme.g. Many of the prisoners died under torture.It was torture to be ill in bed while everyone else was celebrating downstairs.Derivation: torture v.e.g. He tortured himself for years with the thought that he could have stopped the boy from running into the road.Synonym: agony, suffering16. perception n. the ability to realize or notice things that are not obvious to other peoplee.g. There is a perception that management only wants to cut costs. She has extraordinary powers of perception for one so young.Derivation: perceive v.e.g. Although Jane thought her father seemed anxious and uneasy, Susan did not perceive any changes in his looks and ways. perceptive a.e.g. Children can be amazingly perceptive about adults moods.17. disapprove of not approve of sb. / sth.e.g. I strongly disapprove of anyone who goes out at night and leaves their children alone. I strongly disapprove of under-age drinking.Derivation: disapproval n. disapproving a.e.g. His sister gave him a disapproving glance and he realized he had said the wrong thing.Antonym: approve ofe.g. I approve of your trying to earn some money, but please dont neglect your studies.18. put sth. in; put sth. into sth. / doing sth. to spend a lot of time or effort doing somethinge.g. Youve obviously put a lot of work in your garden. If I put in some extra hours today, I can have some time off tomorrow.Weve put a lot of time and effort into making the house look nice.我们花了很多时间和精力把房子装饰漂亮。19. function vi. to work or operate in the correct waye.g. Try out the package to see if the modern functions correctly.When the camera is functioning properly, a green light comes on.Im so tired today, I can barely function.我今天累极了，我不能工作了。Derivation: