Unit-3-Blackmail课件.ppt

1、Advanced English, 高 级 英 语 主编：张汉熙 外语教学与研究出版社,Blackmail,Brainstorming Background Text Study Language Points Comprehension Questions Text Analysis and Appreciation Exercises Tasks after Class,Brainstorming,Brainstorm on synonymous words of blackmail. Extort: obtain by force, violence E.g., The police u

2、sed torture to extort confession from him. Racketeer: (colloq) get money by deceiving, threatening,Make a list of English noble ranks. King/queen Duke catching a professional thief operating in the hotel; pacifying a whole convention of several hundred dentists that threaten to leave in protest agai

3、nst the hotels objection to putting up a member of the convention a black doctor . Then there is the Duke of Croydon.,The Duke is an internationally famous statesman and the newly-appointed British ambassador to Washington. He and his wife occupy the best suite in St. Gregory, On Monday evening whil

4、e driving back with his wife from a gambling house, the Duke knocks down a woman and her child . Both are killed. The Duke and the Duchess, however, drive away .The hit-and-run becomes top sensational news in New Orleans . The hotels chief house detective Ogilvie notices the battered car when it com

5、es back.,About the novel Hotel,Instead of reporting this to the police, he goes to see the Duke and the Duchess. He promises to keep quiet about what he knows and asks for a large sum of money in return for the favour. The Duke, now totally at a loss as to how to act, hides behind the skirts of his

6、wife. The Duchess understands that to get themselves out of this mess, the car has to be driven out of the south where,people are alerted about the hit-and-run. So she offers to pay Ogilvie more than he has asked on condition that he drives the car to Chicago up in the north. The greedy detective ag

7、rees. At one oclock Thursday morning Ogilvie gets the car out of the garage. He is seen leaving by one person only. By Peter McDermott, the assistant general manager, Though it strikes him as odd, Peter does not link this up with the hit-and-run until late that afternoon when he witnesses the funera

8、l of the two victims of the accident . He contacts police headquarters right away.,About the novel Hotel,By this time, Ogilvie has crossed Louisiana and Mississippi, driving by night and concealing the car by day. He thinks that everything is going smoothly, little knowing that he is a already being

9、 followed by the Highway patrol cruisers. In Tennessee, he is caught and sent back to New Orleans.,At first the Duchess tries to deny everything, but doesnt succeed in convincing the police. The Duke then decides to go over to police headquarters before they come for him, wishing to save the little

10、shreds of decency left in him. He takes an elevator to go down . This elevator which has been out of order for some time and badly in need of repair breaks down. As it goes down, one set of clamps holds and the other fails. The elevator car twists, buckles and splits open, throwing the Duke nine flo

11、ors down to the cement ground. He dies instantly.,About the novel Hotel,However, the novel ends with a pleasant surprise. A sick, old, eccentric man staying in the hotel turns out to be an extremely wealthy man from Montreal, Canada. Earlier, he fell seriously ill and was saved by Peter and his girl

12、 friend. To show his gratitude and to repay their kindness, he buys the hotel from its former owner and makes Peter the new executive vice-president, with complete authority to run the hotel as he thinks fit.,Text Study,Language Points Comprehension Questions Text Analysis and Appreciation,Language

13、Points,1. The chief house officer, Ogilvie, who had declared he would took twice that time: The chief house officer, Ogilvie, gave the Croydons a mysterious telephone call telling them he would pay them a visit an hour later, but actually he appeared at their suite two hours later. chief house offic

14、er: Hotels in the U.S. employ detectives to take care of hotel security, called house dicks, dignified appellation house officer. 2. The nerves of both the Duke and Duchess were excessively frayed: The nerves of both the Duke and Duchess were worn out by the long wait, were over-strained. Both the D

15、uke and Duchess were extremely nervous. 3. She had dispatched her maid on an invented errand: They sent her out to get her out of the way; the errand being just an excuse, a trip which was not necessary. Obviously the talk between Ogilvie and the Croydons had to be kept a secret.,4. To exercise the

16、Bedlington terriers: to walk the dogs: to take the dogs out and give them some exercise. The Bedlington terrier is a dogs out and give them some exercise. The Bedlington terrier is a breed of blue or liver-coloured, woolly-coated, active, typically small dogs. The terriers are a status symbol showin

17、g that the Duchess is no ordinary dog owner. And the fact that they can keep dogs in a hotel suite proves they are very important people. 5. A wave of cigar smoke accompanied Ogilvie in: to smoke a cigar in the presence of a lady without asking for permission is impolite and being familiar. He comes

18、 into the room smoking his cigar . Ogilvie is a coarse, vulgar, and uneducated fellow and because he thinks he has the Croydons under his thumb he doesnt give a dame to what they may think or feel. The Duchess looked pointedly, that is , directly and sharply at the cigar, trying to intimidate him wi

19、th her superior social position.,6. Would you kindly pot that out: a period instead of a question mark, indicating it is said in a falling tone, meant to be a command, not a polite request 7. Piggy eyes: small, narrow eyes lost in the mass of flesh. Ogilvie is one of the bad guys in this novel. He h

20、as piggy eyes, a gross jowled face, an obese body, speaks in falsetto, is vulgar, unscrupulous, ill-mannered, to the point of throwing his cigar on the carpet. Some examples with the word pig: Dont be a pig. (Dont be greedy.) He is a pig. (He is a dirty, greedy or ill-mannered person.) Ive made a pi

21、g of myself. (Ive eaten too much.) 8. surveyed her sardonically: He looked her up and down scornfully because he had evidence of their crime up his sleeve and felt sure that in a moment he would be able to humble her and bring her to her knees. Note the different meanings of the following words:,sar

22、donic: being scornful, cynical sarcastic: intending to hurt the feelings, to inflict pain by deriding, taunting satirical: intending to make a person or thing appear foolish or absurd ironical: a humorous or sarcastic form of expression in which the intended meaning of what is said is directly oppos

23、ite to the usual sense. 9. who faced them uncertainly: Besides having a weak character, the Duke is over fond of liquor and other mens wives, and so is submissive to the Duchess, herself a woman of strong character, a known public figure and cousin of the queen. After the road accident, it was the D

24、uchess who masterminded the cover-up and the Duke wasnt quite of what to say to Ogilvie or what to do, he was afraid of messing things up.,10. Pretty neat set-up you folks got: Ogilvies language is ungrammatical, vulgar and slangy. Neat is slangy, meaning nice, fine; a general term of approval. Set-

25、up, a noun, meaning arrangement of furniture, etc. A better educated person might say: “This is a pretty nice room that you have got.” For Ogilvies ungrammatical language, see Note 4 to the text. Here are some examples from the text : 11. I imagine you did not come here to discuss decor: I suppose y

26、ou did not come here merely to discuss the arrangement of the furniture and other decorations of this suite. What she meant was “ Speak your mind. Dont waste time.” She purposely used the word dear, imagining Ogilvie would be awed. Unlike Ogilvie, the Duchess always speaks the Queens English, using

27、strictly grammatical structures and choosing her words carefully, sometime to the extent of being pompous.,12. He lowered the level of his incongruous falsetto voice: He had an unnaturally high-pitched voice. When he spoke now, he lowered the pitch. Incongruous: This falsetto voice sounded funny com

28、ing from a thickset man like Ogilvie. 13. “You two was in that hit-n-run”: You two are guilty of that hit-and-run accident. Hit-and-run is usually used to describe a driver who flees from the scene of an accident in which he is involved. 14. “Theres been plenty on radio, too.”: There have been a lot

29、 of reports about the accident on the radio, too. 15. Two high points of colour: The Duchess cheeks flushed, not evenly, but around the cheek bones. She was upset and a bit scared. But at the moment she was pretending indignation. 16. your high-an-mightiness: high had mighty: very proud, ( the corre

30、ct way to address a Duke or a Duchess is “Your Grace”). Ogilvie addressed her this way in imitation of “Your Highness to mock her haughty attitude.,17. high-tailed it: (colloquial) leave in a hurry, scurry off 18. theyll throw the book, and never mind who it hits: Theyll deal out the maximum in puni

31、shment, to apply the full force of the law and they will not care who will be punished in this case. To throw the book is an idiom, in which the word book means the law book. It refers to the book. Here Ogilvie follows the metaphor through. 19. if I do what by rights I should, youll hardly see em: I

32、f I do what I should do in justice ( that is , to report what I know to police headquarters) , a group of policemen will come over here very fast, so fast that you wouldnt be able to see them moving. 20. The Duchess of Croydon: The Duchess was supported by her arrogance coming from parents of noble

33、families who belonged to the nobility for more than three hundred years. So she did not give in easily. 21. But beyond wrinkling her nose in distaste, she made no comment : She only wrinkled her nose to show her dislike for the offending cigar smell, but did not rebuke him.,22. As Ogilvie glanced, g

34、rinning, at the Duchess: Ogilvie is rubbing it in, enjoying himself over the wounded pride of an arrogant wife. 23. You were into a second hundred: You were beginning to spend another hundred dollars of your own (the hundred won in gambling had already been spent) to treat a merry and lively party.

35、24. There aint much, out of the way: if anybody who stays in this hotel does anything wrong, improper or unusual. I always get to know about it. There isnt much that can escape me. out of the way: improper, wrong, unusual 25. lickered up: liquored up, drunk. Compare: liquor: an alcoholic drink, esp.

36、 one made by distillation, as whiskey or rum ( neat whiskey) wine: mainly grape wine ( sweet or dry wine) soft drinks: non-alcoholic, like soda pop chaser: a mild drink, taken with or after liquor,26. the word was out: The news about the accident was spreading. Phrases with word: say a good word for

37、 sb. have a word with sb. ( talk with sb.) have words with( quarrel) give sb. ones word ( promise) be as good as ones word break ones word a man of his word in so many words word for word 27. On a hunch I went over to the garage: A I suspected and felt there was something wrong, I went over to the g

38、arage to inspect. hunch: A feeling about something not based on known facts: premonition or suspicion. The meaning derives from the superstition that it brings good luck to touch a hunch-back. I have a hunch that : I rather think that,28. look-see: (slang) a quick look or inspection 29. jockeys: usu

39、. Professional rider in horse-races, here it means persons who park cars or trucks in a storage garage, also called car jockeys disc jockeys: radio or TV broadcaster who introduces performances and comments on records or tapes of light popular music 30. square his shoulders: to show he is ready to f

40、ace the consequences, he is brave, not afraid of what is it come 31. took on a musing note: his voice sounded as if he was deep in thought. He was going to put all his cards on the table now that he had made it sufficiently clear to the Croydons that they were in his hands. 32. the outside towns: sm

41、all towns around a big city, here outside New Orleans Outlying towns would be more common.,33. kept firm, tight rein on her racing mind: She kept firm and tight control of her mind which is working quickly . Here the Duchess is thinking quickly but at the same time keeping her thoughts under control

42、, not letting them run wild.It was essential that her thinking remain calm and reasoned: It was very important for her to think calmly and logically. Note the subjunctive mood in the “that” clause. 35. as if the discussion were of some minor domestic matter and not survival itself: as if the discuss

43、ion were about some unimportant domestic matter, not concerned with life and death 36. her husband now a tense but passive spectator: Nominative absolute construction with a noun plus a noun . Her husband watched anxiously and nervously, incapable of taking an active part.,37. calculated coolness: S

44、he was not cool, in fact, her mind was racing, but she deliberately appeared to be cool. 38. but no more than waiting here for certain detection: To drive the car north would be risky, but not more risky than to wait here, because if they did nothing, they would surely be discovered. 39. secondary r

45、oads: roads not of primary importance whose classification and maintenance vary according to township, county, and state regulations 40. dept at using maps: skilled in using maps Examples: a) He is adept in photography. b) He is adept at (or in) taking pictures.,41. Or had they?: second thought whic

46、h contradicts the first one. Had they (the risks) to the taken? The Duchess suddenly realized that they didnt have to take the risks of driving the car north themselves. Other examples: He must buy that book. Or must he? (He didnt have to.) If it had been anyone else, he would have agreed. Or would

47、he? (Maybe not.) 42. As the Duke of Croydon shifted uneasily: Both the Duke and detective thought the Duchess had refused the offer. The Duke felt very uneasy; hed rather pay the money too keep Ogilvie quiet. Ogilvie was about to protest and threaten her again. 43. Eyes bored into him: looked at him

48、 steadily, sharply and searchingly Bore: make a hole in, used here figuratively,44. her own smallness of mind: her own meanness or weakness of mind. What she is about to do may be extremely significant to her and her husband. She has to take a big chance, to do something very daring, so she must be

49、bold, resolute and decisive, She has to rise to the occasion. 45. When you were plating for the highest stakes, you made the highest did: Stake and bid are gambling terms. Here the sentence means: You had to pay the highest price when your reputation and career were at stake.,Comprehension Questions

50、,1. Did Ogilvie deliberately delay his call at the Croydonsuite? Why? 2. Why did the Duchess send her maid and secretary out? 3. Why do you think Ogilvie was being deliberately offensive to the Croydons in the beginning ? 4. How did the Duchess know where the Duke had gone the night the accident occ

51、urred ? 5. How did Ogilvie come to suspect the Croydons of the hit-n-run crime ? 6 What made the Duchess jump to the conclusion that Ogilvie had come to blackmail them ?,Comprehension Questions,7. Why didnt the police come immediately to the hotel to check the cars? 8. Why couldnt the Duchess get her car repaired discreetly in New Orleans? 9. Why did the Duchess decide to make the detective drive their car north? 10. Why did the Duchess offer Ogilvie twenty-five thousand dollars instead of the ten thousand the detective