新编英语教程6-unit-10

1、2021/8/61Unit 10Questions: In your opinion, what kind of student is a straight-A student? Then do you think it paradoxical to call someone a “straight-A illiterate”? What do you think Degnan refers to when he speaks of “straight-A illiterate”? 1. Read the text within 10 minutes and then tell me the

2、answer to this question and the main idea of this text. 2021/8/62Possible answer to the 3rd question: The title of the essay seem strange and even paradoxical to us. This special group of illiterate people includes straight-A students in college, Ph.D. candidates, and even certain highly successful

3、professors. They are illiterate not in the ordinary sense of the word, but in the sense that they can not say or write in plain/ simple English. The reason, as the author argues, is to be found in the textbooks these straight-A students are forced to read through years of higher education, which are

4、 filled with professional jargons and gibberish writing. 2021/8/63The essay sets out to expose and condemn this phenomenon, with the aim of increasing the publics awareness of the seriousness of the problem. 2021/8/64Dictionary work: plight: condition, state, or situation; especially unfavourable on

5、e E.g. He is in a sad plight. 他陷入了悲惨的境地。 be in a sorry plight 处境困窘 2. as often as not: quite frequently; at least half the time.1. E.g. As often as not, he would go to the old womans home and help her clean up the place. 2021/8/653. articulate: able to express thoughts and feelings clearly and effec

6、tively; using language easily and fluentlyE.g. She is among the few articulate children in the nursery. 4. a coveted fellowship: (1) coveted, adj: eagerly wished for or desired. E.g. She won the coveted first prize at the speech contest, much to our surprise. He possessed rare and much coveted works

7、 of art. 他拥有非常令人垂涎的稀世艺术品。2021/8/66a coveted fellowship: a fellowship (i.e. the money given to postgraduate students to allow them to continue their studies at an advanced level) that everyone longs jealously to possess. 5. allegorically: figuratively allegory: (1) an allegory is a form of imaginativ

8、e literature constructed in such a way that their readers are encouraged to look for meanings hidden beneath the literal surface of the fiction. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)(2) An allegory is a narrative in which the characters, events, and setting represent deeper 2021/8/67truths or generalizations t

9、han those suggested by the surface story. (Macmillan Family encyclopeadia)(3) An allegory is a broad term covering any piece of writing or image which has meanings additional to the literal sense. When the author calls his student Mr. Bright allegorically, he does not mean to refer to this particula

10、r straight-A student only. He is using the term to cover all those students, college seniors, and Ph.D.s who may seem bright when judged by their academic records, but who nevertheless fail to detect gibberish in their own writings or in those or others.2021/8/686. gibberish: talk or writing contain

11、ing many obscure, pretentious, or technical words; meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing. 7. providentially: fortunately; luckily8. inexorably: inescapably E.g. New technology marches on inexorably. 9. profundity: profoundness; great depth of knowledge or thought. E.g. We didnt realize that

12、the modest and unassuming man who talked to us a while ago was a scholar of great profundity. 2021/8/6910. grapple with: try hard to deal with grapple, v. : to seize and struggle with 揪打； 搏斗 E.g. The thug grappled him around the neck. 那个歹徒抓住了他的脖子。2021/8/610Analysis of the writing pattern of this tex

13、t:The basic method Degnan uses in this essay to accomplish his purpose is causal analysis, which is combined with definition and exemplification. There are two alternative ways to organize an essay developed by causal analysis, i.e. from the cause(s) to the effect(s), and from the effect(s) to the c

14、ause(s). Degnan followed the latter pattern. The effect is stated at the beginning of the essay, that is, the phenomenon of the so-called straight-A illiteracy, and the cuase is made clear near the end of it, i.e. the text-books and professional journals the straight-A illiterate is forced to read 2

15、021/8/611during his years of education. The four paragraphs which constitute the essay are closely connected. What do you think Degnan does in the first paragraph? Is he justified in doing so? In what way is the second paragraph connected to the first one? In what way is the third paragraph to the s

16、econd one? 2021/8/6124. In the last/ 4th paragraph, as has been said before, the cause of this intellectual disease is made clear. It begins with the sentence “As I have suggested, the major cause of such illiteracty is the stuff the textbooks and professional journals the straight-A illiterate is f

17、orced to read during his years of higher education.” Where in the preceding text has the author made a suggestion of this cause? 2021/8/6131. In the first paragraph what Degnan does is to define the term straight-A illiteracy, which is highly necessary as t is a phenomenon little thought-of by the g

18、eneral public, and besides, the term itself is apparently paradoxical. 2021/8/6142. Although there seem to be no obvious cohesive ties between the first and the second paragraph, they closely connected in the sense that in the second paragraph Degnan uses his personal experience as an example to ill

19、ustrate the definition he has given in the first paragraph. 2021/8/6153. If we take what he has narrated in the second paragraph as a specific instance of straight-A illiteracy, the third paragraph is a generalization of the phenomenon. 2021/8/6164. The cause stated in the last paragraph is suggeste

20、d in the third paragraph with the sentence (lines 34-35) “Taking his cue from years of higher education, years of reading the textbooks and professional journals that are major sources of his affliction.”2021/8/617Summary of the analysis of the text: Causal analysis: effectcauseDefinitionExampleGene

21、ralizationCausedeductioninduction2021/8/618Text Appreciation: Despite all the current fuss and bother about the extraordinary number of ordinary illiterates who overpopulate our schools, small attention has been given to another kind of illiterate, an illiterate whose plight is, in many ways, more i

22、mportant, because his more influential. (1) fuss: unnecessary or unwelcome attention, excitement, or anxiety, etc. 不必要的 关注，激动，焦虑等 1. make a fuss about sth.2021/8/619E.g. They wanted a quiet wedding without any fuss. 他们想要一个平淡的婚礼，不想弄得沸沸扬扬。Why did you make such a fuss about a small matter like this? 怎么

23、这么一件小事你都要大惊小怪。(2) Paraphrase: 2021/8/620There has been great concern over our schools being crowded with so many pupils who cannot read or write. However, we tend to forget that there is another kind of illiterate and give less attention to their difficulty with reading and writing than the previous

24、 kind. But we should give more attention to this kind, because these people belong to those who exert influence on others. 翻译：尽管我们学校为数众多的普通文盲目前得到极大的关注，但是，我们却忽略了另一类文盲， 这类文盲的困境，从很多方面来讲，更加事关重大，因为他们更具有影响力。2021/8/6212. -and the following is written in an attempt to give him equal time with his widely pub

25、licized counterpart. in an attempt to do something: e.g. In an attempt to familiarize myself with the campus, I suggested that we should go out for a walk. 为了熟悉一下校园环境，我建议出去散散步。 (2) counterpart: 指的是在各方面（如地位，职务等方面）相对，对等的人或者物(1)e.g. The U.S. President is discussing this with his British counterpart. (t

26、he U.K. Prime Minister)2021/8/622(3) Paraphrase: -I am writing the essay to give this special group of illiterates as much attention as has been paid to ordinary illiterates who are widely known to the public.(4) 翻译：（我把这种人称为全A文盲，）为了给予全A文盲和普通文盲一样的关注，才有了下文。2021/8/6233. I am interrogating, I am cross-e

27、xamining, I am prying and probing for the meaning of a students paper. Paraphrase: I am asking questions thoroughly, for a long time and in detail in order to find out the meaning of a students paper. 2021/8/6244. Mr. Bright, his brow furrowed, tries mightily. Finally, with both of us combining our

28、linguistic and imaginative resources, finally, after what seems another hour, we decode it. Furrow 指（因烦恼，生气或集中精神时）皱起额头，皱起眉头。 E.g. His brows were furrowed in concentration. 他皱着眉头，申请专注。 He looked at me with a furrowed brow. 他紧皱着眉头看着我。2021/8/625(2) Paraphrase: With his brow furrowed, Mr. Bright tries v

29、ery hard to explain what his own writing meant. We both use all our grammatical knowledge and imagination, trying to figure out the actual meaning, and after practically one whole hour, we eventually are able to understand. (3) 翻译：聪明先生锁着眉头苦思。最终，结合了我们的语言学知识和想象力，又用了好像一个小时似的，终于破译了这句话。2021/8/6265. It at

30、tacks the best minds, and gradually destroys the critical faculties, making it impossible for the sufferer to detect gibberish in his own writing or in that of others. the critical faculties: the natural mental power that makes sound judgment detect: to notice or discover 发觉，察觉。经常是一些不易察觉的事物。 E.g. Fi

31、nancial experts have detected signs that the economy is beginning to improve. (1) 财经专家察觉到经济又好转的迹象。2021/8/627(3) Paraphrase: It does harm to the most intelligent individual, and slowly deprives him of he mental ability to make sound judgment. As a result, he becomes unconscious of the nonsense either in his own writing or in that of others. (4) 翻译：（这种聪明病）侵袭了最优秀的心灵，逐渐摧毁批判的能力，使得他们丧失了发现自己或别人文章中那些莫名奇妙、毫无意义的话的本领。2021/8/6286. Taking his cue from years of higher education, years of reading the textbooks and professional journals that are the major sources of hi