Part B

Ⅰ. What’s in a Name?

Ⅱ. Our Crazy Language

Juliet’s family, the Capulets, was feuding with Romeo’s, the Montagues. The Capuletsconsidered it a disgrace if their daughter were to become a Montague. Romeo’s famousreply was to ask, “ What’s in a name? Thatwhich we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet.” There also is the saying that “ sticks and stones may break my bones, but names cannever hurt me.” Both of these familiar lines suggest that names are unimportant matters

--- but are they? Let’s take a look.

The naming of things and people goes backthousands of years. Originally, in the traditionof the Western world, to have the right to namea thing or individual implied having a power over it. Thus, in the Bible, God gave humansthe right to name the animal. In doing so, Godgave man primacy on Earth. Accordingly, in the Old Testament, God has no name, the reason being that no one has power over him.

Traditionally, when women married, theychanged their last name to that of the husband,and this acknowledged symbolically that thehusband was number one. Today, many married women dislike that and keep their maiden name, either putting it in the middle between their first and married names or hyphenating the married and maiden names. Some professionals even keep their original ones.This represents a victory for Women’s Lib, they argue. Ironically, however, they still

Joining words or word parts

Career women

Liberation

There was a time when last names served toidentify a person with his occupation. For example, my name, Kreyche, is a variation ofthe Czech name Krejci, which means tailor. That also is what Schneider means in German.Similarly derived names include Smith,Wheelwright, and Carpenter. A person mightalso be identified as a Richardson (son ofRichard), Anderson, or Peterson. Alternatively,

have the name of a man---their father! Whatever one thinks of this trend, it certainly is confusing for record-keepers.

In coming to America, many immigrants had their last names shortened, and they or immigration officials substituted phonetic spellings so others more easily could pronounce and remember the name. While names have remained fairly stable in other times, today, we seem to be in a rush to change them. Charming movie

one might be named by the village or country in which he was born---e.g., Henry of Ghent and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

In sports, one finds name changes that confuse all but the devotee. Many people still think Cassius Clay and Muhammad Abdul-Jabbar. Both changed their names,upon becoming Moslems. Most confusing of all, however, are the name changes that African nations and

and radio names seldom were the real-life ones the stars were born with. John Wayne was Marion Morrison, Marilyn Monroestarted out as Norma Jean Mortensen

Sri Lanka becomes familiar when wethink of tea, for its name originally was Ceylon.Myanmar was Burma. Namibia was

some countries of the Far East have madesince World War Ⅱ. These changes, which sometimes seem to be made almost yearly, give geographers and laymen fits. We shouldthink twice today about blaming students for not knowing their geography. After all, how many of us could locate Sri Lanka, Myanmar,or Zimbabwe? It is bad enough that, as kids,we had to learn that Persia became Iran!

Even job titles are confusing. Few may want to be janitors, but to be named a sanitaryengineer is something else again. PersonnelDepartments have become Departments ofhuman Resources.

South West Africa. Zaire is the formerBelgian Congo. Zimbabwe is the relativelynew name for Rhodesia. It is interesting tonote the trend in African countries to changetheir Christian names---often the productof European colonies---to African ones.

Fortunately, some names continue toindicate what they originally set out to do. John Bull remains the classic symbol of theEnglish, and we all know who Uncle Sam represents.Ice-cream is still ice-cream to hot and hungry kids.

“What’s in a name? That which we calla rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet.”

How to paraphrase this sentence?

What can a name show? If we use othernames, instead of “rose”, to call this flower, it will still be fragrant.

比较 hurt/ injure/ pain/ ache /damage/ harm

1.hurt: 不正式用语 , 指对身体或心灵的伤害 He hurt his back when he fell. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.

2.injure: 较正式用语 , 尤指对人或动物的身体部位的伤害 I’m badly injured in the crash.

3.pain: 正式用语 , 泛指各种严重的不适（不用于被动语态） My foot is still paining me!

4.ache: 持续地隐隐作痛 My head aches. It makes my head ache to see her suffer.

5.damage: 使失去原有的价值、用途、能力的伤害The accident did a lot of damage to the car.

6.harm: （对身心、名誉、权力）的损害 an event which has harmed relationsbetween the two countries. Smoking will do harm to your health.

“the reason being that no one has power over him” 分词独立结构 有时分词短语做状语，句子的主语是它的逻辑主语，此时分词结构做伴随状语。如：

He rushed out, even forgetting to close the door.

但有时分词短语可以有自己独立的主语，称为分词独立结构。

the reason being that no one has power over him.

主语 分词短语 主谓结构

再如： He didn’t work hard, the result being that he failed in the exam.

identify1. To prove or recognize 鉴别e.g. Can you identify your umbrella amongthis lot? She identified the man as her attacker.2. --- sth with sth 认为某事物与另一事物等同e.g. One cannot identify happiness with health.3. --- oneself with sb 与某人有关联e.g. He refused to identify himself with the new Party.

derive1. To obtain 获得，得到e.g. She derived great pleasure from the studies. She derived no benefits from the courseof drugs. 她经药物疗程后并无好转。2. source or origin 源自， 来源于e.g. Thousands of English words derive from Latin.

“ Charming movie and radio names seldom were the real-life ones the starswere born with.”

How to paraphrase it? “real-life ones” refers to?

Fascinating movie and radio stars seldom used their original names.

“In sports, one finds name changes that confuse all but the devotee.”all but: except for e.g. All but he went to the party.

devotee : person who admires someone or something

How to translate?在体育运动方面 , 人们发现更改姓名 ,除了崇拜他们的人以外 , 把其他人都搞糊涂了 .

give somebody a fit. --- make sb. shocked 使某人大吃一惊

e.g. The publication of his autobiography really gave everybody a fit. Your sudden visit was enough to giveus fits.

Other phrases on “fit” ：a nice fit see fitfit in with

十分合适的人或物认为合适， 看着办适应，适合

Read the passage again and answer these questions: 1.What’s Romeo’s famous reply implying?

2.Does God have a name in the Old

Testament? And why?

3.In Par.5, what can we learn from a

person’s name?

4.What’s your opinion on name change?

English is the most widely-used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More thanhalf of the world’s books and three-quartersof international mail are in English. Of alllanguage, English has the largest vocabulary---perhaps as many as two million words---and one of the noblest bodies of literature. Nevertheless, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant,neither pine nor apple in pineapple and no.

ham in a hamburger.Sweetmeats are candy,while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, aremeat. We take English for granted. But when weexplore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.

And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, andhammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth isteeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth?

One goose, two geese---son one moose, two meese?

If the teacher taught, why isn’t it true thatthe preacher praught? If a horsehair mat is made from the hair of horses and a camel-haircoat from the hair of camels, from what is a mohair coat made? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what other language do people drive ona parkway and park in a driveway? Ship bytruck and send cargo by ship? Have noses

that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wiseguy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weatherbe hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next? You must be shocked at a language in which your house can burn up as it burns own, in which you fill in a form by filling itout and in which your alarm clock goes off

by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn’t really a race at all). That is why, when stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are outthey are invisible. And why, when I wind upmy watch I start it, but when I wind up thisessay I end it.

Line 10

quicksand: 流沙 quick—slow boxing rings 拳击场 ring---square public bathrooms 公共厕所 bathroom---bath

Line 19 “ Ship by truck and send cargo byship?” 用卡车运船而送货用船只 ?

ship: 船只 , 运输 “ship by truck” 应理解为 “用卡车运输”

“have noses that run and feet that smell?” 有能跑的鼻子和能闻的脚嘛 ?

run: 不取”跑”意 , 而是指排出液体 running nose 流鼻涕

smell: 不取”闻”意 , 而是指发出臭气 e.g. The milk has started to smell.

Line 20 a slim chance = a fat chance

可能性很小的机会a wise man 智者 a wise guy 自以为是的人overlook忽视 , 忽略 oversee 监督quite a lot = quite a few 有相当数量hot/cold as hell 热 / 冷得要命

Line 23 burn up = burn down 烧毁 , 烧光 fill in = fill out 填写 ( 表格 ) go off 闹铃

Line 27 “stars are out” 星星出现 “ lights are out” 灯光熄灭 wind up the watch 给发条上劲 wind up the essay 结束

The endThe end