综合英语4 Unit2 Space Invaders

1、Unit 2Pre-reading Questions 1. What does “personal space” mean in your mind? 2. Have you ever had experience when you felt your PS was being invaded? Whats your feeling? 3. Who have a stronger sense of PS, Chinese or Westerners?personal space It refers to the amount of area available for personal us

2、e and it is often regarded as a personal domain or territory. When this territory is invaded, its owner will feel uncomfortable or even threatened.Background information:1. About the text: This text was originally published in New Yorker on July 24, 1993. later in 2001 it appeared again in The Princ

3、eton Anthology of Writing: Favorite Pieces by the Ferries Writers at Princeton University.About the author: Richard Stengel is a senior writer working for Time magazine. 3. Malthusian logic: the theories of the British economist Thomas Robert Malthus(1766-1843), which state that population increases

4、 faster than the means of subsistence unless war, famine, or disease intervenes or efforts are made to limit population.4. Long Island: an island in southeastern New York. The New York city boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are at its west end. Language Worksnake : move in a twisting way The train was

5、 snaking its way through the mountains. Some tired velvet ropes : some slackened velvet ropesinch: move very slowly and carefully Howard inched the van forward.Shuffle: walk by dragging ones feet along or without lifting them fully from the ground He slipped on his shoes and shuffled out of the room

6、. shuffle sth . off: avoid talking or thinking about sth. because it is not considered important He shuffled the question off and changed the topic. ring: a quality, or an impression of having the quality that is mentioned Her story has a ring of truth about it. The books he mentioned had a familiar

7、 ring about them.penetrate: succeed in forcing through sth. They penetrated into the territory where no man had ever been before.Wedge: force into a narrow space She opened the door wide and wedged it with a pad of newspaper.“dont tread on me” could have been coined only by someone with a spread: P5

8、“dont step into my space”. This could have been said only by a person who has a large personal space.Personal space is psychological, not physical: it has less to do with the space outside us than our inner space: personal space is more a psychological matter than a physical one.Be proportional to:

9、increase or decrease at the same rate as the other thing The output should be proportional to the input. Structural Analysis The writer points out the fact that nowadays people are more and more concerned about themselves and want to have a larger personal space than decades ago, and then he analyse

10、s the causes of space invasion. It can be divided into three parts.Structural Analysis Part 1(1-2): the writer calls the readers attention to the invasion of PS by relating an experience of how his PS was invaded. Part 2(3-7): he analyzes some likely causes of the shrinkage of PS, and attributes the

11、 invasion to the general decline of good manners. Part 3(8-9): he presents his view about the essence of PS, it is psychological rather than physical, and urges people to “expand the contracting boundaries of PS”.Part I paragraph 1-2 The following question may be asked:1. How did the author describe

12、 the violation of personal space that happened in a bank? a series of verb phrases and adverbials to vividly describe the process and peoples reaction. Untill hugger-muggerSlinky. Untill we were all pushing against each other, leaving the line in disorder. lazy line: personificationslothful, sluggis

13、h, idle The phrase has a quaint, seventies ring to it. has an old touch that was characteristic of the 1970s./ sounds old-fashioned and reminds one of the 1970s.Part II paragraph 3-7The following questions could be asked :1.Is “personal space” a phrase of the seventies? Is it out of date nowadays? W

14、hy or why not?2.Do you agree with the author about the reasons of space invasion given in Paragraph 4? What other factors have caused it?3.What does the author mean by saying “personal space is mostly a public matter”?4.Do space invaders respect other peoples personal space? T-shirt weather can make

15、 proximity more alluring P4 In hot summer days, people can be drawn to each other,esp. to the opposite sex or feel disgusted with the closeness of others (move away from those unpleasant smell of perspiration). T-shirt weather: metonymy 借代借代/换喻换喻 He is a true blue. faithful person Or perhaps the inc

16、reasing is infusingintojangling locals can no longer keep to themselves. P4 attract more and more people, who are stimulated and excited by the caffeine they take in, so that they become eager to meet others and no longer want to remain in private. we allow all kinds of invasions (Humanity wouldnt e

17、xist without them.) P5 privately we allow people with whom we have close relationships to enter our PS in a variety of ways. (Indeed, in the absence of sexual intimacy none of us would be here.) The logistics of it vary according to geography. P5 People in different regions are given different sizes

18、 of personal space. Ive noticed an increase in the ranks of what I think of ., mini-territorial expansionists who seize public space with a sense of manifest destiny. P7 Ive noticed that the problem of space invasion has become more and more serious, and space invaders, acting in the way territorial

19、 expansionists usually do, take it for granted that they have the right to seize public space. stake a claim to: make a claim to individuals routinely commandeer P7 It is quite common that one person occupies a booth and a set of facing seats designed for four people.Part III paragraph 8-9Questions

20、to be asked:1.Do you agree with the writers view that the contraction of the outer personal space is proportional to the expansion of the inner space of modern man?2.Why does the author decide to expand his contracting boundaries of personal space? the breeze from a butterflys wings Japan produce a

21、tidal wave in California. P9 The author hopes that his own stand against the shrinkage of PS, as small in itself, will eventually have a dramatic effect in the same way as the breeze from a butterflys wings in Japan, if it initiates a chain of waves, may eventually produce a tidal wave in Conclusion

22、 The author looks at the causes of space invasion in Paragraph 4. He attributes this phenomenon to population explosion first, then to the hot weather and the stimulation of caffeine, geography.He examines the nature of space invasion and thinks that space invasion is a public matter. It is more psy

23、chological than physical.Rhetorical FeaturesListed below are the verbs used by the author to give a vivid and accurate description of the behavior of the space invaders 1) Verbs used to described the behavior of space invaders: inch, wedge, zigzag, jostle, refuse, press, bump, etc. 2) Verbs used to

24、describe the reaction of those whose space is being invaded: advanced, sidle, shuffle 1. drooping; loosened; slackened 2. tone; sound 3. already over-stimulated/ relentless local people/residents 4. unfriendliness; cold-shouldering 5. membership of a group of organization 1. sidled up 2. carve out 雕

25、刻，创业，开拓雕刻，创业，开拓 3. attribute to 4. stake a claim to 5. tread on their toes 6. plowed into 7. is proportional to progress 8. breathing down their necks 1. annoying 2. intuition 3. relented let it out 4. proliferates into a succession of 5. lamentably 6. in an expansive mood 7. as a matter of routine

26、8. be less susceptible to shrinkage DABD CBAB 1. significantly/considerably/ incautiously 2. shrinking/ receding/ lessening 3. private/ personal/ individual 4. give/ present/ confer 5. tightened/ tense/ rigid 6. recently/ currently 7. old-fashioned/ odd/ antiquated 8. uncomfortable/ nervous/ upset 1

27、. promotion 2. endure 3. willingly 4. canceled 5. the most important thing 6. moderately warm 1. The pigeon was wedged in the fork of a branch and it fell after a while. 2. The payment that the motorist will have to make is proportional to the damage he has done to the other persons car. 3. You can

28、only enter the cave by inching through a narrow tunnel on your stomach. 4. She stammered some apology for entering my office without knocking as she sidled towards the door. 5. He took pains to explain to me that I was being dismissed not because I didnt do my work well but because the company could not pay my wages. 6. The enlistment of young soldiers infus